SPRINGFIELD'S .45 GAP XD TACTICAL PISTOL

The most frequently asked question when a manufacturer brings out a lightweight polymer pistol is whether it's available in .45. Springfield's answer is the new XD-45LE Tactical.

By Scott E. Mayer, Field Editor

If there were any question about the future of the new .45 GAP (Glock Automatic Pistol) cartridge, it should have been answered at the 2004 SHOT Show when Springfield Inc. unveiled its XD-45LE Tactical pistol chambered for the new abbreviated .45-caliber number. With that unveiling, the GAP could no longer be seen as a Glock-only proposition.

In the world of cartridges, it's bold to introduce something new, but to introduce a cartridge that takes on the .45 ACP with its cult-like following seems ludicrous. It was probably with that following in mind that Glock designed the .45 GAP for those "nonbelievers" who, for whatever reason, eschew the Model 1911 and its classic chambering in favor of smaller, lighter polymer-framed guns that are typically limited in power only by the size of their frames. As originally conceived, the .45 GAP cartridge answers the call for .45 ACP ballistics and also answers the "Do they make it in .45?" question by being compact enough to fit existing 9mm-size handgun frames.

One such frame is the XD from Springfield. Not many readers may remember the gun when it was the HS 2000 imported by HS America LLC of Knoxville, Tennessee. That brief union lasted only until the end of 2001 when Springfield picked up the Croatian-made, polymer-frame, semiautomatic and rechristened it the XD.

It was a good decision because the HS 2000 lacked nothing but a name that had marketing panache. Springfield has that name. Springfield embraced the HS and boldly entered the crowded DA polymer pistol market. That any changes, other than markings, Springfield made to the HS 2000 consisted solely of enlarging the extractor and adding front slide serrations is testament that the HS 2000 was nearly flawless in design.

Safety features of Springfield's polymer-frame XD include the unique grip safety (L) and a cocking indicator that protrudes from the rear of the slide.

Indeed, the XD takes many separate notable features from different guns and combines them into a single gun that is, ironically, unique for its lack of uniqueness. Those features focus first on safety then on ergonomics and are combined with function, reliability, and accuracy. The result is a pistol that feels good in the hand (even small hands), points naturally, and is as ambidextrous as an autoloader can get. I don't think it's a coincidence, either, that every XD I've tested was accurate and that they've all gobbled up ammunition of all bullet weights and styles without any glaring malfunctions.

Springfield's USA Action Trigger Safety prevents the trigger from being pulled unless the safety lever is depressed.

There are several safety features of the XD with the most noticeable being the "USA Action Trigger Safety." The first time I saw this style of trigger safety I had to laugh at its utter simplicity and effectiveness. The centrally located USA Action Trigger Safety blade is in effect wedged against the frame inside the trigger guard so the trigger can't come back. Press in on the blade as a natural part of squeezing the trigger, and the top part of it pivots into the back of the trigger, clearing the frame and allowing the trigger to be pulled back fully.

There's also a grip safety that, while its presence is obvious from looking at the XD, won't be obtrusive when using the pistol. As with the trigger safety, the grip safety pivots near its top third too. When depressed, the top pivots out of the way of the sear so it can slip down and allow the striker to fly forward. Inside the slide, the forward movement of the striker is blocked by a passive safety unless the trigger is squeezed, causing an extension to press the safety up and out of the way of the striker so it can hit the primer and fire a chambered round. There are also what I call "political" safeties, such as a loaded chamber indicator that tips up from the breechface when there is a cartridge in the chamber. It sticks up very unobtrusively but also very obviously from the top of the slide when a cartridge is in the chamber. Yet another safety is the tail of the striker that extends from the rear of the slide when the XD is cocked. Both provide visual and tactile evidence that the XD is either cocked and/or loaded.

While the .45 GAP is shorter and more compact than the .45 ACP, velocity, energy, penetration, and expansion are every bit that of .45 ACP.

It's hard to truly understand the XD's ergonomics just by looking at it. I've found that my hand settles very naturally and comfortably in the deep pocket at the top of the XD's backstrap while the hump formed at the lower rear of its grip fills my hand nicely. Often on guns that have polymer frames and double-stack magazine-size grips I experience gripping difficulty in the form of a hollow created between my curved palm and the flat side of the pistol. That hollow leaves me capable of holding the gun securely enough to shoot accurately, but the lack of solid contact causes me some uneasiness that the gun could be easily wrested from my hand. On the XD, though, that hollow is filled by the hump, and a checkerboard texture molded into the backstrap complemented by the same texture on the frontstrap makes the hold very solid. A couple of other gripping niceties include a length of pull less than that on a 1911, once the trigger slack is taken up, and a deep relief cut under the rear of the trigger guard so the XD sits low in the hand. All that may not matter much when shooting bullseyes on the line, but it could make a big difference to a person with small hands who carries a gun for protection or as part of his or her job.

Being right-handed, I very rarely think of any features on a gun that are intended for southpaws. But one feature I really like that's incorporated into the XD's design is an ambidextrous magazine release. You'd have to stretch my thumb at least an inch and put another joint in it for me to be able to eject the magazine from a 1911 without significantly changing my grip. With the release on the other side of the pistol, though, it's a simple matter to either press it with my middle finger or pull my trigger finger back to press it. Either way, I'm left holding the XD securely and still on target and, if necessary, able to fire a shot left in the chamber during a magazine change.

The HS 2000 was available in only 9mm Luger, but the previous importer promised more calibers would come. They did, but they came under Springfield's XD banner. Springfield offers XD variants in 9mm Luger, .357 SIG, and .40 S&W chamberings. And now it's the .45 GAP.

Sights are the three-white-dot variety and are drift adjustable for windage.

Not Just A Shortened .45 ACP
All it took to make the XD into a .45 was for the .45 GAP cartridge to come along. And then a slight change to the extractor and breechface. And, of course, a barrel with a bigger hole through the center of it. Magazines with the early example I tested were modified 10-rounders of a smaller caliber that held only eight of the .45 GAP cartridges, but GAP-specific magazines that will hold 10 rounds are promised.

It would be overly simplistic to think of the GAP as merely a shortened .45 ACP case. It isn't. Clearly visible from the outside is a case that's about 1/8 inch shorter with a pocket for a Small Pistol primer. The rim is slightly rebated and the GAP's extractor groove is cut at a 36-degree angle instead of the 26 degrees on the .45 ACP. There is significant difference inside too. You can look at sectioned .45 GAP cases and see that the internal profile is shaped so that even 230-grain bullets can be fully seated without resulting in a case bulge. And to help increase powder capacity, the GAP's case web is set lower than an ACP's.

Ballistically, there is almost no difference between the GAP and the ACP. Both fire the same weight and style bullets at the same velocity, and recent testing shows that the GAP has a slight velocity edge over the ACP. Pressure comes close too. The SAAMI recommended maximum average pressure (MAP) for the .45 ACP is 21,000 psi and .45 ACP +P is 23,000 psi. Loading data I've seen for the GAP runs as high as 22,500 psi and the recently established MAP is 23,000. The GAP has its own, unique loading data, and from looking at loading tables, there doesn't appear to be a simple linear shift in powder charges between the ACP and the GAP. At the time of this writing, the only laboratory-tested loading data available for the .45 GAP were from Hodgdon. Accurate Arms provided limited, preliminary, nontested data. And as you can see in the chart, I kept my loads conservative.

SPECIFICATIONS XD-45LE Tactical .45 GAP DAO Semiautomatic Pistol
MANUFACTURER:	Springfield Armory
Model:	XD-45LE Tactical
OPERATION:	Recoil-operated DAO autoloader
CALIBER:	.45 GAP
CAPACITY:	8 rounds
BARREL LENGTH:	5 inches
OVERALL LENGTH:	8.o inches
WEIGHT, EMPTY:	29 ounces
FINISH:	Blued steel, stainless steel
SAFETY:	Ambidextrous thumb safety, beavertail grip safety, key activated lock in mainspring housing
HEIGHT:	5 3/8 inches
SIGHTS:	USA Action Trigger Safety, grip safety, passive striker block, loaded chamber indicator, cocked striker indicator
STOCKS:	Checkered cocobolo

When handloading, the GAP is very unforgiving when it comes to properly seating bullets. I found that if a bullet enters the case tipped, the little bulge that appears in the side of the case is enough to prevent chambering. Also, while I had no problem loading .45 GAP using .45 ACP dies, it was not possible to thread the seating die in deep enough to crimp the cases before the die bottomed out against the shellholder. With careful bulletseating and minimal case mouth belling, I was able to assemble .45 GAP loads that shot pretty darn good and with 100-percent reliability.

The XD Really Performs
Shooting the XD-45LE Tactical in .45 GAP chambering was very rewarding. Recoil has been previously described to me as "snappier" than from similar loads from a .45 ACP. I found that to be the case too, but I could hardly call the recoil from the XD uncomfortable and certainly not uncontrollable. After a few practice draws I was able to snatch the XD from a Fobus Roto Paddle holster and double-tap a target set at seven yards in an average of 1.61 seconds. According to the first shot and split times shown on the PACT timer, I was slow on the draw but able to recover and fire the second shot nearly as fast as I can with a 1911 in .45 ACP. Given more range time with the gun and break-in time with the holster, I'm sure I could get the overall time down considerably.

In the accuracy department, there was nothing to complain about. The rugged, drift-adjustable three-white-dot pattern sights provided a crisp sight picture. They were regulated to point of aim at 25 yards for elevation, and I had to drift the rear sight only slightly to the right for everything to be zeroed at that distance. When firing from a Caldwell On-Target Handgun Rest, groups measuring around two inches at 25 yards became commonplace regardless of whether I was firing a light handload with a Lee or Lyman cast bullet; a high-performance premium load from Federal, Speer or Winchester; or anything in between. Early on in the accuracy testing while firing full-power Winchester 230-grain jacketed hollowpoint loads, I fired one of those groups every gun writer hates because it's so tight no one would believe it if you published it. Luckily, a Fairfax County firefighter was also at the range, shooting his reconditioned Johnson rifle, and was able to witness and sign the 0.68-inch, five-shot, 25-yard group.

In the course of firing somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 rounds through the XD-45LE, I encountered only two malfunctions. Both were failures to feed with full metal jacket flatpoint bullets through a very dirty gun. I'm hesitant to find fault with a malfunction rate of less than 1/2 percent. The lower part of the XD's feedramp is part of its frame while the top, and main, part of its feedramp is part of the barrel, and the corner of the flatpoint bullets got stuck at the seam. If it proved to be a recurring problem, the best solution, in my opinion, would be to first try another magazine to see if a different follower presented the cartridge at a sufficiently different angle. If that didn't work, I'd simply not shoot flatpoint loads or just kiss the joint between the ramps with a polishing bob.

When firing factory loads, high-speed photography showed that case ejection was directly (and barely) over my head. With full-power loads there wasn't any problem, but later when shooting light loads the cases would occasionally hit me in the forehead. Trigger pull on my sample was very good for a defensive pistol, and I've come to expect that from an XD. Cycling the action through either manipulating the slide or firing a shot cocks the striker. Trigger pull, then, is primarily a matter of overpowering the firing pin safety, the mousetrap spring that keeps the sear raised, and the friction of the sear on the cocked striker. There's about 1/4 inch of takeup on the trigger followed by 1/8 inch steady pull of around six pounds. Unlike with some semiautomatic pistols, you can't "short stroke" the trigger return for faster shooting.

I don't see the .45 GAP relegating the .45 ACP to historic cartridge status, but there's clearly no doubt about the serious advantages it offers to law enforcement and private security officers. Chambered in a gun like Springfield's XD, the .45 GAP satisfies those who want traditional .45 ACP power in a modern pistol more likely to fit any officer, whether a man or a woman, left-handed or right-handed. The 1911 nonbelievers now have a .45 to stick in their polymer-framed pistols, and that will likely be a good market. What I'm curious to see is if any in the 1911 cult convert to the polymer pistol people.