The Springfield Armory XD(M) 9mm

Was thinking about buying this gun and was wondering if anyone owns one or has shot one? Is it worth the money or would another firearm be better?

They manufacture really good firearms, so can't say they are not good.
The choice is all on the person, but the best advice I can offer is too fire one before purchasing, if at all possible.

Any good gun store will have a display model that customers can take out back to the range. Personal preference is the key, like me. I have a Glock 30 .45 caliber, and it is perfect for me. But not every one can use the .45, so it is best to figure out what works for you.

Hand size and grip comfort, is important, that should be another thing to look into when choosing. You should be able to use the magazine release, with out moving more than finger. Same applies tot he safety if your choice has an external safety.

Feel free to ask any thing else you think I can help with.

Wow thank you very much for input it was very insightful. It is good to know that Sprinfield Armory makes quality firearms. Kind of puts my mind at ease if I decide to purchase their product.

reply to post by Cool Breeze


I agree with ADVISOR, it is a matter of personal preferrence. My personal side arm is an Israeli Arms Baby Eagle in 9mm. Absolutely LOVE that gun, however my good friend can't stand it. He likes "American style" pistols like the 1911 with the more perpendicularly mounted straight grip, and "badger tail" safety. My Eagle is too "European" for his taste, with the slanted ergonomic grip, and the safety high up on the slide(he has short fingers, haha). He grew up shooting with the style he likes however, and it's what he's used to, and works for him. My shooting style favors the european ergo grip. Again like ADVISOR said think of every function you will be performing with the gun not just aiming, and pulling the trigger. How easy is it to engage, and disengage the magazine? Could you find, and operate the safety in a split second without taking your eye off an intruder? How easy is it for YOU to load/unload the magazine? Find a pistol that fits you, the way you shoot, and you enjoy shooting. I did some research on the XD(M), and it looks like a great little pistol. It can handle +p ammo, and has lots of cool features, and got high marks in accuracy, safety, and reliability. I personally like the looks of it, but as I said I like "european style" pistols. Definitely shoot one, and several others like it before settling on one. If this is your first handgun purchase, shoot LOTS of different pistols first to develop a preferrence.
A handgun should fit comfortably in your hand. If you have a small hand don't get a pistol with a large wide grip. Conversely if you have a big hand don't get a pistol with a small narrow grip. In the case of the big hand you could actually cause yourself some pain if the first knuckle of your thumb gets in the way of the handslide on it's way back when fired. I have a big hand, and a Jennings .380 ACP compact, and have made this mistake! OUCH! The Jennings isn't for comfort or joy of shooting however. It's small, and relatively poweful for it's size. My wife keeps it discreetly in her purse.
So think about what it will be used for too. If this will be your primary defensive weapon, you will want to practice with it often. Thus you should enjoy shooting it, and be financially capable of feeding it. 9mm is very affordable ammo, and a good choice for personal protection in a jacketed hollow point(JHP). Target rounds such as full metal jacket(FMJ) are down right cheap most of the time. After purchasing, practice, practice, practice, then... practice some more! The last thing you want to do is be fumbling around with a tool you are not intimately familiar with in a situation X scenario. The XD(M) would be a great choice if it fits you, you like it, and the price is right. Most I've seen go for between $575, and $600. Gun prices are kinda crazy right now too. I gave $275 for my Eagle several years ago, and saw one at an auction go for $800 a few days ago. So shop around, try lots of different guns, find a good price for the one you decide on, and resist the urge to impulse buy one.

Cant say much about there 9mm but i own 2 of the xd.45 tacticals very well made and worth buying

Just got back from a gun show, and fiddled around with a couple XDs. I was fairly impressed. Only minus to me was in the grip, it was a little narrow for my personal taste, and I didn't like the weird texture on the palm of the handle. I realize that's very picky, but that's all I could find that would make it even a little less desirable. Great features, everything was ergonomically placed, easy to use, and generally "made sense" where it was, great looking gun, I'm sure in a pinch I could become endeared to it after a couple hundred rounds.

Nice posts very helpful, not going to buy on impulse (even though I have been guilty of that in the past :roll that is the main reason I started this topic, making sure there was nothing wrong with it that someone else may have known about.

reply to post by Cool Breeze



I have a fairly new Springfield XDM 9mm (purchased it approx. 5 months ago) I'm female and I find it to be perfect for me. I shoot better with this than the 9mm Glock

Forget the 9mm's. Buy a decent .45 and learn to hit your target with fewer shots. As most cops will tell you, a 9mm slug does not have a lot of stopping power.

reply to post by Binder


Each version of the XD(M) comes with three interchangeable grips made to suit different hand sizes.

Here's Springfield's promotional site.

I would eventually like to get one in .40 cal.

I have to respectfully disagree. While a .45 does deliver more energy to the target, penetrate more, and has a higher muzzle velocilty, that doesn't always correlate to "stopping power" The .45 does cause the most tissue disruption on impact, however shot placement is the most important factor in the equasion. If I shot someone in the arm with a .45 they might bleed to death eventually, but would have plenty of time to return fire. A shot placed center body mass from a .38 special is usually lethal, and incapacitates within seconds. Bad guy might get 1 maybe 2 rounds off. A shot placed to the head from a .22 is usually instantly fatal. .22s have killed lots, and lots of people. So... you have a .45 and you are fairly good with it, as you should be with any gun you own, and can place shots well. Darn it, the bugger that broke in my house is standing in front of my kids room, and I can't be certain of exactly what's down range. .45s notoriously overpenetrate, which is why most standard issue arms for law enforcement are 9mm. Rate of target acquisition is another issue with a .45 you line the target up in the site pull the trigger(bang) it takes (arbitrary number) milliseconds for you to re-site on the target. A 9mm has less felt recoil than a .45, I.E. the gun doesn't jump up as far, you can reacquire faster. So if you can't shoot under extreme circumstance quite as well as at the range, you get a mulligan a little quicker. What's 0.2 seconds? Whether or not the bad guy gets to pull the trigger. Bigger is not always better. I prefer balance. To me the 9mm offers that. Accurate, fast, high capacity in most pistols, and 1 round to center body mass is almost always a show stopper. Yet I don't have to worry about fixing the neighbor's siding if I had to shoot an intruder in my home. I know lots of cops too, and most of them are older more experienced gentleman, and prefer the 9mm for balance, and safety versus bragging rights for carrying the biggest gun. Can you say compensation?

reply to post by xmotex


Cool! I guess I didn't know that. I'll have to look at some more. I really do like the looks, and ergonomics of the gun. A little wider grip would be excellent for me. I might have to add to my collection.

reply to post by Binder

As to the 45 vs 9mm debate I found this information here useful.

45 vs 9mm

But I am pretty sure both guns kill just fine.

Good post Ex. Very informative. Pretty much reiterates in a much expanded, and well written form what I was getting at. It isn't the gun as much as the user. I have shot, and like .45s. In their defense they do offer a little more psychiological stopping power. Bigger bore, louder bang, and a long lauded social history of being the "big gun" However they are more expensive to feed, and some people do not like the kick. 9mm is more affordable to feed, don't kick as hard, and as observed by the author of your link doesn't really give up that much "power" however it is defined. Again it boils down to a matter of preference. You're absolutely right, both guns kill just fine.

I have the xd 9mil and i love it. I mainly bought it for my wife but im the one shooting it all the time. It fires every time i pull the trigger and cycles perfectly. Its also realy easy to clean. Im going to keep the xd for my wife and upgrade the xdm for myself. I want the 9mil again because the xdm holds 19+1

I usually advocate for the 45's but in this case I will stand down. My preference for the 45 come for combat oriented purposes. Personal defense isn't combat per say though and I would go with ADVISOR and Binder on this one. Choose a gun you feel comfortable with and practice as much as you can with it...
I would also recommend looking at a revolver (I'm a lover of semi's but...) for self defense. It will almost never fail and they have fewer steps generally to put led down range. Some of the newer ones even have a pretty high rate of fire.

Perhaps you should also ask yourself for what purpose your buying the weapon. If its just for home defense i would recommend a short barrel pump action shot gun above everything really. Simple steps and point and shoot principle.

I have two XD pistols one in a 45acp and 9mm, they are awsome guns, the only problem I have is for a 9mm it is loud as all hell. Ive had people ask me if i was shooting a 45 when using it at the range.

reply to post by benrl

The XD series is excellent. I have a standard XD 9mm. The new M series just tweaks the design with more features.

The XD design has been around for quite sometime, late 1990's I believe, and is tried and true. You can field strip these guns in your sleep. It was originally built for the Croation Army and was known as the HS2000. The original HS lacks an accessory rail though. Other than that is still the same gun with a different name.

The XD is still built in Croatia and is a great gun. Pick your caliber and configuration and enjoy.