Springfield XDM 9mm questions

[Wonderclam]

I just bought a used XMD 9mm with the 3.8" barrel for $650

My questions are:

1, I noticed it has Trijicon sights. It says H3 09 on both the front and rear sights. Are these what come on the stock XDMs?

2, I bought the 3.8" barrel. What am I missing out on compared to the 4.5" pistols? Is my accuracy greatly hindered by the .7" shorter length of the barrel?

3, I hate the grip safety in the back. Is there a way to remove this without compromising anything?

4, It's hard to push in the a full magazine in if the slide is in normal position. Is this normal? It goes in very easy if the slide is locked in the back.

 

[nalioth]

3, I hate the grip safety in the back. Is there a way to remove this without compromising anything?

Removing it will greatly compromise any legal defense you may offer if you have to use it on someone.

I didn't like it at first, either, but after a while, you forget about it.

4, It's hard to push in the a full magazine in if the slide is in normal position. Is this normal?

Quite normal.

 

[LiveLife]

I hate the grip safety in the back. Is there a way to remove this without compromising anything?

+1 in not altering the factory "safety" devices. There are many 1911 shooters who don't mind the grip safety. Just keep focusing and grinning at your shot groups and you'll forget that it's there.

It's hard to push in the a full magazine in if the slide is in normal position. Is this normal?

Yes. It's due to firm spring tension in the brand new magazine pushing the top round against the bottom of the slide rib. Load the mags with as many rounds as you can and leave them like that for several months. As the spring tension normalize, fully loaded mags will get easier to load in the mag well.

It goes in very easy if the slide is locked in the back.

Of course, because there is nothing on top of the magazine to push back.

 

[Kingofthehill]

Congrats! and i saw your groups already, Great work there!

1, I noticed it has Trijicon sights. It says H3 09 on both the front and rear sights. Are these what come on the stock XDMs?

Mine doesn't have Trijicon's... not sure if stock. 09 is the year they were produced though.

2, I bought the 3.8" barrel. What am I missing out on compared to the 4.5" pistols? Is my accuracy greatly hindered by the .7" shorter length of the barrel?

You lose Sight Radius, but its less barrel to "tuck" to conceal. Longer sight radius basically gives you a more accurate shot but at this length compared to the 4.5, its not that big of a deal. not like a 2" compared to a 6"

3, I hate the grip safety in the back. Is there a way to remove this without compromising anything?

no, leave it!... you will adjust to it and its not a big deal. Honest

4, It's hard to push in the a full magazine in if the slide is in normal position. Is this normal? It goes in very easy if the slide is locked in the back.

yes, this is fairly normal. snap it in with authority... you are good to go.

 

[Wonderclam]

Awesome, thanks, guys!

I can't wait to go to the range again tomorrow and shoot some more. I want to be like Bob Munden and throw a playing card in the air and shoot it in half.

 

[TexasGunbie]

Depress the grip safety, and put a slide on hogue grip over it. Now you won't have to worry about it.

 

[wbwanzer]

Concerning the grip safety, I honestly don't even know it's there. I just grip the gun. It's not like it's difficult to push in. I grab the gun like I do every other pistol and it's a non issue.

 

[DasFriek]

I think your worrying too much about things before you shoot it.
I have an XD SC .40 and the grip safety is completely unnoticeable and i like them as it gives me an extra measure of safety when im inserting my gun into its holster.
Just in case the trigger hangs up on something nothing will happen as i make sure i dont push down on the grip safety.

Barrel length doesn't equal accuracy, It only helps bullet velocity and .7" wont be hardly noticeable at all.
The magazine tightness is normal and always a complaint, But not much of an issue once you know its normal. You can remove one round and that will help if you carry the gun as a ccw and worried about a spare mag reload going bad due to a tight mag fit.
But just slam it home.

 

[ForumSurfer]

The grip safety never bothered me. Then again, I'm accustomed to 1911's and ignoring the grip safety. As long as your grip is proper, it will be depressed.

The only thing you're missing out on with the 3.8" barrel is less barrel to conceal if you carry concealed and a shorter sight radius. The sight radius impact is negligible. The 3.8 I shot had excellent groups out to 15 yards and beyond, which is amazing considering the fact that I was the one on the trigger.

 

[schmeky]

Wonderclam,

You made a great choice with the XD. If you want to see some seriously shrinking groups, practice, practice, practice, and save up for one of these:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=196724453

 

[Wonderclam]

Wonderclam,

You made a great choice with the XD. If you want to see some seriously shrinking groups, practice, practice, practice, and save up for one of these:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=196724453

How much more accurate is that compared to my XDM 3.8"?

 

[DasFriek]

How much more accurate is that compared to my XDM 3.8"?

None, Until you can outshoot your XDM.
And to be honest ive yet to find a handgun thats a full sized one that i could out shoot.
But it may be a good gun as a second gun.

One thing you may not know is, Is that you need to buy actual target ammo thats been hand loaded or a special target load from several after market ammo makers.

Any ammo you buy at WalMart is NOT target ammo if you want to test accuracy. Some SD loads come close but still not like a true target load.

I learned this from shooting .22lr rifles and it didnt take long to find out not all ammo is the same. And if you want accuracy you have to buy good select ammo to do so.

 

[Wonderclam]

How much more expensive are target ammo compared to regular ones? A box of 9mm over here costs $13, a box of 25 SD rounds costs $23

 

[DasFriek]

Here is a quick search of google with several links i think you may find intresting and the google link so you can dig deeper if you like.
Im no expert on 9mm or large caliber ammo for accuracy shooting, but the guys who shoot competition here could tell you more. Maybe ask about ammo in the competition section here as they could be alot more helpfull than me.

http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=9mm+match+ammo&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8


http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_174_29/ai_n8968397/

http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/produ...h-147gr-subsonic-fmj-ammo/manufacturers_id/17

http://www.uspsa.org/ammo/order.php

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=71277

 

[Wonderclam]

Thanks, it'll be an interesting read.

 

[schmeky]

None, Until you can outshoot your XDM.

Absolutely.

 

[Welding Rod]

All else equal, a shorter barrel should result in less available accuracy... for two reasons, mechanical and user.

First, say you decrease the length between the contact points where the barrel rests within the slide, at the rear of the barrel and at the front of the barrel. If a longer barrel locked up within a few thousandths of the same orientation within the slide each time, you would have a certain level of accuracy. Now decrease the distance between those contact points by 20%, maintaining the same clearances in the parts. The barrel can now come to rest farther off the point of aim even though the amount of variation at the contact points is the same.

Second, say you have the physical ability to align the sights to each other close enough to shoot within a 2" circle at 25 yards. Now decrease the distance between the sights by 20%, maintaining your physical limits to align one sight to the other. For the same amount of sight alignment error you will now print farther off target.

So you can get bit twice, one for a reduction in mechanical accuracy and again for a reduction in your ability to employ the gun within its mechanical limits.

Now is that going to matter much with a defensive handgun? Probably not. However when shooting for fun, it is much more fun hitting targets and printing small groups than the alternative. So I favor longer barrels. But as has been pointed out, it really doesn't matter too much until you can shoot at least close to the gun's mechanical abilty, which most likely is pretty darn good.