Yesterday I traded with one of the shooters in the SUpistol club, Deputy Sheriff Jeff Bailey, for a “Production Ready” XD tactical in 9mm. After shooting it in a practice session all I can say is “wow”.

Before I jump into the details of the Canyon Creek XD, here is a little bit of the history of this excellent handgun.

First developed by the Croatian firm I.M. metals in 1991, production was delayed by the Croatian Domovinski Rat, (Homeland War). When the war ended in 1995, I.M. Metal released the gun as the HS95 (Hrvatski Samokres or Croatian Pistol), and an updated version was released as the HS2000 in 1999. The HS2000 was only available with a 4 inch barrel, chambered in 9x19mm.

In 2002, Springfield Armory purchased the American rights to the HS2000 and released it as the XD-9 (eXtreme Duty). Springfield also expanded the XD line to add models in .45 ACP, .45 GAP, .40 S&W, and 357 SIG. As well as adding different calibers, Springfield offers models in different frame sizes and barrel lengths. All XD pistols are made by IM metals (now HS produkt).

In 2008, Springfield released the XD(m), an updated XD that solved a few complaints about a sloppy trigger reset, as well as offering higher capacity magazines (19 rounds of 9mm vs. 16 in the XD), and knocked off the “railroad ties” on the slide of the original XD. Ridding the slide of the “railroad ties” makes the XD(m) more comfortable to carry concealed. The XD(m) is only available in 9mm and .40 S&W, and only with a barrel length of 4.5 or 3.8 inches, verses the 5 inch barrel of the XD tactical.

HS2000 pistol, made by IM metals.

Springfield XD-9. Note the added accessory rail and grip texturing.

Springfield XD-9 subcompact.

Springfield XD-9 Tactical.

Springfield XD(m)

Anyway, enough history, let’s get on to the Canyon Creek XD. Rich Dettelhouser, owner and master gunsmith at Canyon Creek, takes a stock XD and does his magic. He does a trigger job, adds grip texturing, melts an adjustable rear sight onto the back of the slide, adds a fiber-optic front sight, and does countless other little things to gain a competitive edge. On this particular gun, the “tactical” XD (5 inch barrel), he took a stock XD from looking like this:

To this:

Hard to notice the difference? That’s the point. This XD is a “production ready” model, legal for the USPSA production division, meant for stock guns. No slide lightening , porting, or optics are allowed. Most people shoot Glocks in production, as 1911 style pistols are illegal. Let me point out a few of the differences between the stock XD and the Canyon Creek XD. the most obvious differences are the sights and grip texturing. One difference that is not obvious from the picture is an extended magazine release, enabling me to do reloads without having to change my grip on the gun. One MAJOR difference from the factory XD is the trigger. Words don’t do justice to the trigger work Rich does to these guns. An XD trigger will never be as good as a 1911, but this is very, very close. I am not sure of the exact poundage on this gun, but it’s pretty light, with no pre-travel like the factory XD.

Some people will argue that it’s better to leave a gun just as it came from the factory, as fancy custom work will reduce reliability. This is not true. During our practice session we had but one jam out of 500 rounds. The jam was caused by someone’s cheap gun show reloads. Apparently someone doesn’t understand the meaning of the word CRIMP! It isn’t obvious to the average shooter, but EVERY reloader needs to put crimp on their bullets. This is done to prevent the bullet from hanging up when it enters the chamber. Anyways, back to the gun. With decent ammo, both factory and some reloads from a friend, the XD functioned flawlessly. Accuracy was best with a 147 grain bullet from the reloads. Grouping was fairly decent with 124 grain American Eagle and 115 grain Winchester Whitebox, and all over the map with the cheap 115 grain reloads.

Some people might ask why I wouldn’t have gone with and XD(m) if it is such an “improvement” on the XD line. My one word answer: application. Here are a few of my thoughts on the “improvements” of the XD(m) verses the Canyon Creek XD.

The XD(m) holds four more bullets than the XD. That’s great, but in production division you are only allowed to load ten rounds in the magazine. I used an XD(m) in Limited division (no capacity limit) for a long time. I definitely liked the extra bullets.

The XD(m) doesn’t have the “railroad ties”, which makes it easier to concealed carry. Again, that’s great, but the State of Utah does not issue Concealed Carry Permits to anyone under the age of 21 (BTW, if you know of any states that do, please let me know!). I use this gun is for competition and nothing else.

The XD(m) fixed the sloppy trigger reset of the XD. Yeah, it did, except that part of the trigger work done on the Canyon Creek XD was fixing the reset.

One of the flaws of the XD(m) is that the longest barrel offering is 4.5 inches, as opposed to the 5 inch barrel of the XD tactical. A longer barrel means that the bullet builds up more chamber pressure, which adds velocity.  A longer barrel also means that you have a longer sight radius, which increases accuracy.

Don’t get me wrong, XD(m)’s are great guns, but not what I prefer for competition. I used to have one of Canyon Creek’s Limited division XD(m)’s, which I liked.

My only issue with the Canyon Creek XD is that I cannot get as high a grip as I can with a 1911, but at least I don’t have to put up with the Glock “speed bump”. And, depending on what you want done to the gun, it can get a bit pricey.

In conclusion, the Canyon Creek XD-9 tactical is a great gun. And it’s a custom gun, which means you can have it any way you like it. Canyon Creek not only customizes the XD tactical, they also do the standard XD, the sub-compact, and the XD(m). They make some amazing guns not only for competition, but Concealed Carry and Tactical applications as well. Click here to see some of their other great guns!