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By David Crane
david (at) defensereview (dot) com
April 30, 2021
DefenseReview hasn’t covered Springfield Armory products in quite some time. However, they recently issued a press release on their new XD-M Elite 3.8″ (inch) Compact OSP 9mm combat/tactial pistol for concealed carry (CCW), and it looks pretty good in the photos. The “OSP” stands for “Optical Sight Pistol”, and the end-user will have the choice of a HEX Dragonfly mini red dot or HEX Wasp micro red dot sight combat optic by HEX Optics.
Perhaps the most interesting and important single aspect of the new pistol is its proprietary Match Enhanced Trigger Assembly (META) system, which Springfield Armory describes as a “superbly refined trigger designed to wring out the most from the pistol’s most important interface with the shooter”. There’s more. The company claims that the META trigger system “delivers the finest trigger pull available on a production polymer-framed pistol”. Sounds pretty good. The META trigger assembly sports a flat-face trigger and integral overtravel stop.
The Springfield Armory XD-M Elite 3.8″ (inch) Compact OSP 9mm pistol’s 3.8″ barrel is match-grade and Melonited (carbo-nitrided, or salt bath-nitrided). You’ve also got an ambidextrous slide stop/release and ambi mag release button(s). And, the large slide serrations have been improved for better/easier gripping and weapons handling.
A Springfield Armory Tactical Rack U-Dot™ rear sight (BUIS, or Back Up Iron Sight) sits behind the combat optic, and “features a u-shaped white outline and works in concert with the high-visibility fiber optic front sight”. Oh and the slide is forged, btw.
Ammo capacity is 14+1 rounds with a standard mag (magazine), and two will be included in the box.
Defense Review would love to have DR writer/contributor and chief new-product tester Jeff Gurwitch run the Springffield Armory XD-M Elite 3.8″ (inch) Compact OSP at the range at some point. Jeff’s a busy guy, but we’re going to try to make that happen, since we want to know how the new pistol stacks up against its Glock and Smith & Wesson (S&W) counterparts.
Editor’s Note: DR’s never really been sold on the XD’s grip safety. If it’s got to be there, we’d prefer that it be mounted in the front of the grip like on the HK P7 series pistols…but we’re willing to keep an open mind on it.
Company Contact Info:
Springfield Armory
420 West Main St.
Geneseo, IL 61254
Phone: 800.680.6866
Email: cs@springfield-armory.com
Website: https://www.springfield-armory.com
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