The most recent addition to the XD line is the Mod.2 4-inch-barreled Service Model, which is particularly well suited for law enforcement duty and self-defense use. The updated rear sight profile enhances snag-free reholstering for armed professionals who carry in deep concealment, and the fiber-optic front sight significantly improves sight acquisitions in virtually all lighting conditions. The reengineered frame ergonomics update the original Service Model’s design, while the best components of the successful XD line are preserved.
XD 3″ Sub-Compact: The original subcompact XD model, the XD 3” offers impressive capacity in a compact, solid handgun. Users have carried them as a backup to their same-caliber duty or open-carry XD, because the XD 3” retains the ergonomics and proportions—aside from being shorter in length and height—of the larger models. These pistols can also accept the same-caliber magazines from larger-frame Springfield XD models. Thus, you can easily feed two guns with the same full-sized magazine should you really have to.
XD 5″ Tactical: This model offers a longer 5-inch barrel for higher velocities and a longer sight radius. This improves ballistic performance and accuracy potential while adding a bit of weight, which only helps to reduce muzzle rise. This full-sized model is perfect for special tactical roles and is a pleasure for those who don’t mind carrying a gun that is a little larger.
Springfield’s new 3-inch-barreled XD Mod.2 pistols are available in 9mm or .40 S&W, while a 3.3-inch-barreled version is chambered in .45 ACP. These pistols feature innovative new slide and frame styling that has been enhanced for concealed carry. The biggest addition is Springfield’s GripZone, which features three distinct types of texturing for optimum control in any condition, wet or dry. The re-contoured, slimmer frame and slide add up to a far more natural grip feel while still offering an impressive magazine capacity.
The XD 4” Compact Service is 0.75 inches shorter in height (measured from the base of the magazine to the top of the slide) than the standard XD 4” Service model, which aids in concealability. This costs three rounds in terms of capacity, but the XD 4” Compact Service can accept the longer 13-round .45 ACP magazines should you need more ammunition on tap.
The XD 4” Service exists right in the sweet spot for duty-issue handguns: It has a magazine capacity that ties or beats the competition, features the proven 4-inch barrel length you expect on a duty gun and wears incredibly durable sights that are drift adjustable. It comes in each of the “Big Four” calibers to meet departmental needs as well as integrate into the collection of just about any shooter. A variant of the XD 4” Service model is available with a frame-mounted, ambidextrous thumb safety right where 1911 fans expect to find it. This safety is in addition to the three existing safeties that come standard on all XD models.
XDM 3.8″ Compact: Springfield’s XDM pistols are immediately visually different from the original XD series, as they feature frames with redesigned texturing and can accept interchangeable backstraps, making these pistols suitable for a variety of hand sizes. The slides have also been redesigned for streamlined, fast-handling performance, as the arrow-shaped front and rear slide serrations promote a positive grip. Finally, XDM pistols, including the concealment-ready XDM 3.8” Compact, feature snag-free, three-dot sights and match-grade barrels.
One-inch taller than the Compact version, the XDM 3.8” offers the shorter, lighter 3.8-inch barrel of a compact gun with the full-sized grip frame of a duty gun. That means your pinky finger has a place to rest, and the magazines hold the full 19 rounds of 9mm that you expect of a duty-sized grip. The overall size and weights savings of the XDM 3.8”, with its capacity, make it well suited for duty.
Intended as Springfield Armory’s state-of-the-art duty pistol, the XDM 4.5” wears a 4.5-inch-long barrel for excellent ballistics without getting into the more specialized realm of competition-length barrels/slides. These pistols also pack plenty of firepower, and the fore and aft slide serrations combine with the aggressively textured grip surfaces to provide positive traction in inclement weather and other slippery conditions. As many police departments need to issue the same pistol to many different people of different sizes and hand geometry, the interchangeable backstraps keep the XDM pistol series on the cutting edge of handgun evolution.
XDM 4.5″ Threaded Barrel: A specialized pistol for specialized roles, this XDM comes with a threaded barrel for suppressor use. Springfield Armory also supplies a knurled thread protector as well as taller “suppressor sights” meant to be visible above the body of an attached sound suppressor. Particularly appealing to the special operations and tactical communities, this model is also available to civilians.
XD-S: The smallest XD models are the 9mm and .45 ACP variants in the XD-S 3.3” line. These are single-stack models that retain the tactile loaded-chamber indicator while forgoing the striker indicator on the rear of the slide. Another feature is the dust cover accessory rail for mounting lights and lasers. Like other models, XD-S pistols have three safeties, including the Ultra Safety Assurance (USA) trigger safety, a grip safety and a firing-pin blocking internal safety. The ambidextrous magazine release is a great bonus feature for a gun this small. Springfield also offers 4-inch-barreled 9mm and .45 ACP models in its XD-S 4” line.
XDM 5.25″ Competition: Factory-optimized for competition use, these pistols wear adjustable, target-style rear sights that combine with fast-targeting fiber-optic front sights. The 5.25-inch-long barrel is match grade, the trigger has a short reset for speed and the capacity is higher than many competing models—all of which could also make this pistol particularly handy for personal or home defense, too.
The first of Springfield Armory’s XD handguns turned heads at the range in 2002, when very few expected the legendary company to come out with a polymer-framed, striker-fired handgun. Now we take for granted the fact that Springfield Armory offers new XD pistols every year packed with innovative features.
The XD name stands for “eXtreme Duty,” the concept guiding the design and construction of each of Springfield’s 15 models. From the smallest, the XD-S, to the largest, the 5.25-inch-barreled XDM, every model is derived from a common action and built to offer reliable function under extreme conditions.
Each XD traces its lineage back to the Croatian War of Independence, to the PHP handgun produced by IM Metal, which served effectively in combat. Those rigors showed a few areas of needed improvement, and the PHP evolved through another iteration (the HS95) into the HS2000—a model so successful that it currently serves the militaries of its native Croatia as well as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and several other countries.
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An opportunity arose for Springfield to work with HS Produkt—the successor to IM Metal—to refine the HS2000 and release it to the U.S. market as something rather unique: a polymer-framed, striker-fired handgun with a 1911-inspired grip safety, a tactile loaded-chamber indicator, a striker indicator and a fully supported chamber.
