Springfield XD Review

[teddy_bear]

I think the trigger reset on the XD is about 1/2"... it's a little annoying at first if you come from, say, a Glock 17 whose trigger resets at around 1/4", but I found myself hardly noticing it after a while. One of the biggest problems I've seen with an XD is that of a loaner at a local range. Essentially the slide locks back when there are still rounds in the mag. I'd surmise to call it a failure to feed, but I'm not sure that's an adequate description. The rangemaster felt it was due to carbon buildup on the mags after about 15,000 rounds being fed through and the weapon not being cleaned during the time, but subsequent him cleaning it, the malfunction persisted.

[jnp]

I found a lightly used XD-9 for $400. It didn't look like it'd had more than 100 rounds through it.

I have the exact same deal available with a XD .40 from a state trooper I know. I think Anthony's endorsement just clinched the deal.

[Gezere]

I recently fired the XD 40 and the .45ACP. Put 400 rounds through them. (200 each) Shot great, felt great in the hand. I will buying the .45 next weekend.

[Robstafarian]

I recently fired the XD 40 and the .45ACP. Put 400 rounds through them. (200 each) Shot great, felt great in the hand. I will buying the .45 next weekend.

Can you, or anyone else reading this for that matter, compare the felt recoil of an XD-45 to a more less GI 1911 (5" barrel)? After lots of time waiting to get the money, I've reconsidered firearm ownership yet again and am leaning toward a 1911.

[ysc87]

talk about coincidence-- what a perfect thread to start posting here--
my friend and i decided to splurge and **** around with the .45s at the range we go to, and we picked out a springfield 1911 and a xd-45; the xd is a bit strange feeling in my hands for some reason.. i still managed to get a nice tight grouping, but it still felt stange. but then again, i'm a usp .40 nutrider, so w/e.

video of us trying out the 1911 and xd:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJPY21aIMxs

i'm the asian guy, the white guy is my friend (he's still learning)

[Nid]

Your friend made me nervous.

[Robstafarian]

Your friend made me nervous.

Seconded. I kept almost yelling "What the **** are you doing?! POINT THAT THING SOMEWHERE ELSE!" That, combined with his general handling of the pistol, made me very glad I wasn't on the range watching this.

Granted I've only been to a range once and only fired a gun once, but I wanted to go Fawlty Towers on that guy:

This is a pistol, this is your target, this :f-off: is a smack in the back of the head!

[ysc87]

Your friend made me nervous.

i'll let him know :D




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-J86N_1myE

here's us with a usp .40 and a ar-9
if you're wondering why we have video, we decided that video documentation would be nice to compare us, and maybe give insight as to why he occasionally can't seem to shoot the broad side of a barn.

limp wristing and poor stance is what i blame it on. you guys see anything else other than that and just a general disregard for firearm safety?

[Robstafarian]

limp wristing and poor stance is what i blame it on. you guys see anything else other than that and just a general disregard for firearm safety?

From the limited views in the videos, the only problems I can see are what you mentioned. More specifically, these are the problems I see:

1. His left hand is too high on the pistol. It should be lower, with roughly the center of his palm under the magazine, so that he can control the vertical axis of the pistol (i.e muzzle flip) with a push/pull mechanic; with his left hand as high as he has it, the push/pull mechanic would control the horizontal axis.
2. He needs to bend his elbows, keeping his elbows straight presents the following problems:
   1. Recoil becomes a straight-line force into his upper back, exaggerating its effect on his point of aim and throwing his entire body off balance.
   2. He can't use his forearm muscles to direct the pistol.
   3. Controlling recoil no longer makes efficient use of muscle groups. He will have to rely on his upper arms, chest, upper back, and abs rather than his arms and upper back. His back will receive the brunt of the force, since he can't use elbow flexion to absorb the initial shock, which could cause strain. Furthermore, the straight-line force could strain his upper arm muscles if they lack tone.
3. His grip needs to be more firm. With a firm grip, he can use his forearms to determine the point of aim while his hands hold the pistol in the correct position.

On second thought, I might just be saying this because I naturally use a Weaver Stance; he looks like he might be using a (badly executed) Isosceles Stance.

[wetware]

There's a couple different ways to hold the pistol, you're describing the teacup grip which is not what I prefer. I can't remember the other one's name, but it's preferred by a lot of professional target shooters.

Here's a link to the second one.
http://www.handgunsmag.com/tactics_training/grip_0925/

Another possible problem is eye dominance. Sometimes he's on, sometimes he's off? I'm right handed and predominantly left eyed. (I say predominantly because it changes for me based on which eye was open last. Odd, huh?) If he's cross-eye dominant like I am most of the time, he's going to have to modify his stance a lot and find things that work for him.

Here's a link for checking eye dominance.
http://www.archeryweb.com/archery/eyedom.htm

Edit: I just grabbed one of my pistols to check grip and realized that you weren't describing the teacup grip at all. Just proper hand placement. But in fairness, here's the teacup grip. It's preferred for situations where you don't start with your firearm out and have to react quickly and don't have time to waste worrying about hand placement. It does, however, lack a bit in recoil control. This also has some other rather silly grips on it.

http://www.corneredcat.com/Basics/grip.aspx