I'm looking for another pistol, both to celebrate Bush's reelection and the expiration of the AWB (can you say "HI-CAP"!). The gun would be for both my wife and I, and because I want her to shoot it well I'm thinking of staying short of my usual .45ACP. Thinking 9x19 or .40S&W maybe.

I've always been a big Glock fan, but I'm interested in the XD because it fits my hand like a glove, seems to be well built and the price is right (9mm 4" version is $399 locally).

Anybody got one? What do you think of it? Reliable with JHP's like Hydra-Shoks? +P safe? Etc...

Thanks,

Mike

My wife and I own 4 of them (she works for Springfield). They are great guns for the money. I used to be a die hard Glock fan. But the XD has changed my mind. Great shooting guns. We have 1 in 9m, 1 in .40, 1 in .357 sig, and one in .45 GAP. I would stay away from the sig and gap. Ammo is hard to come by, and is pricey. But the 9mm and .40 are affordable and easy to find ammo for. If it is for personnal defense, i would go with the .40. If it's just a shooter, I would buy the 9mm. Hope this helps.

I have a XD9 4" and love it. 100% reliable. I also own two Glocks. Even though they are close in some regards they are completey differnt in others, the grip being one. A lot of people like the feel of the XD and I am one of them.

Let your wife handle one though and see if she can rack the slide. I know my wife and several friends wives have alot of trouble with racking the slide on the XD and Glock. I have given up on my wife ever racking it, am now looking for a decent 1911 in 9mm for her. Thumbing the hammer back and then racking the slide is very easy for her.

That's a good point, as my wife, while not a petite little girly-girl (she's 5'10", and before she was pregnant she weighted about a buck and a half, give or take), has always had some trouble racking the slide on my Glock 21. She can do it, but it take a concentrated effort on her part.

We went to Gander Mtn. yesterday to look around (funny how the car just seems to auto-pilot itself there, right guys! Must be something wrong with the steering!) and I had her handle both the 4" XD9 and the sub compact XD9, and she really liked the 4" version alot. I had her compare the feel to a Glock 17 and she preferred the XD. She also was able to rack the slide without too much effort, which is good. I also really like the XD's grip. It feels more natural to me, somewhat more like a 1911 with a palm swell. It'd also be a great gun for CCW if my state ever pulls its head out of its butt and revises the "may-issue" to "shall-issue."

Mike