In 2002, Springfield Armory negotiated a business deal to begin importing the Croatian HS2000 for the U.S. market. Rebranded as the XD for “Xtreme Duty,” the pistol became a huge success. It was a feature-rich, ergonomically friendly, striker-fired design that offered a number of options not found on competitors’ existing pistols. The XD also featured a grip safety and a dedicated loaded-chamber indicator. The grip was contoured to fit a variety of hand sizes, and the magazine release was ambidextrous to accommodate right- and left-handed shooters. A few different variants came in short order.
Then, in 2008, Springfield introduced the XD-M series, with the “M” standing for “more.” The XD-M was designed to complement, not replace, the legacy XD pistols. Now, 10 years later, the original XD series covers five…