Springfield Armory XD-S

pupchow

pupchow

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First range visit with my XD-S 3.3 .45, and I'm liking it. A lot.

My ccw is a Shield .40. The size difference between these two is not even worth discussing. They're that close. One issue I had at first with the Shield was my grip. I've got large hands but there's not a lot of meat on them. The Shield feels thin and almost slippery in my hand. I had to adjust to it. The XD-S's aggressive texturing permits a better grip with less effort. After a few magazines though, those aggressive nubs on the grips let it be known that they're not there for pleasure.

The .45's recoil isn't bad at all, compared to the Shield's .40 caliber snappiness. Follow-up shots don't come as quickly as they do with a 9mm in my non-expert shooting hands, but the hits were right on target. I was very pleased with the accuracy, and the red fiber optic front sight was very easy to pick out and align with the target. Shooting strong hand only, with a slight cant, accuracy was still very good close in (12'). The trigger feels smooth with a nice break, and doesn't have that plastic bending feeling that the Shield's trigger does.

Is 5+1 enough? There's always DoubleTap Equalizer.
 
I really like mine also. It is my favorite carry gun for every day outings. The down side is capacity of course. I usually carry a 7 round extended mag as a backup with it. My only real complaint is that the slide bites me between the thumb and index finger when I shoot it. After a box of ammo, I am usually bleeding pretty good.

I was thinking about getting a small beaver tail installed on it eventually.
 
I find the shield .40 to be a nightmare to shoot, especially one handed. The recoil is too much for me to land quick followup shots accurately and the gun feels like it wants to jump out of my hand. The 9mm shield is a breeze incomparison.

WRT your comparison of range experience from shield .40 to XDS .45acp, it seems a good deal of difference could be the caliber more than the gun. Personally I find higher pressure rounds like .40/357sig waaaay less pleasureable to shoot than 9 or .45.

congrats on finding a great gun (the XDS). I would love to get one but not willing to drop the MA $$ on one when i could add another Sig to my collection for same price. Once i move back to america perhaps.

my old man loves the springfield armory handguns and he is a picky old bastard so speaks well for the XD series.
 
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Can i ask why does the XDS 45 get so much more love than the glock 36? I have never shot either so im wondering why people seem to really dig the springfield armory gun over the competing glock?
 
Squib308 said:
Can i ask why does the XDS 45 get so much more love than the glock 36? I have never shot either so im wondering why people seem to really dig the springfield armory gun over the competing glock?
Click to expand...

G36 was the only gun I've ever traded. It's bulky as ****.

XDs is thinner than my SR9c and pretty much any 45.

Pic says everything why I got rid of it. And I love my Glocks.

IMAGE_446AB115-646F-448C-9A29-72FF46FB615C.JPG
 
Meh, I sold my XDS. I admit that a large part of the reason was because I didn't want to deal with the recall, and it had an aggressive grip texture that I regretted getting (it was rubbing against my skin when I carried IWB). But I didn't like the trigger, and I didn't like the capacity limitation, and when push came to shove, it really wasn't that much smaller than my XDm 3.8 to justify the tradeoff.
 
I got the XDs-45 a couple of months ago to replace my SR9C as EDC. After 800+ down the pipe, I will second the notion that this is not a range gun. 200 rd sessions can bring the pain. With the 5 rounder in the gun + 1, and the 7 rounder in my pocket, nobody, and I mean nobody but the wife ever knows the difference [wink], and I never feel undergunned. If conditions and situation warrant, I'll take the SR9C with 28 rounds in 2 mags, or the XDM 9mm with 39 available. I was worried about ammo with the little .45, but that pistol has eaten everything I've fed it, even some handloads that came from a batch where I was working out OAL issues and they would run in my 1911's. 230gr Gold Dots run really well and are accurate. As for capacity concerns, I'll just leave this here:

.45 acp.jpg
 
After running a bunch of handguns during the past few days, I like this XDs 3.3 .45ACP even more. I even ran some Liberty Civil Defense through it, just to see. No problems at all, but it's certainly got some snap over a 230gr load. I still wouldn't want to run an extended session with this gun, primarily due to the grips. But, this thing just works for me. This is one of my favorite handguns. I was not expecting this from .45ACP.
 


4.0 .45

Not impressed but oh well, good to see SA pumping out more guns. And no 40 yet, sick. [laugh]

hickok thinks the 3.3 has some punch, what a baby.
 
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The difference in ballistics between a 3.3" and 4" is actually a fair amount.....if i were in a free state i would probably go for the 4" model.....but its obviously just matter of preference.
 
ColdDayInHell said:


4.0 .45

Not impressed but oh well, good to see SA pumping out more guns. And no 40 yet, sick. [laugh]

hickok thinks the 3.3 has some punch, what a baby.
Click to expand...


If I could pick up just a complete slide i would just because .

I do want to get a double stack spring xd in 45 but not sure which one.

I like how they offer a short grip 5 inch barrel . I never understood the 1911 with a full size grip and short slide . The slide is the hard part to hide.
Only thing is what would I use it for I got the xds for summer carry and winter I plan to go back to my 1911. A fall carry gun lol.

I wouldn't mind getting a full size xd xdm for winter carry but really not worth it for stupid crippled mags and if I used it I'd be ****ed . Ugh dose this mean I need to buy a glock 21 :(...... Or finish my mutt para as a carry gun for winter . What's a boy todo .

Xds = bad ass 45 you can put in your pocket **** the shield lol .
 
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warwickben said:
Xds = bad ass 45 you can put in your pocket **** the shield lol .
Click to expand...

+1



So happy they don't have the 40 [rofl]



Squib308 said:
The difference in ballistics between a 3.3" and 4" is actually a fair amount.....if i were in a free state i would probably go for the 4" model.....but its obviously just matter of preference.
Click to expand...

Yep. It's a ****ing carry gun. Meant for close quarters. 3.3" is fine IMHO. 45 HPs need more than a 4" barrel to expand anyways. I don't know what SA was thinking but it's to each his own.
 
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warwickben said:
If I could pick up just a complete slide i would just because .

I do want to get a double stack spring xd in 45 but not sure which one.


I wouldn't mind getting a full size xd xdm for winter carry but really not worth it for stupid crippled mags... .
Click to expand...

I just picked up an XDm .45 4.5 inch barrel. I like it. A lot. But you're right, stuck with 10 rounds in a pistol the size of a refrigerator is kinda pointless. As far as the XDs 4.0.....meh, the 3.3 just hides so nice, best handgun I've carried I that regard.
 
Warthog. They make the double hook style like a cross bread also.
ca1f9a1e353e378dce9d255adbe0ad1b.jpg

Both are around 50$ black
Or brown leather same cost , only up charge option is some kydex colors are 5-6$ more .
I plan on getting the double hook style for my 1911 .
 
warwickben said:
Warthog. They make the double hook style like a cross bread also.
ca1f9a1e353e378dce9d255adbe0ad1b.jpg

Both are around 50$ black
Or brown leather same cost , only up charge option is some kydex colors are 5-6$ more .
I plan on getting the double hook style for my 1911 .
Click to expand...

Double hook is definitely overkill for my XDs. I wsit I got the single.
 

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