EDC Pistols: Springfield XDs .45ACP and S&W Shield 9mm

We are living in the Golden Age of quality, affordable everyday carry (EDC) pistols. Here’s a YouTube video from Brandon401401 comparing the Springfield XDs and S&W Shield.

Currently my primary EDC pistol is the XDs .45ACP. Mrs. Wolf EDC is the M&P Shield 9mm. Add a laser , a Remora holster and at least one extra mag and you’re good to go. I carry two extra XDs mags, which gives me 17 EDC rounds. Remora provided me with a free mag holder when I ordered the holster. For EDC, I also carry an iPhone, a knife and a flashlight using Maxpedition gear.

As a civilain concealed carry holder, I want a laser on my EDC self defense firearm. Lasers provide you with instant and overwhelming advantages you wouldn’t otherwise have. Laser sights simply help you shoot better, with greater speed and accuracy, which translates into increased confidence—even in tense and threatening scenarios, when hours and hours of vigilant training can disappear in a haze of panic and confusion.

Firearms are used thousands of times a day in the United States by law enforcement and law abiding citizens alike, to stop crime and save lives. But the self defense guns are seldom fired. Simply producing the weapon usually stops the criminal activity and adding a laser increases the chance that you will not have to fire the gun to save lives.

Law enforcement officers are represented by government lawyers after they fire their weapons. We civilians are on our own. Legal representation could cost tens of thousands of dollars even if you legally fire a gun as a last resort in defense of deadly force. A $200 laser is well worth the expense to me. The last thing most criminals (including active shooters) are looking for is a gun fight. A laser is one of the most effective ways to send the message that you are armed and have no intention of becoming a victim.

“The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose.”
- James Earl Jones

Springfield Armory XDs 3.3 is an AWESOME .45 CCW

As regular readers know, I am not fan of Springfield Armory or the XD series. I loathe the state of Illinois, which spawned Barack Hussein Obama via Kenya, and remains the only 100% NO CARRY state in America.

I’ve always felt that the Springfield Armory was using marketing similar to the Samsung Galaxy.  You know, Glocks and iPhones are for the old fogies. XD’s and Galaxies are for the under 40 crowd.

When the XDs .45 ACP was announced and demonstrated at the 2012 SHOT show, it had all the makings of a well marketed firearm but the bar was a set pretty high, with a lot of promise.  So called ‘pocket’ guns are getting a lot of attention from numerous manufacturers, and the recent offerings by S&W, Ruger, Kahr, Beretta & now Springfield Armory are definitely driving a competitiveve market place.

The XD comes out of Croatia, which is not exactly Austria, Switzerland or Germany.  I don’t know about the other XD models, but I can tell you that the XDs is awesome.  The XDs .45 ACP is going to fill a definite consumer demand for the large caliber CCW pistols, as the  Shield does for the the 9mm caliber.  Both have an ever growing concealed carrier consumer base.

We carried both the M&P Shield 9 and the XDs 3.3 to the range today. The Shield trigger is the best that I’ve found on a striker fired pistol.  I’ve only found one Shield owner who disagrees with me (and every published report that I have read on the Shield trigger).

Like the Shield, the XDs is in high demand.   Gun shops are not getting many and they are selling very fast.  I’ve called several local shops for months with no joy.  But I got lucky at the Fort Woth Gun Show on Saturday and purchased mine from S.A.W. one of the larger gun stores in the DFW area. S.A.W. had three at the Show and said it was the first time they had more than one to sell in months.

The fit, finish and function of the XDs are all top notch.  The XDs comes with 3 dot sights, the front being fiber optic.  The XDs leaves Croatia and arrives in the box with a red front insert.  Springfield Armory includes a spare red and green tube, with instructions on how to change the front inset.  The ergonomics of the gun are excellent.  The gun fits in average sized hands with a small 1911 type feel, but with no thumb safety to fumble with.  The checkering is very aggressiveve.  Talon Grips makes a rubberized version of their well known sandpaper grip, which Hickok45 prefers for this model.  I’m a fan of Talon Grips for polymer guns but not of their recent price increase, up 50% from $10 to $15.

The XDs trigger is different.  When dry firing the gun for the first few times, I thought ‘I overpaid for this thing’.  The trigger has a lot of take up, then abruptly becomes very heavy by striker fired gun standards, but then breaks consistently.  It’s not a heavy trigger pull, nowhere near double action revolver weight, but at first it seems surprising.  The trigger does not return until the slide cycles.  This is only a factor when dry firing.  

Today, I fired it with live ammo and for some reason the trigger made sense.  I find the trigger different, and comparable to the Beretta Nano, but far easier to manipulate precisely.  I made accurate shots from 15 to 50 feet.  

The XDs is almost the same size as the Shield.  It will fit in the same generic pocket holster.  I’ve ordered a kydex pocket holster from Alabama Hoslter Company.  Unfortunately it takes from 60-90 days to meet the high demand for Alabama holsters. I just received the Alabama kydex pocket holster for my Shield that I ordered in July.

For some of you, the XDs may be a little on the heavy side for pocket carry.  Compared to scandium J Frame S&W, the XDs is downright portly at about 21 ounces unloaded, the scandium 360 is right at 13 ounces.  The Beretta BU9 Nano is about 17 ounces. 

I don’t know about you, but I always carry a loaded gun. A loaded 5+1 XDs is 26.25 ounces. The Shield 8+1 weighs 24.25 ounces loaded, exactly 2 ounces less. I’ve ordered an extended 7 round magazine from Springfield Armory.  If you can’t get the job done with eight .45ACP rounds, I don’t think the one extra round in the Shield is the solution to your problem. Pistol fighting distance is typically less than 3 yards. That would typically leave you with five .45ACP rounds in your pistol after you’ve taken care of the job at hand.

The XDs gun will fit in 99% of the scenarios that the BU9, PF9 or Shield will fit due to the ergonomics on the XDS.  I’m the President of the KMA Club, being retired over four years. Cargo pants are my uniform and I always make sure they have deep pockets before I buy them on sale!

The XDs 3.3 is surprisingly easy to control.  Packing a .45 payload in the XDs is awesome. The XDs is surprisingly easy to control.  But you won’t forget that it’s a .45 caliber pistol.

‘Surprisingly easy to control’ doesn’t mean it’s like shooting my P238 .380 or 9mm Shield.  The XDS has a grip that people with medium, adult sized hands can effectively grip, allowing a little more control to be exerted over the gun than many of the pocket pistols. 

My biggest surprise was that there was hardly any muzzle blast.  The XDs sort of goes about putting rounds down range in kind of a business like manner.  I shot 220 rounds this afternoon. While I noticed that the XDs wasn’t a powder-puff Shield, my hand was fine at the end.

I’ve picked up lightweight handguns and thought to myself, Oh, this is going to hurt even before I pulled the trigger. I really expected the XDs to do more in the way of hand-mangling. In that, I was happily surprised. Don’t take that to mean it’s soft. It comes back quick, and you will know you’ve launched some serious hurt down range, but it’s nothing like a featherweight .357 or even an all stainless steel S&W Model 60 .38 revolver.  The XDs won’t make you wince. I really enjoyed sending those 230 grain .45 slugs down range. It’s a fun gun to shoot for sure.

The short barrel, while making the gun easy to pocket carry, does sacrifice some velocity.  But the .45 does its work not by speed, but rather by mass. You’ll lose some velocity with a barrel this short, but not so much that a bad guy will notice if he ends up on the receiving end of a 740 FPS 230 grain JHP.

My XDs had no feeding problems or malfunctions through 200 rounds of white box Winchester 230 grain FMJ and 20 rounds of Federal Premium 230 grain Hydra-Shok JHP.

If your idea of fashion is cargo shorts, a Hawaiian shirt and Crocs, the XDs .45 may be your perfect EDC pistol.  My current EDC is either my S&W 1911SC Series E .45 or my Sig P239 SAS loaded with .357sig ammo.  The XDs will primarily be my back up and home carry pistol. Why carry just one gun when you can carry two just as easily?

Update on Monday, October 22, 2012 at 9:50PM by Bonzer Wolf

YouTube XDs video by Guns and Dogs

Croatia Gifts America the Springfield Armory XDs 3.3

We went to the Fort Worth Gun Show at the Will Rogers Auditorium yesterday.  The show continues today. I had no intention of purchasing a firearm, but loaded up my pockets with cash just in case. 

Mrs. Wolf said that I had to make this post, eating crow, for bashing Springfield Armory, the only gun manufacturer based in the ONE state that bans all handgun carry outside of the home, Illinois.  I loathe the lame state of Illinois and have purposely avoided Springfield Armory firearms.

But the Croatians have come up with a must have sub compact .45ACP pistol in the Xds 3.3 model.  It’s the Big Boy version of the M&P Shield, manufactured in the gun hating state of Massachusetts.  But after Hickok45 pulled the trigger on the XDs, the Wolf had to jump on the bandwagon.

These are not easy to find, but are out there.  There were at least 4 available at the Gun Show yesterday.  If you want one now, they will set you back around $600.  If you are willing to wait until you can grab one at Academy Sports, you can scoop it up for about $50 less. 

As you can see, the XDs can’t be sold in California, so it’s a must have in Texas or any other free state.

The XDs is a single-stack compact pistol chambered in .45ACP.  The overall length is 6.3” with a slim width of only 1”.  Empty weight is a light 21.5 ounces, partially due to its light polymer frame construction.  Standard capacity is 5+1 rounds.  A new and welcome addition to the XDs pistol is the red fiber optic front sight.

One of the most exciting features of the XDs is the fact that it was designed around the .45ACP cartridge, which is arguably one of the best self-defense rounds available.

The XDs is equipped with the Ultra Safety Assurance Trigger System which is designed to prevent accidental discharges due to dropping or bumping the gun.  The trigger will not operate unless direct rearward pressure is applied to the face of the trigger.

All XD series pistols include a grip safety which only allows firing when the grip safety is depressed.

The XDs has a loaded chamber indicator: which is a notch that pops up on the slide when a round is seated in the chamber.

A new feature on the XDs is Fail-Safe Disassembly.  This feature will prevent manipulation of the takedown lever with a magazine in the pistol.  It also prevents the insertion of a magazine unless the lever is in the shooting position.  This will prevent an accidental discharge when disassembling the XD-S for cleaning, for those who foolishly fail to 100% follow the Four Rules of Gun Safety.

Springfield detailed the XDs grip by adding  a new “secure grip texture” to the “all terrain” style grip that is found on the XD(M). And just like the XD(M), the XD-S comes with different sized, interchangeable back straps.

We will shoot both the Shield 9 and XDs at the Range tomorrow and post a report. It’s Football Day in America and more importantly, MUST WIN day for the poorly managed and coached Dallas Cowboys.

Hang on Big Daddy!

iPads don’t not support FLASH so that is why you may not see a video here. Click here for Big Daddy’s XDs Video

Update on Sunday, October 21, 2012 at 10:19AM by Bonzer Wolf

TheArmoryChannel Unboxing of Springfield Armory XDs

iPads don’t not support FLASH so that is why you may not see a video here. Do directly to YouTube  or click on TheArmoryChannel get on your desktop/laptop to view embedded videos

Springfield XDs Video Review

The Springfield XDs sub compact and the S&W SHIELD are the two hottest concealed carry pistols out there right now. Both are reasonably priced and don’t last more than a day once they hit the gun stores.  The M&P Shield .40 is now out there along with the 9mm model.

We have the Shield 9  and are very pleased with it.  It’s Mrs. Wolf’s EDC pistol.  Here’s a video from some cool kids on the XDs, which is very popular with Generation whatever.  As  you can see in the video, proper grip technique is not optional when firing a sub compact .45ACP pistol.  Hold on sista…

Springfield Armory XDs Will Help Boast Florida to 1 Million Concealed Carry License Holders

The number of Floridians packing concealed weapons is booming and within a matter of weeks should hit the one million mark, making the state the first in the nation to reach that milestone in personal firepower.

That’s the result of the state issuing between 10,000 and 12,000 carry permits a month.

The upward trend in carry permit applications started about three years ago, coinciding with the election of President Barack Hussein Obama.  I think the vilifying of firearms is back firing on the mainstream media. 

Gun sales in Florida have risen 96 percent from 2002 to the end of 2011.

In Colorado, gun sales jumped 43 percent in the three days after a gunman killed 12 and wounded 58 at last Friday’s screening of the new Batman film in Aurora.

We’re living in the Golden Age of handguns, especially concealed carry pistols.  The Smith & Wesson 9mm Shield and the Springfield Armory XDs are two good examples.  Production can’t keep up with demand for either. Both were introduced this year, the Shield at the NRA convention in St. Louis and the XDs at the Las Vegas SHOT Show.

The XDs is potentially the first truly engineered .45 ACP ultra-compact.

Here’s a close look at the Shield from the theARMORYchannel, one of my YouTube favorites. 

Update on Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 2:53PM by Bonzer Wolf

Here’s my favorite Youtuber, Hickok45 on the XDS

Shooting and discussing the new Springfield XDs, the slim little .45 ACP pistol that so many have been anxious to see hit the market. I do a little bit of comparing in this video, but just keep in mind that the gun is essentially the same size as the subcompact Glocks except thinner. If you wonder how long or short it is, it’s almost exactly the same height and length of the subcompact Glocks ( G26/G27). The thinner slide and grip are the big differences.