The History of the Springfield XD
The Springfield XD has been in the United States for over 2 decades. However, it’s even older than that. Crazy enough the pistol is now 3 decades old. In 1991, production began in Croatia under the name HS2000, produced by manufacturer I.M Metal, now known as HS Produkt. It’s produced in the historic city, Karlovac Croatia, a city that has been standing since 1579.
In 2002, springfield acquired the rights to the design and started importing the weapons under the name that we know it here in the United States, the Springfield XD. Coming to the U.S. market has caused production to explode. As of 2007 and still today, HS Produkt is the leading employer in the city of Karlovac. They produce 30,000 pistols per month and have since grown from 80 to 2,000 employees. 90% of those pistols are exported here under the Springfield line in the United States.
Good job USA.
Springfield XD Service Model
An affordable, proven service pistol with a storied history.
- Price compared to other service pistols
- Proven track record
- Used by militaries and police all over the world
- Not as strong after market in US as Glock
My Experience with the Springfield XD
The Springfield XD is certainly a quality pistol. It is one of the first pistols I’ve ever purchased, coming in at spot #3. I’ve owned it for about as long as I’ve been married. I have no idea how many rounds I’ve put through it at this point, but I know its seen a lot of use.
This isn’t my favorite pistol. It’s not the best. It is the oldest pistol I own in terms of years that I’ve owned it, meaning I like it enough that I haven’t sold it to put capital towards something newer or more interesting.
A Modern Review of this Classic Pistol
Let’s start with the good things about the pistol:
Price (4 out of 5)
The Springfield XD isn’t the cheapest pistol on the market. Arguably, I would say there are other pistols that are a better value for the money now-a-days. For example, there is a very strong case to be made towards CANIK pistols. Every year a new brand comes out to challenge the status quo. What a time we live in.
Springfield XD Service Model
An affordable, proven service pistol with a storied history.
- Price compared to other service pistols
- Proven track record
- Used by militaries and police all over the world
- Not as strong after market in US as Glock
However, the Springfield XD service models are extremely competitively priced. The basic XD essentials model typically sells for around $399, which is almost $150 less than that of the comparative Glock 19s / 23s, and cheaper than the Smith & Wesson M&P 9 or 40. The XD sometimes goes on sale for even cheaper than this, so I really can’t complain about price. For a long time it was the low cost leader amongst the quality duty pistols. It only loses a star because of brands like CZ, CANIK, and AREX coming on scene in recent years offering crazy quality for low prices.
Reliability (5 out of 5)
I honestly don’t recall ever having to clear a malfunction with this gun. That doesn’t mean I’ve never experienced one, I just don’t ever remember it happening. Out of the hundreds of rounds I’ve fired, just for taking B-Roll shots for this and other review videos, I haven’t had a single malfunction. Even from the factory, this thing has never jammed. Its probably the primary reason why I didn’t sell it early on, even though my tastes have matured like a fine wine, from the early days of gun ownership.
Accuracy (4 out of 5)
The XD is plenty accurate for a duty pistol. It can hit man sized sillouettes at 50 yards. I can get A or B zone Groups consistently at 25 yards shooting fast. Something about it I can’t seem to group as tightly as I can with my glock pistols, I think it’s most likely the long reset and pull of the trigger, even though I’ve owned the XD for longer. This could still be me as a shooter though, so I don’t want to knock it too much. I wouldn’t shoot pistol matches with it, but it gets the job done adequately for home defense or concealed carry.
Ergonomics (3.5 out of 5)
The XD has ergonomics similar to that of a 1911. That said, the XD is a top heavy, chunky gun. Its chunkier than even the Glock. Many prefer the XD grip angle to glock because it resembles the 1911. I personally have never been able to shoot 1911s all that well. I have just always preferred Glock in general and I shoot glock best personally. So this may be preference.
I also hate the positioning of the slide takedown lever. With a standard thumbs forward weaver grip you’re probably good, but I like a more active style grip. I find that on many pistols, with accelerator cuts, getting your support hand high up on the frame and really dug in is ideal for controlling recoil. This isn’t possible on the XD without replacing the takedown lever with an after market gas pedal. Even so, that would make this difficult to holster and unholster.
In my opinion, the takedown lever should have been designed on the right side, but in 1991, no-one was holding a pistol this way so it probably was an afterthought.
Ease of Use (4 out of 5)
The controls on the XD are simple. They are the same as with most striker fired pistols. I prefer guns that are stupid simple to operate and clear malfunctions with. I have to knock a star off of the XD because my model in particular, the magazine release was very sticky from the factory. I had to put a lot of range time on it, for this to ease up. It may have just been my model, but because of this I had to knock off a half star.
The other half star is taken off because of the additional grip safety. I don’t see the point of this aspect of the design, since like Glock, the XD has an internal plunger striker safety. These pistols are both extremely drop safe. The trigger safety on the glock, which is a simpler design, still protects the trigger to an extent from being safely engaged. There are only a few scenarios I can imagine where the grip safety makes the weapon more safe than say, a trigger safety. That is, if you have your handgun loosely floating around in a bag like a purse, something like a pen or keys might get into the trigger guard and inadvertently fire the weapon.
That said, modern kydex holsters pretty much eliminate this scenario, and they should always be used for any kind of carry, so in the modern era I don’t see a purpose to grip safeties.
I only take off an additional half star here because I’ve never had a problem with the grip safety not engaging when shooting the gun, even when drawing and shooting fast. However, I could see it potentially being a problem if I was concealed carrying this gun and needed to use it quickly, or if a self defense situation ever became hands on. I want my pistols to be stupid simple, so this is a very minor gripe.
Out of box trigger (3 out of 5)
I have a love hate relationship with the stock trigger on the XD service models. Perhaps it is better on some of Springfield’s other pistols.
The trigger pull is smooth. The wall is well defined. The trigger pull after the wall itself is crisp. So far so good. Everything about this is great, and I’d even say upto this point on par or maybe even a little smoother than a factory glock trigger. The issue is with the reset. The XD has a really, really, long reset. You practically have to pull your finger all the way to the front of the trigger guard before it’ll reset.
This makes shooting fast very hard if you’re used to riding the reset.
Concealability (3.5 out of 5)
The XD service pistol is smaller than a full size pistol, so it definitely is concealable. It feels a little bulkier and heavier than a Glock 19, so I wouldn’t say it is as concealable as the Glock 19. I know in the early days, this was a more popular option. For OWB carry its great. If I do conceal carry it, I will oftentimes carry it like this under a jacket in the fall. However, in the modern era of micro 9s and subcompacts, the XD Service models aren’t really in the conversation at all for concealed carry. Certainly, Springfield’s more compact options are better, but the service model isn’t a great choice for concealed carry today.
This is still my go to pistol while outdoors hiking or fishing on colder days in the Florida fall and winter. The 40 S&W still has a little more oomph than 9mm with certain hard cast loads. It is adequate for wildlife defense for what we have in Florida. It isn’t as good as say the heavier hitting 10mm from what I understand, as I haven’t yet invested in that caliber. When I do, I may finally retire the XD. However, the XD is still filling this niche role a few times per year in my day to day.
After Market Support / Holster Availability (4.5 out of 5)
The after market options for upgrades on the XD are better than most pistols out there. However, it isn’t anywhere near Glock in terms of after market support.
Holster availability options are quite good. There are tons of options out there from pretty much every major manufacturer.
Magazine availability is widely available and factory magazines are plentiful and cheap compared to other pistols. Oftentimes on sale, I can get XD magazines for less than $15, which is ridiculously cheap.
Conclusion
The Springfield XD is still a solid pistol, all around. It has a lot of history and has been modernized and updated several times over. Now a 30 year old design, this pistol is still kicking and is still a contender for home defense and duty contexts. Overall, the base model wouldn’t be my first choice in really any category, other than that its reliability keeps up with the best pistols available today. It’s not a bad option, but there are better options out there. Your mileage may vary, especially potentially with some of the more updated designs.
However, I still keep the pistol in the collection as it’s a nice backup.
