|
[FROM SHOOTING TIMES]
SPRINGFIELD'S XD GOES THE DISTANCEThe X-treme Duty pistol in .357 SIG from Springfield proved that it can handle an extreme normal-use workout firing 5000 rounds of full-power .357 SIG ammunition without a hitch.By Dick Metcalf, Technical Editor
 Springfield's XD pistol is available in three chamberings; Dick fired the .357 SIG version for this review.
The Springfield XD (for "X-treme Duty") polymer-frame semiautomatic pistol has become a major success in the American handgun marketplace in a very short time. The gun was first made available in the U.S. in 2000 by importer HS America of Knoxville, Tennessee, and it was favorably reviewed by several publications at that time. Recognizing additional potential for the gun, Springfield Armory acquired exclusive import rights in 2001 and has been aggressively promoting it since. In addition to the original four-inch Service Model configuration available in 9mm Luger, .40 S&W, and .357 SIG chamberings, Springfield in 2002 added a ported version of the Service Model and a five-inch Tactical Model. And in 2003 the company announced a three-inch short-grip subcompact model. More versions will be coming in 2004. Reviewers (including me) have continued to give generally high marks to the XD design. But a gun labeled as "X-treme Duty" is just asking for a major challenge, so Shooting Times Editor Joel Hutchcroft decided I should subject a sample XD to one of ST's renowned 5000-round "extended normal use" workouts. To make the challenge as firm as possible, we selected a .357 SIG model for the review for the simple reason that the recoil peak and slide velocity generated by the .357 Magnum-equivalent .357 SIG cartridge presents a significantly higher level of stress to a polymer-frame pistol than do the 9mm and .40 S&W chamberings. 
Innovative Design The noncockable ignition mechanism is striker-fired and requires a partial rearward motion of the slide (approximately 3/4 inch) to cock the system and ready the trigger. If the gun is dry-fired, or in the event of a misfire, the trigger cannot accomplish a repeat strike until/unless the slide is racked. In external aspect, this system appears to operate (and feel) much like the familiar mechanism of a Glock, as does the hinged "Glock-like" trigger-safety lever that prevents rearward trigger movement unless depressed by the user's trigger finger. However, the actual operating mechanics of the two designs are greatly different. The XD mechanism completely cocks (preloads) the spring-charged firing pin so that the only function provided by the trigger pull is to release the sear and fire the gun. By contrast, the Glock "Safe Action" only partly preloads the firing mechanism, and the trigger pull physically completes the cocking action as well as releasing the firing pin. The XD is therefore a true "single-action" trigger design because its trigger only performs one function--releasing the firing mechanism. The Glock is a true "double-action" trigger design in that its trigger contributes to the actual cocking of the mechanism as well as releasing it. 
The XD's hinged trigger-safety lever prevents rearward trigger movement unless it is depressed.
To describe the process in detail: After the XD slide travels rearward about 3/4 inch, the spring-loaded sear "captures" a cocking lug on the firing pin, holding the pin compressed fully to the rear against the pressure of the firing pin spring when the slide travels back forward (either after a short manual retraction of the slide or after the slide's full rearward travel in the firing cycle). A pull on the trigger then moves the trigger bar and firing pin safety lever linkages forward, depressing the sear and releasing the firing pin to fire the cartridge. The XD pistol may "feel" like a DAO (double action only) mechanism, and previously has been mistakenly described that way (by me, among others), but it is not. It acts like a DAO, but it isn't, mechanically. Springfield's official term for the mechanism is Ultra Safety Assurance Action Trigger System--or "USA Action" for short. Another unique XD design aspect is a grip safety that prevents the gun's trigger from being squeezed unless it is fully depressed. Yep, a grip safety, just like a Model 1911, except the XD grip safety also does something a 1911's grip safety doesn't do--it freezes the slide. If the grip safety isn't down, not only can you not pull the trigger, you can't pull the slide to the rear to load an empty chamber or clear a loaded chamber. You also can't lock the slide back on an empty gun, whether the magazine is in or out. Plus, there is a separate internal firing pin block that is deactivated only when the trigger is pressed all the way rearward to the point of striker release. Stick in a loaded magazine, rack the slide, and the gun is ready to go bang. But it definitely won't go bang unless you have it firmly seated in your firing hand, finger solidly on the trigger, and the trigger pulled all the way to the rear. 
The pistol's slide needs to move only about 3/4 inch to the rear to allow the firing pin cocking lug to be captured behind the sear in the frame.
The XD's slide, barrel, and critical operating parts are all steel, and all steel parts are coated with Springfield's proprietary black Bruniral finish. The grip frame assembly is molded polymer with a sandblast texture finish, checkered frontstrap and backstrap, and an integral Picatinny-dimension mounting rail under the front portion of the frame dustcover for attachment of tactical lights or laser aiming devices. Unlike many other current duty-grade polymer-frame pistols, the frame-to-slide fit is not reinforced with molded-in fore-and-aft steel frame inserts. Instead, the frame rails are built into a single bulky steel locking block that is dual cross-pinned into the center portion of the frame and houses the barrel locking cam and the trigger mech-anism. At the rear of the frame the slide is guided only by grooves in the polymer frame itself. Due to the captive recoil spring guide design, all slide velocity in operation is directed entirely into the locking block with no direct impact between the slide and any polymer component. 
When the trigger is squeezed, the trigger bar moves backward, causing the firing pin safety lever to depress the sear and release the firing pin.
The primary XD operating mech-anisms are traditionally located with an oversize slide release/lock on the left top of the frame. The magazine release button is likewise positioned conventionally, Model 1911-style, directly behind the trigger guard. But it operates ambidextrously, in either direction, to depress a spring-loaded latch that engages a front-center notch in the bright-polished stainless-steel magazine body (incidentally, two "Easy Glide" 10-round magazines are furnished for all chamberings with each gun with polymer followers and oversize polymer buttpads). Both the front and rear standard steel three-dot sights are dovetail drift adjustable for windage, and various height front blades are available for different ammunition loadings. The dovetails will also accept Heinie Specialty Products's excellent Straight-Eight tritium vertical two-dot variation of the basic Heinie Slant-Pro sight, which is the fastest pickup tactical sight I've yet encountered. 
The XD's rotating takedown lever on the front of the frame allows easy disassembly for maintenance.
There are also two readiness indicators on XD pistols. The first is a prominently visible, and readily felt, bright silver "firing pin status indicator" that protrudes from the rear center of the slide whenever the gun's firing mech-anism is set for firing--which, due to the slide-activated striker design, is whenever a round is chambered. It is impossible for a round to be in the chamber without the indicator being visible; however, the indicator will also be visible if the trigger mechanism is set while the chamber is empty. In other words, you know the gun is empty if the firing pin status indicator isn't visible, but the gun may still be empty when it is visible. To fill that small information void, the gun's extractor, which is positioned top center of the slide directly behind the barrel breech, serves as an actual loaded chamber indicator--it protrudes from the top of the slide whenever it is engaging a cartridge case.
Pedal To The Metal 
The underside of the XD's front dustcover features a Picatinny-style accessory-mounting rail.
I next took the XD to the benchrest with a selection of 12 different .357 SIG factory loads to verify it met the basic law enforcement and military "four-point-five at twenty-five" accuracy standard for duty/service pistols that is conventional these days. I began by getting an initial accuracy/performance benchmark using Federal Premium 125-grain Hydra-Shok ammunition; I would also use this as a reference for the gun's performance as it went through the planned 5000-round run. The average of three full-magazine groups was 3.25 inches; that's very good for a duty-grade pistol. I then fired chronograph strings and the group averages for the other 11 loads, yielding a combined accuracy figure of 3.67 inches and bringing the number of rounds fired to 480. Another three-magazine group average with the control Federal 125-grain Hydra-Shok load brought it up to 510 rounds, poised for the 5K run. 
The pistol's cocking indicator is visible when the firing mechanism is set for firing (R). The author replaced the
review gun's factory-standard sights (L) with a set of
Heinie Slant-Pro Straight-8 sights (R).
An "accelerated normal-use test" provides an indication of whether a product lives up to its maker's claims for how long it can serve you usefully. For handguns, an accelerated normal-use test means shooting a lot of rounds through a gun within a shorter span of days (weeks, months) than a "normal" user would ordinarily do but without pushing the gun past what a normal shooting session would entail. For example, the Austrian Army specification that Glock passed called for an initial 10,000 rounds with a 500-round average malfunction interval (i.e., no more than 20 stoppages in 10,000 rounds) and an initial 15,000-round "main parts" survival interval. So if you were to buy, say, a Springfield XD 9mm pistol, you therefore might reasonably expect it to run--with ordinary care--for at least 5000 rounds with no more than 10 stoppages before you needed to start even thinking about "small parts" replacement. How long would that be in real-world use? 
Another unique design aspect of the XD is its grip safety, which prevents the gun's trigger from being squeezed unless the safety is fully depressed.
Manufacturers tell me the average consumer's personal/household defense gun only makes it to the range maybe three or four times a year for an average 200 to 300 rounds total. At that rate it'll be nearly 20 years before 5000 rounds go down that barrel. In an accelerated normal-use test, we do that in about 10 days, shooting 500 rounds a day, four sessions each day, not stressing the gun. I'll typically spend about a half-hour first thing in the morning shooting 125 rounds. (One magazine every three minutes; the gun doesn't even really get hot.) Before lunch, another 125; midafternoon, 125; evening, 125. I start with the gun just as it comes from the box and track how long it takes to dirty up and start misfiring before I clean it. If parts start breaking and falling off on the fifth day, I've learned something useful. I'm a believer in the "Plaxco Maxim" (former USPSA National Champion Michael Plaxco, that is), to wit: "If your gun won't run dirty, there's something wrong with your gun." 
The only hiccup in the entire 5000-round shoot was the pistol's magazine catch pin tended to drift to the left and protrude from the frame, and that problem was easily remedied.
To compress the 10 days of shooting the XD into two words: no problems. Federal Ammunition had generously provided Shooting Times with 2500 rounds of the benchmark Premium 125-grain Hydra-Shok load plus another 2500 rounds of its Premium heavy-bullet .357 SIG 150-grain JHP loading. The XD romped through 5000 rounds of full-power .357 SIG without any significant hitch. There were only two failures to fire (at round counts 2134 and 3587), both due to dud primers. No jams. And it wasn't necessary to clean this XD to keep it running. (I did give it a light lubricant spray and wipe down at the end of each day.) This is a testimony both to the clean-burning Federal ammo and to the strong-driven firing pin system on the XD. 
According to Dick, the XD's accuracy performance remained extremely consistent during the length of the shoot.
The one hiccup was that the magazine catch pin in the grip behind the trigger guard tended to drift to the left and protrude from the frame after every 150 rounds or so, due to the differential rate of expansion between polymer and steel as the gun warmed in use. The third time it happened I removed it, gave it a rap with a steel hammer against an anvil to slightly distort one end, and replaced it. Problem resolved. Accuracy performance remained constant. By pure coincidence, the final average of three full magazines with the benchmark ammo after the 5000 rounds were run measured exactly the same as the first average: 3.25 inches. The averages of the 500-round interval reference checks fired throughout the 5000 rounds did not vary by more than 0.37 inch. Understand, that's for the averages, not the individual groups, which vary according to how good the shooter is at any given moment. One of the good things about extended, many-group reviews of this sort is that the individual performance spikes and valleys will even out by the end. The very best of all 54 reference groups fired was a tight 2.25 inches; the worst was 4.50 inches.
After completing the run, the sample XD .357 SIG went back to the Springfield Armory service department, where it was taken completely apart and every piece analyzed. The technicians discovered that the tip of the ejector had broken off; it had actually been an incorrect length to begin with (too long). (I hadn't noticed because the gun had continued to work without interruption.) They also determined that the recoil spring assembly was at the softer margin of the part specification (though still within acceptable limits) and replaced it. Otherwise, the gun was in fine working order. That's not as remarkable as it sounds. I've done numerous 5000-round--and even 10,000-round--accelerated review runs of this type for Shooting Times over the years, and in general I have been uniformly impressed by the ability of modern handgun manufacturers to produce reliable, steady tools that continue to provide consistent performance even after extremely high round counts. The entire industry is to be complimented. Clearly Springfield's XD ranks with the best. |
Springfield Armory Links
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
