One good .45 ACP review deserves another. Likewise, one good Springfield Armory pistol review deserves another.
Yes, this gun writer has already written multiple reviews of Springfield Armory’s M1911-A1 .45 ACP Mil-Spec, as well as the company’s mega-popular XD in the same caliber. But in the case of the latter gun, it has been 16 years since I’d last fired it, and back then I wasn’t getting paid to do firearms evaluations! So needless to say, ‘twas way past time to make a range reacquaintance with the .45 ACP XD.
Quick Review: Springfield Armory XD History and Specifications
To recap what I said in a previous article on the .45 ACP XD, “The XD (as in “eXtreme Duty”) debuted in 2002 in the 9mm chambering, based off of the polymer-frame striker-fired Hrvatski Samokres 2000 (HS2000) 9mm pistol manufactured in Croatia … The .45 ACP chambering came out in 2006 and made an immediate impact (bad pun intended), winning not only the NRA American Rifleman ‘Handgun of the Year’ Award that year but the same title from the Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence.”
The version I ended up test-firing for this article is the XD Mod. 2 .45 ACP 4.0 (Model Number XDG9445SHC, SKU Number 5165447593). Specifications on this version include a barrel length of 5.4 inches, an overall length of 7.3 inches, a height of 5.75 inches, a grip width of 1.02 inches, and an empty weight of 30 ounces. The standard magazine capacity is 13 + 1 round. The slide and barrel are made of hammer-forged steel with a Melonite finish, whilst the frame is black polymer. Sights are of the dovetailed 3-dot front and rear variety.
Regarding that “Mod. 2” bit, the manufacturer’s official page explains thusly: “The Mod.2 frame was meticulously designed to enhance the interface between the pistol and the shooter. Key areas of the frame are covered in a unique anti-slip texture while the undercut trigger guard and extended beavertail work in unison to promote a proper shooting grip to control recoil.” In a somewhat comical-looking gesture, the manufacturer saw fit to include the words ‘Grip Zone’ on the grip frame, which prompted a few wisecracks from my Facebook friends.
Personal Shooting Impressions
This latest opportunity to evaluate and get reacquainted with the big-bore XD comes courtesy of my totally awesome girlfriend Ms. Lisa Moore, who contributed insight on the Smith & Wesson Model 3913 LadySmith vs. Canik TP Range Showdown, Makarov retest, and the M1911 .45 as a ladies’ gun reviews. She recently purchased her XD Mod. 2 .45 ACP 4.0 from the Alamo Pawn Shop in Panama City, Florida at a very reasonable price of $450.00. Prior to her latest visit to me “inside the Beltway,” she’d fired 100 rounds through it and had already grown quite fond of “the old girl.” The only blemish is that the previous owner left what appears to be a White-Out stain on the corner of the right rear sight blade; fortunately, this is a purely cosmetic malady that does nothing to diminish the gun’s practical accuracy.
So, the GF and I went merrily off to Silver Eagle Group (SEG) indoor shooting facility in Ashburn, Virginia. In the spirit of equal partnership, Lisa was content to let me do all the shooting with her XD whilst she tried out my beloved Ruger P97DC in the same caliber for the first time. Accordingly, I went to work with 50 rounds of PMC Bronze 230-grain full metal jacket (FMJ) “hardball” and my usual ICE-QT paper target. Course of fire was divvied into 25 rounds of head shots at 7 yards, 15 rounds of center-torso shots at 25 yards, and 10 rounds of groin/pelvic area shots at 50 yards, delivered from the Classic Weaver Stance.
Ergonomics and trigger pull quality were as good as I’d remembered with my previous .45 XD shooting experience. As for the accuracy performance? At 7 yards, my rounds so utterly obliterated the center of the paper bad guy’s face that one of my Facebook Friends posted, “Nose surgery required” and another joked, “Dr. D’Or [sic], your nose surgery on the target was a success!” At 25 yards, all 15 rounds stayed in the 5-zone – though they did tend to stray somewhat low right, the polar opposite of my usual tendency to pull high right on account of my cross-eye dominance – with two rounds taking the tiebreaking 5x-ring. At 50 yards, I had one total whiff between the bad guy’s legs (“thigh gap” jokes, anyone?), two dropped low left into the thigh, four took the groin/pelvis proper, and three went slightly high into the waistline. Overall, an excellent shooter. Reliability was flawless.
Want Your Own?
According to True Gun Value, “A SPRINGFIELD ARMORY XD MOD 2 .45 ACP pistol is currently worth an average price of $384.92 new and $340.94 used. The 12-month average price is $384.92 new and $340.94 used.” Sportsman’s Outdoor Superstore has several specimens at a price range of $469.99 to $509.99.
Christian D. Orr has 33 years of shooting experience, starting at the tender age of 14. His marksmanship accomplishments include: the Air Force Small Arms Ribbon w/one device (for M16A2 rifle and M9 pistol); Pistol Expert Ratings from U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP); multiple medals and trophies via the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation (GSSF) and the Nevada Police & Fires Games (NPAF). Chris has been an NRA Certified Basic Pistol Instructor since 2011.
From the Vault
