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springfield xdm 9mm
TxChrome
Member Posts: 12 ✭✭
Will +P ammo damage a Springfield XDM 9MM?
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Call and ask
Contact Springfield Armoryr
Office:
Toll-Free: (800) 680-6866
Phone: (309) 944-5631
Fax: (309) 944-3676
Email: Sales@springfield-armory.com
added I'm not 9mm guy and I have no use for plastic pistols but I would consider looking at a Browning HiPower or a clone.
Perhaps e-mail them and ask about the ammo - maybe in writing they will have a better response that some person on the phone.
9mm +P is a SAAMI specification with ammo available from all major makers. It runs about 10% higher chamber pressure than standard. None of the big ammo companies is going to sell anything that will break a recent manufacture gun.
You have to be careful with the small outfits selling stuff branded as +P+ which is a non-standardized overload that they do not think will damage a gun. Or +P in calibers for which there is no such specification, like .40 S&W.
But, tell us --- what is "law enforcement grade"?
Neal
I live near a large base, Ft. Bliss, and the MP's definitely dislike the Beretta 92, but they are not allowed to carry anything else.
Nevertheless, I don't think there is ANY modern service grade 9mm semiauto pistol put out by ANY manufacturer that is not safe to run with +P ammo. All of these are designed to run NATO spec ammo, which (many say) is similar in pressure to +P ammo
Although marketed in the USA by Springfield, XD pistol is actually a European military design, and its built to the same specs as every other European military grade 9mm pistol.
Every OTHER gun manufacturer states explicitly (or used to) that +P ammo is OK in their guns. That includes Beretta, Glock, CZ, Smith and Wesson, Ruger, Taurus, Walther, SIG, and H&K.
Not sure why Springfield doesn't say this is OK. . .when most of its competitors do, but it doesn't. In any case, plenty of people shoot +P ammo from their Springfield XD guns with zero issues. I've seen it done, and I don't think these guns are any fundamentally weaker than Glocks, Walther, etc.
Only caveat, and its true of ALL guns, that if you continually run overpressure ammo through your gun, you'll increase wear and tear on the gun, and reduce its service life. Some guns tolerate this better than others.
"Law enforcement grade" is a meaningless term, but I think whatever you might reasonably mean by that, this gun probably qualifies.
There are several major military forces that issue this gun standard, including Thailand, Croatia, and Indonesia. Croatian police issue this gun standard, as do Iraqi police. Within the USA, there are at least a few police units that issue these guns, including the Beverly Hills CA police dept (seriously), and University of Alabama campus police. There are also a large number of individual agencies that permit officers discretion in choosing their personal weapons that allow these.
Don't think I would personally choose this (I prefer steel in a duty/service type gun), but its a pretty time-tested design, and a lot of people do like these. If you've had the chance to try one out, and you like it, I think its a perfectly good choice.
Editquote:I have been told by members of the law enforcement community that a law enforcement grade handgun is a high capacity weapon such as the Glock 17, Smith&Wesson M&P and the Beretta 92. Supposedly these weapons meet all the qualifications the law enforcement community wants for open carry.
Well, Springfield XD is a high cap weapon, and there are both military and police units that issue it as their standard sidearm.
As to "all qualifications" I don't think there is ANY gun that meets "all qualifications" for EVERY police dept, because they all have different things they feel are important! Some agencies prefer other calibers than 9mm. Some are more sensitive to cost. Etc.
As it happens, Springfield XD design is a bit more complicated than Glock, and its a little harder to train armorers. The grip safety that many feel is a PLUS for this gun can make the gun hard to fire by those with certain hand sizes or shapes. That might make the gun non-suitable as a general police issue gun for some individual departments, even though the gun will run perfectly well for most users.
If this is a gun that you are presumably choosing for YOURSELF, I think its quite a bit more important that the gun is suitable for YOUR purposes, rather than some abstract law enforcement agencies!
If there is some PC doctrine at play here, then you can just buy the gun that the local police force uses for yourself. On Beretta, I'm not a huge fan of that one either. Its a perfectly serviceable gun, but grip can be too fat for many, and DA pull isn't very good (but is relatively easy to improve, if you're so inclined).