Springfield XD "Subcompacts"

Tallball

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Oct 2, 2014
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I had a bunch of service pistols and pocket pistols, but not many medium-sized. My only modern one was my Glock 26. I liked it fine, but I saw a Springfield XD9 "subcompact" on GB and remembered liking the one I'd shot before. I got it for a $205 bid and $270-something OTD.

I really like the Springfield. It fits my hand better than the Glock. I like the trigger better. The sights are fine on both. I shot it several times, liked it better than the Glock, and decided it's my new cross-country road trip pistol.

Then I saw one on GB for a similar ridiculous price, but in 40 caliber. I didn't have a 40 caliber that size. I won it for a bid of $220-something and around $300 OTD.

Same thing happened with the 45. Didn't have one that size in 45acp (except a Taurus with a horrible trigger), and again won it for a bid of $220-something and around $300 OTD.

These are very nice pistols. Much better fit and finish than something like a Taurus. The parts are machined nicely. All three have 3.3" barrels. The XD9 and XD40 are double-stacks with 10 and 9 round flush mags respectively. The XDS45 is a single stack that holds five. All three are roughly the same size, with the single stack 45 obviously being a little thinner. The stats for the 9mm are as follows: Length: 7.3” Height: 5.5” Width: 1.20”

I've had the 9 to the range three times. My friend and I shot the 40 and the 45 on Saturday morning. All three have nice light triggers. The trigger on the 40 is so nice that I let off a couple of rounds before I meant to, early on. We both shot all of them well for two old duffers: From 7-10 yards standing I shot fist-sized groups easily. My friend did a little better than that. None of them have malfunctioned for me yet. The recoil of the 9 is seems very light to me, and the 40 and 45 were easier than I expected. My friend is a little recoil sensitive with larger calibers, and was impressed by how gentle the 40 and 45 were.

These Springfields have a grip safety and no manual safety. Some people don't like grip safeties. I've had zero trouble with them ever, so they're fine with me. I also don't like manual safeties. The controls are easy for me to reach and use. All three pistols have useful loaded chamber indicators. Field stripping them is very easy: rack slide, remove magazine, the takedown lever rotates up into the little opening on the slide, pull trigger as you remove slide.

The double-stacks are nice and fat and fit my XXL hands well. The 45 is thinner and doesn't feel quite as comfy just holding it, but shooting it was fine. It was just as easy to shoot as the other two. I put Pearce grip extensions on all three because I have to if I want to use my pinky on anything smaller than a big service pistol (XXL hands).

I get the feeling these are going out of production soon. They're a bit bigger than the micro pocket pistols and have been on the market for a while. Since I bought the 9mm a month or two ago, some of the holster makers have discontinued some holsters for this series.

If you want a nice medium-sized pistol that's inexpensive, you might want to take a look at a used Springfield XD. I'm very pleased with mine.

 
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I had a bunch of service pistols and pocket pistols, but not many medium-sized. My only modern one was my Glock 26. I liked it fine, but I saw a Springfield XD9 "subcompact" on GB and remembered liking the one I'd shot before. I got it for a $205 bid and $270-something OTD.

I really like the Springfield. It fits my hand better than the Glock. I like the trigger better. The sights are fine on both. I shot it several times, liked it better than the Glock, and decided it's my new cross-country road trip pistol.

Then I saw one on GB for a similar ridiculous price, but in 40 caliber. I didn't have a 40 caliber that size. I won it for a bid of $220-something and around $300 OTD.

Same thing happened with the 45. Didn't have one that size in 45acp (except a Taurus with a horrible trigger), and again won it for a bid of $220-something and around $300 OTD.

These are very nice pistols. Much better fit and finish than something like a Taurus. The parts are machined nicely. All three have 3.3" barrels. The XD9 and XD40 are double-stacks with 10 and 9 round flush mags respectively. The XDS45 is a single stack that holds five. All three are roughly the same size, with the single stack 45 obviously being a little thinner. The stats for the 9mm are as follows: Length: 7.3” Height: 5.5” Width: 1.20”

I've had the 9 to the range three times. My friend and I shot the 40 and the 45 on Saturday morning. All three have nice light triggers. The trigger on the 40 is so nice that I let off a couple of rounds before I meant to, early on. We both shot all of them well for two old duffers: From 7-10 yards standing I shot fist-sized groups easily. My friend did a little better than that. None of them have malfunctioned for me yet. The recoil of the 9 is seems very light to me, and the 40 and 45 were easier than I expected. My friend is a little recoil sensitive with larger calibers, and was impressed by how gentle the 40 and 45 were.

These Springfields have a grip safety and no manual safety. Some people don't like grip safeties. I've had zero trouble with them ever, so they're fine with me. I also don't like manual safeties. The controls are easy for me to reach and use. All three pistols have useful loaded chamber indicators. Field stripping them is very easy: rack slide, remove magazine, the takedown lever rotates up into the little opening on the slide, pull trigger as you remove slide.

The double-stacks are nice and fat and fit my XXL hands well. The 45 is thinner and doesn't feel quite as comfy just holding it, but shooting it was fine. It was just as easy to shoot as the other two. I put Pearce grip extensions on all three because I have to if I want to use my pinky on anything smaller than a big service pistol (XXL hands).

I get the feeling these are going out of production soon. They're a bit bigger than the micro pocket pistols and have been on the market for a while. Since I bought the 9mm a month or two ago, some of the holster makers have discontinued some holsters for this series.

If you want a nice medium-sized pistol that's inexpensive, you might want to take a look at a used Springfield XD. I'm very pleased with mine.

I bought my XD-40 Service 4 inch in 2002, and still have it 21 years later. As you mentioned the stock metal trigger is outstanding, much lighter smoother pull than my stock Glock triggers. After thousands of rounds, the reliability, durability, accuracy, and overall quality of this pistol still amazes me. I just had a gunsmith install Trijicon HD Night/Fiber Sights, as I use it as my bedside gun.
 
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I've got a XD40SC. Have not carried it much, to date. It's chubby.

Also have an XDS in 45. Mine had problems early on going fully into battery. I resolved that, and it's been fine since. Just, again, not carried much anymore.
 
I have the XD Mod 2 subcompacts in FDE in 9mm and .45acp. Both shoot great. The 9mm subcompact is a bigger gun than my Glock 26, but I can carry the 26 in the Mod 2 holster. Since I got the 26 and the 19X, I find that I do not carry my XD subcompacts any more. They are stashed away in the safe.

Joe
 
I have the xd9sc and it is a nice gun but lately it sits in the safe. I either carry my SW plus or a Glock 19, PSA Dagger, or my 80% Arms GST-9. Just have trouble liking the heft of the xd. Still a good knock around gun.
 
I have had the sub compact in 9mm and really liked it. I liked that I could use full sized mags in it too.
The XDS pistols are great carry guns. I've owned both 9mm and 40. They are well made and reliable.
 
My favorite semi automatic is my XD-45 tactical. Extremely accurate (14 rounds in the black at 50 feet). The trigger, sights and grip suit me perfectly. I chose it over the Glock because of the grip safety. Over 6K rounds thru her and she will not FTF (unless you try SWC).
 
As SA transitions their line to the new model (can’t recall the name off the top of my head), the XD line looks quite interesting as a back-up/truck/woods beater pistol.

I’m looking for the secondary market to be loaded with them (pun intended) and I hope to pick one up to play with on the cheap.
 
As SA transitions their line to the new model (can’t recall the name off the top of my head), the XD line looks quite interesting as a back-up/truck/woods beater pistol.

I’m looking for the secondary market to be loaded with them (pun intended) and I hope to pick one up to play with on the cheap.

100% agreed. A lightly-used one in the low $200's is an amazing deal for a "beater" that's so nice. :)
 
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