The new Springfield Armory XDM 5.25 is a full-sized 9mm pistol designed for action shooting sports like USPSA, IDPA, 3-gun and the like. It is the brainchild of Rob Leatham who works at Springfield Armory and is one of the most accomplished pistol shooters in history with more championships to his credit than the New York Yankees. He speced out the 5.25 using Springfield's successful XD platform as the basis for the pistol. His starting point was to lengthen the barrel to 5.25 inches (hence the model name). Previously the longest barrel on an XD pistol was 4.5 inches. I've been shooting this particularl pistol for the past few weeks and have put about 500 rounds through it in a series of shooting drills.