What XD for Competetion? IDPA and USPSA

[Ohioan]

I'm planning on getting into comps. USPSA and possibly IDPA. I've decided on the XD. I like the trigger, I like the grip, I like the weight of the slide.
But, I'm not sure what length to go for. I've handled both the XD-9 Tactical and the XD Service. Both balance well for me and point nicely. (better than Glock and better than my CZ-75)
I'm also not sure whether I should stick with my trusty 9mm or step up to .40 to make major. I'm already set up for 9, and I'm used to shooting it. I've never shot .40.

My questions are thus,

What length barrel XD do you use in competetion?

What caliber?

Am I wrong in my understanding that the only difference between the 9 and the 40 XDs are barrels? So a .40 pistol will accept and 9mm barrel and a 9 pistol will accept a .40 barrel? (.357 sig thrown in there some where too)

[speedracer211]

I had very similiar questions a week or so ago. I chose the 9mm tactical because I will use it to shoot production. In production everything is scored as minor so it doesnt matter if you are shooting a 9mm or a 40 s&w. If you are going to shoot limited 10 or are possibly thinking about it I would choose the 40 tactical and use it to shoot both production and limited. As for my understanding about swapping slides to other frames I though I had read about the 40 slide having a larger recess somewhere that the 9mm doesnt I will have to look at mine and get back to you on that.

[Lee Bell]

What length barrel XD do you use in competetion?

Tactical 5 inch. The increased sight length is an advantage.

What caliber?

I shoot 9mm in USPSA Production. All production shooters are scored as minor, no matter what caliber they use. The value of a slightly larger hole in the paper is not worth the disadvantage of increased recoil or the effort required to load a reduced charge .40. YMMV. In other divisions, where making major is important, Single Stack and Limited 10, I shoot 1911 style guns in .45, .40 and 10mm.

The XD is at its best in Production, where it competes against essentially stock, usually inferior guns such as Glocks. Sorry to all that love their Glocks, but the XD is ever bit as reliable and accurate and has a superior stock trigger.

Am I wrong in my understanding that the only difference between the 9 and the 40 XDs are barrels? So a .40 pistol will accept and 9mm barrel and a 9 pistol will accept a .40 barrel? (.357 sig thrown in there some where too)

I believe you are mistaken, but I'll let someone more knowledgeable provide the expert answer. As I understand it, there are after market 9mm barrels that will fit a .40 caliber XD. I don't recall hearing that an XD 9mm barrel will. Also, keep in mind that at least some divisions have rules that prohibit a change in caliber.

Lee

[Ohioan]

I guess I should get a USPSA rulebook and read it because I didn't know that all production guns were all considered minor. Well, that pretty much means a doublestack 9mm SHOULD rule the roost.... interesting...

THANKS!

[ROFL XD]

The rules are available online at http://www.uspsa.org/rules/. Capacity doesn't really matter when it comes to production since you are limited to 10 rounds per mag (+1 in the chamber at the start usually). I also vote for the 9 tactical, just got mine last month for production and I love it. A 40 does give you more flexibility though, since you can shoot it in L-10 as well (with major scoring). You're at a slight disadvantage in production unless you shoot minor loads, but I don't find it to be too bad. I shot my 40 in L-10 yesterday and they accidentally put me in production but I still had my best-ever finish (40 out of 50 overall and I zeroed the classifier ).

[ichy_trigger]

Originally Posted by Ohioan

I guess I should get a USPSA rulebook and read it because I didn't know that all production guns were all considered minor. Well, that pretty much means a doublestack 9mm SHOULD rule the roost.... interesting...

THANKS!

Production guns are only allowed 10 rounds in the Mag at the start signal. 9mm tends to be favored for folks that dont want to make a heavy investment in gear because the factory ammo makes the minimum PF and is still fairly cheap to shoot. You will also find some guys that reload, shooting downloaded .40 loads.

[jnclement]

I can't speak for USPSA, but I know there isn't any advantage in IDPA for a 5". I know 3 guys who had them, and went back to 4". YMMV. Any misses I've had usually can't be blamed on that extra inch of sight radius. I do know 9mm is a lot cheaper to shoot, so I shoot it more. Just sold my last XD40 because of that.

From what I understand, you can put a 9mm barrel in an XD40, but not a 40 barrel in a 9. It only works going from higher pressure to lower.

[mcb]

I would definitely got with the tactical the extra sight radius is helpful. 9mm will be cheapest to shooting and best for Production division. An XD-40 or XD-45 would both make excellent Limited-10 guns if you want to play more with adding magazine wells and grip mods, extend magazine release and the like. The XD-40 and 45 cannot have the magazine capacity to be competitive in Limited. You could certainly shoot either in the Limited division but will be slighly handicap by the magazine limitation. If you have lots of money to spend and want to tinker a lot an XD-9, probably best with a service size, could be built up into a passable 9mm Major Open gun but there are certainly better option if you want to shoot Open.

Rambling
mcb

[TacXD9er]

Are you close to Vance's gunstore in Columbus? IIRC, the sunday ad advertised the XD9 on sale for $429.00. I bought my Tactical there and shoot it in USPSA Production.

[ichy_trigger]

There is NO downside to a 5 inch gun for competition.