FIRST IMPRESSION
When I picked it up from the dealer the first thing I noticed was "wow what a nice case!" Then I opened it and "wow" again! The XDm line is very swag heavy; included with the firearm is an XDm gear holster, two mag holster, mag loader, three different size grip panels, and not two but three hicap mags. And by hicap I'm talkin 19 rounds. That's 20 with one in the pipe!! The gun itself is very well balanced and not as heavy as it looks. SA milled out the top of the slide to maintain the same weight as the full size XDm and upon further inspection parts of the underside of the slide are milled out as well. The barrel is match grade and stamped match right on it. In comparison to my other XD the button rifling appears much deeper and much smoother. The rear sight is fully adjustable and the truglo front sight is very easy to see. Clearly, factory shooter Rob Leatham covered all bases when he helped design this gun. Also included are extra inserts for the front sight in red and green. Read on to see why that's a big deal.
AT THE RANGE
So I took a ride up the the local indoor range and let me tell you not only are gun sales up but so is gun use! It was packed and if the weather didn't suck I would have gone to my club. After a 15 minute wait a lane opened up for me. I just grabbed some of my reloaded 9mm 115g FMJ and some sight in targets, you know the RED ones with the the four small bulls and a big one in the middle. Well the red truglo in the front sight made it very difficult to see, but I proceeded anyhow. So I loaded up a mag with 19rnds. You will need the loader as the mag fills up. I advanced the target out to 7 yards and fired 10 rounds at the center target. I was surprised how accurate it was for a first firing. I continued shooting another 100 or so rounds and got more comfortable even though I was struggling to see the front sight. It is very smooth but the slide is much faster than my other XD but recoil feels much more tame. I think as it breaks in more the groups will tighten up and I will install the green truglo before going out again. The trigger is typical to an XD. Its smooth but somewhat heavy. But who doesn't upgrade their trigger anyhow? I know i will very soon. All in all, Rob Leatham designed a superb gun that will not only let you compete right out of the box, but also make you a much better shooter than you really are.
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS
I will preface this with "I think it's a great gun well worth the money." That being said, I wish they had gone with polygonal rifling like the HK and Glock pistols. Not because they are more accurate. I've never noticed that, but they are much easier to clean. Like I noted earlier, the trigger could be better but us gun guys love to mod our weapons. Maybe they had that in mind. And a 3lb trigger is not for the first time shooter anyway. Below you can look at the pics. I took some with my XD 9mm for comparison purposes.
THANKS FOR READING!!!!
KZ
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