The Gun Counter

Thinking about buying an XD soon, but was wondering what the difference is between the 4" and 5" model other than 1". Is one more accurate than the other? Anything else I should know? This will be my first handgun. Thanks in advance.

Welcome aboard. The extra inch won't matter in accuracy. Get the 4" in case you decide to get a CCW once you become proficient.

The 45 will cost a lot in ammo learning how to use it. A XD9 would be more cost effective.. To get a feel for what I'm talking about, look up the price for a thousand rounds of 45 and a thousand rounds of 9. You'll most likely shoot way over a thousand rounds if you really get into it.

Ben Rumson wrote:The 45 will cost a lot in ammo learning how to use it. A XD9 would be more cost effective.. To get a feel for what I'm talking about, look up the price for a thousand rounds of 45 and a thousand rounds of 9. You'll most likely shoot way over a thousand rounds if you really get into it.

Heh...it will take you a thousand rounds to properly break that baby in!

Welcome aboard.

Great guns, and to be honest the 5" really is not all that different that you will notice, pr most folks for that matter. The 4" is a pretty good all around size and is handy. All of mine (except for the sub compact) are/were 4" guns.

Dead reliable too, never had a single failure in 5 guns, ever.

Welcome aboard!

It mostly depends on what you plan to do with it.
As a belt gun the 5" is easy to carry as is the 4", but the 5" gives the full ballistic potential for the .45 cartridge.
For me the 5" is a bit easier to shoot, the longer sighting radius is an asset, and it balances better for me (YMMV). However if you're going to carry concealed, the 4" is easier to tuck away.
My only real complaint about the XD's is the 'squishy' recoil, it takes a bit of getting used to compared to a 1911 or Glock when trying to run one fast. But that's just my opinion.

If you're going to carry it, I'd suggest getting the smaller XD 45 -- I believe there's a compact version w. a 4" barrel, and a shorter grip -- you can return to the full size grip by switching to the standard capacity magazines, w. the grip adapters.

I have the 5" version, and have been very happy w. it, but it's primarily a plinker/bedside/car pistol for me. With a good holster, the 5" may be concealable -- it's not actually that much bigger than a 1911.

+1 to the 4 incher for CCW. That's what I got and I certainly haven't had any problems with accuracy and, despite being thick, is easily concealed. Especially when using the shorter ten round magazine which is what I leave in it when carrying. I carry one, rarely two, of the longer thirteen round magazines as reloads, but they're not hard to hide as long as they aren't in the mag well.

I have been very happy with my subcompat xd. But as I have gotten into carrying pocket guns most of the time I am looking at trading it on an XDm in 9mm. It has a 4.5" barrel.

Here a a few pics of 4" XD's .45s and 9mm.