XD Talk

Kaboom · 04-13-2008, 09:34 PM

Well I got to shoot my full size M&P 45DE with the thumb safety for the first time this weekend. Keeping in mind that I have quite a few guns these days I have to say my first impression was "hoooo hummmm". Just not really much to shout about with this gun, nothing really bad but nothing really special either. If this were one of my first poly guns I'm sure I would feel different.
Still there is good stuff/bad stuff to report on, first the bad stuff:

1)The trigger, it's still plastic and articulated so I still don't like the idea of it. Theoretically the lower half COULD break off and I'm not sure if the stub would be enough to keep running the gun. Any plastic trigger is going to flex a bit and I can feel it in the form of "creep" in the fire chain, still I would put it just ahead of the CZs and below the XDs as far as crispness.

2)The paranoid take-down procedure. In order to "properly" fieldstrip the gun you remove the mag ( mine btw is the type that WILL fire with the mag removed ) then rack and lock the slide back, rotate the take-down lever down then remove the take-down tool from the grip then fish around in the mag well to poke the little green lever down into the mag well, then release the slide and it comes off the front. Apparently this endless procedure is for the paranoid who are never quite sure if their pistol is unloaded even if they are looking right into the chamber as they rotate the takedown lever. All the little green lever does is release the striker. I just do it like an XD. Lock the slide back, rotate the lever let the slide go forward and pull the trigger to release the striker, all done.

3)The little metal tabs that serve as the guide rails on the frame are quite small, NOT as small as the HK but small. Wouldn't be a big deal but the rail slots in the slide are quite a bit larger. Large enough that if you don't watch what you are doing while you are putting the slide back on you can run the slide right over the top of the rear frame tabs!!

4)The slide release is ambi ( a very good thing ) but the little tab that sticks out next to the feed ramp to lock the slide on the last round makes the M&P almost Boresnake incompatible as the body of the Boresnake snags on this pointy tab repeatedly. The fix is to run the Boresnake through the ejection port rather than the mag well but then it won't clean the feed ramp. ( I LOVE the Boresnake so this is kinda like religious sacrilege to me these days LOL )

5) The mags, even though the mags are only VERY slightly narrower than the XD-45 Mags and only slightly shorter than the XD-45 mags they only hold 10 rounds the XD-45 Compact 10 round mags are quite a bit shorter than the 10 round M&P mags so I don't know what their deal is.

Now the good stuff:

1) The slide cocking serrations are really great, maybee perfect. I like the scalloped edges but I really like how they are angled to the front to get a really good grip on your fingers.

2) The thumb safeties are ambi and work great just like a 1911 EXCEPT they don't lock the slide ( a GOOD idea to me ). So you can put the safety on BEFORE you even load that first round. The HK USP has the same capability and all guns with safeties SHOULD have it.

3) The mag release is flippable to either side, took me about 30seconds without instructions.

5) the grip stippling is very nice it feels really comfortable in the hand.

There is nothing really wrong with this gun, I solidly recommend it to anyone at this point, but if you already have a poly gun ( especially an XD ) I don't see a big reason to get one other than curiosity ( like I did ). Comparing directly with the XD-45CompTac with a 10round mag in the XD it is about the same length as the XD, about the same width and about the same height but with a longer grip on the M&P. If you are looking for a poly 1911 with somewhat bigger dimensions ( width mostly ) and 3 more rounds of ammo then it's a good choice.