SPRINGFIELD
ARMORY'S XD-9 A TRUE 21ST CENTURY PISTOL
Submitted
by: Marko Puljic
Date: Jun 30,2003
Category: Business
XD-9
Croatian Pistol for the 21st Century
In the category of small arms, the names of B. Tyler Henry,
Hiram Maxim, John Browning and George Luger attained legendary status, as did
Sam Colt, Daniel Wesson. John Garand, Eugene Stoner and Mikhail Kalashnikov
cast huge shadows in the world of military rifle design, as does Gaston Glock
in the world of handguns.
Yet, though on the surface, these men's achievements appear
unrelated, they all share one thing in common - they took existing concepts and
reshaped them into something whose time had come. And in so doing, they
facilitated a quantum leap in technology that elevated the state of the art in
their respective endeavors.
So it is with the Vukovic-led Croatian design team engineers who
designed Springfield Armory's XD-9 9x19mm pistol. Although they're probably not
aware of it, they created something significantly better than anything that came
before. Incorporating the best of both Glock and SIG designs with a few new
wrinkles thrown in for good measure, the XD-9 is a strong contender for the
title of being the first true pistol of the 21st century.
Historically, the XD-9 began life as the HS-2000, which itself
was an improved version of I.M. Metalworks (Karlovac, Croatia) HS-95 of 1995.
But it actually first appeared as the PHP in 1991, though that particular
pistol was fraught with a few quality control problems due to the ongoing
Croatian civil war. Vukovic's design team continually refined the PHP and
HS-95, correcting its design and metallurgical weaknesses, the final version
being designated as the HS-2000. At this point, I'll forego further historic
commentary because it would be redundant, since the HS-2000 was covered in
detail in a previous issue of COMBAT HANDGUNS. Shortly thereafter, Springfield
Armory acquired importation rights and re-designated the weapon as the XD-9.
In short, I think the XD-9 has all the traits necessary to become
a legendary pistol and at the very least represents the first quantum leap in
handgun technology since the Glock first appeared in the mid-1980s. I agree
with those who've said that it must withstand the test of time before
unequivocal endorsement of it can be made, but add that it certainly shows all
the signs of being a big-time winner! It's without a doubt a true 21st century
pistol and from what I've seen so far, a good one, at that. Check out the XD-9.
Like me, I think you'll find it to be a heck of a handgun.
Source: http://www.chucktaylorasaa.com/SpringfieldXD9.html