Information About SA's Model XD E Sought

[dgludwig]

I'm considering replacing my current EDC pistol (a Smith Model 6906) with something flatter and more compact for carrying relatively comfortably in an iwb holster. Because I prefer hammers and safeties on pistols carried close to my body, I've been looking at the single-stack magazine, Springfield Model XD E, chambered in 9mm Luger and I'd appreciate comments and opinions from members about it.
Also, I'd like to know who makes a quality iwb w/thumb-break holster for this pistol.
Thanks.

[JJ45]

I have one, 3.8" 9mm. I like it because of the same reasons you are considering one.

I rotate between it, a couple Makarovs, and a Colt Commander. They are all thumb safety units. Even though there are significant differences, the safeties on all of these pistols operate on the down sweep. The Colt, of course is SA only and I carry her cocked and locked.

It was difficult to find an IWB holster for a 3.8 when they first came out so when I carry the XD-E that way its in an Alessi Talon Plus designed for the Glock 29/30 or a Muddy River Tactical buffalo hide designed for the XDS but these are open tops without a thumb break.

Excellent pistol. Can be carried condition- one or with the hammer down, safety on or off as the DA squeeze is typical and what you would expect. The SA pull is obviously better but this is no target pistol. Very flat pistol.

I have not had a malfunction of any kind and have somewhere around a K through the weapon so far.

[dgludwig]

Thanks, JJ45. I'm not necessarily committed to the XD-E, but I really like the safety/decock options. I can do without a hammer but a manually operated safety is a must for me. I've also been looking at the SIG365, the Ruger SR 9c and others.

[peacefulgary]

I had one but it was just a tad heavy for such a small pistol.

[jmhyer]

I can't address your question about the XD model.

But, if hammerless/striker-fired is ok, then you should also consider the S&W 9EZ. Comes standard with grip safety but also available in a model with both grip safety and thumb safety.

[corneileous]

I have the Springfield XDE 45 3.3 which yeah I know, it’s a 45 not a 9 mm but at least if you get one with a 3.3 inch barrel, it’s pretty much the same pistol that I have that’s chambered in 45.

It’s a good little pistol, nice thin profile and as far as carrying it inside the waistband, I guess that might work if you wear your pants one or two sizes larger than what you would normally wear because I don’t know if you’re familiar with it or not, and I’m not sure what the size comparison is for that Smith & Wesson that you have but if you’re familiar with the Beretta storm PX4 compact, it’s about that same size just narrower because these are only single stack pistols as opposed to that being a double stack.

I can’t speak much for inside the waistband carry because I got tired of carrying that way and that was even with a much smaller and thinner Ruger LC9S so I’m not the best one to elaborate about how this pistol would feel carried that way because I carry my XDE in a pocket holster in my front pocket when I’m at work because my front pockets are large enough to do so but whenever I go out on the town somewhere to shop or whatever for a personal business, I’ll pocket carry this little pistol in my shorts because the pockets are large enough but once wintertime sets in, I have an outside the waistband pancake holster that’s made out of kydex that actually conceals really well.

But not trying to talk you out of it, but if you feel that you need a safety on your pistol, I would say you’re almost just better off to go with a striker fired pistol with a safety because in my opinion, if you don’t want to take full advantage of a DA/SA pistol that allows you to carry safely without a safety at all or with the safety off, you’d probably benefit better from a more consistent and easier trigger pull. You’d probably also have a lot more choices to choose from also since it seems like good ole hammer-fired DA/SA pistols are becoming a lot less easier to find since so many people want striker fired guns.

Me personally, I’m a fan of my Springfield XDE because it’s hammer fired, it’s double action/single action and it allows me to carry it with the safety off, even though it has a safety. That, and because it’s a single stack like I wanted and since Beretta doesn’t have a PX4 that is single stack, that’s why I chose the XDE as my new carry pistol.

Quite honestly, if there was a way to remove the safety all together and make this pistol like all three of my Beretta storm PX4s are that don’t have safeties, just the decockers, I would do it but since they don’t make a kit to do it, I really don’t even worry about it because the safety lever on the Springfield is so low profile, I don’t even mind it.

I did at one time but it didn’t take me long to where I didn’t care to have a safety on a carry pistol just because of the known fact that when you’re in a sudden stressful situation, you can always guarantee that you’re going to remember to take that safety off before you have to use your pistol. But see, the other thing, with my carry pistol bring used to be that Ruger LC9S, it was a typical striker fired pistol and I wouldn’t carry one of those without a safety because in my mind they’re too prone to accidental discharges. But since not having a safety was more important, that’s when I decided to back to the stores for a new carry pistol because over the years, I’ve learned to appreciate the benefits of a double action single action hammer fired pistol. You can ride the hammer with your thumb when you holster or take it out of a holster; you can’t do that with a striker fired pistol unless you buy a Glock and you buy that special aftermarket device that goes on the back of the slide that allows you to temporarily disconnect the mechanism that’s attached to the striker as you holster it with your thumb pressing on it but that thing is really only designed for Glock pistols. Sure, the double action single action trigger was tough to get used to but once I got used to it, I like the fact that as long as my pistol is not cocked, I like how my first shot will always be that longer, heavier trigger pull because that’s just a lot harder to pull if it ever got snagged on anything. And if coupled up with the fact that I can press my thumb against the hammer, if the trigger was to ever snag on anything, you’ll break the trigger off before the trigger throws that hammer back to fire the gun.

But AnyWho as I said, I’m not trying to change your mind because the Springfield XDE is designed to satisfy a lot of ways to carry which means that if you want to carry with the safety on, you can and you can even do that with a hammer cocked or decocked. Or you can carry it the way I do which is hammer decocked and safety off.


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[JDBerg]

IMHO, a manual safety on a striker fired semi doesn’t compute for me, but I know people who have M&P’s configured this way and they like them a lot.

If I wanted an XD design I’d want an XD-E, I never cared for the single action striker engagement or the grip safety on the regular XD, but I like hammer-fired polymer framed guns like the XD-E variant.

You could look at a CZ P-07, which would be my personal choice in the price range of an XD-E. If you wanted to spend a little more the HK P30S or the subcompact P30SKS would be another way to go. With the HK P30S models the manual safety will engage with the gun decocked, which is possibly the safest way to carry a pistol, but not my preferred way. Personally I’d go for the HK or the CZ over the XD-E, but YMMV, which is great.

[MisterCrabby]

What corneileous said

[dgludwig]

if you feel that you need a safety on your pistol, I would say you’re almost just better off to go with a striker fired pistol with a safety because in my opinion, if you don’t want to take full advantage of a DA/SA pistol that allows you to carry safely without a safety at all or with the safety off, you’d probably benefit better from a more consistent and easier trigger pull.

Thanks everyone for your inputs. I'm a big fan of the "traditional" da action (da/sa). I have many different types of "safety" systems, including the HK USP 40 (where you can choose from several different formats), the CZ 85 (where you can carry "cocked and locked" or da/sa by carefully lowering the hammer down -it has no decock feature), the Beretta 92 (a pistol with a decocker that can be carried da/sa with or without the safety being employed but relying on the long da pull for the first shot), the SIG Models 226 and 227 ( da/sa pistols having a decock feature but no manual safeties, relying on the long da trigger pull on the first shot for safely carrying without a safety) and, of course, sa only 1911 style pistols where a "cocked and locked" configuration is the preferred carry mode.

I really like the safety set-up on the XD-E, where, as corneileous pointed out, the pistol can be carried cocked and locked or traditional da/sa with the option of employing the manually operated safety or not.

Whereas I would consider a striker-fired pistol, it would have to have a manually operated safety. I'm not saying that a Glock-style trigger (no manual safety and no grip safety) is inherently unsafe but I would argue that they are less "forgiving" in terms of experiencing a negligent discharge than many if not most other semi-auto pistols.

[corneileous]

Originally Posted by dgludwig

Whereas I would consider a striker-fired pistol, it would have to have a manually operated safety. I'm not saying that a Glock-style trigger (no manual safety and no grip safety) is inherently unsafe but I would argue that they are less "forgiving" in terms of experiencing a negligent discharge than many if not most other semi-auto pistols.

At least the one thing about the XDE is that it’s safety works in the same direction as most other pistols that have manual safeties. I guess you could say that’s a factor of why I’ve converted all of my Beretta PX4 storms to type G which means decocker only, is because on the Beretta storms, up is fire, down is safe. The XDE, is the other way around where up the safe down is fire.

But other than the flip-flopped safety, that’s why I have and carry pretty much only hammer fired pistols anymore.


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[lee n. field]

Originally Posted by dgludwig

I'm considering replacing my current EDC pistol (a Smith Model 6906) with something flatter and more compact for carrying relatively comfortably in an iwb holster. Because I prefer hammers and safeties on pistols carried close to my body, I've been looking at the single-stack magazine, Springfield Model XD E, chambered in 9mm Luger and I'd appreciate comments and opinions from members about it.
Also, I'd like to know who makes a quality iwb w/thumb-break holster for this pistol.
Thanks.

Shot one once. (Springfield had a table at our club open house.)

Reminded me strongly of shooting my Makarov.