XD vs. M&P vs. Glock in .45 ACP only, best one?

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bricz75

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The XD was originally made for the 9mm. Ditto for the Glock. The M&P was originally made for the .40. Which is the best for .45 cal only?
 
Not meaning to sound like a broken record, but whichever feels best in your hands or you shoot the best (if you are able to). Or just what you are the most comfortable with.

In the past, I've gone through several 45's, including a XDm45, M&P45, and a Glock 30. The XDm was the most accurate, the M&P felt the best, but the Glock 30 is the one I kept. Not sure why. I just like and am more comfortable with Glocks.
 
With regard to the Glock. The 17 was designed for 9mm and the first gen 22 was basically just an up-calibered 9mm. They then reinforced it. The Glock 21 was based off of the 20 which was a larger frame and slide all together and made for the high pressure 10mm round. The 21 is is kind of overbuilt for .45 and makes it a softy to shoot. The M&P and XDM 45s are also up-sized. The M&P is the most comfortable fit for me.

My favorite .45s though are single stacks, (1911s and Sig 220).

As was already said, handle them and pick the one that fits you.
 
This is a hard one. I've owned the big and small versions of all three.

- XD 45
- XD 45 Tactical
- XD 45 Compact
- XDM 45 Compact
- XDM 45 Fullsize
- M&P 45 FS
- M&P 45 midsize
- M&P 45 Compact
- Gen3 Glock 30
- Gen3 Glock 21
- Gen3 Glock 21SF
- Gen4 Glock 21

Now... given that I have experience with all of them, maybe I'm in a position to make a judgement? Maybe not. Maybe just for my own tastes, but here it goes anyways.

The Absolute top 2 winners in this circle for me are The Gen4 Glock 21 and M&P 45 midsize.

They both fit my hand very well. They both shoot very well. I still own the Gen4 G21 FDE and the M&P 45 mid. I love them both. I think that you intended use may come into play here. The G21 is larger and heavier but carries more rounds. The M&P 45 midsize is almost identical in size to the M&P 9/40 fullsize. I like that better than the 'fullsize' M&P 45 which has the extended slide. The M&P carries 10+1 and is a little thinner than the G21. I love my HK45 as well, but it's also 10+1 and is quite a bit larger than the M&P 45 mid.

I've always shot the G21 well, so no surprise there. I was suprised at how dead on accurate I shot the M&P 45 mid from the very first round I put through the gun. It does have a stiffer recoil than the ultimately soft-shooting G21 does, but that doesn't seem to have any affect on my accuracy or speed. It's excellent. To be fair, I do have an Apex Tactical DCAEK kit + polymer AEK trigger in the M&P.

So which do I prefer? I don't know that I'm able to make a call between the 2. The G21 sits on night stand duty most of the time. It has a Pearce +2 base plate on the mags so it's 15+1 capacity. The M&P 45 is easy to carry. Once they release the Gen4 G30S, I definitely plan on getting that though.

Now, why didn't I like the XD/XDM 45? The fullsize XDM 45 shoots pretty nice. The XDM 45 Compact felt to me like it had an awful lot of felt recoil for a gun as heavy as it was. For it's size, it's pretty weighty. I'm just not really a fan of the XD/XDM style trigger. It's smooth, but there's no 'wall' - it just breaks. That works for some people, but not for me. Yes, I can shoot it decently, but I just don't like the feel of it.

For what it's worth, Larry Vickers considers the M&P 45 to be the second best polymer framed 45 on the market(second only to the HK 45). Not saying I agree with him necessarily... but many people put some value on his opinions.
 
Given the choice between all three, in any caliber (except 40, I'd take a smith), I'd go with the XD every time. Love those ergonomics and the sight pixture. Smooth shooter and all around decent gun. A glock runs and runs but a springfield does it in style.
 
I've owned/shot all 3 full size.

I still own the Gen 4 Glock 21. Perfect full size, double stack, .45 ACP for me.

M&P is great, except for the trigger, which I hate (even with APEX). XD, don't care for the triggers, high-bore axis (or whatever) make the XD the most "flippy" guns, and I prefer other platforms.

Of course, personal opinion, YMMV.
 
Yeah, not sure where you've gotten info regarding which guns were 'originally made for' this caliber or that. The M&P 45s are, AFAIK and by comparison with the MP40 I own, designed for the 45ACP.

I own 2 Glocks and 2 M&Ps, and in 45ACP it's the MP45c (compact). It's not all that compact, but Perfect as a polymer 45, IMO.
 
The small frame Glocks (9mm &.40) are completely different designs from the large frame (10mm &.45acp) Glocks and can't be compared.

The Glock 20 was originally on the drawing board as a .45acp. Glock caught wind of S&W's work on a new .40 caliber cartridge designed for law enforcement, dug through their trash (literally) and found 1 spent 10mm prototype case and changed the G-20 into a 10mm based on that 1 case to keep up with S&W. After the 10mm G-20 came out, then they went back and made the 21 into a .45acp.

The G-21 and G-30 are terrific .45's IMHO. Very robust & soft shooting with solid accuracy. My only concern with newer Glocks is since 2008 they've switch so many critical parts to MIM. The newer MIM firing pins have had issues with chipping at the point, causing failures to fire. At least one police department ditched their newer G-21s because of the firing pin issue. Non-MIM replacements are available.

Never shot an XD or M&P .45, but XD .40s are very nice FWIW.
 
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springfield wins for trigger and ammo capacity.
M&P wins out for ergonomics.
glock for how accurately I can shoot them.


personally I prefer the XDM45. better grip texture and ergonomics, very slightly improved trigger and slightly longer sight radius.

I personally notice no great improvement between the M&P pro and standard M&P but I haven't had very extensive trigger time with the pros, maybe there is, but nothing I've been able to discern.

there is glock pro/glockM:D

there you go, glad to murky the waters for you.
 
springfield wins for trigger and ammo capacity
Click to expand...

How so? While I disagree about the trigger, that can be subjective... The XDM45 is 13 round capacity. So is the Glock 21... Except my Glock 21 is 15+1 capacity... So the Glock wins that one too.
 
I think he meant the Sig 227. Double stack version of the 220.

But anyway, I had a G21 SF and couldn't deal with the (for me) bad ergonomics. I really should have gone with the M&P.
 
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