I bet I can lock it back and twist the lever…success! Lever twisted, slide moves forward and off. Wait, I see a notch in the slide towards the front. Wonder if it’s like the Glock where I just have to nudge it back a bit? I remember my thought process well…first thing, try just twisting the lever. The only knowledge I had was that the lever on the front left side was specifically for breaking it down.
This means that I had to figure out how to break this thing down on my own.
I actually didn’t have a manual to refer to and, due to a complete lack of foresight, had not looked at one online before I went to test.
Most recently, they’ve come out with the XDm 5.25 series which are specifically made to be competition ready right out of the box, courtesy of Rob Letham (The Superman of pro shooting). The XDm went on to win Handgun of the Year in 2009. Springfield rebranded it the XDm, short for the highly poetic and creative “X-Treme Duty More” and its popularity skyrocketed. They added a match grade barrel, interchangeable backstraps and made a couple of aesthetic changes (like extra slide serrations, different handle texture and such). In 2006, HS Produkt decided that their gun wasn’t extreme enough so they updated it a bit. The XD developed a bit of a cult following and started to take some of the limelight away from Glock. HS Produkt sold the rights and Springfield rebranded it the XD (short for X-Treme Duty). Springfield saw the weapon and said “Hey, we like this! Can we, like, have it and stuff? We’ll give you some money.” It was primarily used by the Croatian military and the 9mm version was also exported to the US by a company called Intrac. There, a company called HS Produkt was manufacturing a gun called the HS2000. Founded in 1777, it was located in Springfield, Massachusetts and it was the primary factory for the workhorse of the military at the time: The M1 Garand.īut that has nothing to do with the birth of the XDm….sort of.įor that, we have to take a trip to Croatia. Some Historyįirst a bit of history: Once upon a time, there was a place called The Springfield Armory. If I saw a stray dog in the condition that this gun was in, I’d take it home, give it a bath and then give it the warm and loving home that it deserved. Seriously, this thing was so dirty that I couldn’t even distinguish the dot on the front sight. Now, one thing I love about renting guns is that you get to see what a gun is like after it’s been used and abused beyond all measure. The local range where I rent most of my test guns had an XDm (with a green laser sight, I might add) and for once it wasn’t rented out. I usually include the phrase “I have a Glock 19 and it’s been great.” I then recommend the XDm because of the accessories it comes with but I include the phrase “I’ve never actually shot one but I’ve heard nothing but good things about them.” Whenever I recommend the Glock, it’s because of the legendary reliability of the weapon. 44 Magnum and then complain that the recoil is horrific and that they can’t shoot it very well.
I then go over the reason why I recommend those two and, at some point during the explanation, their eyes will glaze over and they’ll start daydreaming about bunnies.