XD9 for my daughter

[RedFord150]

My daughter is 18 and shoots a little, not much. She has shot mostly revolvers and a few shotguns.
I found a good deal on an XD9 and decided to buy it for her. She is 18 now, I will probably give it to her when she turns 21. Yes, I know I can give it to her now. I have my own reasons for waiting.
In a perfect world, she would have shot it before I bought it. I did not have enough time for this. Both my son and myself have shot XD's in the past. We both like them a lot. In fact, I was only looking at XD's because I was buying one for my son for his upcoming B-Day. I ended up buying 2.
Do you ladies have any experience with the XD9? If yes, how do you like it?
I realize I am committed, the XD is already bought and paid for. I guess I am just looking too hear I did not make a mistake.

[movie zombie]

perhaps you can get your daughter out shooting more over the next 3 years on a variety of guns....perhaps even your son's XC9?

doesn't matter what we think. even if some of us like it your daughter might not.....just the way things are.

however, it does sound like you found a "deal" and as such couldn't pass it up........not necessarily a bad thing even if she doesn't end up liking it.....

[tlcwrites]

I love my XD9 - rugged, dependable, and it eats just about any ammo I can throw at it. And my 17-year-old, who's 4 foot 10 and 100 lbs, can operate it without too much trouble, though she prefers a .22 given the choice.

The only thing I'd suggest if you buy an XD is to buy one of those UpLULA magazine loader thingies, too - the XD magazines have very strong springs, and I find that the loader which came with the gun makes my hands hurt.

[RedFord150]

I love my XD9 - rugged, dependable, and it eats just about any ammo I can throw at it. And my 17-year-old, who's 4 foot 10 and 100 lbs, can operate it without too much trouble, though she prefers a .22 given the choice.

The only thing I'd suggest if you buy an XD is to buy one of those UpLULA magazine loader thingies, too - the XD magazines have very strong springs, and I find that the loader which came with the gun makes my hands hurt.

^^^^ This is an excellent reply. thank you for sharing your experience. I will definitely buy her the loader once she gets the gun.
I was a little concerned the grip was too wide for her smaller hands. Luckily, she seems a little bigger than your daughter. Based on your experience, this should not be an issue.
I might be guilty of 'jumping the gun' on this purchase. The price was good AND the XD9 was in stock. Every other dealer I spoke to was out of stock and sold their last ones for a higher price. I figured I would get it while I could at a good price. I am guessing the prices will go up once the dealers get new stock.
I also have a revolver put away for her. This is my legacy too my kids. they each get a good revolver and semi-auto from me while I am still living. Obviously, they will inherit all our stuff when wife and I are gone. Luckily, we are both healthy and looking forward to a lot more years.
Thanks again.

[tlcwrites]

I was a little concerned the grip was too wide for her smaller hands. Luckily, she seems a little bigger than your daughter. Based on your experience, this should not be an issue.

I'm an assistant instructor for a local women's shooting clinic, and my experience is that unless you have REALLY tiny hands, most of those "not big enough to..." and "not strong enough to..." issues come down to technique more than physical inability. Men have the size and upper body strength to overcome less-than-perfect technique, whereas women generally need to pay more attention to technique.

If your daughter is small, proper stance and grip will obviously be important for the XD, though I personally find it more comfortable to shoot than the comparably sized Glock 19. A friend I often shoot with is 5 foot 2 or so and probably 125 pounds soaking wet, and she runs the XD with no issues at all.

One other piece of advice: Bop on over to either springerprecision.com or pistolgear.com and order a few extra striker retainer roll pins. Though this problem hasn't happened to me yet, a small number of XD owners have experienced breakage of this pin (especially after heavy dry-fire), so having extras on hand is a useful thing. (They're relatively inexpensive, too, so having extras is cheap insurance.)

Springer Precision also sells a set of all the punches necessary to work on an XD, including a roll pin punch for the striker retainer pin, and having been described by others as a "self-rescuing princess" I like having my own tools for tasks like that.

As I said, my XD has eaten any ammo I've thrown at it, and with close to 1,000 rounds downrange now I've had zero stoppages. I'd definitely buy another, and I think your daughter will be pleased with hers.

[movie zombie]

............... I will definitely buy her the loader once she gets the gun.................

please don't wait until you give her the gun to buy the loader....present both to her at the same time. just an idea given the political climate now re guns.

also, glad to see you've set aside a revolver as well: which one?

[RedFord150]

please don't wait until you give her the gun to buy the loader....present both to her at the same time. just an idea given the political climate now re guns.

also, glad to see you've set aside a revolver as well: which one?

Good idea. I'll buy the loader very soon and put it away with the gun.

The revolver is a NIB Ruger GP100, 4" barrel in stainless. Wife and I have one of our own for over 20 years and we both love it. I bought the second one after the owner passed away (I know his Son). The gun was purchased new in the late 80's and has never been fired outside of the factory.

Thanks for all of your advice, it is appreciated.

[movie zombie]

ah, Ruger: can't go wrong with the GP100 but i found it too big for my hand....

and may i assume you're setting aside a bit of ammo for these guns as well? again, just another idea given the political climate at this time.......

you're doing a good thing in having these set aside.

[beb]

I have the XD9 Tactical and I love it. Not a fan of the grip safety but I got used to it!

I let my friends 13yr old daughter shoot it and she did just fine.