XD45 Tactical vs M&P .45 -- Range Report

[Leland_Ray]

I was really interested by the XD versus M&P thread last week, as I would have ended up with the M&P if it had appeared in .45 earlier. I really do like my friend's M&P .40 and his two M&P 9mms (full size and compact). But the XD was under the counter, the M&P hadn't been introduced in .45, and I'm just not a big fan of the .40. But my buddy likes the M&Ps a lot, and two days ago he got a brand new .45 to add to his collection.

Today we headed out to shoot the two guns, I with my .45 Tactical, and he with his new toy. I wanted to shoot the M&P and try to offer my impressions of it. We decided to shoot in an old creekbed, which was Black Creek maybe 700 - 1,000 years ago, so we had to spend a few minutes looking for arrowheads. We had nearly 7" of rain last week, and the banks of the former creek had lost a lot of sand. We looked for a while, and then both of us gave up; Charlie had found a few tiny flakes in the cornfield behind us, but I'd found nothing at all. Then, when I had just returned to the top of the bank from putting up targets, I looked at my feet and found this laying on a little pillar of sandy clay.



How could my day get any better? I was with one of my oldest friends, a LEO I've known for 35 years, we had good guns, we had a gorgeous day, and we had ammo.

He had put 100 rounds of ball through the Smith yesterday, and he was trying to get used to the trigger, which is harder than the ones in his other guns, but still very crisp, with little overtravel. He was shooting 230 grain Blazer brass, while I had Fiocchi 230 ball, along with several mags of 225 truncated cone hard lead handloads. (4.8 grains of Titegroup)

Both of us were doing pretty darned good, but I was shading him a mite, maintaining groups a couple of inches down from the X ring on our Osama targets. Remember that we were shooting perhaps 10 - 12 degrees downslope, shooting into the far bank at a range of about 15 yards. He was also shooting his Kimber 1911, but that's not what this is about.

We traded guns, and I fired a couple of mags of ball through the M&P; he had the fattest of the three supplied backstraps installed, so to me the gun felt overly thick through the grip, but I was able to hit with it. Recoil wasn't bad, and in fact, I have no opinion on which delivered more apparent recoil. Both feel more comfortable to shoot than my Commander, but I find the .45 comfortable in almost every platform. Reliability with both was equal, i.e. 100%. The M&P seemed to drop empties more consistently, from 6-8 feet to the right of the shooter. The sights on the M&P show nice, white dots in standard two and one, while my XD has Meprolights installed.

So that's about it. Physically, the two guns are almost identical in length, no more than 1/8th of an inch off, though the XD's barrel is roughly 1/2" longer. The grip angles of both are good, the M&P feeling for all the world like my former Sig P220, while the XD had more the feel of a Browning Hi Power (one of my other favorites). The XD is a bit taller, but it also carries a complement of 13 rounds to the Smith's 10. I shot better with the XD, he shot better with the M&P, but we both shot well with each other's guns.

If I were going by what I saw and experienced today, however, I'd still take the XD. It points better, feels better, and it's paid for. I'd like to have the M&P's trigger, but like I've said before, "best" is a relative term; either is good, but the XD is simply better--for me.

[Gorillaman]

Nice report LR, Thanks for the info.
I love the gulf coast of MS, I hope the rebuilding is going well.

[Leland_Ray]

Originally Posted by Gorillaman

Nice report LR, Thanks for the info.
I love the gulf coast of MS, I hope the rebuilding is going well.

It's busy as all get out, but it'll be ten years before everything is back to "normal." In fact, I am certain it will never be the same as it was before, as there is too much lost which can't be regained.

But we're tough, resilient, resourceful people, and that's what counts.

Thanks for asking. A lot of folks assume it's simple to reclaim over 300 years of history.

[rev-arb]

Thanks that was a great report!

[devilslayer]

great looking pistols, (but the xd is still sexier)

[devilslayer]

great looking pistols, (but the xd is still sexier)

[lock back]

I have both of these guns,but i have no practice with either.Put 49 rounds thru the xd-45 tacticle,and never shot the m-p 45.

[thomasward00]

Originally Posted by Leland_Ray

It's busy as all get out, but it'll be ten years before everything is back to "normal." In fact, I am certain it will never be the same as it was before, as there is too much lost which can't be regained.

But we're tough, resilient, resourceful people, and that's what counts.

Thanks for asking. A lot of folks assume it's simple to reclaim over 300 years of history.

Hello from Slidell

[GW45NUT]

Originally Posted by Leland_Ray

I was really interested by the XD versus M&P thread last week, as I would have ended up with the M&P if it had appeared in .45 earlier. I really do like my friend's M&P .40 and his two M&P 9mms (full size and compact). But the XD was under the counter, the M&P hadn't been introduced in .45, and I'm just not a big fan of the .40. But my buddy likes the M&Ps a lot, and two days ago he got a brand new .45 to add to his collection.

Today we headed out to shoot the two guns, I with my .45 Tactical, and he with his new toy. I wanted to shoot the M&P and try to offer my impressions of it. We decided to shoot in an old creekbed, which was Black Creek maybe 700 - 1,000 years ago, so we had to spend a few minutes looking for arrowheads. We had nearly 7" of rain last week, and the banks of the former creek had lost a lot of sand. We looked for a while, and then both of us gave up; Charlie had found a few tiny flakes in the cornfield behind us, but I'd found nothing at all. Then, when I had just returned to the top of the bank from putting up targets, I looked at my feet and found this laying on a little pillar of sandy clay.



How could my day get any better? I was with one of my oldest friends, a LEO I've known for 35 years, we had good guns, we had a gorgeous day, and we had ammo.

He had put 100 rounds of ball through the Smith yesterday, and he was trying to get used to the trigger, which is harder than the ones in his other guns, but still very crisp, with little overtravel. He was shooting 230 grain Blazer brass, while I had Fiocchi 230 ball, along with several mags of 225 truncated cone hard lead handloads. (4.8 grains of Titegroup)

Both of us were doing pretty darned good, but I was shading him a mite, maintaining groups a couple of inches down from the X ring on our Osama targets. Remember that we were shooting perhaps 10 - 12 degrees downslope, shooting into the far bank at a range of about 15 yards. He was also shooting his Kimber 1911, but that's not what this is about.

We traded guns, and I fired a couple of mags of ball through the M&P; he had the fattest of the three supplied backstraps installed, so to me the gun felt overly thick through the grip, but I was able to hit with it. Recoil wasn't bad, and in fact, I have no opinion on which delivered more apparent recoil. Both feel more comfortable to shoot than my Commander, but I find the .45 comfortable in almost every platform. Reliability with both was equal, i.e. 100%. The M&P seemed to drop empties more consistently, from 6-8 feet to the right of the shooter. The sights on the M&P show nice, white dots in standard two and one, while my XD has Meprolights installed.

So that's about it. Physically, the two guns are almost identical in length, no more than 1/8th of an inch off, though the XD's barrel is roughly 1/2" longer. The grip angles of both are good, the M&P feeling for all the world like my former Sig P220, while the XD had more the feel of a Browning Hi Power (one of my other favorites). The XD is a bit taller, but it also carries a complement of 13 rounds to the Smith's 10. I shot better with the XD, he shot better with the M&P, but we both shot well with each other's guns.

If I were going by what I saw and experienced today, however, I'd still take the XD. It points better, feels better, and it's paid for. I'd like to have the M&P's trigger, but like I've said before, "best" is a relative term; either is good, but the XD is simply better--for me.

Thank you for that unbiased report. I have owned XD's and now own the M&P 45 and feel this topic is a stalemate for me. Both are equally good and offer improvements to the Glock design (I have owned 11). The trigger of my M&P is superior to XD and Glock, it has yet to wear a hole in my finger. My XD Tac still has my M&P in the accuracy dept, but that is changing as I get used to M&P.

[Pugs]

Originally Posted by GW45NUT

Thank you for that unbiased report. I have owned XD's and now own the M&P 45 and feel this topic is a stalemate for me. Both are equally good and offer improvements to the Glock design (I have owned 11). The trigger of my M&P is superior to XD and Glock, it has yet to wear a hole in my finger. My XD Tac still has my M&P in the accuracy dept, but that is changing as I get used to M&P.

Hey,

Out of curiousity, which of the two would you say has a smaller grip? I know that the M&P has an interchangeable backstrap so I guess I'm asking about the smallest backstrap.

The reason for my question is that I'm looking for a .45 for my wife. My XD-45's grip is just a little too big for her to comfortably hold for very long. If the M&P has a smaller grip, that could be a good option for her. Right now I'm considering a single-stack 1911.

I apologize for the thread hijack. You can PM me with the answer.