This is my first firearm review, and though it is on a handgun that has been out two years, I hope that it may be of help to someone, or at interesting enough to at least be worth the post.
I will start by saying that I haven't ever been interested in a sub-compact pistol. I have huge hands (I can palm a basketball) and I already have a S&W 642 that I have spent a bunch of money upgrading and am pleased with it. I do browse LGS's often and have lately been looking for either an XD(m) 3.8" 9mm or a Glock 19. My main carry gun when conceal-ability isn't an issue is a Dan Wesson CBOB (4" 1911 in .45 ACP), but I have been thinking about switching it up a little.
So Last week I was poking my nose in a Portland area LGS and found an XDs 3.3" 9mm with a seven-round and a nine-round magazine and all the other junk they come with, and they were asking $450. After about 20 minutes in the shop the owner offered it to me for $400. It was, but showed no wear and was clean. My assumption is that it was fired very little and wasn't ever holstered. I decided to adopt it. I also purchased the eight-round magazine.
Here are my thoughts from the range.
Dependability
I put around 400 rounds of various ammunition through it without a single hitch. The ammunition ranged from 115 grain FMJ CCI Blazer, 30 year old S&W 115 grain JHP (yes, 30 year old), my own 135 grain LRN reloads from BlackAndBlueBullets.com, and 50 rounds of Hornady's 115 grain FTX Critical Defense. The gun swallowed it all effortlessly.
Accuracy
I was really surprised at the accuracy of this pistol. As you can see from the photo below, at 3 yards my best three were sub one-half inch. Even at 10 yards my best three were 1" and five 1.5". These were fired free hand and slow paced. Shooting at pace I would in USPSA, at 7 yards all rounds still went into the "A" zone on my target. Again, I was VERY happy with the ability of this little handgun to put rounds on target.
Design and Feel
With the larger of the two backstraps on it fits my large hands really well. I tend towards pistols and revolvers with full sized grips due to the size of my hands, and this was my biggest concern with this new pistol. What I found though is this is remarkably comfortable in my hand.
One drawback from the smaller size was when I grip it as I do my 5.25" XD(m) that I compete with, the thumb of my shooting hand would ride the slide release and the slide wouldn't lock back on an empty magazine. I fixed this by keeping my shooting thumb on the thumb-rest they've built into the XDs. It wasn't comfortable at first, but I got used to it.
Another drawback is with the size of my hand is the very small "beavertail" grip extension. With my aggressive grip I was bitten by the slide a couple of times (it hurt!). A little blood, and I adjusted my grip and solved this problem. I would appreciate this more if the backstrap had a little more "beavertail", but I can live with it.
My large hands did have a problem getting in close enough to the magazine release to easily drop the magazines, and with these magazines being so light weight, they were reluctant to eject freely when the slide locked back, taking my reloading hand to pull it free prior to inserting the replacement.
The grip safety, which has some controversy in the hand gunning community, means nothing to me. It neither adds nor retracts from my interest in the pistol. Getting a proper combat grip eliminates this feature as an issue. The trigger safety again doesn't add or detract for me.
The trigger was a little heavy and mushy(er) than my 5.25" XD(m) was out of the box. That is easily fixed by replacing the springs with the Powder River Precision spring kit, though I believe it will smooth out some with use.
Sights
This has the two-dot rear and the fiber-optic front. In bright light the fiber-optic picks up fast, though I think this arrangement is less than ideal in low-light. I will switch these with the XS Big-Dot sight system, I have these now on my S&W 642.
Magazines
Again, as you can see from the images below, with the nine-round magazine, the grip becomes as long, though not as wide, as my Commander 1911, really saving me little in conceal-ability. Putting the eight-round magazine in makes a larger difference that I would have thought, and the seven-round magazine really makes it easy to conceal. I will probably carry it with the eight-round magazine. I shot it without a problem with the seven-rounder, even with my pinkie flying free, but it wasn't comfortable. The eight-round extension is absolutely fine.
Conclusion
To sum this up I will replace my 642 as my summer and work-clothes carry gun. It is slimmer than my 642 and holds a minimum of three rounds more, and up to five. I really enjoyed this little pistol more than I ever would have guessed. I wouldn't say this is any better than the Glock 43 or the S&W Shield, but of the three I do like the feel of this better in my hand.
I hope that someone enjoys this review, and thanks for your patience with me.
Tony
I will start by saying that I haven't ever been interested in a sub-compact pistol. I have huge hands (I can palm a basketball) and I already have a S&W 642 that I have spent a bunch of money upgrading and am pleased with it. I do browse LGS's often and have lately been looking for either an XD(m) 3.8" 9mm or a Glock 19. My main carry gun when conceal-ability isn't an issue is a Dan Wesson CBOB (4" 1911 in .45 ACP), but I have been thinking about switching it up a little.
So Last week I was poking my nose in a Portland area LGS and found an XDs 3.3" 9mm with a seven-round and a nine-round magazine and all the other junk they come with, and they were asking $450. After about 20 minutes in the shop the owner offered it to me for $400. It was, but showed no wear and was clean. My assumption is that it was fired very little and wasn't ever holstered. I decided to adopt it. I also purchased the eight-round magazine.
Here are my thoughts from the range.
Dependability
I put around 400 rounds of various ammunition through it without a single hitch. The ammunition ranged from 115 grain FMJ CCI Blazer, 30 year old S&W 115 grain JHP (yes, 30 year old), my own 135 grain LRN reloads from BlackAndBlueBullets.com, and 50 rounds of Hornady's 115 grain FTX Critical Defense. The gun swallowed it all effortlessly.
Accuracy
I was really surprised at the accuracy of this pistol. As you can see from the photo below, at 3 yards my best three were sub one-half inch. Even at 10 yards my best three were 1" and five 1.5". These were fired free hand and slow paced. Shooting at pace I would in USPSA, at 7 yards all rounds still went into the "A" zone on my target. Again, I was VERY happy with the ability of this little handgun to put rounds on target.
Design and Feel
With the larger of the two backstraps on it fits my large hands really well. I tend towards pistols and revolvers with full sized grips due to the size of my hands, and this was my biggest concern with this new pistol. What I found though is this is remarkably comfortable in my hand.
One drawback from the smaller size was when I grip it as I do my 5.25" XD(m) that I compete with, the thumb of my shooting hand would ride the slide release and the slide wouldn't lock back on an empty magazine. I fixed this by keeping my shooting thumb on the thumb-rest they've built into the XDs. It wasn't comfortable at first, but I got used to it.
Another drawback is with the size of my hand is the very small "beavertail" grip extension. With my aggressive grip I was bitten by the slide a couple of times (it hurt!). A little blood, and I adjusted my grip and solved this problem. I would appreciate this more if the backstrap had a little more "beavertail", but I can live with it.
My large hands did have a problem getting in close enough to the magazine release to easily drop the magazines, and with these magazines being so light weight, they were reluctant to eject freely when the slide locked back, taking my reloading hand to pull it free prior to inserting the replacement.
The grip safety, which has some controversy in the hand gunning community, means nothing to me. It neither adds nor retracts from my interest in the pistol. Getting a proper combat grip eliminates this feature as an issue. The trigger safety again doesn't add or detract for me.
The trigger was a little heavy and mushy(er) than my 5.25" XD(m) was out of the box. That is easily fixed by replacing the springs with the Powder River Precision spring kit, though I believe it will smooth out some with use.
Sights
This has the two-dot rear and the fiber-optic front. In bright light the fiber-optic picks up fast, though I think this arrangement is less than ideal in low-light. I will switch these with the XS Big-Dot sight system, I have these now on my S&W 642.
Magazines
Again, as you can see from the images below, with the nine-round magazine, the grip becomes as long, though not as wide, as my Commander 1911, really saving me little in conceal-ability. Putting the eight-round magazine in makes a larger difference that I would have thought, and the seven-round magazine really makes it easy to conceal. I will probably carry it with the eight-round magazine. I shot it without a problem with the seven-rounder, even with my pinkie flying free, but it wasn't comfortable. The eight-round extension is absolutely fine.
Conclusion
To sum this up I will replace my 642 as my summer and work-clothes carry gun. It is slimmer than my 642 and holds a minimum of three rounds more, and up to five. I really enjoyed this little pistol more than I ever would have guessed. I wouldn't say this is any better than the Glock 43 or the S&W Shield, but of the three I do like the feel of this better in my hand.
I hope that someone enjoys this review, and thanks for your patience with me.
Tony
Really, it is a better shooter and almost as easy to conceal. 