My last foray into combat Tupperware was a HKUSP .45c that I came to loathe for a variety of factors. I had sworn off plastic guns forever, or at least until Gaston came to his senses and reperfected the Glock back to Gen II and rid it of those ridiculous finger grooves so that I might somewhat comfortably shoot a G20. :banghead:
Along came the HS2000. I read about it on the forums but never saw one in reality. The Croation Sensation was just a mystery to me. Then Springfield acquired importation rights and spent the money to improve areas of the weapon that had faced criticism, such as beefing up the extraction system and provided a lifetime warranty. Suddenly, the now rechristened XD was like a burst of mushrooms following a heavy rain here in Oregon. I finally got to hold one, and I was somewhat amazed that it felt like a 1911 with an arched mainspring housing, albeit a little shorter fore to aft. I liked how it pointed, just handling one in the store cured me of wanting a Glock, which when I close my eyes and bring up, always angles slightly towards the sky when I open my eyes. The grip angle is simply all wrong for me. The XD felt "one true sword-like" in my hands. Funny thing is my petite wife finally found a double stack 9mm she could actually manage the trigger reach on and like it at the same time.
Then Chuck Taylor, one of the icons of the Glock world for his 180,000 round G17, compared the XD favorably to it. I became even more intrigued.
Still, I had other addictions to feed. Getting into revolvers, getting into C&R, etc. However, I am a lucky man. My wife had accompanied me to the store a few times, and had noted how I would talk about how wonderful the XD pistol felt in the hand, how 9mm was cheap enough to not have to reload, (more time with her and the kids rather than the Dillon), and that the AWB was dying and would die in September and it would be nice to have something of a celebratory "assault pistol." She remembered it all.
On December 1st, my wife brought one home for me. Stainless XD-9. Merry Christmas!
She didn't make me wait. Last Saturday, I gave it an initial wringing out. Two hundred and sixteen flawless rounds later of 147gr. Ranger SXTs, Wolf,
White Box, Blazer aluminum, and Ultramax reloads, I was suitably impressed. The accuracy was not as good as my better 1911s or my revolver, but it was fun double tapping seven or eight times before a reload, and it grouped very acceptably for that kind of shooting. Consistently placed ejection for my brass catching tarp so I can at least sell, if not use, the once fired brass I run through it. Some have reported a first round flier problem, but I seem to not suffer from it, probably because I regularly shoot a revolver and the longish travel of the trigger and the reset doesn't bother me.
Now I have found myself smitten by hammerless, plastic, 9mm for crying outloud!
It is so light, soft shooting, quick split timing, easy to field strip, with nice little touches that I'd expect to pay at least $100 more for, that I can't stop grinning about this piece. My only complaint is that "Brunial" must be Croat for "watercolor," as the "finish" on my mag catch is already shiny from handling. I think I might have Robar do a Norton Special on this piece and Roguard the Slide to black for a really nice contrast of NP3 internals, barrel, grip safety, trigger, slide release, mag catch, pins, and cocked indicator, and black frame and slide.
I also now find myself pricing a M3 tactical illuminator and shopping for night sights. Final straw is finding myself looking for a kydex holster and it seems that I now want a Comp-Tac.
Has anyone else been bitten this hard by this pistol?
Along came the HS2000. I read about it on the forums but never saw one in reality. The Croation Sensation was just a mystery to me. Then Springfield acquired importation rights and spent the money to improve areas of the weapon that had faced criticism, such as beefing up the extraction system and provided a lifetime warranty. Suddenly, the now rechristened XD was like a burst of mushrooms following a heavy rain here in Oregon. I finally got to hold one, and I was somewhat amazed that it felt like a 1911 with an arched mainspring housing, albeit a little shorter fore to aft. I liked how it pointed, just handling one in the store cured me of wanting a Glock, which when I close my eyes and bring up, always angles slightly towards the sky when I open my eyes. The grip angle is simply all wrong for me. The XD felt "one true sword-like" in my hands. Funny thing is my petite wife finally found a double stack 9mm she could actually manage the trigger reach on and like it at the same time.
Then Chuck Taylor, one of the icons of the Glock world for his 180,000 round G17, compared the XD favorably to it. I became even more intrigued.
Still, I had other addictions to feed. Getting into revolvers, getting into C&R, etc. However, I am a lucky man. My wife had accompanied me to the store a few times, and had noted how I would talk about how wonderful the XD pistol felt in the hand, how 9mm was cheap enough to not have to reload, (more time with her and the kids rather than the Dillon), and that the AWB was dying and would die in September and it would be nice to have something of a celebratory "assault pistol." She remembered it all.
On December 1st, my wife brought one home for me. Stainless XD-9. Merry Christmas!
She didn't make me wait. Last Saturday, I gave it an initial wringing out. Two hundred and sixteen flawless rounds later of 147gr. Ranger SXTs, Wolf,
White Box, Blazer aluminum, and Ultramax reloads, I was suitably impressed. The accuracy was not as good as my better 1911s or my revolver, but it was fun double tapping seven or eight times before a reload, and it grouped very acceptably for that kind of shooting. Consistently placed ejection for my brass catching tarp so I can at least sell, if not use, the once fired brass I run through it. Some have reported a first round flier problem, but I seem to not suffer from it, probably because I regularly shoot a revolver and the longish travel of the trigger and the reset doesn't bother me.Now I have found myself smitten by hammerless, plastic, 9mm for crying outloud!
It is so light, soft shooting, quick split timing, easy to field strip, with nice little touches that I'd expect to pay at least $100 more for, that I can't stop grinning about this piece. My only complaint is that "Brunial" must be Croat for "watercolor," as the "finish" on my mag catch is already shiny from handling. I think I might have Robar do a Norton Special on this piece and Roguard the Slide to black for a really nice contrast of NP3 internals, barrel, grip safety, trigger, slide release, mag catch, pins, and cocked indicator, and black frame and slide.I also now find myself pricing a M3 tactical illuminator and shopping for night sights. Final straw is finding myself looking for a kydex holster and it seems that I now want a Comp-Tac.
Has anyone else been bitten this hard by this pistol?
