XD-45
Here's the benefit of cocked and loaded chamber indicator:
Your Humvee has just run over an IED at night. You come-to semi conscious in a dark alley and you hear some "tango s" coming your way. You can "feel" if your pistol is ready to go, rather than having to rack the slide and thereby giving away your position by that distinctive sound.
or
You are asleep in bed, and you hear that breaking glass downstairs. You don't want to turn on you light and give away your situation or location. You pick up your XD, no question if it's cocked and loaded.
or
You pick up your Glock and ask yourself, hmmm, did I put one in the chamber before I went to bed? No problem if you ALWAYS keep one in the chamber, but maybe some don't because of children in the house etc.
Neither the cocked indicator, (striker projecting from back of slide) nor the loaded chamber indicator (small projection on top of chamber) will interfere with the pistols reliability. And grip safeties have been in use since before 1911 and not many complaints about that one.
Here is some comments from a trainer of "operators" re XD-45.
Q:"According to the professionals and elite of the elite on another forum the XD is pretty much a range toy, prone to mechanical failures. Has anyone had problems with this line of pistols?"
A:"Yeah, whatever. I'll just bet they are all excited about the S&W M&P or something like that, ain't they?
I have shot the living **** out of several of the XDs, including a prolonged torture test on a .45 Tactical that appeared in SWAT Magazine in the July 2006 edition. That pistol currently stands at about 8K rounds with no drama.
They all ran pretty much flawlessly, and none of them had any mechanical breakage or terminal malfs of any kind. Any malfs we did experience were directly attributable to ammo quality or operator errors. I have not shot any of them in .40, all I have used have been 9mm and .45
also:
The standard XD model does not have a thumb safety anyway.
Grip safety and "safe trigger" trigger safety, and fully ambidextrous mag release with buttons on both sides!
They also have a tactile loaded chamber indicator and tactile cocking indicator. Steel sights instead of chocolate chips, (like standard on Glocks), and they point like a 1911.
Stainless steel magazines.
Integral pic rail underneath and they make a excellent platform for the (>$100.00, often about $65.00 now)) also very excellent Streamlight TLR1 weapon light.
They also take down far easier than a Glock. I have taught 14 year old girls that never handled a firearm before to take down and re-assemble an XD. They average about five to seven minutes of instruction before they have it down cold."
also:
"The XD is, for my money, the best straight from the box combat gun available today.
I tried one after Louis Awerbuck (RIP), told me that of all the pistols that come through his classes, the XDs were the ones that invariably made it through the classes without taking a dump in any way shape or form.
My own XD is the .45acp Tactical and we have thrashed the bejeesus out of it with no ill effects.
The round count is well in excess of 5K now, and no malfs.
I used to have literally every Glock model available. From 17 through 35, I had them all (except for an 18, dang it) and I now own zero Glocks.
I have personally witnesses Glocks failing in a multitude of ways, including having two model 23s blow upright next to me at the range, both times their extractors blew out and hit me in the left temple hard enough to stick there. I now stay to the left of Glock shooters.
The XDs have internal extractors, Thank God, and seem impervious to this particular failing. They also have more supported chamber area than the Glocks, as well as magazines that actually drop free, an ambi mag release, excellent safeties, loaded chamber indicator, cocking indicator, and a grip safety."
I do have a Glock 17 and like it, (the original and best IMHO), but the XD-45 is the one go to pistol for all occasions.
