Sorry about the length of this post despite its rather verbose appearance I did try to make it concise and to the point. Hopefully you will find something in it that is informative and useful to you.
I have said this before and probably will again there are many guns that are far prettier than an XD. There are even some that are more accurate. But there are none that are more reliable or better suited for EDC than an XD.45 compact. Of course I am biased its the gun I picked to defend my family's life with. Having carried off and on since 1975, the XD.45 compact is the best SD EDC I have ever had. IMHO the best there is. With well over 3,200 rounds through it without a single FTF I know it is rock solid reliable. Hits everything I point it at. Eats everything I feed it. Simple to clean & maintain. The grip and trigger safeties are natural and intuitive. No manual safety to confuse matters or cause a delay when death is breathing down your neck and nano seconds count. In a K&D Holster, my XD is infinitely concealable and a breeze to carry all day long. making it ideal for EDC. The ten round compact magazine holds more than a full size 1911 plus one in the pipe for eleven total and thirteen in the spare mag for twenty four out the door. A lot of 230 gr. Federal HST flower power for the BG.
Again in my opinion HST as it has proven to be the most effective .45 round made bar none. HST consistently expands to the full size of a quarter with six distinct wicked petals no matter what it is shot into or through, without separation. No other round can honestly make that claim.
What continues to amaze me is this is a compact .45 cal that is just a blast to shoot and I swear I am a better shot because of it. Being old I never ever thought I'd be shooting tupperware much less praising it but now I can not imagine a better EDC for me. She isn't a beauty queen. As I said you can get lots of prettier guns but none that function day in and day out better than my XD.45.
I have added a
TruGlo fiber optic night sights that give me excellent sight picture day or night, more impressively during the light transition between light & dark when other night sights are worthless. They glow bright and clear in bright sunlight, the pitch black of the darkest night or during grey dusk & dawn. No matter what the lighting conditions are TruGlow Glow True.
For a laser, after much research and testing I added a compact laser from
Laserlyte Laser. It is small, compact, CNC'ed from aircraft grade aluminum. It is smaller and more durable than the Laser Max Uni with a brighter laser. If I were to do it again I would get their new sub compact model as it allows you to retain the rail so you can add a light under it if you wish.
I carry my XD in one of three
K&D Holster depending on the season and what I am wearing. If I had to pick only one it would be the Dakota Defender as it conceals the very best even under just a tank top and shorts and is extraordinarily comfortable. Kevin at
K&D Holster is a genuine master craftmans making true works of art from the finest grades of leather available. His holsters are true customs and he had no problem making each of my holsters accommodate my XD.45 compact with the LaserLyte and TruGlo sights. They provide excellent retention, the holster gets a solid grip on your gun yet the draw is slick quick and smooth. Not only can you see how precise the tooling (boning) is capturing every detail of your gun inside as well as on the outside of the holster but you can feel it. When you holster your gun it snaps into place, like two pieces of precision made machinery mating together
My last modification will be a
Springer Precision trigger job to get a crisp 4.5 pound trigger pull with a shorter take up and reset. Out of the box the XD trigger is decent if a bit stiff. There is a bit of a take up which I do not mind for a SD carry gun than a firm but smooth seven pound trigger pull. After about 500 rounds the pull lightens just enough to notice and again I am told at 5,000 rounds. Most are happy with XD trigger stock and it is far better than many others. Never gritty ragged or mushy and seven pounds is not by any definition excessive. So a trigger job is more a matter of personal preference than necessity.
Top it off Springfield-Armory's life time warranty and Springfield-Armory's acclaimed customer service and you are be good to go for life.
Here are some links to some XD articles if you want to do some reading on them. Pretty impressive that after being on the market all these years they are still writing raves review of it
XD Torture testSPRINGFIELD'S XD SUB-COMPACT GOES HIGH-CAPSPRINGFIELD'S XD GOES THE DISTANCETHE XD EXTREME DUTY SERVICE AUTO PISTOLSPRINGFIELD'S .45 GAP XD TACTICAL PISTOLSPRINGFIELD XD .40 SUB-COMPACTSPRINGFIELD'S X-TREME DUTY POLYMER POWERHOUSEThe XD Goes ACPSPRINGFIELD'S SUB-COMPACT XDSpringfield's XD Keeps On GrowingSPRINGFIELD'S XD GETS LITTLESpringfield's XD .45SPRINGFIELD GOES POLYMERSPRINGFIELD ARMORY XD SERIESSizing Down, Powering UpA FAIR SHARE OF ABUSE
