Let me tell you a story...my oldest son came to me about a year ago talking about the XD-9 his friend has, that he got a chance to shoot. I told him that you could not give me a gun like that. My son knows I am a 1911 guy and the XD-9 was of no interest to me. So he let it drop. I march of this year I walked into a gunstore in Victoria Texas looking for an new 1911. I pointed at one in the case to look at and another fellow caught my attention so I looked away. My friend stuck an 4" XD-45 into my hand instead of the 1911 I was looking at. While still looking away, I closed my hand around the grip and immediately realized I had something in my hand that felt different but really good. I looked back and low & behold I was holding something I never thought I would. Long story short. Its mine and has about 1500 rounds through it. It is by far the most pleasant gun I have ever shot, it is so accurate it is boring, I love the 13+1 capacity and it now rides on my right hip as often as my prized Wilson Combat 4" Professional. Some one asked me the other day if the gun was any good. I told them that I am sure glad the the XD-45 was not the first semi-auto I had ever bought. He asked why and I said because it would be the only semi-auto I woud now own....it is that good.
Here's mine with a porch light:
and here is a sample of the accuracy it is capable of:
