Today’s sacred cow: The XD
People love their Springfield XDs. And they’re fine guns, except for that whole grip safety thing. But I’ve never been a fan. Something about the grip angle makes it feel like I’m shooting a stapler and not a handgun. Am I the only one?
February 14th, 2012 at 11:08 am
Like the grip angle, but I normal shoot the hipowers it was modeled after. If you shoot Glocks, then I imagine it would be a bit of an adjustment.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:09 am
Nope, I think they are good looking, good running, accurate handguns. Grip just does not work for me.
Ive often said, accuracy is in the hand of the gun holder.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:11 am
Personally, I’m just the opposite. The XD’s fit my hand right, and the Glocks feel like I’m gripping a brick.
It takes all kinds, I guess.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:14 am
Do you have big hands?
I know some guys with bigger hands have a hate for the grip angle.
Me?
I love my XD sub-comp 9.
My only complaint is that it is a bit heavy for what it is.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:35 am
Personally not a fan, and I fail to see how the grip safety would prevent any NDs. Situations like shooting one’s leg when holstering would still have the ‘safety’ depressed. There are also the lockups that have been reported because of the grip safety.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:55 am
I actively dislike the XD, so for me it is only sacred cow because I really like hamburgers.
If there was an intruder pounding on the door and there was an XD near by I wouldn’t have any qualms using it. I fully expect it to go bang and hit the target. I just plain don’t like them.
February 14th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
@Dan, I have big hands and HATE the Glock for the grip angle. Love my XD and 1911. I did handle a Gen 4 on Sunday and was surprised. They changed the angle.
@Stroker, people keep saying that but I have yet to see it on my XD, or any of my friends who have XDs. The immediate result from Google goes back to 2007. I bought my in May of 2007, with no similar issue. I tried a rental gun that had been getting heavy use prior to purchase as well. I’ve run about 4000 rounds through during practice, plus the rounds for matches and have yet to have a failure because of the grip safety.
When would it help? Normally while holstering I relax around the grip safety putting my thumb on the back of the slide to insert it into the holster. While don’t have a cheap holster, should anything snag in the trigger guard and press the trigger I’m not going to have this happen. While properly maintaining equipment, not touching it, and numerous other things would help prevent such accidents, there are other things to get snagged such as cover garments. It is not a safety that concerns me because it’s type has been around for a long time, it’s operation is natural and requires no thought.
February 14th, 2012 at 12:34 pm
Love my sub-compact 9. Practiced with many magazine of cartridge, and the first two are reassuringly accurate each and every time. I thought about selling it a few times, but my positive range experience always countermands that notion.
February 14th, 2012 at 12:50 pm
I like the XD a lot. No problems, shoots well.
February 14th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
The XD unjamming block is always good for a laugh.
I never did find out if they figured out how to make sight dove tails. Too tight and too loose are what I’ve seen.
I don’t get using the grip safety to prevent shooting yourself because you weak hand the gun going into the holster, but I guess it makes some folks feel better.
I’m just not a fan of how tall they are.
February 14th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
This is why Baskin Robbins stays in business, not everyone loves Vanilla.
February 14th, 2012 at 1:43 pm
I love my XD. The grip angle works better for me than the glock.
+1 what Barron Barnett said about the grip safety.
I carry Appendix IWB. A snagged trigger means a bullet in my femoral artery.
February 14th, 2012 at 1:59 pm
I’m an XD fan as well. The grip frame fits my small hands and I can reach all the controls without having to move my hands when I’m holding it. The only thing I would change on it are the sights. The rounded edges on the rear sights take a little longer for me to line up, compared to the Glock sights, which have nice sharp angles.
February 14th, 2012 at 2:10 pm
For some reason, I usually get the opposite vibe from most gunblogs.
February 14th, 2012 at 2:16 pm
I recently shot an XD rented from my local range. I was not impressed with the grip or the grip safty. My Glock feels right, my 1911 feels right even with its grip safty, the XD just does not. I really hate the magazine, it cut into my thumb with every reload. Also, to my eye, the XD is ugly.
February 14th, 2012 at 2:31 pm
Statically, I know this doesn’t make a hill of beans, but I’ve noticed that several new Female Shooters, when they have tried out a bunch of semi-auto Pistols, a lot of them love the way the Xds feel. Running about 80%. And I don’t know why.
And I’m not getting into the “Pink Girly Guns” mess either. Just facts that keep showing up. Glocks, M+Ps, 1911s, Revolvers of all sizes, they tell me the “Xd feels the best.” Wish I knew why.
February 14th, 2012 at 2:41 pm
I never cared for the looks of the XD, but then I shot the XDM and loved the way it felt in my hand. I was also more accurate with it than with my other 9 mms. So now it is my favorite gun…I’ve gotten over the looks issue. My wife, on the other hand, prefers the feel of the MP. Different strokes, I guess.
February 14th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
I like mine, but I feel like a Ford man at a Chevy convention. There’s not a whole lot of accessories. Glock has all the holsters, lights, and what not.
I used to hate the Glock, but now not so much. Don’t really care. If the M&P had a normal trigger, I’d be happy with that too.
February 14th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
M&P trigger is easy enough to fix with a $25 RAM.
February 14th, 2012 at 4:10 pm
Never cared for the looks of the XD, then I saw “Made in Croatia” and I was out. Only USA guns for me. But that’s just my personal opinion.
February 14th, 2012 at 4:55 pm
I like the XD, but not the XDm (I swear I can tell a difference in the grips), and I dont like the Glock b/c of the grip angle. I think you’re right, to each his own, shoot whatever feels right.
I also really like the grip angle on my HK USP, but hate myself for owning an HK. 🙂
Of course my edc 75% of the time is an old sig 229 (old enough to be made 100% in germany anyway) and the XD and HK mostly get pulled out for range trips.
And why the sig? B/c its holster feels the most comfortable walking around. I have the same holster design from the same manufacturer for the others, but the sig feels the most comfortable. Maybe a lousy reason, but it means I will carry it, instead of leaving it at home. Like you said, shoot/carry whatever feels best to you.
February 14th, 2012 at 5:02 pm
If your grip alters a bit the gun doesnt fire. Worth the chance?
February 14th, 2012 at 5:54 pm
@j greer I’ve tried weak handing it and it has always fired. If you’re holding the gun it’s going to go bang. Does a 1911 not go bang because of an altered grip? I would like someone to show me how to hold a gun without depressing the grip safety in such a manner as I would be able to fire it accurately enough to hit the broad side of a barn and not have it go flying from recoil.
If you can get your finger on the trigger in such a manner as to pull it the grip safety will be OFF and the gun will go BANG.
The only argument against a grip safety is a few parts for mechanical ware and failure. Maintaining and doing function checks of your weapon mitigates this. You do function checks when you clean or purchase a firearm right!?
@Ohio Shawn – You can notice a difference between XD and XDm because there are interchangeable grips for the back strap. They are different though they can be set up to be the same.
February 14th, 2012 at 8:04 pm
I believe you have my stapler…
February 14th, 2012 at 9:13 pm
j greer:
that’s the whole point of the grip safety, if you don’t have a decent hold of the gun, it normally means you don’t want it going BANG.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:59 pm
I like my xd. It’s like a glock, but comfy to my hands. Others may like glocks because they fit their hands. Use what works, be it xd, glock, M&P, or whatever. Whatever helps you put holes in bad guys.
February 15th, 2012 at 2:18 am
I know I already used the joke in comment 24, but I couldn’t help myself:
http://memegenerator.net/instance/14621142
February 15th, 2012 at 9:13 am
I rented darn near everything before I made my purchase, and the ones whose ergonomics fit ME the best were the XDM, Ruger SR-9, and XD. The S&W M&P was tolerable, the Glocks felt like Blocks, and I didn’t like anything about the Sig.
I found a good deal on an XD before I found one on a Ruger, so that is what I got. Zero complaints here.
@j greer Short of having my thumb amputated, that is not going to happen.
February 15th, 2012 at 11:41 am
I am with you. I hate the grip safety with a passion. I also am quite content with the grip angle of the Glock.
February 15th, 2012 at 7:56 pm
not that this post is short on comments…
I like the grip angle. Glocks feel weird in my hands. This probably coordinated to why I like 1911s so much and pistol grips on rifles. That forward bent wrist just does not feel good to me. But whatever floats your boat.