Springfield Armory: Shooting a Suppressed Handgun

If you've watched a lot of live fire segments here at PDN you're probably used to seeing me start out with good eye contact to the camera and then putting my glasses on before I get ready to shoot. But you're probably not used to seeing me take out my hearing protection. Believe me, it's something I wish I could do more often but the laws in our country don't necessarily support the easy access to suppressed firearms for everybody. And I wish they did because the suppressed firearm situation really allows you to continue to use safety glasses, obviously but shoot in a much more comfortable environment. And this is the XD Mod.2 You can see we've got the grip zone.

We've got the much more contoured grip of the XD series Mod.2 in Flat Dark Earth with a threaded barrel which allows us to shoot with a suppressor on. It comes with suppressor height, sights, and it's just fun to shoot. It's just great to be able to stand out here and fire that shot still with the crack of supersonic ammunition but not with that explosion of the gas, not with the big concussion right up there against your face, and to not have to worry about wearing hearing protection. Obviously if we put subsonic ammunition in there. It's going to be even better.

Now, a lot of people would say, well but as a defensive shooter doesn't this affect the balance of the gun, doesn't it? And it does. I get it. It absolutely changes a little bit about the dynamic of the gun. It certainly is going to make sure that that recoil happens faster.

And obviously because of the higher sight, that's going to change the point of impact versus point of aim. So, you're going to have to think about that. But from just the pure enjoyment of coming out and shooting and having a good time, we think about applying that suppressor, maybe not just to this gun but maybe to a couple of other guns that we own. Maybe a hunting gun, something like that. Being able to hunt without having to worry about damaging our ears, but still be able to hear everything around us, and obviously not disturb other people in the environment.

Maybe not even scare the game away that's at our buddies hunting stand just a little bit down the way. So, expanding the offerings of suppressed guns, expanding the offerings, even in this primarily defensive firearms realm, the XD series the Mod.2 series from Springfield. Anytime we have a new offering like this Flat Dark Earth and the Mod.2 that comes with a threaded barrel that encourages more and more people to consider suppressors. To consider the option of going through the legislative process that they need to go through to change the laws in their state to make it easier to access this, or hopefully to have the laws change at the federal level so that everybody can come out without the earmuffs, without the ear pro. Yeah, it really is just a great way to come out and spend the afternoon shooting suppressed and having a good time.

There's definitely some training benefit there. And for those of you are thinking about how much nicer it would be to be able to shoot inside of an enclosed space. If you were inside of an indoor range you're used to all that concussion bouncing off the wall. It's obviously a lot nicer. And what does that mean, tactically?

That means we've definitely need to consider the fact that in a home defense situation when you're not wearing hearing protection, when your family isn't wearing hearing protection, that's where the real potential advantage of a suppressed defensive firearm comes in. That same sound protection that we're getting just naturally out of the suppressor is going to mean even more inside of an enclosed space. And while you may be hyped up and into your adrenaline, into your startle reaction, knowing you're about to shoot and have that auditory exclusion effect, your family might not. Especially if you think about the kids, family members that might be near you, maybe you're thinking about a vehicle specific gun inside of that car. They may not have any idea what's about to happen.

And they may actually be in a position. Let's say my daughter was here and the bad guy was there when I have to turn and shoot she's clearly out of the way of the gun and the bullet but that concussion might be right over her as I push her down or get her out of the way. So inside of our house, the idea of adding a suppressor to a gun like this XD would be a great option if I'm worried about the hearing protection not just the life protection capacity of my defensive gun. So, take a look at any of the threaded barrel options from Springfield or any other firearms manufacturer. Think about suppressors in your collection not only for the ease of shooting but also for that home defense or confined space situation.