[History Prof]

This is basically a continuation of this thread: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=219498 but since the topic has changed, I'm posting new:

I sat and sat and thought about the XD40 and XD45, and decided that I had enough financial reserves to buy a .45 when I can get to a dealer that has enough "pull" to get them from the distributors, while having enough horse trading reserves to get the .40 now. I have absolutely no objection to having two of the same thing in different calibers. Oh, and just to make my wife happy, a smaller friend followed the XD home with me. :D

Hey, they give you a free fired casing now! HA, don't you just love Balistic Fingerprinting? Maybe I'll send these to Maryland, just for kicks.

Edit: Did I say cartridge? I meant casing!

[Hazzard]

Congrats on the XD! I think you'll like it.

[StrikeFire83]

I love my XD-45. Others have said it, but the gun points like a 1911 and the trigger is more natural for me than my Glock.

I've got 350 round through mine with no malfs.

Here's a comparision of how I shoot them: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=220237

I'm a .45 and 9mm guy myself. XD seems to be a fine weapon, and I'm going to continue to post my experiences with it.

When in doubt, get em both. If your name is your occupation, then you should be able to afford it. ;)

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l315/strikefire83/XDandGlock.jpg

[History Prof]

Can you tell me one thing? Have you compared the 40 and 45 side by side? How... how ... HOW did they squeeze 13 rounds into the magazine of the 45 when the 40 only holds 12, and the GAP only holds 9? That must be some piece of engineering.

BTW: Yea, my user name is my profession (betcha thought we were *all* a bunch of looney leftists, huh)? Unfortunately, the pay isn't *that* great. But if I were in it for the $$, I would have followed my brother into engineering or something like that.

[StrikeFire83]

I don't know how they did it, but they did.

If your Red state is Texas and your school is UT then I might have taken one of your classes.

[Kor]

Essentially, the magazine well was re-engineered with thinner side-walls, so that the internal volume is great enough to accomodate the 13-rd .45 magazine; the external dimensions of the grip-frame were also increased, but only slightly.

Also, the XD-45 magazine is designed so that the rounds don't stagger side-to-side quite as much as, say, a ParaOrdnance, Glock 21 or HK USP45 magazine; instead of using a wide magazine to hold 13 rounds, the XD-45 uses a longer/taller magazine(with a correspondingly longer grip-frame) to accomplish that particular feat.

And yes, I thought so much of the concept and execution of the XD-45 that I have a like-new previously-owned XD-45 Tactical on layaway now...:cool: :D

[Harley Quinn]

The 40 will fit some and the 45 will fit some, but the 45 is pretty big and all won't care for it as they will the 40 size.

HQ:)

[Hazzard]

A buddy of mine has an XD40, and we did compare them side by side when he bought it. The grip frame is a bit longer and he said felt a bit fatter. I couldn't tell a difference in the "fatness" dept. but I have big hands so a fat grip is no problem for me. You can tell a difference in the weight when fully loaded, but that is to be expected.

If you reload I'll give you a heads up that mine does not like SWC bullets. It shoots them fine, but has trouble with FTF's. Feeds everything else perfectly. YMMV.

[High_Cap]

I have carried the XD45 Service since January and love it. The only addition was the night sights. Got just over 10,000 rounds through the poor thing. Trigger get smooth at about 5k.

Question for y'all

Can you shoot lead bullets through the XD? It seems to be traditional rifling.

[PCRit]

High_Cap, yes lead bullets are fine in the XD.

And just a few comments regarding "Got just over 10,000 rounds through the poor thing".

Over 1200 rnds down-range per month:what:

I'm lucky to get that in a YEAR:eek:

That's over $2K worth of WWB ammo, which is what I normally shoot (just a wild guess that you reload).

Man, I'm envious:D

[High_Cap]

Yeah man is my right arm huge!:what:

I reloaded it all on a single stage press. I'm a college kid and had a lot of time during the summer.

Shot about 500 +p and the 9500 of regular. I tried to keep track cause I want to prove a few people wrong. They said the XD 45 won't last. I shot almost 2000 with no cleaning besides the barrel. Never a malfunction.

I'm in debt though.

Bought a Dillon yesterday to satisfy my need for more ammo.

Spent over 900 in ammo and on my fifth pound over powder for 45. Man shooting is like a drug once you get some you need more.

[History Prof]

If your Red state is Texas and your school is UT then I might have taken one of your classes.
I'm in rural AZ at a small college. They don't let the conservatives teach at the major universities anymore.:barf: Seriously, everywhere I interviewed I was totally turned off by the academic culture. I interviewed at UNT, figuring something in north Texas had to be a good place. I found out that it was the leftist bastion of Dallas.:banghead: Where I teach, I go shooting with other professors and even the deans - except for the loonie libs in our English department.

Anyone know if any stores in Tucson stock the XD45? Anyone know if any Phoenix store do?

Essentially, the magazine well was re-engineered with thinner side-walls, so that the internal volume is great enough to accomodate the 13-rd .45 magazine; the external dimensions of the grip-frame were also increased, but only slightly.

I wonder if that weakens the frame at all. I'd hate to see Springfield issuing recalls on the XD45 a year or so from now. Or in the case of High Cap, next week!:D

[Kor]

Prof:

- From what I understand, the thinner side-walls don't make that much difference in frame strength or durability. Apparently, the original HS2000 9mm pistol was 'overbuilt,' so there's enough safety margin in the design that it could be tweaked for .45ACP.

- I've seen XD45's with my own eyes in Tucson at Diamondback Police Supply, Sportsman's Warehouse and West of the Pecos, and the Tactical I have on layaway is at Murphy's.

[American By Blood]

Depending on how far you are from the Phoenix/Scottsdale area, you may want to check with Bear Arms. They usually have the XD45 in stock. I bought mine there.

Your comment about not being allowed to teach at big universities because of your politics struck a chord with me. I'm an aspiring academic myself, but I have no illusions about landing a job at Havahd or some other "name" school. My eductional pedigree is bush league, I'm too right-wing, and I like Ernst Jünger and Oswald Spengler too much.

[Hazzard]

High_Cap - I've shot thousand of rounds of lead in mine. Yes it is standard rifling, not poly, so lead is fine.

If you want the best deal on hard cast lead try this guy...

http://www.keadbullets.com/

I've had very good luck with them. They are harder than standard alloys and are very accurate. Just make sure that you order in advance as he stocks nothing and basicaly runs a particular bullet when he gets enough orders for it. It may take several weeks to get them.

[possum]

History prof,
congrats on your xd, it will serve you well.

Can you shoot lead bullets through the XD? It seems to be traditional rifling.

Yeah i have put a couple hundred through mine without a problem, I do like the fmj, better they are easier to clean, but for as cheap as the lead is going you really can't beat it.

Shot about 500 +p and the 9500 of regular. I tried to keep track cause I want to prove a few people wrong. They said the XD 45 won't last. I shot almost 2000 with no cleaning besides the barrel. Never a malfunction
It will keep going and going and going! That is alot of shooting, must be nice.:what:

[History Prof]

Your comment about not being allowed to teach at big universities because of your politics struck a chord with me. I'm an aspiring academic myself, but I have no illusions about landing a job at Havahd or some other "name" school. My eductional pedigree is bush league, I'm too right-wing, and I like Ernst Jünger and Oswald Spengler too much.

I'm mostly being facetious, but I do have a few doubts. At most of the major universities I interviewed at (although I was a bit critical of the liberal god, FDR) my dissertation was called "cutting edge." That sorta makes you think you have a good shot at the job, que no? I honestly believe that the reason I didn't get most of those positions is that the person they did hire was just a bit better than I was in the end (in my subfield everyone from the same generation got to know each other quite well at conferences, etc).

HOWEVER, at UNT, I made it clear that I was a conservative, mostly by asking where I could go shooting (keeping this on topic :D ). I figured, "hey, this is Dallas, TEXAS." Shorly into the interview, but after I expressed my political views, they began treating me like DIRT. One professor there who had gotten his BA/MA where I got mine, and his Phd in the same state I did, apologized for the way I was treated. HE was a conservative, but most conservative professors I know in the major universities today are the geezers, and dying off. (Damn, I miss Stephen Ambrose. I met him in 1992, and he made no bones about his dislike for political correctness.)

I am, however, happy having ended up at a small rural CONSERVATIVE college. The '60s libbies talked about "academic freedom," but they no longer recognize that idea for conservatives. Here, I have true academic freedom. I remind my (relatively few) liberal students that they are FREE to DISAGREE with me. Conservative students tend to be SILENCED at the universities these days.:fire:

Good luck with getting where you want to be, American By Blood.