Springfield XD Noob Question

[Metal Fiend]

Only thing I did to mine was to add a Hogue slip on grip and practiced shooting it alot.

[Mallory]

Thank you everyone for the AWESOME feedback. So far I have done one 4-day handgun course at Front Sight back in January. It was an awesome experience and I can't wait to go again. I should be doing dry fire practice more often than I do which is once or twice a week right now. Some of you mentioned "more ammo". What does that mean, exactly? Just more live rounds down range as opposed to dry fire practice?

[Mallory]

Another good practice is to close your eyes, point your gun in a safe direction (know which direction is safe first), then open your eyes. Your sights should be perfectly aligned with your dominant eye. If not, keep practicing.

Oh man, that's intense. I do love a challenge though. I will be adding this to my dry fire practice for sure.

[Mallory]

Post up where you're located. I'm sure a local Calgunner will be more than willing to spend a little time with some helpful hints at the range.

Happy shooting and be safe!

Done. I live in Long Beach but commute to Irvine so I'm all over the place. I did find a Meet Up that does monthly desert trips to BLM land but I'm not sure how I feel about heading out to the middle of nowhere with a bunch of well armed individuals I don't know at all....

[Mallory]

Lauer Weaponry Duracoat offers spray can coatings for firearms in many colors. Coating my wife's XD is on my todo list. You do have to disassemble it and do some prep work because you want to mask off certain areas, so check some videos and instructions that Duracoat has on their website. $50 or so to do this yourself, or take it to a gunshop that offers Cerakote service (needs oven curing).

https://www.lauerweaponry.com/

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you for this! That's amazing and cheaper than I thought it would be.

[calif 15-22]

Thank you everyone for the AWESOME feedback. So far I have done one 4-day handgun course at Front Sight back in January. It was an awesome experience and I can't wait to go again. I should be doing dry fire practice more often than I do which is once or twice a week right now. Some of you mentioned "more ammo". What does that mean, exactly? Just more live rounds down range as opposed to dry fire practice?

Yes more range time with your XD. The XD is a great platform (I have 3) and really doesn't need any mods to become proficient. Sure if you want to compete with it, you might want to mod it, but strictly for accuracy sake just lots and lots of rounds down range correcting as you go.

As far as modding I don't know. Lots of guys like to mod triggers, sights, etc, but for me I tend to leave all my handguns stock. In stock form most handguns from the Big Companies are much more accurate than your average shooter is. Once you start chasing the mods, you can lose sight of the basics and get caught up in additional issues with trigger pulls, failure to fire, failure to eject, etc.

I'm by no means even close to the caliper of the shooters here, but the top 5 things I have learned from many guys here is:

Training
Range Time
Range Time
Range Time
Range Time

[Montu]

I do agree training is the number one thing..and I could use more of it...

However, one thing that I don't understand with people that talk down on upgrades/mods is that some upgrades help hide mistakes and make you a better shot...sure you might not be utilizing the upgrade 100 percent but the fact is it did help you.

For this reason I don't see anything wrong with upgrading a gun even if it makes the gun way better than you are, because at the end of the day when you use the gun in self defense, why wouldn't you want to have every single advantage? Do you care that the only reason you put a nice hole in the BG is because of a trigger job that helped make up for a sloppy pull?

[Mallory]

I do agree training is the number one thing..and I could use more of it...

However, one thing that I don't understand with people that talk down on upgrades/mods is that some upgrades help hide mistakes and make you a better shot...sure you might not be utilizing the upgrade 100 percent but the fact is it did help you.

For this reason I don't see anything wrong with upgrading a gun even if it makes the gun way better than you are, because at the end of the day when you use the gun in self defense, why wouldn't you want to have every single advantage? Do you care that the only reason you put a nice hole in the BG is because of a trigger job that helped make up for a sloppy pull?

I think I do kind of get it. I do want to be very, very good with my gun but I also want to be very, very good with ANY gun. If that means 10,000 dry runs first and some mod later, I'm okay with that. If I get the mods first and practice with that, I may be good with MY gun but not with ANY gun. What I've gathered is that a Hogue grip / tape would maybe be a benefit and then maybe a Powder River trigger down the line but working on my basic skills is the best thing I can do.

[Montu]

^ it IS the best thing you can do.

Have fun.

[XDJYo]

Mallory-Congratz on the Front Sight course! It's a hoot! My wife and I keep talking about another 4 Day class, but it's been a little elusive these past 2+ years.

Here's how I feel about modding a gun.

Learn how to shoot the piss out of your gun first. You've already attended a FS class and put around 500+ rounds downrange, so you're good there.
Put more ammo downrange and learn what will make you a better shooter.

Here's what's individual to me: I'm an old guy, so I like Dawson's red fiber optic front sight and a black rear. This helps me to pick up the sight quickly. But, it's not a deal breaker. I'd probably leave my XD & XD-m stock for the time being. The grips on both are good. I could use Talon grips or similar. But, again, it's not a deal breaker. Trigger, meh. I'd rather learn the trigger. If it was my sole gun and I wanted a capable dance partner at the range, I'd mod away-trigger, grip, sights and custom x, y & z. But, the XD & XD-m fulfills a self-defense/home-defense role primarily. My 'fun' gun is my custom Les Baer. I have that set up to my preferences. And it dances very nicely!

Save your targets so you can track your progress. Make notes of the ammo you shoot, the distance etc.

Enjoy your XD and have fun!!!!

[kcheung2]

Now here's a guy that gets it.

I think I do kind of get it. I do want to be very, very good with my gun but I also want to be very, very good with ANY gun. If that means 10,000 dry runs first and some mod later, I'm okay with that. If I get the mods first and practice with that, I may be good with MY gun but not with ANY gun. What I've gathered is that a Hogue grip / tape would maybe be a benefit and then maybe a Powder River trigger down the line but working on my basic skills is the best thing I can do.

[kennymallory1]