The Gun I’ve Never Owned (Until Now)

I had despaired of ever finding my preferred firearm locally, until Tuesday afternoon when I received a phone call.

“Hey, did you ever find one of those Springfield’s you were looking for?”

“Nope. Nobody in town has one, and no one can tell me where to find one.”

“Well, I’m at Between the Walls, and they’ve got a new one and a used one!”

To make a long story shorter, say hello to…well, you know:

Photo - Springfield XD

It’s a Springfield XD Sub-Compact, 3″ barrel, .40 cal S&W. It’s shown here with the 9 round magazine; it also has an 11 round magazine that extends the grip about an inch, making it fit larger hands more comfortably.

This is the first semi-auto I’ve ever owned; my handgun background is strictly revolvers. It took me a while to get comfortable with the cocking, slide locking, and disassembly processes, and to fully understand the safety features and safe handling requirements. I have yet to actually chamber a round, but I hope MLB and I can get to the range this weekend and shoot a couple of boxes of practice ammo.

That is, if I don’t cripple myself first. Since I have very little experience loading ammo magazines, I started shoving rounds into the holders and quickly determined that I apparently wasn’t man enough to completely fill them. I just about gave myself a hernia and still could get only 10 rounds into one magazine and 8 into the other. “What a weenie,” I thought.

Later, as I was going over the items in the case the gun was packaged in, I noticed an oddly-shaped piece of plastic inset in the cushioning foam. I pulled it free and turned it over in my hands, trying to discern its function. You’re ahead of me, aren’t you? Sure enough, it turned out to be — drumroll — a magazine loader, designed specifically to allow one to top off the ammo holders without a self-inflicted stroke.

And, frankly, even with the loader, getting that last round into each magazine was a chore, and I had to pat myself on the back, very gingerly of course, for getting as far as I did without mechanical assistance.

I’m looking forward to shooting the gun; I’ve heard a lot of good things about Springfields. I’ll let you know if I’ll be adding my voice to the choir.

The post title is a movie reference. You did catch it, didn’t you? I thought so.

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23 comments

  2. Of course I got the movie reference. It’s the one line in the whole thing that’s actually quotable in polite company.
    Congrats on the Springfield. That’s a nice-looking piece.

  3. It’s the one line in the whole thing that’s actually quotable in polite company.
    Uh, I’m not sure we’re thinking of the same movie…
    It sounds like the movie reference you latched onto was in the body of the post, but I was specifically referring to the post title.

  6. OK, OK. The post title is a lame reference to The Guns of Navarone, a quite excellent WWII movie starring Gregory Peck.
    Down in the body of the post, there’s a subtle nod to the climactic scene in Scarface: “Say ‘allo to my leetle freen…”
    It wasn’t really worth waiting for, was it? 😉

  9. Ah so. You did say “title”, in which case I have no idea. I was referring to the line”…say hello to…well, you know”, which immediately made me think of Scarface, in which Al Pacino’s cocaine-fueled drug lord flips out with some serious full-auto grenade-launching military hardware. The quote? “Say hello to my little frien’!”

  13. Oooh, is this the gun made in Croatia? I meant to ask earlier when you mentioned it at my site, but forgot…sorry. I’m not aware of any gun manufacturers in Croatia, but there are quite a few “metal fabrication shops.” I think the guns they used in the war (the AK-47s) were made in Russia. That’s a nice looking weapon.
    And that second reference? That was from Scarface, early on in the movie, just before the gory scene in the shower. (I didn’t want Foo to feel all alone) 😉

  14. Yep, this is the one made in Croatia. Springfield Armory is a US-based company, but they apparently outsourced the fabrication of this pistol. I’m not aware of owning anything else made in Croatia, but it’s kind of cool to have a “connection” if only via the blogosphere.

  19. I have a couple of questions:
    1) Why do you suppose the 11-round magazine extends the handle by that much? Seems odd — the extra two rounds don’t consume that much space in and of themselves, do they?
    2) Honest question of the folks who have real interest in this sort of thing: where do you stand on waiting periods and other restrictions? I grew up around hunters and guns, and have no fear or big problem with them, just no particular interest, so it’s not a path I tread.
    Interestingly, my father, who as I type this is out quail hunting, never was a big fan of handguns, and is probably where I get my POV that they can and should be restricted.
    But since they were never a hobby of mine, I also appreciate that having people come up to you and say, “You can’t do that thing you like to do anymore” is not very welcome. If we banned tennis racquets, I’d be opposed to that, but to be fair, most handguns are more dangerous than my forehand.

  20. Scott, at one time, I was going Glock all the way, but then I started hearing things about Springfield’s superior safety mechanisms, and also how well they shot. So I switched horses. That XD45 looks like a heckuva pistole, by the way.
    Bret, you’re exactly right about the 11-rd mag. The extra ammo itself doesn’t extend the length significantly, but Springfield, recognizing the issue, built a grip extension onto the end of the magazine. Whereas the 9-round mag fits flush with the bottom of the grip, the 11-rounder provides an ergonomically-shaped extension for your pinkie finger, allowing a full-hand grip.
    Regarding waiting periods and such, I’m not opposed to such restrictions. I’m glad that we don’t have them in Texas, but if I had to wait a week or two to pick up a handgun I’d paid for, that wouldn’t give me significant heartburn. I recognize that there are many folks who disapprove of guns of any type — some of them read this blog — but that’s not a test of fellowship, so to speak, as far as I’m concerned. And I’d be lying if I said I don’t have occasional reservations about how to reconcile my faith with owning/carrying a gun for self-defense purposes. In fact, I still haven’t worked through all those issues yet. But, for now, it’s not relevant, since our firearms are taken only to the range and back, where we inflict damage — and sometimes not very much of that — only on targets.

  21. Glock’s Model 23 Pistols Lead the .40 S&W Surge
    Yup, you guessed it. I (we) have a Glock Model 23 .40 S&W…presently residing some 100 miles north of me, somewhere in the Lubbock vicinity…in the care of my son, who just happened to be with me at a shoot when I won a varmint rifle, and he won a scope. We wanted neither, so we traded both in on this cool gun. Our plans? To take CHL classes…together – a mother and son deal.
    We’ve not yet done it. A year has passed. I’ve not even shot the gun yet!
    But I will, I promise…someday! And then, we can have a shootin’ contest with you and YLB!

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