2WheeledSpeed

The XD and XDm series are Springfield Armory's contenders in the polymer framed pistol market dominated by Glock. Some Glock Fan boys might try to tell you that the XD is a Glock clone, but don't listen to them, although visually similar the XD is a different design.

The XD was designed and produced in Croatia, and imported to the U.S. by Springfield Armory. Mine is the subcompact version chambered in .40S&W. Springfield packs plenty of goodies with this gun, you receive a 9 round magazine, two extended 12 round magazines, a mag loader, belt mag holder, belt holster, and a bore cleaning brush. I didn't like the holster, I replaced it with a leather Don Hume IWB (Inside the waistband) holster right away, but that's a minor complaint over a free holster. The mag loader is a big help, especially when the mags are brand new. Saves your thumbs a lot of pain during extended range sessions.

This gun is meant for concealed carry, and in my IWB holster it disappears underneath a t-shirt. It's light enough to not bother me even when walking around all day with it on.

Recoil with this little gun is somewhat sharp, but that's to be expected. You don't get a full powered cartridge into a subcompact package without making sacrifices. It's still very controllable though, even though the 9 round mag leaves your pinkie finger hanging off the grip. The gun is a bit easier to control with the extended grip, but it's a little harder to conceal. I prefer to carry with the shorter mag.

Accuracy is on par with other subcompact guns I've fired, including the Sig P239 (.40S&W) and the subcompact .40S&W Glock, the G27. Compared to the Glock I consider the trigger to be slightly superior to the Glock trigger, and the grip feels a little better in
my hands than the Glock (You'll hear the same thing
from lots of XD fans). But that's purely personal
preference.

The XD is absolutely the most reliable handgun I or anyone in my family owns, it eats anything I feed it from Russian steel cased crap and cast lead reloads to high quality hollow points. It's the only gun I own that I can honestly say has never had a single failure of any kind.

Some features included with this gun are a loaded chamber indicator on top of the slide, a striker status indicator at the rear of the slide, and a 1911 style grip safety. The chamber and striker indicators allow you to check to make sure you have a round in the chamber and that your striker is cocked even in total darkness. They're nice touches, but I could live without them. None of my other pistols have similar features. The grip safety is another addition that I don't mind, I've heard some people complain about it. They don't seem to understand that
it's a completely passive safety. Just holding the grip naturally disables the safety and allows you to fire the gun.

Just like any Glock, you can get any larger XD in .40S&W and share mags between the guns. In fact, the "extended" mags included with this gun are nothing more than standard XD mags with a grip extension added. I can take them off at any time and use them in a full sized XD. Sharing ammo between guns is an attractive feature to many people, this gun would make a good backup to a full sized XD.

It's easy to find basic XDs for under $500 (You'll pay more for stuff like night sights), making them a very affordable yet extremely reliable option for those seeking a handgun. The subcompact versions only come in either 9mm or .40S&W, but the larger version can also be found in .45ACP and .357SIG.

If you're in the market for an affordable handgun, take a SERIOUS look at the XD series. Just like Glocks they come in a variety of sizes and calibers to suit your needs.