The Springfield Armory XD series, opinions?

[Jeff]

I got turned on to revolvers by a former professor of mine. He had me shooting his Ruger Black Hawk (.44mag) and that was a bit much. It had an 8in barrel and weighed a ton and still kicked my arms off. So I figured if I would get one I would grab a .357 because I could shoot .38 special in it at the range an load up with some +P's or Hydrashocks for protection in .357. Anyway, one of his friends (who goes to the range with us all the time) had a Taurus .38 snub. It is the titanium series, so I know how light they are. It was hard to keep a close group even at like 20ft. At least with any speed. I'm sure the 3in barrel had something to do with that. Anyway, I really like this one. Its got some weight to it. Its stainless steel, and is the classic colt V-frame brought over from the Python line. Its basically an economy Python in a shorter length. Everywhere I have read claims they are nearly match grade right out of the box. If you can come down for MM gun day I would love for you to shoot it and give me an opinion. I don't have a holster for it so I can't comment on draw to shoot.