Posting for those that might be looking for anything they can find on the Springfield XDS Mod 2 3.3" barrel in 45 acp.
Purchased from Smoky Mountain Guns and Ammo. Price $469.99, free shipping. Model has the stainless steel slide and tritium front sight (XDSSG93345STS). Took to the range this morning, did not clean prior to shooting. Out of the box, load, and shoot.
Ammo used:
(50) Federal Aluminum FMJ 230gr
(50) Wolf Steel FMJ 230gr
(25) Federal HST JHP 230gr
(25) S&B brass FMJ 230 gr
Total of 150 rounds shot through the two included 5 and 6 round factory magazines, equally rotating between the two mags. Every round loaded, fired, and ejected with no hiccups along the way.
Pros:
Hope this helps anyone that may be looking at this model or for a single stack carry 45acp in general.
Purchased from Smoky Mountain Guns and Ammo. Price $469.99, free shipping. Model has the stainless steel slide and tritium front sight (XDSSG93345STS). Took to the range this morning, did not clean prior to shooting. Out of the box, load, and shoot.
Ammo used:
(50) Federal Aluminum FMJ 230gr
(50) Wolf Steel FMJ 230gr
(25) Federal HST JHP 230gr
(25) S&B brass FMJ 230 gr
Total of 150 rounds shot through the two included 5 and 6 round factory magazines, equally rotating between the two mags. Every round loaded, fired, and ejected with no hiccups along the way.
Pros:
- Though a small sampling of ammo, I was impressed that it showed no aversion to the aluminum and steel cased ammo. I have owned other 45mm and 9mm that would shoot anything but the aluminum. I am optimistic that this will prove to be a reliable handgun. I will update this review if reliability becomes an issue.
- Less felt recoil than expected. Less than my Ruger all stainless Officer 1911. Really surprised on the recoil.
- Both pistol and mags just feel quality. The mag spring had a good bit of resistance but the load process was buttery smooth. Both mags easily latched without need to press or push hard. Both mags ejected with deliberate force. not a wimpy disconnected.
- The "grip zone", minus the words "Grip Zone" was a perfect amount of grip. The stippling kept it firm in your hand and I did not notice a need to re-grip after every shot as I do with some of my pistols.
- I would call the trigger as neutral. Nothing about it made be react as if it was a pro or a con. It was smooth enough, not much take-up. Not a hair trigger, the effort to fire was deliberate but I would not call it heavy. I guess that it did not stand out as a con, makes it at least a non issue.
- The sites are a pro and a con. The pro is that the front tritium site is circled in a vibrant color that really stands out as very easy to see in the iron notch of the rear site. The con is not a big one, and may be limited to this particular gun, but it shot about 3" low at between 5-7 yards. If I placed the middle of the round front site in line with the top of the rear site, I hit pretty well point of aim. I am just going to paint a thin white line right at the top of the rear iron site and know to always line that up with the middle of the circle of the front, and that will work for my range shooting. It is not a significant enough issue for defensive shooting, at least to me.
- The obvious issue that may be a con for some is the mag capacity of a single stack 45 - 5 or 6 rounds. I will note that the 5 round mag has a pinky extension and I was able to get my pinky finger securely resting on it. So the grip was about as equally good for me on the 5 as on the 6 rounder, though the 6 did have a longer extension. The width of a single stack 45 suits my hand better than a double stack. I understand and accept the lower round count in exchange for the better comfort.
Hope this helps anyone that may be looking at this model or for a single stack carry 45acp in general.