What does everyone see in the XD?

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How do you Glock guys pistol whip anyone, anyhow?:neener:

With competition from the XD and the M&P, maybe now the Austrians will get off their butts and put out a Glock people actually like and don't have to apologize for. No more: "My Glock is ugly, but it survived being dipped in salt water and motor oil..." I get the feeling that Glock is a "take 'em as we make 'em" outfit and that's that (finger grooves on stock, poor stock angle, not so great take down procedure).

Let us give thanks though, that we still have "choices" and let us relish the fact that we still have the freedom to choose our firearms. We still do, don't we?
 
I've been carrying a glock on duty for nearly 8 years and love them but just purchased an xd 45 4". The springfield points better and seems more natural. Haven't had a chance to shoot it much yet but the triger pull is better than the glock's. Accuracy seems about the same so far. Love the 13 round 45 better that the 15 of 40.
 
I bought an XD-9 about a year ago. Nice gun. The main reason I got it was I liked it. What'd I like about it? I don't know. It works. Never malfunctioned. Hits where I expect it too. That's about all I ask a gun to do.

I didn't really want a Glock, simply because it seems everybody and his brother and sister have one. Nothing wrong with that, as a matter of fact since then my wife got a Glock, and I like that too. It works. Never malfunctioned. Hits where I expect it to.

You want to talk about much ado about nothing, or missing something? The whole "grip angle" thing. Yea they're different, but that's about it. I don't see where one is better than the other. YMMV.

To me it's about like a Ford/Chevy thing. It doesn't matter to me one way or the other. I don't own stock in either company, so it doesn't matter to me what someone else buys.
 
people came out of the woodwork recommending the XD. Why? Just don't understand why, am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Recent XD owner here. Some of the reasons behind my acquisition were:

  1. Consistent good report on various gunfora
  2. Reload friendly -- fully supported chamber and conventional rifling.
  3. Relatively inexpensive factory magazines (compared to what it replaced).
 
I honestly think if the U.S. military opened a round of trials for a polymer-framed, DA-only, high-capacity pistol, the XD would be VERY tough to beat.
Click to expand...
No, the XD wouldn't be a contestant since it is not double-action. It is a single-action, just like a 1911.

I agree that there lots of choices for everyone and becasue everyone has different tastes, most of the choices that are avilable now will be avilable for a long time to come.

While the XD does feel better than the Glock out of the box, I despise the gun. With a few minor inexpensive mods to my Glocks, they can be made to be perfect... for me.

Some things about the XD that I do not like and tes, I have shot several of them:

High axis of recoil
I hate grip safeties
PITA to take apart compared to Glock
It's a single-action
Can't get simple, user-replaceable parts.
EXTREMELY complicated to detail strip.
Rusts easily
No steel in the rear frame rails.
Trigger reset absolutely sucks.
While certainly adequately accurate, I haven't yet found one that shoots any better, if as well, as my Glocks
 
Springfield XDs

Well, like many of you, I also have many reasons for liking the XD.

First off, I have fired a Glock (modle?) .40. It shot to the left. Other than that, I enjoyed it but this wasn't my firearm so I never did have to clean it. I just had to aim to the right of whatever I wanted to hit.

Oweing to balistics of the .40, I decided to see about getting one. I went to a (then) loacl range that rented a variety of handguns. I rented about 5 each .40 cal handguns and got about 100 rounds of ammo. A Glock was in the mix. 10 rounds each. First cut was based on how comfortable the firearm was when shooting. Felt recoil, recovery and second shots. Other factors where considered as well as ease of breakdown, repairability etc. Anyway, I basically returned a S&W, Walther. Second cut got the Glock as it too kept wanting to shoot to the left. All my points were finally accumulated by the ugly duckling Springfield XD .40. Personally, I think it is too wide at the slide making it a poor choice in the CCW /CHL category but a great home defense or duty firearm.

I am an old 1911 man. I like it because it works, works well and it is flat unlike all the new polymer packers. While, I am not sure as to its' need the XD does have a grip safety and I have become accustomed to the XDs trigger and I love the 13+1 (M1911A1 only hold 7+1) in a standard magazine.
So, now I own an XD40 / XD45 and I love them both

Semper Fi!:cool:
 
I personally thought the XD/HS2000 was ugly as sin the first time I saw it, and couldn't figure out why gun manufacturers insist on neglecting the aesthetic element of their products. Though I have become comfortable with it's appearance.

The Glock I found to be relatively inoffensive. Just a little bit plain and boring. It didn't exactly make me go, "hey that's cool, what is that?".

But I thought about buying a Glock 34 as a cheap IPSC gun, and ultimately didn't. The grip and point I could get past. The big thing was the trigger. Sure, over time you could get used to it, but why make things difficult for yourself?

I did fondle the XD recently too, and much preferred that. Point, and 'feel' was nice, and the trigger was very manageable. It felt like more of a gun.

Ultimately though, I brought a Tanfoglio (can't beat steel). :neener:
 
I own a Glock 17, a Glock 19, and a Springer XD-45 Tactical. By far, the best pistol in my hands is my Glock 17. I don't understand all the hype about the XD pointing "better"--my Glock 17 points exactly where I aim it every time. The XD, OTOH, throws me off a bit with its higher bore axis in terms of pointability, but it's amazingly accurate nonetheless.

All of the above guns are wonderfully rugged and accurate. My XD had some teething problems related to a trigger job by Canyon Creek (burr on firing pin block ---> obstructed firing pin ---> light strikes), but that was easily fixed. Other than that, these guns run as advertised. And run, and run, and run.

The only problem with Glocks for me was the monstrous grip size of their .45's. Even the 30 is chunky to me. Their 9mm's are the cats meow, as far as I'm concerned, so I'd NEVER buy an XD 9mm to replace any of my Glocks. The XD's slim .45 grip, however, was an answer to a question Glock previously refused to address. That right there is where the XD picks up a lot of fans, and hopefully it'll be enough to get Glock off its apathetic butt and introduce models people have been clamoring for forever (not just slimmed down frames).

There are differences (safeties, ergos, aftermarket support, parts availability, etc.), but the bottom line is both are fine guns. In the end, however, I don't see ANY polymer offering from any other company usurping the Polymer Throne from Glock. Not the M&P, not the XD, not the HK45, none of 'em. Glock is best because it's simplest and it works--I don't need LCI's or grip safeties or interchangeable grips or whatever. These "improvements" are more gimmicky than anything. My two cents. :)

Edited to add: Regarding triggers--I've become something of a trigger snob, so all three guns have had trigger work to some degree or another. The 19 has a 3.5# connector and the $0.25 trigger job, the 17 has a competition 2.5# trigger kit in it, and the XD has Canyon Creek's 2.5# competition trigger job. The XD's stock trigger was by far the worst, the two Glocks were typical Glock smush. Now, my favorite pull is on my 17 (light, fast reset, clean break), but I really haven't put the XD trigger through its paces yet. The CC trigger job is a vast improvement over stock, however.
 
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Actually, I just bought an XD-9 bi-tone sub-compact yesterday. :) I wanted a small, relatively lightweight 9mm to carry. I have to say that I like the Glock 26 and it shoots pretty well for me, but the XD just fits better. I've got small hands and the G26 grip just always felt too thick. I could have been happy with either gun, but the XD felt better and was close to $100 cheaper, so it wasn't a hard decision.
 
Why? In my opinion it's all in the name - Springfield. When this gun was the HS2000, nobody cared at all about them. BUT, put a different name on them, and suddenly they're the greatest gun in all the land. Same gun except for the name. Just shows it's not so much the product as much as it is the name and marketing. :barf:
 
Why I Prefer The Springfield Armory XD's over Glock's

Better trigger, all steel sights (no plastic), loaded chamber indicator on top
of pistol (not on the side), cocking indicator (glocks have none), ambi mag
release (glocks are only on the left), stainless steel magazines instead of
polymer magazines, grip safety (glocks have none), steel guide rod instead
of a polymer quide rod, grip angle much like the 1911 instead of the long
swoop angle of the Glock. And, most importantly PRICE~! :scrutiny: ;) :D
 
My buddy was recently looking for a compact pistol in .45 or .40 so we went to the local REALLY GOOD gunshop where they have everything in stock and they set all of them up on the counter for him. (we had them put up a Glock 27, a Taurus PT140, and a XD Sub Compact (.40) and Glock 30) He didn't close his eyes or do anything like that . .he merely picked them up and handled each one quite a bit. (I did the same) For our hands it was really no contest. I'd recommend that anyone who wants to buy a gun does the same thing as I think if you'd handle all the relevant pistols at the same time you'd find the "right" one.

Just my .02
 
I agree with

most of you folks about the XD being more comfortable grip wise, and reliable and so on. I also like the fact that SA has a reputation for great customer service. That being said, I have a question for anyone who can point me in the right direction; Recently my XD45 started light striking and I called SA and they asked if I had lubed the firing pin (no) and suggested cleaning out the firing pin channel. OK, pretty straight forware, took my pin punch and depressed the rear of the striker assy, slid off the retainer and pulled it out with the spring and a "nail" like stainless thing... The firing pin stayed in the slide. I looked carefully and it seems that you have to drive out a roll pin to remove the firing pin. Is this right? Any way, I blew the hell out of the channel from both ends with brake cleaner and compressed air then reassembled it all dry. Now it seems to hit the primers good and hard and I've had no failures in about 200 rounds since the cleaning of the fp channel. I'd like to know the proper procedure for complete disassembly of the slide. Thanks,:eek:
 
I can offer some video for you fellas...

I would first like to say that if I don't like something about a gun that I own I'll flat out say it. Just because I bought one doesn't mean I'm a die hard loyalist to the gun itself. That being said I've found that the XD is in fact a good weapon for the most part. I have put over a thousand rounds through my XD 40 and just last weekend cleaned it for the first time, I did that on purpose. As it turns out I've found that this gun likes being cleaned more so than the glock does. Furthermore, I've found that it will shoot reloads but prefers new ammo over reloaded ammo. Usually has to do with the casing being expanded after being shot the first time initially. I also don't like the six pound trigger pull on the XD. Long trigger pulls make me shoot more inaccurately, where as the glock is about a 5.5lb trigger pull which is a little better but not much. I think with the XD you have to train your trigger pull to move forward just enough to re-engage the sear or you might find your jerking the gun a little bit due to anticipation of the round. Takes some getting use to if nothing else. I'm more apt to my 4 pound 1911 but that's neither here nor there. The XD is a very well made firearm and a very popular one at that. I think its actually a pretty slick looking pistol, I'm assuming the rest of you are calling it an ugly duckling merely because of its polymer attributes. Out here in California it was taking upwards of 3-4 weeks just to get your hands on an XD 40 last year, luckily I bought mine at a gun show. And I'll say it again just in case anyone missed it last time. You can turn your XD 40 into a .357 Sig by merely swapping out the barrel for about $180 and using .357 mags instead of your .40's. Furthermore Springfield just came out with a great idea for their XD 45 sub-compact. By merely changing a magazine it can go from a sub compacy to an actual normal sized service model. Very cool for people who want to use it for CCW but also would like to have the service model size for the range. Something to think about.

Either way, here's a video of me shooting (albeit not very seriously due to the rounds malfunctioning every 3rd or 4th shot) at an IDPA match out in Piru, California. As you watch the video, if you pay close attention you'll see my slide isn't returning to its original position after firing a round but instead its slightly ajar because a round is jammed in the action. This was right after a cleaning and some drops of oil for lubrication. Now just about everyone knows if you use garbage reloads in your guns, you can pretty much expect them to shoot that way. However I've actually purchased some nice reloads for the XD with worked flawlessly, but I can also tell you that the rounds that were fired out of my XD and jammed it were also fired out of a glock without a problem. Stay away from a company called "Ammo Bros" out here in Cali if you tend to buy reloads at gun shows. They're garbage and the owners of the company know they're garbage but sell them anyway.

Springfield XD 40 jamming
 
mpmarty said:
most of you folks about the XD being more comfortable grip wise, and reliable and so on. I also like the fact that SA has a reputation for great customer service. That being said, I have a question for anyone who can point me in the right direction; Recently my XD45 started light striking and I called SA and they asked if I had lubed the firing pin (no) and suggested cleaning out the firing pin channel. OK, pretty straight forware, took my pin punch and depressed the rear of the striker assy, slid off the retainer and pulled it out with the spring and a "nail" like stainless thing... The firing pin stayed in the slide. I looked carefully and it seems that you have to drive out a roll pin to remove the firing pin. Is this right? Any way, I blew the hell out of the channel from both ends with brake cleaner and compressed air then reassembled it all dry. Now it seems to hit the primers good and hard and I've had no failures in about 200 rounds since the cleaning of the fp channel. I'd like to know the proper procedure for complete disassembly of the slide. Thanks,
Click to expand...

To answer this I would suggest just purchasing the DVD. I think its a must have for just about every XD owner out there. It will show you everything you're asking and more and the way its filmed it's real easy to see whats going on. Lenny McGill is pretty good at explaining EVERYTHING there is to know about this weapon.

Springfield XD complete disassembly/reassembly
 
For most people who like the .45a.c.p. i can see why they choose the xd with the slimmer grip. For me i have larger hands and i have always been a glock fan so i stick with the glock. I had an xd in a .45 and i just could not get use to quik draws with that safety in the back. It always made me feel uncertain about my grip. I like the glocks trigger, look, style and shooting impressions i get from the gun. The results on paper have always been great with my glocks. The results with the xd have never impressed me for the hype. I think it is just a way to go for people who do not prefer glock and now i see that is okay too.
 
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