American Handgunner Jan/Feb 2007 Feature

Jan/Feb 2007

Springfield's XD .45
A Xenophobic’s
14-Shot Dilemma?

By Clint Smith • Photos By Ichiro Nagata

To many people, the review of a handgun may seem like a fun game, a chance to play a bit, shoot a handsome, sometimes pricey toy, then pontificate about it and inflate your own ego some in the process. And in many cases, unfortunately, they’d be right. But at Handgunner, we think about it differently. We have an opportunity, a commitment — indeed, an obligation — to lay our hands on the best we can find, learn what we can about them, and then tell you what we found out.

Often, what we find out is more of a “story” behind the gun, than the list of specifications. We try to help you to “feel” what it’s about, to “hear” it go bang and relive what we saw, what we did and what we think. We’re blessed with having the opportunity to handle dozens of handguns and accessories from virtually every maker out there. They come across our desks, go on hunts with us, travel to shooting schools and sometimes go on duty in a cop’s holster too. And sometimes, they just sit on our desk and we live with them for a week or two as we get to know them before we go on to the next step.

After all the effort, we’ve found often it’s the little things, those myriad of tiny notes we all take almost subconsciously, that when spread onto a tabletop paint a picture that tells more than a list of features in a catalog could ever explain.

Yes, this is a story about yet another 1911. But, as Clint Smith is fond of saying, “Hands are all the same, but different.” Such is the case of each and every 1911 we’ve ever shot. If you look past the slide and frame and poke into the nooks and crannies and simply “live” with it for a time, a personality soon develops; a personality you can’t learn about in five minutes in a gun shop, or by reading that long list of goodies on a Web site. This gun developed a personality.

The Olden Days

I remember standing at the range in 1986 while employed by H&K and being handed a pistol made of something mysterious. “What do you want me to do with this thing?” was my response. Theirs was, “Shoot it and see what you think of it, it’s a new gun coming on the market made in Austria.” “Right,” says I.

So I shot it and it worked, even though it was made of something called polymer — I call it plastic. So, it was a plastic 9mm — two of my favorite things. But, the rest is history.

Worldly Clint?

I got the test pistol the other day, which for me is often about as exciting as getting the flu. I opened the box and thought great, another plastic pistol. Except I picked it up and checked it for clear — like I want get killed by a plastic gun after all these years. It felt pretty good. Actually, it felt really good. Stamped on the side it says “XD-45ACP Springfield Armory U.S.A.”, and “Made in Croatia.” And surprisingly, I actually know where Croatia is. Located on the Adriatic Sea in Southeastern Europe, it’s about the size of West Virginia, and was formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of WWI fame, site of major conflicts in WW2, ruled by Tito after that and an independent Presidential/Parliamentary democracy since 1991.

And they are now over there building one hellva pistol.

Not My First Time

In fairness I know what Springfield XDs are. I’ve been seeing them for several years now in classes, but always in 9mm or .40. They are solidly made and well finished — and they function. And regardless of the two calibers, I do not recall ever seeing one in class that did not function well.

I don’t care where or what handguns are made of, or even how they look. Any handgun takes a big step up on my ladder of judgment if the thing will simply function, and do it all of the time. So, the plastic I could start to live with, sort of, but the caliber — sorry. Anything with a “4” and only an “0” after it ain’t for this boy.

Caliber, Ammo & Polymer

So the XD is not a new pistol but the caliber is new to the XD. Chambered for the .45 ACP, the pistol is made in two forms, a Tactical 5" format and a 4" Service Model. I like the archaic .45 round and I’m not going to change, and there are lots of us out here. This new XD holds 13+1 in the chamber of full-caliber .45 ACP — not some runt-mode version trying to be something it’s not. You want one, get one in .45 ACP. Hooahh. Sorry, got carried away.

Meanwhile, I never owned a double stack .45 that functioned, except for a Glock. The Austrian pistol is okay and even though it gives Mr. Glock a coronary when he hears about it, it’s still made even better with a ROBAR grip reduction. But it’s still to big for my hands, even with Robbie’s administrations to the grip.

The new XD reminds me of the old Bren Ten as far as the grip angle and feel goes. Sort of like a Hi-Power but a tiny bit bigger. Design and access to the trigger is ergonomically-excellent in the XD, making for an outstanding match of hands and fingers for a full 14-round capacity of .45 ACP. Frankly, I was stunned by how well it fit.

Single stack 1911 guns are thinner, and I like them a bunch and have enough of them to prove the point. But without having something protrude from the bottom, or something else goofy, this is the best access to 14 rounds of .45 I have ever seen. I won’t sell my single stack real-steel-framed guns, but I will have some overly-fat-gripped-plastic-guns to let loose of at the next gun show.

As of this writing I’ve been using the XD in .45 on the range for training for about two weeks, and have loaned the test gun out to many students. I remain impressed by the pistol, as do the students who use it.

I like the caliber, as mentioned. The safety is two-fold as far as the external systems go. For firing, both the trigger safety and the grip safety need to be compressed to make it go bang. This preempts accidental firing in case a foreign object finds its way inside the trigger guard.

Recently, here in Oregon, an officer inadvertently holstered his pistol along with a piece of the coat he was wearing that had become wedged in the trigger guard while the pistol was holstered. When he got out of his patrol car, the movement of his body and coat caused the trigger to be compressed, allowing the pistol to fire. With the XD safety system this incident would have been avoided.

I also like the steel magazines because of increased durability and because the magazine walls cannot stretch when the magazine is loaded to capacity. I also subjected the base plates to many harsh seatings and the base plates did not slide off the magazine body at any time.

Measuring Up

Measuring for thickness, a standard 1911 with slim-line stocks measured 1.085" holding eight rounds. A grip-reduced Glock 21 measured 1.310" while containing 14 rounds. The XD .45 measured 1.210" while holding 14 rounds. At the work bench, non-scientific measurements from the back strap to the trigger revealed 2.75" on the 1911, 2.94" on the Glock 21 and 2.69" for the XD. The XD provided the shortest web-of-the-hand-to-trigger-finger contact, and is a very good point for the small hands crowd. The height and length of the XD Tactical model is comparable to a 1911 Government Model.

Other Stuff

The XD wears a pretty tough Melonite finish for increased durability if carried concealed or exposed in a duty-type holster. It comes light-rail ready to accept any of the current light systems from the major flashlight players such as Streamlight, Surefire or Insight, for instance.

The pistol bears several helpful features such as a loaded chamber indicator, an ambidextrous magazine release and forward slide serrations which are useful in helping to manage systems checks.

I would prefer to have a lanyard ring/hole capability on a fighting handgun, but many do not agree this is a valid issue.

When I first got the test gun I shot 1,100 rounds though it in five days and it never hiccupped once. I had five different people shoot one hundred rounds apiece though the pistol over the period of a week and it ran at 100 percent. I shot five different types of .45 ammunition and it devoured it all just fine.

Using a hand held-rest the XD produced groups hovering around the 2" mark at 15 yards, using ball ammunition. Bluntly, the pistol worked, and no one who fired the pistol had anything but praise for it after firing a magazine or two while getting familiar with the trigger. When the magazine is fully loaded with 14 rounds, the magazine release is a little stiff to disengage, but I think this a minor point.

All in all the XD45 is a stout, functional — and most importantly — highly reliable handgun, should you find yourself in need of a full-sized, serious-kick-butt defensive handgun. Having over 2,500 rounds at this time though the test pistol, I vote yes on the XD .45

Curing Xenophobia

Clever like I am, I personally cured my own case of Xenophobic’s Dilemma.

Today I bought three, made-in-Croatia, Springfield Armory XD45s and couldn’t be happier for it.

For more info: Springfield Armory, www.springfield-armory.com; Robar Company, www.robarguns.com.

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