A FAIR SHARE OF ABUSE

Springfield Armory's XD pistols take a licking and keep on ticking.

By Dick Metcalf

The Springfield XD is available in three configurations (top to bottom): 5-inch Tactical, 4-inch Service Model (also offered in a ported version) and 3-inch Compact.

Croatia?! You've got to be kidding!" was my initial reaction when I first saw the stamp on the slide of Springfield Armory's X-Treme Duty (XD) DAO polymer-frame duty pistol. But then, what better evidence that the Cold War is truly over than for a gun made in Zagreb to be marketed in the U.S. under a name that first entered history by producing cannon for George Washington's Continental Army? We live in interesting times.

While the Springfield XD is indeed new to the American market under the Springfield name, it was first imported in 2000 by HS America of Knoxville, Tennessee (prosaically designated as the "HS 2000"), and was favorably reviewed by several publications at that time. Recognizing its potential, Springfield Armory acquired the import rights in 2001 and has been aggressively promoting it since. In addition to the original HS-configuration 4-inch Service Model available in 9mm Luger, .40 S&W and .357 SIG chamberings, in 2002 Springfield added a ported version of the Service Model and a 5-inch Tactical Model and has announced a 3-inch short-grip Sub-Compact Model for 2003.

Reviews of the pistol under the new label have continued to give it high marks, but the "extreme duty" designation invites a challenge, so when Springfield president Dennis Reese recently offered G&A Editor Lee J. Hoots the opportunity to get an early crack at some of the newest versions, Lee decided we should be a little, well, extreme in our review. He arranged for Reese to ship a review sample group of XDs to my PASA Park range facility in Illinois and indicated that in additional to a regular workout, I should "stress" one of them a bit more than usual as well. The samples included a .40 S&W Tactical Model, one each 9mm and .40 S&W Service Models and a preproduction 9mm Sub-Compact. But before we turn to the review process, let's reprise the basic features of the XD series.

Innovation By Design
As a duty/service pistol, the XD offers an interesting integration of tried-and-true designs combined with additional features that are distinctly outside the norm. The basic operating mechanism employs a familiar Browning-type cam-ramp, tilt-barrel operation with a captive dual-spring recoil-guide assembly. The noncockable double-action-only ignition mechanism is striker-fired and requires a partial rearward motion of the slide to preload 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 unless the slide is racked.

It is very much the same system employed by Glock, as is the hinged trigger-safety lever that prevents rearward trigger movement unless depressed. There is also 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. Springfield's official term for the mechanism is Ultra Safety Assurance Action Trigger System--USA Action for short.

Unlike any other DAO pistol design, the XD also has a grip safety, which prevents the trigger from being pulled 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 doesn't: It also 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. Or lock the slide back on an empty gun, whether the magazine is in or out. So the XD has a lot of safeties, more than usual for a pick-up-and-shoot-type pistol, but they are about as transparent as safeties can be. Stick in a loaded magazine, rack the slide and the gun is ready to go bang. But it 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. Always safe and instantly ready--that's a pretty good thing for a duty and defense gun to be.

The author ran every conceivable 9mm weight/brand/bullet-type combo he could lay his hands on through his 9mm XD test sample. It ate up everything.

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 front- and backstraps and an integral Picatinny-type mounting rail under the front portion of the frame dustcover for attaching tactical lights or laser aiming devices.

Unlike many other current polymer-frame pistols (again, using the Glock as a benchmark), 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, the barrel-locking cam and the trigger mechanism. At the rear of the frame, the slide is guided only by grooves in the polymer frame itself. Due to the design of the captive recoil-spring guide, all slide velocity is directed entirely into the locking block with no direct impact between the slide and any polymer component.

(left photo) Left-hand, right-hand: The conventionally located magazine release buttons are ambidextrous. (center photo) The XD's USA Action trigger system prevents trigger movement unless intentionally pulled. (right photo) Its frame design features integral mount rails for accessory lights or laser aiming devices.

The primary operating mechanisms are traditionally located, with an oversize slide release/lock on the left top of the frame. The magazine release button is likewise positioned --1911-style--directly behind the triggerguard, 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 butt pads).

Both the front and rear three-dot sights are drift-adjustable for windage, and front blades of varying heights are available for different loads. The dovetails will also accept Heinie Specialty Products' excellent Straight-Eight Tritium vertical two-dot variation of the basic Heinie Slant-Pro sight, which is the fastest tactical sight to acquire I've yet encountered.

There are also separate readiness indicators. 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 firing mechanism is set for firing--which is whenever a round is chambered, due to the slide-activated striker design. 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 information void, the gun's extractor--which is positioned top-center of the slide directly behind the breech--serves as a loaded-chamber indicator, as it protrudes from the top of the slide whenever it engages a cartridge case.

A first: The XD features the only grip safety mechanism to be found on the current crop of DAO autos. (right) What well-thought-out stress test would be complete without the obligatory "mud dump?"

Takedown for routine maintenance is ridiculously easy. First, remove the magazine and clear the chamber. Then lock the slide to the rear. Rotate the takedown lever to the straight-up position. Release the slide gently forward to rest. Pull the trigger and move the slide assembly forward from the frame. The captive recoil-spring assembly and the barrel can then be removed from the slide. Reverse this procedure to reassemble the pistol. (And remember, the slide won't go back unless the grip safety is depressed.)

Good To Go
When my four sample XDs arrived from Springfield Armory, I gave them a quick fit-and-function inspection and found all of them to be just as well put together as the other XD examples I'd examined earlier last year. The XD grip is comfortable in the hand, with the arched backstrap seating nicely into the hollow of the palm and the grip safety totally unobtrusive. Springfield considers the short-action XD trigger pulls to be "in-spec" anywhere from 5.5 to 7.7 pounds. The average for these four pistols was 5.5 pounds (they ranged from 5.20 to 5.78 on my computerized Dvorak TriggerScan). That's as light, crisp and consistent as any triggers of this type of pistol I've handled.

I next took the guns out to the benchrest to check them out with a basic selection of commercial ammo to verify they all met the basic "4.5 at 25" accuracy standard for duty/service pistols that is the norm these days. All did, as you can see from the accompanying chart. (Incidentally, I found out after doing this that I wasn't actually supposed to shoot the prototype Ultra Compact. It was just intended to be a photo sample, with a cut-down standard-size frame, and the front end of its shortened dust cover was glued on instead of integrally molded. Oops. Well, it shot just fine. They must've used good glue.)

Modular marvel: Disassembling the Springfield XD requires the simple upward rotation of a takedown lever.

Trial By Fire
Let me say right here that I have a real problem with "torture tests." I don't think they tell you very much. The very term "torture" implies unreasonable cruelty. I mean, it's not really very difficult to break something. All you need to do is run it past its design limits. If you're doing a review of a mini-van for Motor Trend and you drive it into a concrete wall at 60 mph, guess what? It'll break.

On the other hand, a "stress test" is a reasonable approach to gauge how a product performs under less than optimum conditions. And an "accelerated normal-use test" (which is entirely different from a stress test) can provide 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 the 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, you could reasonably expect it to run--with ordinary care--for at least 5,000 rounds with no more than 10 stoppages before you needed to even start thinking about "small parts" replacement.

Each XD pistol comes from the factory with a test target. All specimens the author fired easily fulfilled the "4.5 at 25" mandate.

Manufacturers tell me the average bedstand 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 5,000 rounds go down the barrel. For an accelerated normal-use test I'll do that in 10 days, shooting 500 rounds a day, four sessions each day, not stressing the gun. I'll spend about a half-hour first thing in the morning, shooting 125 rounds. (One magazine every three minutes doesn't even get the gun hot.) Before lunch, another 125; midafternoon 125; evening 125 (I do this for a living, so I've got the time). I track how long the gun takes to dirty up and start misfiring, then I clean it. And if parts start breaking and falling off by the fifth day, I've learned something useful.

A stress test is different and also useful, especially for a duty/defense (or hunting) gun that may be called upon to function in harsh conditions. Real-world stress situations are unpredictable, so you have to be careful about test parameters. Pack a bore full of mud, pull the trigger and the result is predictable. However, if you drop it on muddy ground, pick it up, shake it off, check the bore and then pull the trigger, you might have a different level of expectation. As former USPSA National Champion Michael Plaxco told me, "If your gun won't run dirty, there's something wrong with your gun."

Among polymer-frame DAO auto pistols, Glock sets the current standard. It's got the biggest market share and is the player to beat. Glocks are pretty tough. Remember, they had to run for 10,000 rounds with only 20 jams to get that original Austrian contract, and I well recall some of the things Glock's first U.S. sales force did when initially cracking the U.S. law enforcement market. They'd drop a gun on a concrete floor and kick it across the room; dunk it in a bucket of mud, run a pencil down the bore, shake it off and shoot; run over it with a car. In doing this they created a legend and sold a lot of guns.

A Solid Platform
So, does the Springfield XD compare? It more than holds its own. I didn't need to conduct an accelerated normal-use test when the 2003 Springfield XD samples arrived because I had already conducted a 5,000-round review of a .357 SIG Service Model XD early last year for one of G&A's sibling magazines. The .357 SIG cartridge develops considerably more slide velocity than either the 9mm or .40 S&W, and if there were going to be any weakness in the XD system due to its single-point locking-block slide-frame interface, this was the chambering to generate it. My test pistol sailed through the 5,000 rounds without a hitch. There were only two failures to fire, both due to dud primers. No jams. The one hiccup was that the magazine catch pin in the grip behind the triggerguard tended to drift to the left and begin to protrude from the frame after every 150 rounds or so (due to the different 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 solved.

After completing the run, the gun went back to the Springfield service department, where it was taken completely apart and every piece analyzed. It was discovered that the tip of the ejector had broken off, as it had actually been too long to begin with (I hadn't noticed because it was still working fine at the time). It was also determined that the recoil-spring assembly was on the softer margin of the part specification (though still within acceptable limits), and it was replaced. Otherwise, the pistol was in fine working order.

Neither Mud Nor Sand... To apply stress to one of the present samples, comparable to what I once watched Glock salesmen do, I took the 9mm Service Model and first fired three full magazines of each of the 26 different types and brands of commercial 9mm ammo I had in inventory. The gun cycled them all--780 rounds, no hesitation. Then I chambered a primed and unloaded case, inserted a magazine loaded with equivalent-weight dummy rounds and dropped the gun muzzle-down on a concrete floor from a height of 36 inches. Didn't fire. I repeated the drop onto the rear of the slide, muzzle upward. Still didn't fire.

(Left photo) This gag is for professional gunwriters and/or stunt drivers only (and only on a closed track). (right photo) The only drive-over damage? A few gravel scars on the XD's polymer grip frame.

Next I plunked the gun fully loaded, muzzle down, into the muddy bottom of a shallow stream with the same 36-inch drop. Splash. I let it sit there while I took the photo, then plucked it out, shook it off, racked the slide to eject the chambered round and locked it open, ran a weed stalk down the bore to clear the mudplug, gave it a quick visual inspection, then fired out the magazine with no stoppages. I then reloaded and repeated the mud drop twice more with the same result. My conclusion? The gun's tight slide/frame interface, snug magazine fit and close barrel/breech lockup do a pretty good job of keeping out foreign matter.

Sand was a bit more of a challenge. I dropped the pistol in the neighbor children's dry sandbox and kicked a flurry over it, as might happen in an accidental holster-drop. After racking the slide and blowing the bore clean, sufficient dry grit remained to prevent the slide from completely closing when I attempted to chamber the next top round in the magazine. I cleared the round, removed the magazine and squirted a liberal amount of silicone-based lube into the chamber and slide/breech area. I then reinserted the magazine, dropped the slide and fired out all the remaining rounds with no stoppage. I repeated this "drop and clear" procedure twice more as well. The second time no additional lubing was necessary after checking to make sure the bore was open. The third time I needed to relube in order to chamber the follow-on round.

My conclusion? Sand is a bitch (ask the guys from Desert Storm); carry a good lube in desert environments (they did). But even with that problem, I was able to get the gun firing within 30 seconds of the drop. And yes, I hate to think about the impact of trace grit in the bore as the bullet blasted onto it, but if you drop a duty gun in the sand in a situation when you need to get it firing again as soon as possible, pinpoint accuracy is not your primary concern.

Each XD pistol comes from the factory with a test target. All specimens the author fired easily fulfilled the "4.5 at 25" mandate.

...Nor Pickup Truck
I laid the same fully loaded 9mm Service Model XD down on an pea-gravel/asphalt roadway, muzzle in a safe direction, and parked my 4WD Ford Ranger right on top of it (admittedly an unlikely scenario). I let it sit there while I took the picture, then drove on over it, then backed up over it again. It didn't look bent when I picked it up (although the polymer grip had some pretty deep gravel scars), and the full magazine fired out cleanly. I went on and shot another 200 rounds through the gun, finishing with a 50-foot offhand target. Not too bad, all things considered, for a pistol I tried to drown, bury alive and run over.

Agreed, none of this was rigorously scientific. Neither were those Glock presentations 20 years ago. But they sure do wonders for the confidence factor. Summing up, the Springfield XD has the same basic operating aspects and design elements as the market-leading Glock, with several additional functional and safety features. The Springfield XD, at least this particular sample, can apparently stand up to at least as much stress, abuse and rough treatment as a Glock. And the Springfield XD is priced at approximately 75 percent of the recommended retail price of a Glock.

I think this sector of the handgun market is going to be really interesting for the next few years...