Re: Springfield XD vs S&W M&P series
I'm looking for a .40 cal with a "fully supported chamber", so I rented an XD and M&P in .40 two weeks ago thinking I'd buy whichever I liked better, and I tried them side by side for 50 rounds each at the range. Both were good, reliable, and accurate enough out to 25 yards, but I wasn't impressed enough with either one to buy it and I delayed my purchase until I find something I am really excited about. Maybe an XDm is in my future?
The S&W trigger was a long pull and didn't feel good to me, the geometry for my hand seemed to make an uncomfortable angle for the critical last few mm's of pull. This was disappointing because I really wanted to like it. A bit of dry fire practice and working on my grip would probably have gotten me used to it though, and the rest of the package was very nice. It feels slimmer and lighter than the XD, not as blocky, and holds more (15 vs 12 in .40 S&W). I hear there are much nicer aftermarket triggers for about $50.
The XD trigger was much better for me, and the grip and trigger housing geometry fit my hand better. The XD clearly had the better trigger out of the box between the two both in pull weight and crispness. I didn't notice the grip safety so I guess it was fine... Some people worry about it as a failure point and technically it is, but I lump that possibility in there with asteroids and falling airplane parts so it doesn't keep me up at night. My main gripe with the XD was that it was thicker, heavier, and blockier than the M&P, yet had lower capacity.
Overall I wasn't impressed enough with either one to make a buy, but if I had to pick one I'd have gone with the XD. My groups were about half the size with the XD, but I think that was due to my unfamiliarity with both guns and the XD's trigger being more forgiving. I did shoot the XD more accurately than my glock 17 which I have 1000's of rounds through, so maybe there's something to it or maybe it just liked the range ammo I had for it.