My brother has two, the 4in and the 3in of the .40 and he loves them and so do I. I plan on getting the new one (XDM) here soon in the 4in barrel. He said the 3in is a good CCW but for all round quality the 4in is great. He has never had a problem with wither of them. I love the sights and the feel of the weapon. The M will give you a few new aspects such as replaceable and cusomizable grips and gives you i think 16 or 17 rounds over 14 in the original XD.