Springfield Armory XDm 5.25 Competition 9mm range report

**JohnUSCG** · October 23rd, 2011, 07:03 PM

I had some cash burning a hole in my pocket so I picked up an XDm 5.25 9mm a few weeks ago. My primary desire was for a pistol that I could use in some local Steel Challenge matches and since XD's come with all the accessories, I thought this would be a good choice.
I found mine at Freedom Armory in Southern York County for $750. Not the best deal in the world, but worth it to me as it was very comfortable in my hand, pointed naturally and had a great feeling trigger.
I went to the range to put some ammo through it. El Cheapo Blazer aluminum cased 9mm. Never had a problem with this ammo and have literally put thousands of rounds down range in many different guns with it.
My first reaction is that the sights were WAAAYYYY off. Luckily...the 5.25 has adjustable sights so I spent some time sighting it in and adjusting the rear sight. I had almost maxed out the adjustment screw before I was hitting POA. (Some of that could have been me.....I have a tendancy lately to have a flinch)
One of my other items of note is that the ambi mag release just doesn't have a 'positive' feel to it. Somewhat spongy and doesn't always release the magazine without pushing on it a few times and pulling the magazine. Not good for a competition gun. I did not have a single failure with approx 125 rounds thru it.
The 5.25 comes with the medium backstrap installed and I just didn't like how the gun moved in my hand. The texture looks like it is very rough and would be very 'grippy' but in my hand it just felt slick and gave me quite a bit of movement within my hand, even with a very solid grip. I installed the large grip and that problem didn't seem to improve for me so I reinstalled the medium backstrap.
The front fiber optic sight is GREAT! I have always been fond of fiber optic sights and this is one aspect of the 5.25 that I just love. Easy to get a good sight picture and truly concentrate on the front sight. I don't know off hand what size the FO is....but it does look to be quite a bit bigger than the one on my M&P Pro.
Overall......I like it. I am definitly going to have to get quite a bit more trigger time before I feel comfortable enough to compete with this gun. I probably had some unrealistic ideas that I would fire this gun and the skys would open and angels would sing and I would hit everything I ever wanted to within and inch or so. Not so....but still a good gun.
As for the accessories......they are pretty low quality. The magazine loader is just about worthless after the 5th round or so. The holster is rather flimsy (I expected that). On the good side, SA has a special going on that gets you 3 additional magazines and double magazine pouch if you purchase an XD before Nov 30th. Nice little perk when you realize the 19 round mags are about $25 to $35 each.

As always.....just my opinion and someone else's mileage may vary.

**harold63** · October 23rd, 2011, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by JohnUSCG

My first reaction is that the sights were WAAAYYYY off. Luckily...the 5.25 has adjustable sights so I spent some time sighting it in and adjusting the rear sight. I had almost maxed out the adjustment screw before I was hitting POA. (Some of that could have been me.....I have a tendancy lately to have a flinch)

If you are flinching, it is not likely that you have enough adjustment to compensate for it unless you are shooting very close. I would try to shoot it with a muzzle rest at round 20' and see what it does. The sights on this pistol should be true pretty darn close to the middle. You may have a "pull" that would take it out to maximum adjustment, but resting the muzzle may help you distinguish if you do or don't. Also, try letting someone you know with good trigger control shoot it and see if their groups are where yours are with the adjustments you have on it now.

**harold63** · October 24th, 2011, 12:07 AM

Dude, forgive me if your post was rhetorical. My wife has informed me once or twice that I could have a conversation with myself. I tell her 'the good thing about that is at least someone is listening'.

**rwb1500** · October 24th, 2011, 10:52 AM

**JohnUSCG** · October 27th, 2011, 07:11 AM

**Dave623** · October 29th, 2011, 09:40 PM

Nice!

try to dry fire and see if you can see yourself flinching also, I just did a PRP match trigger and extreme grips on my xdm 4.5 9mm the difference is amazing, ill post a pic when i get a chance

good luck with it

**hooknladder** · November 1st, 2011, 11:57 PM

I picked one up last week, except mine is the bi-tone. With my reloads for my P38, I put 10/10 in the black on a slow fire target at 25 feet, offhand. It's my new IDPA gun. Only 2 things I have to watch for is the trigger reset seems a little longer than my Glock 21, and make sure the grip safety is depressed when firing weak hand only. I corrected those issues within 200 rounds of practice. I can only say I am impressed with the XDm 9mm 5.25.