Off duty, that same .38 was frequently carried.
In the decades between then and now, more citizens are carrying concealed weapons for self-defense.
One of those guns was the XD Sub-Compact.
The Springfield XD Sub-Compact is a fistful of firepower. It serves exceptionally well as both a concealed carry pistol and as a backup gun.
Does that Legacy Series XD pistol still stand up with the handguns being designed today?
Lets jump in and take a look.
I suppose in many ways it is.
Standard magazines hold 13 rounds of 9mm ammunition. Add one more for the chamber and that’s a whole lot of firepower.
It is a unique pistol that offers one of the best values in concealed carry.
Tackling the obvious first: the gun is small.
It has a 3 hammer forged barrel with a 1:10 twist and Melonite treatment for superior corrosion resistance.
Sporting an ambidextrous magazine release, the affordable XD Sub-Compact is more southpaw friendly than many guns at twice the price.
Likewise, the gun is only 4.75 in height with a flush-fitting magazine.
A single magazine ships with the pistol.
Dont think that a flush fitting magazine cant hold a lot of ammunition.
Part of the original Springfield Armory XD line, the Sub-Compact has many years of service that proves its long-term reliability.
Springfield Armory disproved the notion that small meant low capacity.
Flush fitting magazines hold 13-rounds each.
To accommodate the double-stack magazine, the frame is 1.2 wide at the grip.
The author found the XD Sub-Compact to be a reliable, accurate pistol during range testing.
For most people, that size feels pretty good in the hand.
While it isnt the thinnest option from Springfield Armory, it is still thinner than many of the alternatives.
It is easy to conceal in an inside-the-waistband holster or on an ankle.
Without a doubt, the Springfield XD 3″ Sub-Compact represents one of the best values on the CCW handgun market.
On top of the forged steel slide is a 3-dot sight set.
Readcast versus forgedto learn more about the slides construction.
The white dots are full size and easy to align.
As with most guns, there is a moderate amount of take-up followed by a clean break.
For a self-defense pistol, the trigger isnt just serviceable its excellent.
If it cannot perform there, I have no use for it in a defensive capacity.
As Ive come to expect from Springfield Armory pistols, the reliability was 100%.
On the range, I fed more than 10 different loads through the pistol.
Each one ran without a hitch right out of the box.
There was no break-in period that is sometimes required with other designs.
A concern I have when shooting a sub-compact pistol is that it may generate an excessive amount of recoil.
With a reasonable amount of training, most shooters can learn to manage heavy recoiling Magnum loads from snubbies.
Nevertheless, a soft recoiling pistol will be easier to use when putting multiple shots accurately on target.
One of the rules of physics is small guns recoil more than larger ones of the same caliber.
However, Springfield Armory doesnt play fair when it comes to physics.
With full-powered defensive loads, even the 9mm cartridge can be snappy.
Springfield Armory did an exceptional job in mitigating both the felt recoil and muzzle rise in this pistol.
When reloading the gun, empty magazines slip from the pistol like greased lightning.
The polished metal magazine bodies glide effortlessly over the smooth polymer walls of the magazine well.
You will not have to yank these mags free to reload.
Without sounding trite, the gun has more potential accuracy than I am able to deliver.
I suppose that is simply one of the realities of shooting.
At 7 yards, 2-3 groups were normal when shooting self-defense ammunition without a brace or support.
Even though the gun conceals easily, a standard magazine holds 13 rounds of 9mm.
That gives you a significant number of rounds to put onto a target before a reload becomes mandatory.
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