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Today we’re going to talk about the Springfield XDM. Or XD-M. I’ve seen both, but I’m a lousy typist so I’ll probably skip the dash from here on out, even though I think that’s most likely correct.
First, I have to say that I have an older version. I’ve had it for several years now. Picked it up in a three way trade involving work on a house and a Jeep. It was complicated.
The point is, I have an XDM. The new ones are called XDM Elite. There are some changes from mine; I’ll drill down on those later. 
Table of Contents
Basics of mine.
It’s a .40 S&W. It has the 3.8″ barrel and a 16+1 round capacity. It came with the rather basic Kydex paddle holster and a Kydex magazine carrier. The mag carrier has space for two magazines, which is kind of funny since the gun only came with one spare magazine, for a total of two. I bought one later so I have three.
I’m not a fan of paddle holsters. The magazine carrier isn’t bad, really. You have to loop your belt through it, so it’s not coming off easily. That’s not a terrible thing.
It weighs 36.5 oz, loaded, without the light. Length is 6.5″. Width at the grip is 1.2″, 1.1″ at the slide. Height is 5.75″ from the top of the rear sight to the bottom of the magazine.
Point is, it’s not really a tiny little CC gun.
It can be concealed carried; you do have to dress around it, though, more than a smaller one. And there is one time I routinely carry it concealed: when I’m walking at night. I put it in my old Tommy’s Pistol Pack. It fits fine, and I’m carrying a full size, powerful handgun with a strong Weapon Mounted Light.
I also have the Blackhawk Omnivore that I have set up for this Springfield. Not sure “concealed” is the right term to use for the Omnivore, especially not in Arizona in the summer. Still, it can be carried on the hip.
It also has a couple indicators that I like in a striker gun. Loaded chamber and “cocked.” Both are both visual and tactile.
As you can see, it does have a grip safety. Some don’t like them but I think it’s useful.
What do I use it for?
At this time, I use this gun for two primary purposes: when I’m walking or hiking, and it’s on my night stand. It is the only handgun I have with a WML attached, which makes it ideal for those two purposes.
You’ll notice the Surefire TLR-1 HL on the front of it. I believe I mentioned in the review of the light that the XDM was one of two guns I was testing the light on. This is now the light’s permanent home. Well. As permanent as any firearm thing is for me. It fits well and points with the gun; that is, put the center of the light beam on the target at 10 yards or less and the rounds will hit near that point.
Differences in the Elites.
First, here’s Springfield’s site for the XDM Elite. What I have below is correct as of today, but things change. This is just for reference. Don’t worry; I’ll put a link below you can click on to see what’s available to actually but.
For one thing, they don’t make the .40 anymore. 9mm, 10mm, and .45 ACP are what’s available. The 3.8″ barrel versions are now compacts, with shorter grips and accompanying reduced ammo capacity. 10mm is 11+1, 9mm is 14+1.
They do have 4.5″ barrel versions. The 10mm version has 16+1, the 9mm is 20+1.
The .45 ACP only seems available in the Compact version, with a 10+1 capacity.
All the versions have an OSP option so you can mount an optic. The OSP versions seem to consistently run about $40, $45 more than the non-OSP version MSRP. I’d probably pay that were I to buy a new one.
Many versions also come with fiber optic front sights. My S&W 360PD has one of those on the front and I’m a big fan.
Finally, they now have an ambidextrous slide release. As a right-handed shooter, that’s not a big deal for me. On the other hand, maybe you should learn to shoot with your support hand and this would be useful, then.
How does it shoot?
Well, the “M” part of XDM stands for a match grade barrel. The gun’s more capable than I am, really. Even with the 3.8″ version, I can reach out to 25 yards easily and stay on the target. The gun itself is probably easily capable of 50 yards. Maybe someday I’ll test that but for now there’s an issue I need to solve.
Note the sights. They’d faded out. I painted the front one with white but left the back ones black. I know some people like that. Turns out I don’t. So I need to fix it. I’m not sure if I’m going to paint them, or just get new ones. As I mentioned above, I really like fiber optic sights.
It’s a heavy, polymer gun with a good barrel length. So recoil is pretty minimal. I use Speer Lawman 180 grain JHP’s. Good reviews and available at a decent price. I ran low on ammunition at the start of COVID, so “available” was a big deal. I’ve been completely happy with it.
Using both these, some FMJ versions of the same, and some off-brand stuff I’ve never had a failure. Completely reliable.
Conclusion
A while back I was taking a walk in the evening when I saw a herd of 12 or so of javelina in front of me. With young. They started moving away when I approached, but they were going in the direction I had planned on. I changed directions. A couple of the males were good sized and seemed unfriendly. My direction change mollified them and nothing happened.
I will say, though, that I was pleased I had this particular firearm on me. I’m not normally a member of the Cult of Capacity, but that was a time I was happy to have 17 powerful handgun rounds and a couple spare mags available had things gone sideways.
It’s a reliable, powerful, high-capacity handgun with easy controllable recoil. What’s not to like? If you’re looking for something like that, head to the link below to see what they have for you.
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