Springfield XD tactical in 45 GAP? Opinions?

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mtlucas0311

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I picked up two Springfield XD tacticals (5" model) in 45 GAP on G.B. today for $350 each. They're new in the box but I really have no experience with the XD's. Anybody have one or know anything about them? I picked them up because the price was right.
 
In general, XDs are fantastic guns. I have 2 (40cal sub compact and 9mm service) and they have never once given me a bit of trouble. The grip safety is a nice feature and the grip angle is perfect for my hand. I find them to be much more muzzle-heavy than other guns I've owned and the slide sits very high compared to grip position. The early models had some rust issues but the newer ones are Melonite (sp?) coated and have been much better. They have a lifetime warranty and Springfield is pretty quick on the turn-around. Plenty of accessories available for them as well. I'm not a big fan of 45GAP mainly due to ammo availability and expense but its a mean round that gets the job done. Unless you reload I wouldn't plan on getting a great deal of range time with them. As far as I know there are no conversion barrels for the 45 GAP pistols but I have seen people kicking around the idea of the 40cal barrel fitting.

It's a great pistol and trhey have dropped the price on the 45 GAP lately so I'm guessing they aren't big sellers since the XD45 series came out. You got a great deal though and the XDs will serve you well.
 
The only problem I would say is the Caliber. 45 GAP is not a hugely popular round and is kinda hard to find sometimes. But the XD is a great weapon and for 350 NIB, thats a really good deal.
 
Like others have said, you won on getting a good deal, but lost on getting it in .45GAP, which is a very niche cartridge with limited support.

As for the high barrel axis. I compared my XD-9 to my CZ-40P. The CZ is considered to have a very low in-line bore axis, while the XD is commonly held to have a very high bore axis. Trigger-to-trigger, grip to grip, the XD's barrel was maybe 1mm higher then the CZs. Perspective can play havoc with us sometimes.
 
well i love xd's however i am not a fan of .45 gap, it is answer for a problem that dosen't exist imho. ammo is expensive period. i like ammo that is common to find.
 
It's a good buy.

The .45 GAP is very capable ammo, but hard to find.

I wish it held more than 8+1, tho.

.
 
Unfortunately, anything you saved in gun will quickly be lost when you pay for .45 GAP ammo.

If .45 GAP goes the way of the Dodo bird, you're going to be the owner of 2 paperweights.
 
.45GAP, like .44 Special, is a perfectly good cartridge. You just have to load most of it yourself, to really make it worthwhile.
 
Thanks for the input guys, I was actually a little turned on by the cartridge since I don't have a weapon of that caliber and the price got my attention also. I'm not so concerned over the price of the GAP ammo since I have a buddy and a father who both reload (I have the best of both worlds, I buy the primers, powder, and bullets and they reload them for me!). I don't really know what I'm going to do with it, I shoot a lot of PPC and now small bore silhouette; AND I just got a W.O.P upper for my AR to shoot service rifle this summer. So when I'm shooting it's normally a match gun. I guess I've turned into a sort of collector. I do think I could easily sell the gun to a number of people I know, take the money and get the same gun in 40 S&W (I still can't believe I don't have a full size 40 after all this time). After reading about the GAP it seem like its a short ACP that does about the same thing for more money as many of you have indicated. I'm a bigger guy so the size of a frame is usually to small, if anything, and that seems to have been the motivation for the GAP. But I'm happy to hear all the positive comments about the XD's--Thanks again
 
XDs are great guns... but the 45 gap is pricey and nowhere near as widely available. especially now! :eek: and i don't think i've seen GAP brass in a long time! well, i guess you can just trim the crap out of ACP brass, lol. i'm guessing even though the primer is different you could just 'make it work' lol.
 
.45 GAP is not going to ever catch on. You'll be hunting for ammo forever and paying dearly when you find it. .45 GAP was the answer to the question nobody asked.

I always wondered if they had made it the .44 GAP if they might not have done better...just from a marketing standpoint...they could have just called it .44 Auto. I would have done the same thing as the .45 GAP was supposed to do (big-bore, small package) and have some uniqueness to it and tune into America's long love affair with the .44. As it is, all they did is make the .45 smaller. Marketing and PR.
 
I've never understood the .45 GAP because the only dimension savings is the length, and it's only about .200 shorter than the regular .45.

So a pistol in .45 GAP isn't going to be any smaller by any significant means, and that's it's sole claimed advantage.

I'd sell the GAP XD's for a profit (if you can) and go with a .45 XD Compact instead.
 
The premise behind the GAP is that it'll fit in 9mm sized platforms.

Had the Assault Weapon Ban been extended (or reinstated!) and it's "10 rounds max," no matter if it's .380, 9mm, .40 or .45, many people will prefer those 10 rds be as large as possible, especially if fired from the same size platform.
 
I'm not a fan of the XD in general but w/ the following they've developed over the years, as a platform, it should be fine. As for the cliber -- 45 GAP? Really? 9mm, 40S&W & 45acp do nothing for you? :confused:
 
I have one of the 45 Gap XD's. I bought it back before they were making the 45ACP models. It has been a good solid gun just like any of the other XD's are. One of the shops in town usually has ammo, and actually my closest Wal-Mart carries GAP ammo also. For the price you paid for the guns you got a good deal.
 
It seems the consensus is that the choice of caliber is the only thing you guys aren't crazy about. I'm kind of torn over it, half of me likes that its a more obscure, or at least less popular, caliber since it adds some diversity to my gun safe. Like I mentioned earlier, the only thing I can really see myself shooting with that gun is a stock class type of action pistol (IDPA?- been wanting to try that lately). For PPC and bulls eye I have true match grade guns; and realistically I've got a 14 45 LDA that I might do better with depending how they define "stock" gun (ie: w or w/o polymer frame). I bought it on an impulse when a guy at work asked me to get him an XD or a USP for under $500. Good luck on the USP but I found the XD on a dutch auction on gunbroker, I had $500 of his money to play with so I put in a bid at $400 and a bid at $360. My logic was that if it went for $360 then I get an extra $40 off since I told him I could get it for $400. Well, they went at $350 so I got mine for $300. Who could possibly pass up that deal!!! I have thought about re-listing it at a profit and getting the same gun in 40 S&W though.
Note: when I say "get him a gun" I mean I win it, HE goes to my FFL holder; just to clarify.
 
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