Glock vs Springfield XD

[Slater]

This is a discussion going on over at the 1911 forums. Evidently Glock has made an offer that's tough to refuse.

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=199285

Heck, I'd take them up on it.

[ToddG]

I have to say I'm surprised Glock is pushing this issue. I've dealt with agencies which were saddled with guns they didn't want by bureaucrats who never touched a pistol. It's ugly. How long do you think it will take the FIs in that department to find no end of problems with the Glocks they're forced to accept?

Glock has kept some major agencies by giving guns away for free recently ... New York State Police is the best example. But the guys in NY wanted Glocks. This sounds totally different.

Should be interesting to watch ...

[ST911]

Such deals aren't unique to Glock, but they get the most notice for it. Others pushing new product aimed squarely at Glock are inking some pretty...favorable...deals as well.

The transition from the well-established Safe-Action/DAO G23 to the marginal single-action XD presents administration, armorers, and trainers a plethora of issues to contemplate.

On the upside, if they get them for free, they will likely get what they pay for.

[ToddG]

Such deals aren't unique to Glock, but they get the most notice for it. Others pushing new product aimed squarely at Glock are inking some pretty...favorable...deals as well.

There's a tremendous difference between (1) negotiating a sweet deal with a department that wants your pistol and (2) running to city hall in an attempt to block the department from switching to a competitor.

If you mean that deals such as what happened with NYSP, I'd like to see any report of any other gun company that gave away 5,000 pistols plus mags, holsters, plus training and duty ammo to an LE agency for no money, no trade-in weapons, nada.

[the1911fan]

If you mean that deals such as what happened with NYSP, I'd like to see any report of any other gun company that gave away 5,000 pistols plus mags, holsters, plus training and duty ammo to an LE agency for no money, no trade-in weapons, nada.

I'd have to say that particular handout is unique to Glock

[variablebinary]

Glock will make up the money by refurbing the trade ins.

Personally I think a person in the line of duty would need to be on some serious drugs to ditch the Glock for the XD, especially since by all accounts, the Glocks are operating without issue.

If they were failing, that is one thing, but they arent...

[the1911fan]

Glock will make up the money by refurbing the trade ins.

Personally I think a person in the line of duty would need to be on some serious drugs to ditch the Glock for the XD, especially since by all accounts, the Glocks are operating without issue.

If they were failing, that is one thing, but they arent...

We're having a failure rate of 8-10% with our G22/23's with ANY light attached

The only Glocks I trust with weapon mounted lights attached are the 9mm's

[Striker5]

The last four people I have talked to who are buying pistols went w/ the XD, in .40 and .45 flavor. None of them had heard of the M&P pistols when I suggested them as an alternative and none of them wanted a Glock.

Not intended as a bash on the XD. I was on the fence a few years ago between the Glock 17 and the XD9. I went w/ the 17 because of its long and extremely solid track record. As I have sat at the feet of the gurus (electronically) and the more I have shot, the happier I have been that I made that choice.

The main way XD is closing the distance on Glock is marketing. Lots of safety features (for people that are into that sort of thing), the XD 45/case/holster deal. They have a long way to catch up but they are gaining.

[markm]

The main way XD is closing the distance on Glock is marketing.

Indeed. Springfield is masterful at marketing. Too bad they don't put all that skill into making good guns.

[Wayne Dobbs]

Glock's big strength (besides their market share and brand recognition) is their customer service in the field. Their LE district managers "fight fires" and comp lots of free small parts to various PDs and their armorer staffs. They put on the armorer school and instructor workshops. All of these marketing and customer service actions keep them well established.

Smith is starting to do essentially the same thing with the M&P products, which is no surprise given that most of their staff are Glock alumni.

Springfield doesn't do ANY of that and you have to send guns with problems back to the factory. That is a huge weakness for SA from my view.