[Dockem]

Bought a new XD40, 4" w/ 2 Hicaps.

Short trip to range to allow my college aged daughter and her friends to experience firearms. Yes, went over the 4 rules, etc. I want to start them out right They did fine and enjoyed the trip to the range. They got to shoot .380 ACP, 9mm, and 40 S&W, various different weapons in each caliber.

Meanwhile, I got a chance to shoot my new XD, just purchased today at the Indy 1500 Gun Show. Only tried it at about 15m, as the girls weren't experienced enough to try 25m yet, so I had to try it at short distance.

I am very pleased with it's accuracy, held tight groups, no more recoil than my G19 9mm. It easily kept 3" or less. Trigger reset was short. The differences between my Glocks and this handgun are minimal, and won't cause any "adjustment" in order to switch between them.

I am very pleased with the product, Springfield Armory has a definite winner!

And BTW, one of my daughter's friends thoroughly enjoyed herself. She had never shot a gun before, was scared to death at first. I think she was thrilled to get over her fear of firearms and truly had a good time. Gave her a souvenir spent 40 S&W cartridge. A small token for her, but it meant something to her.

 

[40SWXDSHOOTER]

Welcome to the nut farm :wink: .
Sounds like everyone had fun, but I thought there were 10 rules of gun safety :? ?

 

[Dockem]

There are 4 basic ones that I've learned, I realize there is an expanded list. (Treat every gun as if loaded, finger off trigger until ready to shoot, etc.)
They had a good time and learned something positive about firearms.

 

[40SWXDSHOOTER]

Those are some good ones, the rest can probably be found on the NRA website.

 

[gdpak]

I just have to ask to make sure I'm as bad as it seems.

When you say '15m' you mean meters not feet? Because that would mean your targets were about 50 feet away. You get groups less than 3" at 50 feet. And these new shooters hit the target at 50 feet.

There was another post from a guy who brought his girlfriend to shoot for the first time. At 30yards she was shooting quarter size groups. 30 yards is 90 feet. Come on with the fish tales. The magazine reviewers who bench test these pistols aren't that accurate.

Alot of ranges are marked for distance but they're not marked feet or yards. I wonder if it's actually feet but they assume it's yards.

Or am I that bad that I feel comfortable shooting at 20feet which is only 7yards?

 

[pdjplano]

I just have to ask to make sure I'm as bad as it seems.

you and me both

When you say '15m' you mean meters not feet?

I would give people here the benefit of the doubt that they mean what they post.

There was another post from a guy who brought his girlfriend to shoot for the first time. At 30yards she was shooting quarter size groups. 30 yards is 90 feet. Come on with the fish tales. The magazine reviewers who bench test these pistols aren't that accurate.

That is remarkable if you ask me. I get decent groups at 3 yards and 7 yards, but am spread out 'nicely' at 15 yards and even worse obviously at 25 yards. I am new and improving rapidly (see my other post in the DGR forum for today's range report on the improvement of accuracy) but can't imagine getting a 3" group at 25 yards (or even 15 yards at this point )

Alot of ranges are marked for distance but they're not marked feet or yards. I wonder if it's actually feet but they assume it's yards.

My range is marked at 3 yards, 7 yards, 10 meters and 15 yards. The very far end of the range motor is 25 yards, but they don't have a mark b/c it is the end of the range

Or am I that bad that I feel comfortable shooting at 20feet which is only 7yards?

3 and 7 yards are definitely my comfort/confident zone. I am hitting close to 100% in the 5 pt with my CHL practice and I'm very new to handguns. Once to 15 yards it is not pretty, and I need a lot of practice to improve that for sure.

 

[gdpak]

When you say '15m' you mean meters not feet?

pdjplano wrote:
"I would give people here the benefit of the doubt that they mean what they post. "

back to gdpak:
I am giving him the benefit of doubt, that's why I put that statement in question format, not as a direct statement saying that he has misrepresented himself.

Please don't get me wrong with the wording of my post, and I hope I didn't offend anyone.
I'm well aware that people are capable of some of the close groupings mentioned in these posts. I'm just trying to get an honest goal for an average shooter to work up to.
25 YARDS just seems to pop up alot, and that seems kinda far for the average shooter. I'm sure I could hit a life-size sillouette (sp?) at 25 yards but I get much more satisfaction from trying to hit a 1" bullseye at a closer range (for me that would be like 5 yards, hopefully working up to 8 yards).

 

[pdjplano]

When you say '15m' you mean meters not feet?

pdjplano wrote:
"I would give people here the benefit of the doubt that they mean what they post. "

back to gdpak:
I am giving him the benefit of doubt, that's why I put that statement in question format, not as a direct statement saying that he has misrepresented himself.

Please don't get me wrong with the wording of my post, and I hope I didn't offend anyone.

I think my response may have been a bit terse, didn't mean for it to come out quite that way..

25 YARDS just seems to pop up alot, and that seems kinda far for the average shooter.

From what I've read/been told (someone feel free to jump in and correct!), most encounters / shootings take place far close than 25 yards..

I'm sure I could hit a life-size sillouette (sp?) at 25 yards

I missed the first time trying, I'm not ashamed to admit it. With just a little practice and technique, I'm able to hit it now without difficulty, but still have a LOT of work to do to even get a grouping, let alone one measurable

but I get much more satisfaction from trying to hit a 1" bullseye at a closer range (for me that would be like 5 yards, hopefully working up to 8 yards).

I got a lot of satisfaction shooting that silhoutte in the head at 3 yards with 12 rounds as fast as I could too

 

[Dockem]

My first group of 5 slow, single shots on a 5 1/2" Shoot-n-C were all within the "8" ring or less (okay, I measured it, it's 3 1/2", sorry) at 15 m/yards (give or take a foot), using a shooting table. At a quick pace (not doubles), Weaver stance, I could keep them all within the Shoot-N-C target. Definitely, the XD is a great gun.

No, the girls were not routinely hitting the Shoot-N-C targets at 15m. I started them off at ~5 m/yards to let them build some confidence. They would hit about 1 in 8 or 9 shots, better with the Ruger Mk II. All over the place with the 9mm or 40S&W. At 15m/yards, they had a lot of trouble getting on the Shoot-N-C. I didn't try the XD until we got out further to 15m/yards.

And so it goes.

 

[gdpak]

In the ccw class they teach that most shootings happen within a 7 foot range because that is when you feel your comfort zone has been violated.

I'll probably never be able to get anything that would be considered a grouping at 15 yards cause my hands shake too much, doesn't matter how much time I take.
At 25 yards you need binoculars to see where you hit don't you.

 

[tec]

I just have to ask to make sure I'm as bad as it seems.

When you say '15m' you mean meters not feet? Because that would mean your targets were about 50 feet away. You get groups less than 3" at 50 feet. And these new shooters hit the target at 50 feet.

There was another post from a guy who brought his girlfriend to shoot for the first time. At 30yards she was shooting quarter size groups. 30 yards is 90 feet. Come on with the fish tales. The magazine reviewers who bench test these pistols aren't that accurate.

Alot of ranges are marked for distance but they're not marked feet or yards. I wonder if it's actually feet but they assume it's yards.

Or am I that bad that I feel comfortable shooting at 20feet which is only 7yards?

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I HEAR YOU!! This is something I have asked about before. So many people here spout off "50 yards, 25 yards, etc" give me a break. 50yards is 150 feet. you gotta be good, real good, with no wind, and a steady table.

I think it's like "fishing tales", ya know, the one that got away was 4 yards long, man it was the biggest bluegill i ever saw. uh huh, riiiiggghhhtt.

My buddy used to shoot with me at a range that was 50 foot total length, he would write on the target 50 yards. rriigghhhttttt. missed that part i school did ya?

 

[gdpak]

tec....
Thanks for the support. But I don't want to derail this thread more than it is now, so let's get back on topic...

Dockem..

Sorry for hijacking your thread, I really only wanted to make sure you were being honest about the meter or feet thing. I'm jealous.

Yes, the XD is great. The only thing I would like better from the factory is having any of the Taurus grips.

I've only been to the range twice so far with mine, 250 rnds, 180grn, mostly WWB. Lately I've picked up 400 rnds of WWB from Wal-Mart, $15/100 value pack. It's all 165 grn which I've never fired before so I'm very anxious to try it out. Hoping to get to the range tomorrow!

I also just picked up a super thumb loader. The first week I could only squeeze 8 rnds in each mag, a few days later I could get 10, not until now with super thumb could I get in 12 (I actually got a 13th in for each mag just for overnight hoping to soften the spring faster).