SA XD .40 - reliable carry piece?

[WebHobbit]

So I've shot my buddy Elmo's SA XD .40 & liked it very much. It fit my small hands well & did not hit me in the head with brass like most autos do for some reason.

I've been a wheelman forever & have an inherent distrust of autoloaders.

Been carrying a revolver for a long time and I think I've only had one or two times at the range where a revolver has failed to go BANG when I squeezed the trigger & THAT was due to VERY tight tolerances on a Colt Anaconda's barrel-cylinder gap and only happened after 30 or so rounds were put through it.

So help me decide people! I'm going to buy a new gun pretty soon & it will probably be either an SA XD .40 with 4 inch stainless slide or maybe a Ruger SP101 3 inch .357.

Can someone vouch for the XD's reliability? The guys over on the XD Forum's seem to mostly love their's:

http://www.hs2000talk.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi

 

[GunNut]

Considering that you already "prefer and trust" revolvers, why change now???

The XD is definitely a great gun, and utterly reliable. That said, I sold both my XD9 and XD40. IMHO, they are just too big to conceal on a daily basis. I went with a Glock 27, truely a small and concealable semi.

Either stick with revolvers or go with the revolver of the semi-auto world GLOCK.

The guys over on the XD Forum's seem to mostly love their's

They wouldn't be biased at all would they?

This is a great place to get mostly unbiased opinions.

Good luck in your decision, it may someday save your life.

Steve

 

[WebHobbit]

Why change now?

I really like the .40 caliber...specifically the 155 grain JHPs.

It just seems like a great idea.

As for the Glocks:

The trigger reach is just a bit much for my short fingers. A few years ago when they announced the subcompacts I thought

"ALRIGHT at last a single stack Glock! This will be perfect!"

Then I found out all they did was chop the barrel/grip. Was a huge let down for me.


I probably will end up with a third revolver. Just though I'd let you all try to talk me out of it!

 

[Ikari]

I agree, my XD-40 is way too big for carry, unless you wear a bulky garment.

Glock does make ONE single stack, the Glock 36. It's a single-stack .45 compact that holds 6 rounds. Perfect for carry. I'm sure I'll pick one up one of these days, if I ever manage to secure a carry permit. Either that or a SP-101 or one of the Scandium S&Ws.

Springfield also now makes a sub-compact XD, currently only available in 9mm.

 

[WebHobbit]

I wonder how the trigger reach of the Glock 36 compares to the Glock 19? The Glock 19 is ALMOST right for me...just a bit too thick.

 

[GunNut]

The 19 and 36 are just about identical in thickness.

1.18" vs 1.13"

Might be enough difference for you.

Steve

 

[JPoe]

Whoa.. hang on there Ikari. The XD-40 isn't THAT much wider than either of the Glocks you mention - about 2 tenths of an inch at the most. Hardly enough difference to warrant needing bulkier clothes.

Here are some measurements of the XD-40 (as taken from a post over on the hs2000talk forum)

Width of Slide at Front Site: 1.089
Total Width at Take-Down Lever: 1.274
Total Width At Slide Release: 1.280
Width of Grip at Mag Well Entrance: 1.160

I'd say that is comparable to the 1.18 and 1.13" figures for the Glocks that GunNut provided.

Also, the XD-9 sub-compact isn't really gonna save you much in the width department either. It's basically the same width (maybe a HAIR thinner) as the standard XD-9 - just with a shorter barrel and grip - much like the Glock sub-compacts.

Not saying one is any better than the other... they're BOTH great guns as far as I'm concerned. I'm just saying the XD is comparable in size and just as "carryable" as the Glock.

 

[Shweboner]

I carry an XD9, I use an IWB at 6'oclock, conceals pretty well under most of my shirts.

Other than that, its the Makarov in an IWB up front.


I love my XD. Better than Glocks. Just My opinion though

~Brian

 

[Jesse H]

My own HS2000 has a tad over 3K rounds. About 10 FTE's occurred before I replaced the extractor to newer ones found in all the XD's.

Carry mine 12+ hrs a day.

 

[Sir Galahad]

I also have small hands and discovered the XD-40 a perfect fit. Mine has been utterly reliable through everything I've put throgh it. It feeds it all; Wolf through the high-end stuff. It loves 165 gr. Gold Dots. (It also loves Wolf, believe it or not.) You get two mags and a hard case with the pistol. I also like the trigger and grip better than Glock. I'm also a big revolver fan, too, by the way. Don't now what that has to do with it but just thought I'd mention it. My shooting buddy's girlfriend tried the XD and did very well with it first time out. You can't go wrong with an XD. I've never had a problem with mine.

 

[Mannlicher]

There is not enough evidence, one way or the other to make a definative decision. I don't like the gun, but then I don't like may pistols other than the 1911.