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I finally got a chance to get to my local indoor range this week for some quality time with my new XD Tactical .45. I put 200 rounds of American Eagle 230 grain through it with zero FTF's, FTE's or misfires. not that I expected any as these XD's have proven to be very reliable as far as my research prior to getting a hold of this pistol indicated. my only experience with XD's before this was shooting a friends' XD .45 with the 4" barrel. here is my assessment...
first thing to mention is that this is a full size pistol. this being the "tactical" model, it's got the 5" barrel which makes it even more substantial. being the wannabe operator I am, I am required to buy anything labeled as "tactical" especially if it's FDE or OD Green (as mine is..) which of coarse makes it shoot better. LOL... okay, I'm kidding. I liked the extra barrel length of the Tactical for a couple reasons. I felt it would reduce some muzzle flip as well as extending the sight radius for some additional accuracy. some say the extra barrel length adds to velocity, but I'm not sure that's a factor adding only 1". I traded a Glock 19 (yeah, i said it...) for this and the guy just happened to have the OD Green XD. I will admit that the color is awesome and gives the pistol a really cool vibe. I would have just as quickly taken a black one... the color was NOT a contributing factor. now that I have it, I will admit that it adds to the overall "cool factor" of the gun. so, again, this is a pretty meaty pistol.... unless your a really BIG individual, I doubt this would make a viable candidate for a concealed carry gun.
for being a full size pistol, I was very happy with the way it felt in my hand. I would say my hands are about medium size, so I generally don't like a big grip. for instance, I had a Beretta 92fs for a while and I couldn't get used to the size / width of the grip. just too big for me. while the XD grip is substantial, it's not "fat" which made it comfortable to get a good grip on. if you have large hands, it might be even more comfortable. if you have small hands, it might be a bit larger than you'll be comfortable with. of course it's best to try it out before buying, anyway. it feels really solid with no rattles, nothing loose, no strange gaps, sharp edges, finish inconsistencies, etc. seems to be very well made. nice, useful serrations on the slide front (for press checks if you do them...) and rear. standard 3 dot metal sights, comfortable magazine and slide releases and some useful safety features such as a round-in-chamber indicator, striker status indicator and grip safety. coming from the Glock world, I thought the grip safety would bother me, but I didn't find it a hindrance at all. also has a small rail section in the front for your "tacticool" add ons... light, lazer, etc. the melonite finish on the slide seems very durable as well. Melonite seems on par with the Glock Tenifer finish as far as I can tell.
the magazines are heavy duty, stainless steel and very well constructed. ever had a magazine where loading ammo was kind of rough? every time I load Glock magazines, it almost feels like there is a certain amount of binding going on internally. not to the point that it creates a problem, just my own personal observation. these XD mags are smooth and easy to load and just feel like they could withstand many thousands of rounds of use. I know Glock makes a polymer mag vs. these stainless steel mags and it's not apples to apples, but I really like the stainless steel XD mags a lot.
tear down for cleaning is a snap... the Glock is about the simplest take down in the world, and the XD has maybe one additional step. I love Glocks for their simplicity which I've always believed adds to reliability... the less parts, the less things to break or fail. while the XD has a few more internal parts, they've kept things simple enough as not to create problems down the road, IMO.
okay, now on to actually shooting the pistol..... the XD felt well balanced in my hand and the recoil / muzzle flip was VERY manageable. a real pleasure to shoot. I found my follow up shots were quick and accurate. the XD was quite accurate (see pics below..) and I have to say I've never shot a pistol I liked better. trigger is super smooth with a nice, crisp trigger break and reset. slide locked back solidly on every empty magazine.
overall, I'd say that I've definitely found my "go to" pistol. no pistol does it all, but if I had to grab just one in a SHTF situation, this would be it... very solid gun. this is my first XD, and I'll soon be adding a smaller, more compact model to my collection. my criteria for a good pistol is one that's dependable, simple to operate, durable and accurate. this XD Tactical .45 meets them all. check one out!!!!
target set at the 10 yard line
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first thing to mention is that this is a full size pistol. this being the "tactical" model, it's got the 5" barrel which makes it even more substantial. being the wannabe operator I am, I am required to buy anything labeled as "tactical" especially if it's FDE or OD Green (as mine is..) which of coarse makes it shoot better. LOL... okay, I'm kidding. I liked the extra barrel length of the Tactical for a couple reasons. I felt it would reduce some muzzle flip as well as extending the sight radius for some additional accuracy. some say the extra barrel length adds to velocity, but I'm not sure that's a factor adding only 1". I traded a Glock 19 (yeah, i said it...) for this and the guy just happened to have the OD Green XD. I will admit that the color is awesome and gives the pistol a really cool vibe. I would have just as quickly taken a black one... the color was NOT a contributing factor. now that I have it, I will admit that it adds to the overall "cool factor" of the gun. so, again, this is a pretty meaty pistol.... unless your a really BIG individual, I doubt this would make a viable candidate for a concealed carry gun.
for being a full size pistol, I was very happy with the way it felt in my hand. I would say my hands are about medium size, so I generally don't like a big grip. for instance, I had a Beretta 92fs for a while and I couldn't get used to the size / width of the grip. just too big for me. while the XD grip is substantial, it's not "fat" which made it comfortable to get a good grip on. if you have large hands, it might be even more comfortable. if you have small hands, it might be a bit larger than you'll be comfortable with. of course it's best to try it out before buying, anyway. it feels really solid with no rattles, nothing loose, no strange gaps, sharp edges, finish inconsistencies, etc. seems to be very well made. nice, useful serrations on the slide front (for press checks if you do them...) and rear. standard 3 dot metal sights, comfortable magazine and slide releases and some useful safety features such as a round-in-chamber indicator, striker status indicator and grip safety. coming from the Glock world, I thought the grip safety would bother me, but I didn't find it a hindrance at all. also has a small rail section in the front for your "tacticool" add ons... light, lazer, etc. the melonite finish on the slide seems very durable as well. Melonite seems on par with the Glock Tenifer finish as far as I can tell.
the magazines are heavy duty, stainless steel and very well constructed. ever had a magazine where loading ammo was kind of rough? every time I load Glock magazines, it almost feels like there is a certain amount of binding going on internally. not to the point that it creates a problem, just my own personal observation. these XD mags are smooth and easy to load and just feel like they could withstand many thousands of rounds of use. I know Glock makes a polymer mag vs. these stainless steel mags and it's not apples to apples, but I really like the stainless steel XD mags a lot.
tear down for cleaning is a snap... the Glock is about the simplest take down in the world, and the XD has maybe one additional step. I love Glocks for their simplicity which I've always believed adds to reliability... the less parts, the less things to break or fail. while the XD has a few more internal parts, they've kept things simple enough as not to create problems down the road, IMO.
okay, now on to actually shooting the pistol..... the XD felt well balanced in my hand and the recoil / muzzle flip was VERY manageable. a real pleasure to shoot. I found my follow up shots were quick and accurate. the XD was quite accurate (see pics below..) and I have to say I've never shot a pistol I liked better. trigger is super smooth with a nice, crisp trigger break and reset. slide locked back solidly on every empty magazine.
overall, I'd say that I've definitely found my "go to" pistol. no pistol does it all, but if I had to grab just one in a SHTF situation, this would be it... very solid gun. this is my first XD, and I'll soon be adding a smaller, more compact model to my collection. my criteria for a good pistol is one that's dependable, simple to operate, durable and accurate. this XD Tactical .45 meets them all. check one out!!!!
target set at the 10 yard line
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