How can I tell the AGE of my XD

[tnieto2004]

I got a used XD a little while back and was wondering how can I tell the age of it .. When did they start making them?

 

[turdfergason]

History

The XD traces its roots back to a service pistol known as the PHP, which was first produced in Croatia by privately owned industrial parts firm I.M. Metal in 1991 . Designed by a team led by Marko Vukovic, the PHP was considered to be a solid design, but early versions were plagued by quality issues, due in large part to the difficulties of manufacturing during a liberation war. Vukovic's team continued to tweak and improve the design over the next decade, releasing the HS95 (Hrvatski Samokres or "Croatian Pistol") in 1995, and the HS2000 in 1999 .

The HS2000 was adopted by the Croatian military and law enforcement as their standard issue sidearm, and continues to fill that role today. In addition, the pistol was exported to the US market by Intrac and distributed by HSAmerica, which sold the pistol in 9mm as the HS2000, and started to gain a reputation as a cost-effective, reliable, and innovative new firearm.

In 2002, Springfield Armory, Inc. secured the licensing rights to the US market, and rebranded the pistol to XD-9 (X-treme Duty 9x19 mm). Since that time Springfield Armory has expanded the line to include five different calibers, three different barrel lengths, and four finishes (black, stainless steel, Olive Drab, and the newest Dark Earth). Due in part to Springfield Armory's aggressive marketing and competitive pricing, but also to the pistol's inherent quality and features, it has consistently gained in both reputation and market share over the last five years. The introduction of the XD-45 (in the extremely popular .45 ACP caliber) in January of 2006 has made the XD the "most talked about handgun" in the eyes of many interested shooters. The industry press took notice as well, awarding the XD-45 the title of "Handgun of the Year" from both American Rifleman magazine and the The Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence.

From wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield_Armory_XD

 

[kymarkh]

Call Springfield and give them the serial number and they will tell you when it was imported. Closest thing to a 'born on date' you can get with an XD.

 

[Rustynuts]

Ideally it was made after Apr/May 2006. Before that they had inferior bluing and had rust problems. I believe if you have problems though, Springfield will re-treat with the better melonite finish.

 

[lee n. field]

how can I tell the age of it

Call Springfield and ask, or (if you have it) check the date on the little envelope with the fired case in it.

 

[tnieto2004]

Ideally it was made after Apr/May 2006. Before that they had inferior bluing and had rust problems. I believe if you have problems though, Springfield will re-treat with the better melonite finish.

Ya That is kind of what I was worried about .. I think I will just call Springfield.. The bluing doesn't look that great..

 

[SouthpawShootr]

For XDs, they used to have a dial stamped in the inside of the dustcover. From this, you could find out the month and year of your frame. Can't be sure of the slide, but should have been around the same time period. Been a while since I looked at mine, so I can't remember the specifics and I 'm not into pulling it from the safe (maybe tomorrow). This was explained over at XDtalk originally, IIRC.

 

[SouthpawShootr]

OK, here it is:

Clicky

 

[lee n. field]

For XDs, they used to have a dial stamped in the inside of the dustcover.

Unless it's hidden behind the loading block, there's nothing like that on my 2005 vintage XD. Something from the old HS2000 days maybe?

 

[Wedge]

Cut it in half and count the rings.

Otherwise call SA with the serial.

 

[SouthpawShootr]

Unless it's hidden behind the loading block, there's nothing like that on my 2005 vintage XD. Something from the old HS2000 days maybe?

It's not hidden by the locking block. It's in front of it on the guns that have it. I distinctly remember that my first XD had this dial as did my father's (both of which are gone now). These were both marked XD and both came with Springfield boxes and literature. I have no idea when they stopped doing it, but I just checked by 3+ YO Bitone XD9 (which I purchased new, but can't remember when) and it doesn't have it. Somewhere along the line they stopped doing it. I wonder why. I thought it was a good idea.