Right. This would be referred to a clue. 
Onto the next question, what professional instructors use AND endorse the XD??
Here is the list of the ones that don’t:
Vickers
Hackathorn
Rogers
Magpul Dynamics
The only instructor that I have even heard mentioning the XD is Clint Smith.
C4
Hahaha…gee, thanks!
I wasn’t endorsing the xD by any means, trust me. My friend has one and he loves it. I’ve shot it many times (range and scenario) and just can’t seem to like it at all. It doesn’t fit my hands, its heavy in all the wrong places, and I just don’t like it. I’ll stick with my Glocks and my M&P9c.
I am really close to being trespassed from the Cabela’s gun counter. 
Everytime I go I try to stay away from the always busy gun counter. I never take a number. I just hang and listen to the conversations between customers and the gun salesman.
Everytime a novice gun buyer (most) goes to the counter and says “whadya recommend…”, the answer is always “you need an XD”, followed by “if it’s not a 40 or a 45…”
First time gun buyer? XD40. Home defense? XD45. CCW? XD40C. Camp gun? XD40. Gun for the wife? XD40. My son’s going into the police academy? XD45. Most “knock-down power” :rolleyes:? XD45 Tactical. I want a gun to carry while I ride my 4 wheeler to plink with, and just incase of a bear or mountain loin encounter? XD40…no shit? I saw a guy who specifically came in to look at a Taurus revolver. 10 minutes later, the same guy was filling out paperwork for a Springfield XD! Big people, little people, men, women, you need an XD. On and on and on.
I can’t help it. I bite my tongue until it bleeds. I have steered away and “sold” the outdoorsman S&W revolvers, the first time shooters 9mm’s and questioned why not the M&P or Glock. The salesman get pissed. Do they have incentives to sell these guns? People seem to be attracted to the “bells and whistles” of the XD. The word of the salesman is gospel. “Gun of the YEAR”!
This, by itself irritates me about the XD.
On the other hand, my Sergeant claims his XD9C is the best gun he’s ever owned. A fellow officer carries an XD45 and thinks it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Two co-workers involved in OIS’s (seperate) used XD’s and made good hits. A few others own and carry them. These are personally owned guns in a department that issues Glocks.
Maybe I’m a gun snob. Maybe I can’t stray away from the HS2000 “Croation Creation” days, but the XD is not for me.
If price point is the driving factor for those on a tight budget there are excellent alternatives to the XD’s.
Unfortunately Charles Daly went under recently but their CD9, a Turkish licensed Walther P99 can be found on Gunbroker with buy it now prices under $350.00, almost half the price of the Walther version. Magazines and parts are interchangeable with Walther and S&W. I think I am going to order one just for the novelty.
The FN polymer pistols consistently retail under $400. Unfortunately for my taste all that is available now is the DA/SA versions but they are great pistols for the $$$ and are an excellent alternative to the SIG P Series pistols.
Maybe I’m a gun snob. Maybe I can’t stray away from the HS2000 “Croation Creation” days, but the XD is not for me.
Yeah, I mean if it had HS2000 stamped on its side and its original price of $300, then I could see how someone would decide to try it out, but when you consider that you can buy a great condition used iteration of the industry standard (G17/G19) for only slightly more, complete with arguably higher reliability and durability, ubiquitous and economical parts, magazines, holsters and almost idiot proof ease of being one’s own armorer, than I really don’t see the point.
The insult to injury comes when SA stamps “SA XD” on the slide and decides to jack up the price to $500. I also don’t like the grip safety, but I suppose that it is necessary on the XD since its striker is like 99% precocked and is essentially a SA gun.
I am a 1911 and m&p guy but have much respect for glocks. As far as local prices go an xd9 full size is $500. A glock 19 rtf is $550. My goodness with just a little education why in the @#%$ would you not buy the Austrian over the Croatian?
This always comes up. I have to ask; who cares? By this logic, we should all carry Beretta 92s. Incidentally, the Houston PD and Harriss County Sherriffs departments both authorize the XD. Having said that, I doubt any large agency will ever adopt the XD platform in full force. Springfield is simply an importer, they are not in the same position as Glock/S&W/Sig who can give away pistols for free just to get the business.
You can add John Farnum and Tiger Magee to the XD list. And the last Hackathorn course I took he stated that he didn’t like the XD, but the XDM was a much improved pistol that had all the bugs worked out of it. His comment about the XDM were actually better than those that he made about the M&P.
the XD stuff has got to be the marketing! Springfield must spend a fortune just pimping that gun…I have a few friends who picked up XD’s when they first came out…and dont have any problems with them, one of them has the HS2000 and its simple and gets the job done. But, Springfield has just overdone it, all the extra crap, stamping XD about 48586474 times on the gun just seem a bit much.
BTW, I am partial to the HS also…as my family name is Croatian:)
Well, I care and you should too. If Springfield XD pistols can’t pass the rigorous testing process inflicted on pistols by the purchasing trials of a major department or agency why would you think their pistols would fare any better in your hands? Glock USA is an Importer, as is HK USA, no different that Springfield. The difference lies in the fact that these makers build a product that they can stand behind, a product fielded professionally by the tens of thousands. Spingfield will never, ever be able to make that claim.
Oh, man… quit hating on the armed USDA agent. I have friends that do that, and they do have people who’d like to kill them. You’d be surprised how much heavy prison time crimes they investigate.
Plus, they secure most of our bio-war defense research facilities.
I found my XD40 to be really unpointable for my mitts. I played with my grip for a year to try to find a place where it would point, but finally gave up and sold it.
No I don’t care. Show me where the XD can’t pass the trials. Glock USA and HK USA are subsidiaries of the parent companies and they are making guns in this country. Springfield merely has the rights to import and sell the HS line in the US.
Lot’s of agencies run .40 caliber Glocks. Those aren’t very highly regarded here. So if a bunch of agencies used the XD, would that make them good? Just rhetorical.
i bought an XD45 midsize when they first came out. it was a disaster.
wouldn’t feed any brand of FMJ without FTF’s, and the accuracy was horrible. when the barrel was cold, it would get 6 inch groups, and they opened up beyond that the hotter the barrel got.
of course, after 700 rounds i called SA. they said it would be at least 6-8 weeks to get it back. as i received 3 months free range time with the purchase, sending it in for this long was not feasible.
obviously pissed, i promptly sold it at $200 loss for a glock21sf, which performed flawlessly.
that’s my experience with xd’s. will never buy another xd anything.
Here is how it works. Everyone competes in the large bids. The guns go through T&E. The XD never seems to win any big congrats. On top of that, I know that no XD has ever passed .Mil testing (when they were looking for a new pistol).
The way the game works (and SA does the same thing) is that they sell the guns for near or at their cost and then buy the pistols that the PD has. Then they offload them to some lard distributor (making them money that way (FYI).
C4
I don’t know much about the XDM and have NEVER heard Ken say anything positive about the XD or XDM, but will ask him about it.
C4
You are right. The GEN 3 Glock in 40 is the WORST of the bunch. The problem is that they generally don’t figure it out until you attach a metal light to it and shoot it. This is not a common practive for most.
Glock also did a fantastic job at covering up/dodging the GEN 3 40 issues for many years.
The GEN 4 Glocks in 40 appear to be much better than the GEN 3’s.
C4
I really can’t understand the logic of buying a XD at a premium price over Glock or a M&P.
I just went online and looked at a my cost on an XD. This is coming from a distr. and ANY FFL can get this price. Dealers that go direct to SA or have LE accounts can get much better pricing I am sure.
A bare bones XD in 40 is $421. An XDM is $521 (basic model).
The $421 price is really cheap (The M&P sells for $475 and the Glock is $440).
So the XD is at least $20 bucks cheaper and generally comes with some crappy holster and mag pouch. That $20 goes directly into the FFL’s pocket (which is actually a lot of money). THIS IS why the XD will always be pushed over the Glock and M&P. Not because its better, but because the dealer can make more money.
I jumped over to GB to check what XDM’s are selling for. It looks like the average is around $575ish. This puts it in the same price as a Glock and M&P. Why anyone would buy it over these two guns is 100% beyond me.
C4
I dont know how any pistol that survives a torture test like this could be considered junk.
http://springfield-armory.primediaoutdoors.com/SPstory11.php
If some big name guys had tons of actual experience with em and endoresed them people would be on the XD’s nuts, the same way many people jump at other manufacturers or parts.
Everybody on the forums from newb to pro has seen different pistol platforms fail and succeed, we of course take the “pros” word over the guy at the range who saw a Glock FTE over and over.
I bought an XD 9mm as my first handgun and in my 5000rd life Ive never had one issue, it has always gone bang.
Lots of the well known guys are obviously sponsored to run pistols, parts, etc, hell if I could shoot an HK or Sig for free or close to free Id endorse them over XD’s also.