XD9 VS GLOCK 19

Handguns are prominent in my childhood with all the cop and true crime shows. Now that I’m older, I’m about to buy my first handgun. I am a complete newbie at this, so I did what every person does: search the internet for good purchases. It can be a little daunting for someone like me to dive into the rabbit hole of the gun community, but after reading a few friendly reviews and magazine articles, I narrowed my choices to the Springfield Armory XD9 and the Glock 19. I could have easily made my choice and chose the Glock, but I did not buy just yet because of the price.

XD9 vs Glock 19 Comparison

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. They even have similar features. I am so pumped for this article since it gave me a chance to research something that I’ve been interested in for a long time.

XD9 Overview

The Springfield Armory is a minefield of information for their Defend Your Legacy XD 9mm. It comes in a wide range of variation depending on your use and preference in size. For this article, I’ll be reviewing the full-size Defend Your Legacy XD Service Model.

Features

The most noticeable feature on the XD9 is the dovetail white dot, three-dot front, and rear sights. There has been a lot of hot debate whether three-dot sights make a shooter’s life better or worse. A bold statement by Chris Baker on Lucky Gunner tells readers to just say no to a three-dot sight.

Another article, this time written by Sam Hoober, acknowledges the preference of some people for the three-dot sight.

Another feature on the XD9 is the Picatinny rail for any accessories needed by the user. It also has an ambidextrous magazine release and a loaded chamber indicator. It also boasts of the Ultra Safety Assurance Action Trigger System. I did a little snooping around and the forums told me that the USA Trigger system is directly based on the Glock safety system. I will discuss that in the latter part of this article.

The XD 9 weighs 28 ounces and is 7.3 inches long. The grip width is 1.2 inches. It has a 16 magazine capacity. The suggested retail price is 399$.

Material

The XD9 is made from hammer-forged steel. The slide is forged steel. Both have a melonite finish, which is a fancier term for Liquid Salt Bath Ferritic Nitrocarburizing Non-Cyanide Bath or FNC. FNC, to the uninitiated, is the heat treatment of a gun part by a molten salt bath. In an article by Smokey Merkeley for the Idaho State Journal, he describes this process as one that dissolves nitrogen and carbon into the steel to create two different layers of iron nitrate and nitrogen diffusion that hardens the surface without hardening the core.

Its sight is made from rugged steel, advertised on the official website to “last longer than your grandchildren”. A little aggressive marketing can make or break the whole page if you ask me. Overall, it looks like a pretty solid gun.

Glock 19

The Glock 19 is a more common household term. I grew up thinking that Glock was the only gun company in the world and that all guns, from revolvers to rifles, are made by Glock. Now that I’m older and wiser, I still look up to Glock as one of the best gun manufacturers. For this article, I’ll be focusing on the Glock 19 in 9mm Luger.

Features

Glock boasts of its Safe Action system in its Glock 19 that disengages once the trigger is pulled and re-engages once the trigger is released. 

There are three stages, according to the official Glock website. The first is trigger safety, which is designed to prevent unwanted shots when the gun is dropped or pressure is applied to the trigger that isn’t a direct firing pull. The second is firing pin safety, which reengages once you decide not to pull the trigger. The third is the drop safety, which involves the trigger bar that engages the rear of the firing pin. Once the trigger is pulled, the trigger bar lowers, allowing the firing pin to be released. After firing, the trigger bar moves back to its original position, and the whole system reengages.

However, if you do need to fire multiple rounds, fear not. The Safe Action System needs only a limited forward movement from the trigger to reset. The system only reengages when the trigger returns to its original position.

The Glock 19 weighs 21.16 ounces without the magazine, 23.63 ounces with an empty magazine, and 30.16 ounces with a loaded magazine. It is 7.36 inches long. The grip width is 1.26 inches. Its magazine capacity is 15, but it has options for 17, 19, 24, 31, and 33 magazine capacity. The suggested retail price is 499$.

Material

According to Mike Coviello of Tanners Gun, the barrel and slide are coated in Tenifer, while the frame is made from Polymer.

Tenifer, like melonite in the XD9, is a proprietary name of Liquid Salt Bath Ferritic Nitrocarburizing Non-Cyanide Bath or FNC for short. In the same article as above, Merkeley credits Glock as the first gun company to use FNC on firearm barrels.

When I searched what polymer Glock uses for its guns, all I got were postings for Polymer 80 Kits. A little more digging got me to a Yahoo Answers thread that was a decade old. Someone who posted as Jerry H, after writing that he was a firearms instructor in the source, claimed that the polymer used is a carefully guarded trade secret. If so, it would explain why the information is not readily available online.

Conclusion

I’m pretty comfortable saying that I will be choosing Glock 19 for now. Although it is a little pricey, I believe that I am making a better investment with it. The Safe Action helped me make the choice.