XD-M Elite 5.25: The Best Competition-Ready 9mm?

By Kevin Lord

Today I get the pleasure of doing a review of the XD-M Elite Precision 5.25” 9mm. When the editor of The Armory Life reached out to me telling me they came out with an upgraded model, I just had to jump at the chance to get my hands on one. I’ve been a fan of the XD-M family of pistols, so I just had to see what Springfield did with the new “Elite” versions of what was already an award-winning pistol.

What It Offers

The XD-M Elite Precision brings a lot of cool features to the table. It’s called “a competition-ready 9mm powerhouse” by Springfield. Let’s talk about that for a minute. The pistol sports an extended slide and barrel, lengthened to 5.25″ for quicker and more accurate acquisition of your targets. The slide is cut to reduce the weight, and an advanced adjustable rear sight and fiber optic front offers quick acquisition of your target. These sights also allow the user to be able to adjust the pistol’s point of impact to their needs.

As if that’s not enough let’s add in the new Match Enhanced Trigger Assembly (META) — delivering “the finest production polymer-framed pistol trigger pull available.” The Elite upgrades also bring an ambidextrous slide stop for the southpaw shooters among us, improved slide serrations, and top it all off with an enhanced magazine capacity of 22+1.

Opening Up

The XD-M Elite comes with a detachable extended and flared magwell that matches up with the extended 22+1 capacity mags, but two base plates to shorten your mags to the standard size are also included if that’s your choice. The magwell is simple to remove, but you will need a 3/32 punch and a mallet or small hammer to remove. To do this, lightly tap out roll pin that secures backstrap and magwell, located at bottom/backside of grip. Once removed you will then be able to slide out the locking tab for the magwell. The backstrap and magwell will then be free to remove.

With the magwell removed, the extended 22+1 mag will still fit in place or you can take the extension baseplate off to use the included flat baseplates to give you the flush look of the original XD-M. Taking off the extended mag baseplate will drop you down to a 19+1 capacity.

Range Time

What’s a review without telling you how it handles? I took the XD-M Elite 5.25″ out to the range two different times, putting roughly 500 rounds through it. I used 150 rounds of Federal FMJ 9mm 115 grain, 200 rounds of Browning 9mm 147 grain, and roughly 50 rounds of Hornady 9mm Luger 115-gr. FTX Critical Defense. I also ran 100 rounds of 9mm 124-gr. JHP+P from Black Hills ammo. All 500 rounds ran without a single failure.

The recoil of this pistol is almost non-existent, and it features a one-piece recoil system with a full-length guide rod. The pistol is extremely accurate, and it fits comfortability in my hands. The flared magwell also makes for quick and easy mag exchanges, even coming from difficult angles instead of straight up and down into the magwell. The Elite also comes with a standard accessory rail if you want to add a laser, light, camera, etc.

In a world where money talks, you’d figure that with all those upgrades it would come with a hefty price tag, right? However, the XD-M Elite Precision 5.25″ in 9mm only has an MSRP of $653. In addition, the XD-M Elite series comes in four models to fit practically any role you have for them with an MSRP price range from $590 to $709. Some of those offerings including an OSP version with a threaded barrel as well as a Compact version. It’s incredible that Springfield can pack all those upgraded features of the Elite line in for that price.

Conclusion

So, let’s do a quick recap of what you get with this awesome package. For just $653 MSRP, you get an upgraded XD-M with the META trigger, advanced adjustable rear sights, a cut slide for weight reduction, improved slide serrations and an ambidextrous slide stop.  It also has an extended mag well and 22+1 mags. Springfield went above and beyond to advance their XD-M line, taking yet another step forward in being the best on the market.

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