XD(m)9mm, my first hand gun. Some new owner questions

[Freezebyte]

Hey all, greetings from the freezing mountains of Montana. I've thought owning my own handgun for some time now and today I finally secured my first gun purchase after much research and thinking, the awesome Springfield XD(m) 9mm.

I was raised with BB's and pellet guns until I got my first .22 bolt action rifle when I was around 14 from my father who taught me about gun usage and safety, and I thank him to this day for it. I grew up around his .40 and .45 revolvers until he sold them years ago so never had a chance to work or try a handguns much, let alone semi-auto. My father also wasn't a hunter and nor was I, so beyond simple "plinking" with my .22 I wasn't raised in gun hobby home. After YEARS of seeing gun action flicks, you get that "boy" feeling of wanting something cool like a semi-auto for yourself

I had been thinking about getting my very own gun for some time, starting off with shotgun for home defense, I did alot of research and shopping but I never really got around to doing it after looking into the costs and put it on hold. Last year my best friendgot himself a S&W .40 semiauto and membership to a local range in my area. I went with him a couple times with my old Marlin .22 rifle and plinked with him but it just wasn't as fun as his semi-auto. I had a blast being able to shoot multiple rounds with some real "kick" and "power" vs the plinky .22 rifle I had used to for some many years. However, when I saw what he had to pay for even basic Wal-Mart ammo for his .40 and I decided maybe getting a .22 semi-auto would be a good balance of cost/fun.

The past couple of months, I did research and shopping I had been thinking about maybe getting a nice .22 Browning Buckmark stainless camper as I didn't feel the need to spend alot of money on a gun or on ammo and I pretty much had one picked out and had that on my list for "Santa"

Much to my surprise, Santa treated me very well this year with some gift cards to Sportsmens Warehouse in my area. Now I had alot more gun fund money then I originally thought I was gonna have and I thought to myself:

"Maybe now is the time to get a "real" gun so I can start learning self and home defense, the .22 is fine and fun but its definentily not "defense" caliber and I can finally get a semi-auto that i've always dreamt about owning!"

I had dreamed of owning a Glock for years, especially after I shot one my uncle had back when I was in High School. I immediately set my sites on a Glock 17 or 19 and went around town to my local sports stores to see what they had available and was pretty keen on just getting Glock. I guess you can call it *Glock vision*

Luckily for me, the people I spoke with were very informed and "expanded" my horizon in regards to looking beyond the famous "Glock" name and look to other makers. The one that continually came up was the new Springfield XD(m) 9mm and it was apparently taking the gun world by storm. Not being very familiar with semi auto handguns, they helped show me the basics of the gun and I was very impressed in comparison to the Glocks. Everything from the safety measures, to the look and feel of the gun, the extras included in a very nice case for the XD(m) models and 19 round clip for the 9mm was making my young gun inside me drool.

What pretty much sealed the deal was finding out about the "free" 2 extra clips and holder Springfield was offering till mid January. Approx $90 in free gear just for getting the gun? Sign me up!

However, not wanting to come to a rash and possibly "bad" decision, I do what I always do before big purchase, do my research. I spent hours on the web reading reviews, forums, posts blogs and youtube videos of various guns in variety of different enviroments. Along with users viewpoints and experience and time and time again, the Springfield constantely kept getting good praise.

Flash forward to today, after I got back from skiing, I decided to call the store to see if they had any "fresh" shipments of the XD(m) *I very anal about my products and never purchase "display" models* To my surprise, they did get a new untouched XD(m) 9mm the previous night! To sweeten it even more, after some phone calls I found that another gun dealer had the same gun for a cheaper price. I called back and asked if they would price match and they said no problem! Put my name on that gun, cause here I come!

I flew down to the other side of town and like a young boy in a toy store, I was completely excited and was nearly jumping up and down. I got to fill out the state paper work that I was FIRMLY told to take my time on, which I did, especially since i've never done this before, so I wanted to do it right the first time. It was awesome that they also went ahead and sent an updated home address request to the state dept as my license still had my *old* folks home address, so I didnt' have to wait for any paper work to go through and theres no waiting period in Montana either for gun purchases!

Needless to say, I got home and took a video of me and my initial impressions of my gun on the youtube link in my sig. Here's a few pics of my first black steel beauty! Now I know how Ralphy felt in "A Christmas Story" for real!

Look forward to learning more about my gun, saftey, techniques, add ons, tips ect..ect.. from other XD owners here! Lots to learn and im excited to get started!




1. I read the manual throughly but I couldn't find out if this gun is capable of firing P+ or +P+ rounds. I know that doing so in guns not designed for such ammo can damage or wear them out fast. Anyone know what maximum ammo specs are for the 9mm?

2. I naturally want to get a care kit for the gun. Anything in particular I should look for or just get a basic handgun cleaning kit? Do I want to use a bore snake or not? Any brands I should steer away from? Would it be better to purchase cleaning parts seperately? I want to purchase is locally, so please no internet suggestions.

3. I'm somewhat meticolous in keeping my hobby items in tip top shape. How much is to much in regards to cleaning and oiling the gun? Every 50 rounds? 100? 200? Whats a balance of maintaining the gun well and not being "anal" about it either?

4. I intially just want to use this gun at the range to shoot targets, plink and destroy old computer parts *great stress reliever* so im wanting the ammo to be cheap for starters? What grain should I be looking at? Any brands to avoid or look for? Would hollow point or solid be a better option for "plinking?"

5. Are the sights even capable of being sighted in? I don't see any way to adjust them other then left or right.

6. I was thinking of just purchasing a regular fire/safety safe at Wal-Mart to store the gun. Will this work for safety reasons or should I spend more and get a dedicated gun case from a sporting good store? At this point, i'm not learning about home or self defense, so the gun is going to be locked while not in use. Is it REALLY necassary to store ammo in a different safe?

Thanks for any input! Below is my initial "review" of my gun I posted on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb9zmM4NGfw

 

[Doc_Jude]

Don't know nothin' about the XD, my man, I'm a Glock Baby.
But hey, congrats!!! You'll be hooked now, just don't look back...

 

[opd743]

Please take your finger off the trigger, until you are ready to fire.

 

[average_shooter]

Look forward to learning more about my gun, saftey, techniques, add ons, tips ect..ect.. from other XD owners here!

Start by making it a habit to keep your finger off the trigger or "you'll shoot your eye out."

opd743 beat me to it, but it bears repeating.

Congrats on the new purchase, though. I don't personally have any experience with the XDM, but I hope it continues to serve you well.

 

[alaskanativeson]

1. The XDm can handle any ammo commercially loaded for it, but as you said, more powerful ammo wears things out quicker. Figure out what your self defense loads will be, put 200 rounds of that through it and keep 50 rounds on hand for self defense use. Use whatever you like for plinking and practice.

One note about how I determined my defense round: I went to my (then) local police department and spoke with the Sgt. in charge of weapons and asked him what ammo they used. I was pleased to find out that they used Remington Golden Sabers, a round I liked. I can now say I base my ammo choice on what the police use to protect the public. I'm not carrying "cop-killer" or "murderous" rounds should I ever have to defend myself in real life and later in a courtroom. If it's good enough for the police to use, it's good enough for me. Check with your local LEA.

2. I got my gun cleaning kit at Walmart, it's the plain Outers or Hoppes pistol kit (I don't remember which) and I bought a rifle cleaning rod to go along with it. I do know I use Hoppes No. 9 solvent, I have always associated this smell with clean guns since I was young. Choose bronze barrel brushes. For some of the smaller things I use an old toothbrush.

3. If I shoot one round while I'm out, the gun is getting cleaned and oiled when I get back home. Nothing says "I love my guns" more than keeping them properly fed and properly clean.

4. Plinking = the cheapest ammo you can find. However, I would never buy any corrosive rounds no matter how cheap they were. Blazer, American Eagle, Winchester USA (in the white box) Sellier & Bellot are usually low price but good ammo. Really, as long as it isn't corrosive and it goes bang it will work. Some people will tell you that Wolf ammo should be avoided because it uses steel cases. Other people will say that the cases are so mild that there's no way they can hurt the much harder steel in your gun's barrel. I've shot a lot of Wolf ammo through guns I've rented, but I don't generally use it in my own guns. I certainly won't use it in my new Tactical USP.

5. I'm not familiar with XDm sights, sorry.

6. I'd really suggest you look at one of the dedicated gun safes, especially if it's one of the small programmable ones that automatically pop open when you push the correct combo.

Hope my info helped. Keep in mind that all my opinions and suggestions are free, they may be worth everything I charge for them.

 

[Timradcliffe345]

Take a basic handgun class. You will learn proper shooting stance, grip, breathing and trigger control. They will also give you a good rundown on how to SAFELY operate a handgun. Anything affiliated with the NRA is good-to-go. Good luck.

 

[nutter]

19 round mags make me one jealous Californian.

Congrats on the gun purchase.

 

[Freezebyte]

Thanks on great info

 

[-v-]

I have the XD-9, the XDm's precursor. Main difference between the two is the XD-9 being slightly smaller in overall size and a little more blocky.

As far as cleaning goes, I deem that any worthwhile combat pistol should be able to handle 1,000 rounds of ammunition without the need for cleaning. That said, I usually clean my guns ever 200 rounds or so.

As far as lubrication goes, if you wet a cleaning patch with oil and give a one-over to all the contact surfaces, that should be enough oil to keep your XD running smoothly for a long while.

The sights can be adjusted using a dedicated sight adjustment tool. A quick search on Google or eBay should come up with one. However, your sights should be set to point of impact from the factory, and should not need any adjustments.

As far as storage, get what you like. I also use one of the wally-world safes to store my guns when not in use or when I am out of the house.

As for ammunition, FMJ/Ball will always be cheaper then hollow-point ammo. For plinking, Blazer Brass or Blazer Aluminum 9mm from wally-world is so far the cheapest commercial ammo that I have been able to find. For SD ammo, any of the hollow-points offered by Federal, Cor-Bon, Speer, Hornady, Remington, or Winchester should do the job just fine. Personally, I run Federal 9BPLE +P+ ammo in mine as my self-defense load. Was used for a while by the border patrol, Atlanta PD, and a few others to very good effect.

 

[tblt]

Nice gun for your first gun

Now get yourself some Federal HST +p 147 gr. LE ammo and you will be set
They expand to the size of a nickle they are awsome,I get mine from ammunitiontogo.com.They are out of the HST 147 gr due to high demand but do have the 124 gr they are great also.
They have some rangers on sale now also.

http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/catalog1/index.php/cName/9mm-hollow-point-ammo


My ammo test
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=410045


Other test look at bottom of page at the HST 147 gr.
http://www.btfh.net/shoot/bullet-test-2.html

 

[jhansman]

Excellent pistol. Only advice I have for you is buy good ammo (Win, Rem, Federal) and save all your brass. You may not reload now, but believe me when I tell you that one day you will be glad you have it.

 

[bestseller92]

How's the XD(M) working out, one year later?

 

[Full Metal Jacket]

congrats, my friend

 

[lwdaniel]

Oops, a year old message. and I was going to reply to this statement. "What pretty much sealed the deal was finding out about the "free" 2 extra clips and holder Springfield was offering till mid January."

I was going to say get rid of the 2 extra clips and get 2 extra magazines for the firearm.

 

[XD]

I have 3 XD's.

This is my fav cleaning kit:

Kleen Bore Classic Pistol