Springfield XD comments anyone?

[jhrosier]

I have a Glock 23, 3rd gen., that I am happy with EXCEPT for not being able to use cast bullets. I know that I could replace the barrel, for a couple hundred bucks. The G23 is surprisingly accurate and exactly the right size for me.
I've been thinking more along the lines of trading towards a Springfield XD .40, if one could be found with a 4" barrel.
Does anyone here have experience with one of these and what is the story regarding availability.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I have a Glock 23, 3rd gen., that I am happy with EXCEPT for not being able to use cast bullets. I know that I could replace the barrel, for a couple hundred bucks. The G23 is surprisingly accurate and exactly the right size for me.
I've been thinking more along the lines of trading towards a Springfield XD .40, if one could be found with a 4" barrel.
Does anyone here have experience with one of these and what is the story regarding availability.

I'm not a big fan of them for one simple reason: I don't like, nor really trust, guns with grip "safeties". Like internal trigger locks, they're just one more thing that can fail on you when you really, REALLY, REALLY! need your gun to work!

Here's something interesting that John Farnam reported on them a few months back:

23June05

SA XD

I attended part of the SA XD Armorer's Class yesterday. It is clear that SA is making a sincere effort to get the XD accepted by the police community as a legitimate, duty gun. As I've said in the past, XDs we've had in classes
have all worked fine.

However, real problems made themselves apparent during the class. Glocks, even at the armorer level, are nearly impossible to reassemble wrong. Glock parts are designed to fit together only one way. When they don't fit together, that is a hint that you are doing it incorrectly. SA engineers need to take note.

A number of XD parts can be easily put in place backwards and/or upside down, with no clue that assembly is inappropriate. When assembly is
complete, the pistol won't work. In fact, there is one blind hole, designed to receive a pin. If the pin inadvertently goes in backward, it cannot be removed and must be drilled out!

If SA is serious about making inroads into the police market, they are going to have to make engineering changes in the XD that make the job of the armorer less tedious. The XD is a good gun, but it is not up to Glock standards yet.

/John

Regards
John

 

[tim1684]

Check the classifieds in this forum. I believe there is a full size tactical model and a sub-compact model with a 3" barrel. Both of those posts have comments on performance.

 

[cdkayak]

I have an XD9 4" which I'm happy with. It's accurate and so far it's been 100% reliable.(only a few hundred rounds through it at this point.)

Can't help with availability since I'm in Maine.

CD