Glock vs Springfield Armory XD‏?

Hey ferfal,

I’m sure you have probably got this email before, but just in case you haven’t:

I have seen posts questioning the SA XD, and I can say with certainty they’re good stuff.

A friend of mine has a Glock 9mm (G 17 I believe, but I cant say I remember well), and I have an SA XD 9 subcompact.

Fired side by side the action is very similar.

The action on the SA is (get this) smoother, but recoils wasn’t noticeably different. The Glock felt a little more mechanical. You can feel the slide run back, and impact the stop during ejection of the round.

I’ve played with them a bit and the only thing I can think of is the polymer frame on the XD absorbs vibration so you feel less vibration in your hand when firing.

This will most likely mean that the steel frame of the Glock might hold up to abuse more, but I have seen good things during my reliability research. The polymer frame will also resist corrosion more when exposed to oils and acids of concealment.

When looking for a common failure on the XD forums the most common issue I can find is “too many dry fires causes a pin to snap”; this pin however prevents the firing pin from smacking the breach wall and a failed pin will prevent a fractured breach wall.

I cleaned it once, and then ran 100 FMJs through it, then 100 HPs through it without a clean or oil, and it didn’t jam. It doesn’t have a manual safety, but it has a grip safety and a trigger safety. The grip safety prevents the slide from cycling, and the trigger safety puts a physical block in the path of the firing pin so allegedly, if the pin of a cocked gun dislodges and engages it will not make it all the way to the round without hitting the block first.

I haven’t been able to confirm this one: I loaded my XD up with snap caps (dummy rounds that don’t fire) cocked it, and threw it around a room for 5 minutes and I wasn’t able to get the firing pin to dislodge and drop-fire.

I was able to stovepipe it. Here’s how; chamber round, remove clip, fire.

There is a button that the round follower in the clip engages to lock the slide back on the final round that wasn’t present.

In a normal situation, the following round will aid in ejection of the previous round (pushing it out) on the last round of each clip, there is no following round so when the slide locks back it allows a few extra milliseconds for the last round to eject.

The subcompact 9 doesn’t have much recoil for a short barrel and it conceals well for its size.

The handle is wide like a Glock’s handle so it fits comfortably in the hand of a decent size guy(I am 6’6” with a size 13-USA shoe). I tried the Rueger lc9 which is very similar to the bodyguard and it actually hurts to fire because the small square handle wiggles in my hand under recoil and causes pressure points. The recoils of the smaller 38cal LC9 is higher than the recoil of my XD 9mm subcompact also. There is an accessory rail on the XD 9 standard, and subcompact. Fitting a light to the rail (very close to the exit of the barrel) will certainly cover the lens in burnt cordite after 100 rounds, but if your firing 100 rounds in a situation  of duress you have bigger problems than a dirty light.

In a pancake holster on the small of the back there is a bit of discomfort sitting down leaning back on something, so I can’t say it will be a perfect conceal carry weapon. It is comfortable to stand with, and doesn’t show under a shirt in the small of the back though. So if you have a standup job, go for it.

Hope this helps answer the XD question.

-Jim

Thanks for your email Jim. Indeed, I get asked about the XD a lot and here is my opinion.

Before saying anything, I have to say that I just love guns. Heck, I love anything that shoots, cuts, explodes or has any kind of violent chemical reaction. Just the way it is. But when it comes down to giving advice I can only call it as I see it and I see the Glock being the best, most successful all around combat handgun. I’m not saying that the XD is a bad gun, its very good, but a Glock it is not. Not only is the XD a copy (some will say improved version of..) of what was already done correctly the first time (in the Glock), with a few changes here and there so as to at least do something different, the changes made aren’t the ones I would have done myself.

Take the XD grip safety for example. Why? Dear God, why?

Even JMB didn’t like the grip safety in the 1911. He included it because it was demanded by the military. He got rid of it in the Hi-Power. The grip safety also means that the gun will not fire if not gripped properly and that is NOT a good thing. Yes, in ideal conditions you always grip the gun as you´re supposed to, but there’s nothing ideal about a gunfight. Chances of you getting shot in your arms during a gunfight and getting a finger blown off? Chances of that are actually pretty high (within the context of being in a gunfight). It generally tends to work this way: When you shoot at someone and he has a gun, he probably will shoot back. You naturally will shoot center of mass, and both of you will have your hands and arms covering your center of mass because that’s just what happens with nearly all shooting stances, even point aiming, even instinctive shooting. Stand in front of someone aiming at you and you see it clearly. This is why learning to shoot and reload with your other hand is important and is trained often.  Maybe because of the stress you just got a less than perfect grip, it can happen too. The gun should still fire in spite of a poor grip being used.

Why a safety in the first place? Manual safeties where used mostly because of the mechanical unreliability of the first autos, then their use continued because of police or military spec requirements.  Still, if you think about it you can see how unnecessary they are with safer modern guns. Have you ever seen a manual safety in a revolver? You don’t need one either in a modern striker fire auto.

Finally, no other handgun is as prolific in the defensive and tactical community. If there’s parts and accessories available for a gun, anywhere in the world, that sure is Glock.

FerFAL

Dual Purpose: EDC Bag - Survival Emergency Bag (SEK kit)

Video showing the EDC Bag setup I´m currenly using. It has enough to cover the basics, but still has almost 50% of the bag empty, space for more stuff being one of the most useful things to have on daily basis.
Maybe that space is used for documents while running errands. Maybe for throwing the grear for shooting and going to the gun club or a bit more gear and going for a hike.
In this video I do the show and tell thing and also talk about mindset when setting up such a kit.
Enjoy! FerFAL

Gold Sale Banned in Argentina

Banks and Currency dealers Export the Gold they can no longer sell in Argentina

The Argentine government has banned the saving in foreign currency some time ago. Like in Venezuela, if you are authorized to buy foreign currency because you’re traveling abroad it will only be authorized right before the flight and only minimum amounts, a couple hundred bucks or so. Once your back, the government will check how much money you spent, how much you have left (remember, you´re not supposed to “save” dollars anymore) and will check your credit card expenses which have been taxed with an extra 15%in the last few days.

Remember those debates about gold being a currency or not? Well, that debate is settled for the Argentine government: Yes, it is a currency. No, you cannot buy it unless you travel to a country that uses it. You may be wondering “But no country uses gold as currency….” Ok, so you cant buy it then. Genius. This is how they explain the new ban, given that after the USD ban people ran to gold to protect themselves, the sale of gold going up 400%. Little by little, they have closed all loopholes and windows.

So yes my friends, you’re banned from buying gold in Argentina now. If you’re over there, I hope you bought it while you could. When it all finally goes to hell in a blood-soaking basket you may be glad you had some set aside.

FerFAL

Money Belt

Good morning Ferfal,
I read before that you thought having 2 wallets one with a token
amount of cash in it that you quickly give up if mugged.
In addition to that idea have you noticed on amazon.com and ebay.com
they sell money belts that look like a normal belt. In your experience
would that be something that would fool most muggers or are they quite
thorough once times get tough?
Thanks,
Jim


Hi Jim,
Those are pretty neat and no, a robber will not go to that length so as to notice a hidden zipper in a belt. Generally they just demand the money, they may pat your pockets if there’s a visible bulge and they believe you’re hiding something but 95% of the time they would not search that thoroughly.  I do know of cases where even the clothes were stolen, but its not as common as the more typical robbery in which they demand your wallet/purse, jewelry and cell phone. Because of this yes, I think it’s a very effective way of concealing cash. It does remind me of the shoe soles used by the SOE agents during WWII, which had a hidden gold coin compartment for E&E.

Eagle Creek Travel Gear All Terrain Money Belt (Coffee)

Men’s Leather Money Belt Size 38 – Black
In general I prefer Riggers belts myself, which are good gun belts and may be useful if you need to be extracted or secured in some way. Its not a proper harness but certainly much better than nothing.

Tactical Assault Gear Cobra Buckle Riggers Belt LG 35-37 Coyote Tan 814493
FerFAL

How much Cash Should I have?

If you have been reading this blog for some time you already know that there’s much truth in the “cash is king” saying.
When disaster strikes the “cash only” signs go up. When you have to buy / sell on the go, cash makes it happen. When banks go on holydays and everyone is looking for an ATM with some money left, Cash not only buys you good and services, it allows you to get some pretty nice deals. Since we’re talking deals, nothing gets you as many of those as a wad of cash at the right time. For someone looking to close a sale, the money being physically within hands reach, literally speaking, is an important factor.
When you have to leave everything behind, what you carry with you and what you have in the bank is all you have left, and if the banks happen to go down along with whatever is forcing you to leave, then what you have with you is all you have left.
Looking at different events around the world, if there’s one thing all refugees have in common is that they can all use a fat wad of cash.

Supplies are very important and what you have at hand may be all you have, so having a good supply of food, water, and basic gear is essential, but there’s areas where you can go overboard.
Remember that in the event of a)a disaster that compromises your home b)an event that forces you to move out and leave everything behind, in any long term bug out situation, your gear is reduced to what you can carry, the rest is gone. Sometimes it’s a couple suitcases, sometimes it’s a backpack, but what gets left behind I can assure you, you will wish you had the chance to have turned it all to cash on craiglist or a garage sale.  This is why balance and common sense is so important.
Should I have a life supply worth of nails and hammers? A year supply of toilet paper and other households instead of the cash saved up to buy those? Well… look at it this way, if you are in a situation where you’re using up the last of your year long TP supply, you should have left 11 months ago! A month goes by without a store being opened for you to buy TP or soap? You should be evacuating or relocating already.

A good supply of gear and supplies is important, but every once in a while do ask yourself:  What’s your situation if you have to leave everything behind? What if bugging in just isn’t an option? What could I take with me? More important, how much are you forced to leave behind?
Once we understand that cash as means of purchasing goods and services is important, the question is how much do I need. Here’s a quick approach that might work for you:

Minimum:
One month worth of basic expenses in cash. Think mortgage/rent, bills, car fuel and food.
Better:
One month worth of basic expenses + plane ticket for each family member to out of state/out of the country alternative location.
People have been forced to relocate abroad many times in history. It has happened to millions in recent history, it could happen to you.
ok:
Three months worth of expenses + plane tickets for each family member + 1month deposit plus two more months worth of rent in potential BO country.
This should cut you some slack to get settled and get back on your feet.
Even better:
Three months worth of expenses + plane ticket per family member + 1000usd/gold eagle bribe per family member + deposit and three months worth of rent + money for ok used car

The more financial resources you have, the better your chances are and the less traumatic will the experience be. Some of this could be in the form of gold. During war scenarios an ounce of gold may make all the difference in the world, and precious metals (our Sponsor, Precious Metal House) have the advantage of not going down along with paper money if the nature of the disaster affecting you compromises the fiat currency as well.
Join the forum discussion on this post!
FerFAL