Late in 2014 Springfield Armory introduced 9 mm and .40 S&W versions of the Mod.2 Series of sub-compact pistols to its popular XD line. These models primarily featured exterior changes to the XD sub-compact, with no major fundamental changes to the gun's internal workings.
But without an existing frame to modify the Mod.2 for a double-stack .45 ACP chambering, Springfield engineered an entirely new gun that is only minimally wider than the XD(S) sub-compact. Unveiled for the first time at SHOT Show 2015, the manufacturer introduced its smallest-to-date polymer-frame .45 ACP, a 3.3” double-stack sub-compact with a 9+1 magazine capacity—which is a half-inch shorter than the 3.8” XD(M) in .45 ACP.
Pistol champion Rob Leatham was on hand at Media Day at the range, and was more than willing to chat with us and let us observe, enviously, as he effortlessly and accurately emptied a couple of magazines downrange with this new Mod.2 in .45ACP. Watch him do it here.