Springfield Armory XD Pistols Instructions Manual

							SPRINGFIELD ARMORY®XD PISTOLS
OPERATION AND SAFETY MANUAL
Important Safety Information Inside
Read this manual before handling this firearm.
Keep this manual with your pistol and review it before each
use. This manual was designed to fit in your shirt or jacket
pocket. Do not allow others to handle or fire your pistol until
they have read this manual. Transfer this manual with the
firearm upon ownership change.
Be a responsible gun owner. Use it safely, store it securely,
and always transfer a gun responsible and legally.
Sub-Compact 3” • Service Model 4” • Tactical Model 5” • Ported Models
CONTENTS
Read and Understand this Manual  . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Know Your Gun  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Safety Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Loaded Chamber Indicator  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Striker Status Indicator  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Safety Devices  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Firing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Unloading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Malfunction Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Disassembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Magazine Disassembly  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Ported Barrel  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Parts Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Point of Aim  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Care and Cleaning  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Cable Lock  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
2 
						

							This is an auto loading pistol. It is immediately loaded
and ready to fire again after each shot until all shells
loaded in magazine have been fired. The pistol is able to
fire both with and without the magazine in place.
Removing the magazine does not unload the pistol nor
engage a safety. The pistol is not unloaded until the
chamber is empty.
About your owners manual
This is an instruction booklet on how to operate this
firearm with some basic safe handling rules. It does not
attempt to provide information about using a gun to
defend yourself, how to hunt, or for competitive or target
shooting. It is important to get instruction from a
competent instructor prior to engaging in any of these
activities. The National Rifle Association, your local or
state authorities, or your gun dealer may provide
information regarding available instructors or training
courses. If you have a license to carry concealed, never
do so without prior instruction from a certified instructor.
Using a gun for self defense is a complex subject with
dangers and risks for which you must be properly trained.
Every safety rule has a reason behind it - read the rules
carefully and understand why each is important for safety.It is recommended that every person receive
instructions from a competent firearms instructor before
handling this or any other firearm.
Know and obey all gun laws. Do not give a gun to
someone who is not allowed to own a gun or who may
use it for a criminal purpose.
Used guns
If you purchased this firearm as a used gun have it
inspected and tested by a competent gunsmith before you
use it. Guns are sometimes altered and may require
repair before they can be used safely.
Store guns safely in the home
Store guns unloaded, locked and in a secure place.
Obey gun storage laws. Store guns and ammunition
separately. Because your children may be in other homes
where guns are stored, you should show them what to
do if they see or find a gun by showing them the
Eddie Eaglevideo available from the NRA by calling
(703) 267-1000.
BEFORE LOADING AND FIRING THIS PISTOL, 
READ AND UNDERSTAND THE INFORMATION IN THIS MANUAL.
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4
KNOW YOUR GUN
Grip Safety
Thumb Rest
Easy Glide Magazine
Ambidextrous
Magazine
Release
Target
Trigger
Trigger
Safety
Grooved
Trigger
Guard
Captive
Recoil
Spring
System
Loaded
Chamber
Indicator
Rear SightSafety
Locked Action
(Internal)Slide Stop
Lever
Striker Block/
Drop Safety
(Internal)
Striker Status
Indicator
Disassembly
Lever
Slide
Frame
Light Rail
or
Accessory Rail
Front Sight 
						

							Be A Safe Shooter.
ACCIDENT (ak´ si dent)N. 1. An unintentional or
unexpected happening that is undesirable or
unfortunate, especially one resulting in injury, damage,
harm or loss.
Don’t be the cause of an accident.
A responsible gun owner is safety minded and always
handles guns in a safe manner by following the basic
rules of safe shooting and by using common sense in
the handling of a firearm.
Store firearms unloaded, locked, and in a secure place.
Keep keys for locks separate from lock and in secure
place away from children. Keep firearms out of reach
of children. You are responsible for children’s safety.Be A Responsible Gun Owner.
•Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.
•Never point a gun at any person or thing you do 
not intend to shoot.
•Do not drop your gun.If it falls, it may fire even 
with the safety on. If you do drop it, unload it and 
examine it to be sure it works correctly. Do not 
attempt to fire it again until you have completed this 
safety check.
•Never put your hand over the muzzle of the gun.
•Keep your finger(s) off the trigger and out of the 
trigger guard until you are actually aiming at your 
target, ready to shoot.
SAFETY RULES
READ AND UNDERSTAND THESE SAFETY RULES
TREAT EVERY GUN AS IF IT WAS LOADED...ALL THE TIME.
5
•Never rely on a gun’s “safety” to protect you from 
unsafe gun handling. A safety is only a mechanical 
device, not a substitute for common sense.
•When the gun is loaded don’t touch the trigger until 
you are ready to fire.
•Be sure of your target and backstop before you 
shoot. Ask yourself what your bullet will hit if it 
misses or goes through the target.
•Before shooting, be sure the barrel is clear of 
obstructions, including excessive oil and grease.
•If anything does get into the barrel, remove
cartridges, and clean bore immediately, before 
attempting to shoot. Obstructed barrels can burst and 
injure you or bystanders.
BE A RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNER!
•Never let water, snow, mud or other materials enter 
the barrel.
•Never pull a gun toward you by the muzzle.
•Do not climb a tree, cross a fence or ditch, or jump 
over an object with a loaded gun.
•Always hold your gun so you control the direction of 
its muzzle in case you fall or stumble.
Model XD Pistols are classified firearms and dangerous
weapons. Injury or death to you or others may result from
unsafe or improper use.
6 
						

							BE A SAFE SHOOTER!
7
•Guns and alcohol or drugs do not mix. Do not take 
them before or during shooting activities. Your vision, 
coordination and judgment could be impaired, 
making gun handling unsafe.
•When taking medication, seek a doctor’s advice to be 
sure you can operate and handle your firearm safely.
•Get instructions from a competent firearms instructor 
before using any gun.
•Before attempting to shoot, practice operations by 
dry firing with the chamber empty, without 
ammunition, or with dummy shells. Become familiar 
with the safety features, trigger control, and handling 
of the firearm.
•Always keep and carry your pistol with an empty 
chamber until you intend to shoot, so your pistol
cannot be fired unintentionally.
•Firearms should be unloaded when not in use. This 
means both the chamber and magazine are empty.•When transferring a gun by hand, always ask the 
person receiving it to open the action and check that 
it is unloaded.
•Never take anyone’s word that a firearm is unloaded. 
When receiving a gun, always open the action and 
check that it is unloaded.
•Load gun only when on range preparing to fire. 
Unload it before leaving range. 
•Treat every gun as if it is loaded...all the time!
•Load and unload with the gun pointed in a 
safe direction.
•Be certain gun is unloaded before cleaning.
•Completely unload your gun before storing, travelling,
standing it against an object, laying it down, entering
a house, car, truck, boat, RV/camper, building, or 
handing it to someone.
•Never leave a loaded gun unattended.
•Tragedy may result if a child finds your gun and plays
with it. Keep every gun secure. Children do not 
believe guns can kill.
•Store guns and ammunition separately. Both should 
be placed beyond children’s reach. 
•Obey all laws regarding the storage and security of 
guns in the home.
READ THESE RULES!
•Know and obey the laws regarding the transportation
and carrying of firearms.
•Never carry any handgun in your pocket, purse or 
tucked in your belt or waistband. Use a pistol case 
or a proper holster with safety flap or strap.
•New non-defective brass is essential to ensure safe
functioning of your gun.
•Old or reloaded ammunition may be dangerous. Use 
only clean, dry original, high-quality, commercially 
manufactured ammunition. Using reloaded
ammunition will void the warranty.
8 
						

							•Many ammunition identifications sound similar. Make 
sure you use the right size ammunition in your gun.
•If gun fails to fire when the trigger is pulled, keep it 
pointed at the target for at least 30 seconds before 
opening the action and removing the cartridge from 
the chamber. Sometimes slow primer ignition will 
cause a “hang fire” and the cartridge will go off 
after a short pause.
•When group firing, always appoint someone to 
maintain safety control. Obey his/her commands 
immediately and completely.
•While shooter is loading, firing, and unloading, 
spectators should be at least 10 feet behind the shooter.
•Always wear protective glasses when shooting.
•Always wear hearing protection when shooting.•Never shoot at hard flat surfaces or water
...bullets will ricochet.
•Do not alter or modify your gun.
•Have your gun serviced regularly by a
qualified gunsmith.
•Discharging firearms in poorly ventilated areas, 
cleaning firearms, or handling ammunition may result 
in exposure to lead and other substances known to 
cause birth defects, reproductive harm, cancer and 
other serious physical injury. Have adequate ventilation
at all times. Wash hands thoroughly after exposure.
TREAT EVERY GUN AS IF IT IS LOADED...
ALL THE TIME!
Always wear eye and ear protection when
using any firearm. Safety and instruction
manuals are available from Springfield, Inc.
9
WARNING:When you squeeze the trigger, you must expect the gun to fire. You must take full
responsibility for firing it. Your care can avoid accidental discharge and thereby avoid accidental
injury and death.
WARNING!
There is no safe way to discharge a pistol in
a home or apartment. Bullets will go through
walls, floors, furniture, and appliances and
still cause serious injury or death to persons
in the house, next-door, or outside.
Accidental discharges indoors
ALWAYS result in proper ty damage
or personal injury.
BE A SAFE SHOOTER!
10
•Do not try to change your gun’s trigger pull, because 
alterations of trigger pull usually affect sear 
engagement and might cause accidental firing.
•Never use a gun that jams or fails to function 
properly. Should this occur, return to Springfield, Inc. 
for warranty/repair.
•If your shot sounds weak or underpowered, it could 
mean a bullet is in the chamber/bore. Gun should 
be immediately unloaded and the chamber/bore 
checked for obstructions before refiring.
•Do not “horseplay” with a gun. Your gun cannot 
think...but you can. Firearm safety depends on you 
and is the responsibility of the operator. 
						

							HANDLING
11
WARNING:When you squeeze the trigger, you must expect the gun to fire. You must take full
responsibility for firing it. Your care can avoid accidental discharge and thereby avoid accidental
injury and death.
We want you to be a safe, satisfied shooter.
Before attempting to load this firearm with live
ammunition, follow the sequence of operations shown
here without ammunition or with dummy shells.
By practicing operations without ammunition
(or with dummy shells), you will become familiar with: 
•Safety features, 
•Trigger control (dry firing), 
•and handling of your firearm.
As a result you will be a safer, more confident
shooter when aiming at your first target.Write or call us concerning any items you do not
understand and/or which might relate to your safety
and the safe operations of any of our products.
Springfield, Inc.
Consumer Safety Depar tment
420 West Main Street
Geneseo, IL 61254
(309) 944-5631
Your XD pistol has a loaded chamber indicator. 
(See Figure 12-1.) The indicator allows you to observe
whether a cartridge is in the chamber. When a
cartridge is in the chamber the indicator raises above
the barrel. (See Figure 12-2.) When the loaded
chamber indicator is up, the gun is ready to
fire.
LOADED CHAMBER INDICATOR
Caution! Even though the chamber is empty
there may be cartridges in the magazine. The
gun is not completely empty until both the
chamber and magazine are empty.
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Figure 12-1Figure 12-2 DOWN
UP 
						

							Your XD Pistol has a cocking indicator in the rear of
the slide. (See Figure 13-1.) When the gun is cocked,
the pin will protrude out of the slide. (Figure 13-2.) 
(The cocking indicator does not always mean that the
gun is loaded.) However, when the pin is out, always
treat the gun as if it were loaded.
STRIKER STATUS INDICATOR
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Figure 13-1Figure 13-2 IN (UNCOCKED)
OUT (COCKED)
1. Trigger Safety -The trigger safety locks the trigger
from moving backward. A lever incorporated into
the trigger (Figure 14-1) deactivates the safety
when completely depressed while pulling the
trigger. The trigger can only be pulled if depressed
together with the trigger safety lever. (Figure 14-2.)
SAFETY DEVICES
14
You will notice that the XD Pistol has no external
manual safety system that can be placed on or off.
All safety systems on the XD Pistol are internal and
always on until disengaged. Note: Depressing the trigger safety and pulling the
trigger will not cause the gun to fire unless the grip
safety is also deactivated. (See next page.)
Safety devices, like all things
mechanical can fail. Safety devices
are not a substitute for safe gun
handling. Always follow the rules for safe gun handling.
Figure 14-1Figure 14-2 LEVER 
						

							SAFETY DEVICES
3. Striker Block Safety -As an added safety feature,
an internal striker block will prevent the gun from
firing until the grip safety is depressed and the
trigger is pulled.and then put your finger on the trigger to depress
the trigger safety and pull the trigger. When the
grip safety is disengaged the gun will fire
if the trigger is pulled. 2. Grip Safety -The grip safety is located at the top
rear of the pistol grip. (Figure 15-1.) The grip
safety must be depressed to be deactivated (Figure
15-2.) Until the grip safety is depressed and
deactivated, the gun will not fire even if the trigger
is pulled. Grip safety must also be depressed to
allow slide to be pulled to the rear. The grip safety
is designed to be deactivated when the gun is
properly gripped to fire. To fire the gun you must
properly hold the gun and depress the grip safety
Figure 15-1Figure 15-2 GRIP SAFETY
15
1.Place the EMPTY magazine in the magazine well, 
located in bottom of pistol grip. Push firmly enough 
on bottom of magazine to make sure it is properly 
seated. A distinctive “click” will confirm the
magazine has been properly inserted. Pull the slide 
all the way to the rear, until it locks back.
2.Depress magazine release and remove magazine.
3.Insure that you are using the proper caliber 
ammunition for your pistol. Place rim of first 
cartridge on front of follower. Then 
push down on the follower and slide cartridge 
under the lips of the magazine and to the rear. 
Load successive rounds the same way. Use only 
clean, dry, original, high-quality, commercially 
manufactured ammunition.
4.Re-insert magazine into magazine well, located in
bottom of pistol grip. Push firmly enough on bottom 
of magazine to make sure it is properly seated.
5.Point gun in a safe direction and keep finger off 
trigger. Depress the slide stop lever to allow slide to
LOADING
Never touch the trigger when
loading or unloading the pistol.
move forward and load a shell from the magazine
into the chamber.
6.The loaded chamber indicator will be in the up
position.
7.The striker status indicator will be protruding out of
the rear of the receiver in the “cocked” position.
Caution:The gun is now ready to fire.
16
Figure 16 
						

							If you have never fired a gun before, practice without
live ammunition before your first shot. Then load only
onecartridge into the magazine for your first live
ammunition firing.
1.Point gun in a safe direction.
2.Load cartridge into chamber from magazine.
3.Grasp grip of pistol firmly. (A loose grip may
cause the pistol to malfunction.) The pressure from
the hand will disengage grip safety located at top
of rear grip area.
Caution:The gun is now ready to fire.
Be prepared for noise and recoil when pistol fires.
4.Aim gun at target by aligning sights.
Point gun in a safe direction at all times.FIRING
5.Lightly place finger on trigger, and slowly squeeze
trigger to fire the pistol. Spent cartridge is expelled
up and to the right. 
6.Pistol will automatically be ready to fire again after 
each shot until all cartridges loaded in magazine
have been fired.
7.When last cartridge has been fired, slide will lock
open and remain to rear.
17
CHAMBER MUST
BE EMPTY
If slide is already in “locked back” position: 
1.Point gun in safe direction.
2.Press magazine release button to 
remove magazine.
3.From top and rear, carefully inspect 
chamber to make sure it is empty.
4.Hold slide, disengage slide stop, 
ease slide forward.
Pistol is not empty or unloaded until the chamber is empty and the magazine removed.
UNLOADING
18 
						

							If slide is forward: 
1.Point gun in safe direction.
2.Press magazine release button to remove magazine.
3.Pull slide fully to rear to eject any cartridge
remaining in chamber.
4.While holding slide in rearward (open) position, 
carefully inspect chamber making sure it is empty. 
5.Slowly release slide, allowing it to return to
forward position.
UNLOADING
Pistol is not empty or unloaded until the chamber is empty and the magazine removed.
Never touch the trigger when loading or unloading the pistol.
19
CHAMBER MUST
BE EMPTY
1.What to do:
•Point gun in a safe direction.
•Remove magazine.
•Pull back on slide and allow cartridge to fall from gun.
•If cartridge does not fall free, pull slide back 
and lock it back.
•Carefully dislodge cartridge.
•If cartridge cannot be removed, carefully store 
your gun and take it to a gunsmith.
2.Most failures to feed or chamber a cartridge are the
result of a damaged magazine, improper gun 
handling or defective ammunition.
MALFUNCTION WARNING!
3.Whatever the cause, a jammed cartridge can be 
a dangerous situation. Should shell be discharged 
while out of chamber, cartridge will rupture and 
fragments will be blown out of pistol with sufficient 
force to cause injury.
If any information in this manual is not clear,
Call Springfield’s Consumer Safety Department 
at (309) 944-5631 for assistance. If cartridge hangs up, jams or binds when being chambered from magazine into chamber, 
do not attempt to force it into chamber by pushing or striking slide.
Always have gun pointed in a safe direction. 
Failure to obey safety information may result in injury to you or others.
Always wear eye and ear protection when
using any firearm. Safety and instruction
manuals are available from Springfield, Inc.
20