What do you mean by not easily manipulated? Are you saying it's difficult to take the saftey on and off?
Yes, you need to try it out to understand. It is just not your standard thumb safety. It is a little bit different.
Ported barrel? I noticed it had that when I looked at it on Smith and Wessons site but didn't look into what it was.
Yes, the barrel and respectively the slide have venting holes in it to redirect gases upwards. The idea being it reduces muzzle rise, which it does. Since gases are vented while the bullet is still advancing inside the barrel, the bullet loses some exit velocity in comparison to a normal barrel.
If you can't handle the snap of the .40 without a ported barrel, then you might just want to get the 9mm version anyway.
I'm a big guy with fairly large hands so, that may or may not be the case but, since whatever I go with will be used for personal conceal carry, there will be a lot more research and such before I buy one.
Handling recoil is more about training and practice than anything else. I am 5'7" and 130 lbs. I regularly shoot hot 10mm rounds out of my Glock 20 (e.g., 200 gr hardcast at 1250 fps with 694 ft-lbs).
What do you mean by racking the slide one handed?
One handed weapon manipulation is part of standard defensive pistol training. You may only have one hand free to operate your gun, because you have been wounded, your attacker is holding you by your other hand or arm, or you use your other hand or arm to open doors or to guide a person you are protecting (e.g. a family member).
Whatever the case may be, there won't be a reason to rack the slide because there will be a round in the chamber at all times.
You have been shot in the left arm. You shoot with your pistol with your right hand only. You have a failure to extract malfunction. Now what? You move, you tap the mag on your pelvis, and then you rack the slide on your belt or belt buckle or on a table or door frame, lodging the rear sight against a hard corner. This way, you clear the malfunction and you are back in action.
Now you have emptied your magazine and need to reload. You seek cover, dump the empty mag one handed. Now you stick the handgun into your waistband and get a fresh magazine, again all one handed. You insert the magazine, take the gun out of your waistband, tap it on your pelvis, and rack the slide on your belt. You are back in action.
I have been posting the following comment over and over again:
Mindset, skill and gear are the important factors in a gun fight. Most people ignore the first two and go all out nuts on the last. Get some training.
Here is a video by Reid Henrichs from
Valor Ridge about one handed gun manipulation:
Not interested in fiber sights. Me personally I'd rather go with them glow on the dark sights.
Tritium night sights are a very good choice, as they aid in low light conditions. However, you will never fire your weapon in complete darkness as you don't see what you are firing at. A weapon mounted light, a flash light or just ambient light has to provide enough illumination to positively identify the thread. Tritium night sights help you in properly lining up your sights in all these conditions.
Note that the XS Big Dots have a Tritium option as well. That's what I use.
Was there a reasonable amount of recoil difference between the two?
Some, but not significant. On the other hand, this is very subjective. Again, realize that I am regularly shooting the real .40 cal (i.e., 10mm) which has significantly more kick.
