Posted: 8/10/2004 11:00:31 PM EDT
 After much deliberation I chose a Springfield XD subcompact for my primary CCW, now that Missouri has a shall issue CCW law in place. The subcompacts come in .40S&W and 9x19 Luger flavors, but the stainless is currently only offered in 9mm. I chose the stainless because the gun will be carried frequently and holster wear is less noticeable on a stainless slide. I had also heard that the parkerizing on the regular models was on the thin side and some people were experiencing rust issues with daily carry. I chose this gun because it was small enough to hide, yet large enough that I can wrap my pinky finger around the grip (unlike the subcompact Glocks), and because the price was right, $440 new in box at the Bass Pro in Columbia Missouri (everyone wants $589 for a NIB Glock these days, sheesh!). The gun came in a plastic box with a trigger lock, documentation, and two drop free 10 round magazines. Springfield is almost certain to make hi-caps available for this gun come September. After disassembly, the XD subcompact looks like a mishmash of Glock, Walther, HK, and 1911 concepts. Barrel lockup is linkless modified Browning design, much like a Glock or HK. The frame rails are very robust, almost overbuilt compared to the Glock or HK designs. Disassembly is accomplished via a rotating lever on the left side of the frame much like a Beretta or Sig Sauer. As you can see, the slide is machined very nicely inside and out and is simple in layout. The grip safety works great and you don't even notice its there with your hand around the gun. The grip safety and the trigger are parkerized, so I'll have to keep them well oiled! The mag release is ambidextrous and easy to operate with either thumb or index finger.  The barrel and recoil guide rod are tiny pieces, but well made. The barrel is only 3.1 inches long. The chamber is fully supported with a nice wide feed ramp that is polished to a mirror sheen from the factory. If you look very closely you can see that what look like scratches on the feed ramp in the photo is actually the reflection from the wicker surface of the tabletop!  The slide is very nicely machined, no cheap roll marks here. The slide lock is easy to manipulate and the slide to frame fit is very smooth and tight for a polymer gun. The black rectangle behind the barrel is a loaded chamber indicator which barely protrudes from the slide when a casing is in the pipe, providing a visual and tactile confirmation that you're ready to rock and roll. 3-dot sights are made of steel, unlike the Glock's which are plastic and can be knocked off easily (I find this quite distressing). The firing pin protrudes from the rear of the slide to let you know that the striker action is pre-cocked.  The gun is certainly small enough to hide, at just over 6 inches in total length and 20.5 ounces unloaded. It is just slightly wider than a Glock. Obviously the XD subcompact is dwarfed by the Beretta 92 and full size USP9.  To give a better idea of its size, here is the XD with some other items that get carried around with me. The grouping to the right of the gun is a 10 round standing slow fire group at 10 yards away with 115 grain Winchester "white box" ammo.  At the range the gun was put through its paces in variety of slow fire, rapid fire, one handed and two handed shooting drills. Its August, in Missouri after all, so a wide brimmed hat was necessary, and I'm living in the country now so I might as well look like a redneck anyway. The hat also comes in handy as a brass catcher for guns that like to fling brass at your forehead. The XD ejected consistently over my right shoulder. A total of 110 rounds of Winchester FMJ and 20 rounds of Speer Gold Dot 145 grain ammunition were put through the gun with no failures or hiccups of any kind.  Recoil is very manageable. The XD shoots much like a Glock 19, very smooth. The gun does flip some, but it flips straight back and comes right back down to a good sight picture immediately. This photo was taken during rapid fire and I didn't realize how much the gun flipped up until I saw the image.  The trigger is alot like that on the Walther P99 series in that it is a two-stage arrangement with a long first stage and a second stage that stacks up just before the end of trigger travel. With practice you get used to ignoring the first stage altogether and the second stage is all your finger really has to deal with. Springfield says the trigger breaks at 5.5 to 7.7 lbs, but in practice it feels like alot less than that. This trigger after 100 rounds through the gun feels better than many "tuned" Glock triggers I have shot, and should be regarded as a selling point on this pistol. I have to take issue with the trigger reset however-- you have to move your finger almost all the way to the front of the first stage to reset the trigger, making it more difficult to quickly and accurately "hammer" or "doubletap" the pistol. The XD has a trigger safety system much like the Glocks, but when your finger is on the trigger the plastic safety bar retracts all the way back, and all you feel is a nice wide metal trigger. You won't feel the safety bar wiggling around underneath your trigger finger like on a Glock! The trigger reset is my only real nitpick with this gun. I also found that in rapid fire I had to grip the gun very firmly or my pinky finger would slip off the grip and I would wind up holding the gun like a Glock 27. I can only imagine that this package in .40S&W would be a real firecracker. Perhaps Pearce will make a grip extension for the XD in the future? In conclusion, so far I think the XD looks like a good value for the money, a well made pistol that is small enough to hide, yet comfortable, accurate, simple in design, reliable (time will tell on that one), and costs about $150 less than its nearest competition (and try to find a Glock in stainless!). P.S., my wife Morgan also came out to shoot with me and took the range photos. We were married two Sundays ago in a small ceremony in Warrensburg, Missouri. She's a straight shooter and she really gives those soda cans hell from 10 yards away! 
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Man - I don't know how people can get their pinkies on these front straps! Mine curls right under the magazine nice and comfy tho - almost forget it's there. Hi-caps are available now in the form of slightly modified Beretta and S&W magazines. I do like these guns - if for no other reason that SA sponsored the WI IDPA championship this year and 5 XD's were given away - they also take after market SIG sights. I do wish they'd make the trigger reset a little less SIG-like. Too bad they're stuck in ESP. Being a Glock guy - I've thought long and hard about getting one of these - mostly because I can't stand the finger grooves on the compact and sub-compact Glocks. Overall length: SA-XD 98: 6.26” G26: 6.29” Barrel length: SA-XD 98: 3.1” G26: 3.46” Sight radius: SA-XD 98: 4.1” G26: 5.67” Weight (unloaded): SA-XD 98: 20.5 oz G26: 21.7 oz Width: SA-XD 98: ? (but they’re a little wider) G26: 1.18” |
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Had a G19, traded for G26. Just bought an XD-9. The XD feels really good in the hand but has a higher sight line than Glocks. I also really like the Springfield's trigger. I'll keep the G26 for carry (rarely do), but the XD is growing on me... I'd like to try one of the subcompacts (I try to keep an open mind)  .
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Nice review! I saw them for 380$ at Camp Perry @ the SA building this past week...!! I'll take a purchase permit or two with me next year, because i've been looking for something that would fill the small-semiauto niche and I don't care for groks, and because they had some terrific deals on 1911s, too. |
Thanks for that write up. I have been thinking of getting one of those myself and Trojanfan is thinking of ordering the fullsize for a company issue duty weapon in 40 SW and is testing now. Another officer I used to work with had one for his duty weapon and liked it allot....and remember also .....friends don't let friends buy Glocks...
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they already make a grip extension for it: www.xd-hs2000.com/grips.html love mine too, got about 400 rounds through it. I really like that stainless slide, wish they would have been out when i was buying mine. 
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She actually said when I took a couple of pics of her at the range, "hey don't post these on the boards or those dorks will whine about eye protection again." LOL! |
 Gotta protect your eyes...you'll miss um if ya loose one!! Ask me how I know!!! Doooohhhh!!!  Deadeye47!!!!!!!!!
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XD's are fantastic pistols, and that was a great and accurate review matching very closely my experience shooting one brothers XD-40, and the others XD-357. I would just like to add (At the risk of inciting a riot) that this statement;
isn't completely true, there is another, seldom mentioned, well made, accurate Pistol that falls in this catagory which at this time can be had for $300 (give or take $30) The Steyr S9 or the S40. (que cornbread2) I'm not saying this in competition, the XD is a great gun, great buy. I'm just saying that you left out a player. |
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I've had mine 6 months now and I love it dearly. I bought it used in anticipation of Missouri CCW as well. I can attest to the trigger reset, but I love the trigger pull. Also mine is the parkerized slide version and I have had NONE of the rust issues others have complained about. I oil it on the weekends since it's pretty dry and nappy by then but I have never seen rust. Even with the heavy holster wear it has never given me any rust issues. YMMV, but I don't get the impression stainless is nessisary for CCW. Mine is with me 24/7 and I love it. Can't say enough good stuff about it..... Well I'm not terribly accurate with it and the Ashley big dot tritium sights I put on it, but the idea was to get rounds into chests at close range, not shoot bullseyes and 25 yards. With the big dot I can keep shots in the vitals of the chest and I can shoot headshots all day long at 12-18 yds. |
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My carry weapon ( i carry it in the truck not concealed) is the 4" XD .40. I put a Hogue handall ( gun condom) on my grip and cut a notch for the grip safty and siliconed the Handall on the grip. It is a real shooter. recoil is mild and the trigger breaks in after about 300 rounds or so. Glock guys get a liking to it as soon as they handle it because of the grip angle. The world is a dangerous place, I just built an AR ,my next TOOL will be the Mini XD .40. I already have the slush fund up to 150.00.  I might put it on a key chain. The forum for the XD is the HS 2000 talk.( its former name in Croatia) www.hs2000talk.com |
I had a Steyr M40 and thought it was really cool. Unfotunately those pistols have been discontinued, CDNN is selling the last of their inventory now. There is an improved version that hasn't been imported yet that Steyr is making now. I considered buying another M40 (they are about the same size as a Glock 23) and rejected the idea for two reasons: 1. No hi-caps after September 13. 2. Discontinued gun = no spare parts availability = if something breaks you are shit outta luck. Still, I'd like another M40, but as a toy, not as a daily carry piece. |
Nice touch 
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