Springfield XD Mod.2 with GripZone

The Springfield XD was a game changer when introduced, but the original gun didn't have some of the features common on more recent designs. In particular, texturing has become de rigeur on polymer-frame handguns (as opposed to the "grenade" style checkering of the original XD). Stippling is expensive on a metal-framed gun but can be incorporated into a mold on a polymer-frame pistol-especially if a company is ready to upgrade or replace its mold. Now, Springfield has given the XD a facelift, dubbed the Mod.2, that could be a "nip-tuck" of an already outstanding design. The most obvious changes is the stippling to the three "Grip Zones," which include the backstrap, the frontstrap and the forward part of the frame  where one's fingers engage the gun. But there is more to the Mod.2 than just a skateboard tape like finish built into the mold. The slide has been slimmed and recontoured, and aggressive, pratcial "Posi-Wedge" serrations have been added to the back. There is an undercut in the trigger guard and the beavertail has improved geometry that helps the shooter's hand really get into the gun. The sights, too, have been upgraded with a red fiber-optic pipe dovetailed into the from and and a low-profile extended rear, which, too, is dovetailed into the slide. Managing Editor Joe Kurtenbach took the Mod.2, one of the most interesting guns of 2015, for a test drive, and you can see it here.