I don’t really care much what the trigger feels like (practice, practice, practice), but if Springfield wants to keep it as a “technically” single-action trigger, they should at least make it feel like one. Make a decision on what the trigger is or isn’t. It’s fairly easy for dirt and debris to work itself under the grip safety of the Springfield XD, especially when it’s taken out in the field for extended periods.ĩ. Make it harder for stuff to get under and block the grip safety.Ī blocked grip safety equals a locked up gun (see point number 7). That’s bad, primarily because it makes single-handed malfunctions clearing tricky, if not completely impossible. Disconnect the slide from the grip safety.Ĭurrently, the slide can only be pulled back if the grip safety is depressed. It now functions much like the loaded chamber viewing port on a S&W M&P-a hole that allows you to see the rim of the cartridge. It sticks in the up position when the pistol is fouled from lots of shooting. I’ve never had a magazine-related feed issue, but these shiny silver magazines don’t exactly inspire confidence. In fact, the entire magazine isn’t terribly durable, as we can see from point 4. It’s easy to fix by mashing it back in place on some sort of metal corner, like a filing cabinet, but it’s annoying. This causes sticky magazines that don’t drop free. Over time, something in the firing process causes the portion of the magazine spine directly behind the top round to bow outwards towards the grip safety. That’s pretty amazing for a pistol in its price range. With match ammo, 25 yards groups with my XD45 hover right around 2 inches. Instead, Springfield should focus more on how outstandingly accurate the XD series is.

Where the sights are is where you shoot (see my post about how Grip Angle Doesn’t Matter, for more details). The only problem with that is… it’s not exactly true. Springfield Armory took the handgun world by storm in the 2000’s with their aggressive marketing campaign claiming “point-and-shoot” ergonomics. Stop marketing it as an ergonomic miracle. What is it with companies putting lack-luster sights on their pistols, anyway? (here’s looking at you, GLOCK.) 3. This is an easy fix with the plethora of aftermarket sight options available, but the factory sights should at least retain the dots for a reasonable period of time. The white dots fell out of mine years ago. Springfield just needs to do away with the pin entirely, like they did on the single stack XD-S series. That’s inconvenient during an IDPA match, but could be a very, very bad thing under different circumstances. When it unexpectedly shatters, it locks up the striker and renders the pistol inoperable.

Springfield xds trigger upgrade