Thebear_78
Handloader
- Sep 30, 2004
- 3,098
- 863
I have always been a 1911 guy. The 1911 and the 45 cap went together like peanut butter and jelly. I have had several 1911s over the years. From cheap knockoffs to semi customs I have had a 1911 at most times. The best of them that I ever had was the Springfield TRP Operator with full length dust rail. It shot everything into the same 2” group at 15 yards, mixed ammo in the magazine, from 185-230gr loads, they would all stack right on top of that front sight.
Sadly I had to sell it to pay for some unforseen mechanical issues I had with a truck. A few months back I happened upon a XD tactical 5” in 45 ACP. I had a horde of 45 ammo laying around and didn’t currently have a 45 so when a trade offer including the XD came up I jumped one it. Planning on using it to use up my unusable ammo and then get sell of trade it off. After taking it to the range I knew that I wouldn’t be getting rid of it any time soon. Not since that TRP opperator had I had a 45 that would stack bullets on top of the front sight like this one.
Mechanically very simlar to the other striker fired pistols on the market, The main difference being the grip safety. There was nothing very special or unigue about it, but it just plain works. It feeds and functions flawlessly. A wide selection of ammo of different bullet nose profiles has all fed flawlessly. The grip is more slender than a glock but still big enough for my large hands. 13 round magazines almost double the capacity of a standard single stack 45. There is really nothing to not to like about this pistol. The only thing I changed was to add a set of tru-glo TFO sights, and a powder river precision RPR drop in trigger. They were a big improvement over the standard sights and trigger. A word of caution with changing sights out on the XDs, they are without a doubt the hardest sights to change I have ever messed with. Those factory sights are really in there.
Due to my expereince with the XD 5” tactical I recently picked up a XDM 3.8” compact. The XDM 3.8 compact comes with both a flush fit 13 round magazine and an extended 19 round magazine. That kind of capacity is really a confidence builder. Carrying with the flush fit magazine and two extended magazines gives you access to 52 rounds. A far cry from the 15 rounds I have been carrying for quite some time. I put the same TFO sights on the compact. I’ve only put a few hundred rounds thru the compact so far but it has proven to shoot as well as the 45, feeding everything I have tried and stacking shots right on top of the front sight.
I suggest anyone in the market for a new pistol should check them out.
Sadly I had to sell it to pay for some unforseen mechanical issues I had with a truck. A few months back I happened upon a XD tactical 5” in 45 ACP. I had a horde of 45 ammo laying around and didn’t currently have a 45 so when a trade offer including the XD came up I jumped one it. Planning on using it to use up my unusable ammo and then get sell of trade it off. After taking it to the range I knew that I wouldn’t be getting rid of it any time soon. Not since that TRP opperator had I had a 45 that would stack bullets on top of the front sight like this one.
Mechanically very simlar to the other striker fired pistols on the market, The main difference being the grip safety. There was nothing very special or unigue about it, but it just plain works. It feeds and functions flawlessly. A wide selection of ammo of different bullet nose profiles has all fed flawlessly. The grip is more slender than a glock but still big enough for my large hands. 13 round magazines almost double the capacity of a standard single stack 45. There is really nothing to not to like about this pistol. The only thing I changed was to add a set of tru-glo TFO sights, and a powder river precision RPR drop in trigger. They were a big improvement over the standard sights and trigger. A word of caution with changing sights out on the XDs, they are without a doubt the hardest sights to change I have ever messed with. Those factory sights are really in there.
Due to my expereince with the XD 5” tactical I recently picked up a XDM 3.8” compact. The XDM 3.8 compact comes with both a flush fit 13 round magazine and an extended 19 round magazine. That kind of capacity is really a confidence builder. Carrying with the flush fit magazine and two extended magazines gives you access to 52 rounds. A far cry from the 15 rounds I have been carrying for quite some time. I put the same TFO sights on the compact. I’ve only put a few hundred rounds thru the compact so far but it has proven to shoot as well as the 45, feeding everything I have tried and stacking shots right on top of the front sight.
I suggest anyone in the market for a new pistol should check them out.
