In the modern airsofting age, trademarked guns are becoming the hot new trend. They imply a certain level of realism and complicit cooperation between airsoft manufacturers and the companies whose designs they profit from.
The XDM model existed before it was legal here in the US to sell one as a retailer, so the product is certainly not new, but that didn't satiate our curiosity here at Airsoft Rifle HQ. Did Air Venturi, an airgun brand new to the airsoft scene hit their marks or did they just blow a bunch of hot air in securing the license for this very high profile firearm brand? Let's find out if the Air Venturi Springfield Armory XDM pistol is worth your dollars.
The Springfield XD by Air Venturi is certainly a gorgeous gun to behold. The trademarks all match up with the real thing, dimensions are spot on, and even small touches like the loaded chamber indicator all function. It is available in black, but we chose the "bi-tone" silver and black model because sometimes we like to be special for our review.
Ergonomically, this gun has the most in common with the Elite Force Glock, though functionally they couldn't be more different. It feels and presents much like the Glock 17, but has the backstrap safety of a 1911. The texture of the grip is reminiscent of something from Keltec, but the trapezoidal slide screams Walther. It all leaves my hands and eyes confused, though not necessarily in a bad way. To Air Venturi's credit, this is 100% how I feel about the real pistol as well. It is an amalgamation of so many successful designs, that it draws some similarities that seem like they don't belong on the same product together.
It's dimensions are close enough to the real deal to fit holsters designed for the XD, though Air Venturi does market their own hardshell holster that we also tested (spoiler: it works great) as well. Running drills with this gun was a cake walk, and it pointed easily, the trigger broke cleanly, and cycled without any issues. Over all we were quite pleased with the Springfield XD pistol's airsoft counterpart.
This pistol is the spitting image of it's WE Tech version. They are built identically, the magazines are interchangeable, and while Air Venturi doesn't advertise the fact on the box, it's because this is a WE Tech gun.
You can expect average WE Tech performance here. This gun isn't going to win any awards for stand out perfection in gas efficiency, reliability, or accuracy. While it does shoot fairly well out of the box, we found adjusting the hop up to be a constant chore to nail longer shots. It is ideal as a back up, but I would never feel confident using this as a last resort when my primary goes down.
Gas efficiency was average, lasting around a magazine and a half on standard green gas. They didn't have any problems with leaking or holding pressure for the initial magazine of shooting, which is commendable we suppose.
Honestly? No. At $130 on Airsoft GI, this gun is only a few dollars away from the excellent Baba Yaga, and if you were already planning on dumping more money into your set up, the SIG M17 and Elite Force GLOCK pistols both surpass it in quality as well.
If you are a big fan of the XD, go for it, but if not? Hard pass.