xdm vs. xd

[Manco]

What's so hard about pulling the trigger for slide removal ? I see this creep up repeatedly and I just don't get it.

It's a safety issue--history shows that people won't always remember to make sure that the gun is unloaded before pulling the trigger to remove the slide, and when that happens the results could be (and have been) tragic. I can see the reasoning behind both sides of the debate, so I'm kind of ambivalent, although I lean more toward thinking that it's good to not require pulling the trigger just to disassemble the gun. I mean, given the option isn't it better to eliminate an unnecessary exception to the fundamental rule of keeping one's finger off the trigger (much less actually pulling it) when not shooting? This seems to make sense to me, even if requiring one to pull the trigger should theoretically not be an issue at all for those who practice safe handling. While I for one would not shy away from buying any gun for this reason, being confident that I handle guns in a careful and safe manner, it is still perhaps not the absolute best design choice.

Absolutely nothing is hard about it, but some people don't like having to do that to disassemble due to the safe gun handling rules or fear that their 10000 checks to make sure it's unloaded where indeed correct.

It's not those who check their guns 10000 times that some folks are worried about--it's the ones who may forget and kill themselves or (more likely) somebody else who did check their own gun 10000 times. Ideally, proper training should be the real solution to this issue, but let's be realistic--not everybody who owns a gun bothers to learn how to handle it safely. I realize that we can't idiot-proof everything, but specifically removing an unnecessary requirement to pull the trigger (which becomes ingrained in the "muscle memory" as an unsafe habit) is not a bad idea at all.

 

[Ala Dan]

From March 22, 2011

I had a face-to-face conversation with one of my co-workers who has
competed all over the southern half of The United States about the
potential problem that our friend bds mentioned in an earlier post,
regarding extracting/feeding issues with the regular Springfield
Armory XD's. He told me, in his many years of competing with an XD
[and a previous HS 2000]; he has not experienced any extracting or
feeding issues with any XD type of firearm~! He went own too say,
that he has not even thought a'bout purchasing a XDM .45 ACP cuz
his XD shoots so darn well.

He says that he has literally put thousands of rounds downrange,
using 200 grain L-SWC bullets in his XD.

 

[SIGLBER]

I have both the 4" and 3" XD9's. I liked the 4" so much I also bought the sub-compact. Both are very accurate, go bang everytime, have great ergonomics, and a very good trigger. I looked at the XDm's. To me it the XDM did not offer anything over the regular XD that would make it worth trading to me. The guns are already very accurate so as far as practical self defense ranges the match barrel on the XDM means nothing. The grip size and angle is great so I don't need the backstraps. And trigger reset is a matter of training. I couldn't shoot the XDM any faster than the XD. If you want the extra goodies go for it. But the only real reason I would buy the XDM was if my hand were large and the backstraps help.

 

[LiveLife]

Ala Dan, that's why I posted the link to a particular 8 page thread on "XD Jamming" (there are many other SWC jamming XD threads there) - http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/xd-45acp-discussion-room/58545-45-swc-jamming-8.html

I linked that particular thread because it starts in January of 2008 to provide some historical chronology through 2009 posts. Some will post that the jamming problem is either OK to full jam on extraction. If your friend is one of particular that did not experience the jamming on extraction problem, then that is one STATISTICAL sample.

The general consensus on XD forums is that XD45 has tendencies for the extracting case base to bump into the shoulders of SWC bullets. As many posted, if the shoulders are rounded, the extracting case base may ride over this rounded shoulder, but may not on a sharper "square" shoulder. This among OAL fixes are well discussed on various SWC XD Jamming threads.

For me, if someone who is not familiar with a particular firearm is asking for advise/recommendation that their LIFE may depend on, I want to offer as much information as possible, with qualifiers. If I am asked whether to go with XD or XDm, my recommendation would be XDm first. I would also recommend XD and recommend they shoot RN profile bullets and avoid SWC bullets. I regard XD45 highly as it is one of more accurate pistols with several published 25 yard shot groups that surpass most current factory production pistol shot groups. M&P45 will come close only after aftermarket trigger job. I wish I could buy a XDm45, but the stupid CA laws keep it out of my hands unless SA makes some modifications (same for Gen4 Glocks).

So, once more with clarification ... XD45 has known extraction issues with SWC bullets that have "sharp/square" shoulders due to flat slide rib and SWC bullets with "more rounded" shoulder MAY extract OK.

XDm45 do not have this problem due to modified slide rib design and will reliably extract SWC bullets, even those with sharp/square shoulders.

Peace.

 

[Ala Dan]

Att: bds my friend-

No harm, and No foul pard'ner~! Many thanks for the clarification, so we will
leave it at that. I must admit, I did not read all 8 or 9 pages of your link, as
time did not permit. Maybe, I have been lucky and not experienced cartridges
with sharp shoulders, I don't know; but my regualr 4" service model XD .45
ACP runs fine~! Good Luck with yours; and Maybe you will get your wish
soon, an XDM~!

Peace is granted, Brother