XD 9 tactical slide issues

[cpiron]

My wife shoots an XD-9 tactical and has encountered a number of slide related issues. Recently I was told by a local Arizona ammo manufacturer that Springfield is aware but quiet about XD-9 slide problems. I hadn't heard that and believed that "limp wristing" coupled with underpowered ammo was the problem. Has anyone heard about a factory problem with XD-9s?

[TunnelRat]

I have not heard that myself. Would you tell us what slide related issues she has been having?

[cpiron]

Thanks for responding. Mostly jams--FTF and FTE, and Failure to fully cycle after firing. Sometimes every round; sometimes after 3 or 4 rounds. The ammo in question was perfect in my XD-9 subcompact, even when she shot, but the XD-9 Tactical repeatedly jammed for her. When I addressed it to the ammo manufacturer, he told me of a hushed problem with Springfield. I'm skeptical, but I thought I'd ask if anyone else had heard of this problem.

[TunnelRat]

When I addressed it to the ammo manufacturer, he told me of a hushed problem with Springfield.

I'm sure he did, but that doesn't mean I'd believe it, especially as it would seem to be in his interest to say so. Have you tried other ammo in the gun, such as factory loads like Winchester, Remington, or Federal? Testing the reliability of a firearm with ammo of unknown quality is not necessarily the best judge.

I personally haven't heard of this issue in XDs. To be fair I stick with the service model lengths and shorter.

The other option I would explore is have you shot the pistol yourself and encountered these issues as well? I mean no offense to your wife but it might be a limp wristing issue. If both of you are experiencing the issue I might have one other person who is a known good shooter try it (again I don't mean to insult but I don't know your shooting background, if you are a long time shooter ignore the last). If you're still having issues call Springfield Armory and put that warranty service to the test.

[Shane Tuttle]

XDs aren't usually prone to limp-wristing. Not to say that isn't the issue. But combined with unfavorable ammo, it could certainly arise.

Given the information, I'd be leaning towards the ammo being the fault.

[carguychris]

Given the information, I'd be leaning towards the ammo being the fault.

+1, particularly if the FTE's are stovepipes- i.e. the case has been extracted from the chamber but is left sticking up out of the ejection port. Assuming nobody has monkeyed with the recoil spring, this is a classic sign of under-pressure ammo; the recoil spring is most likely not being compressed all the way, causing the slide to "short-stroke" and return forward before the case has made it out of the ejection port.

This can also be a symptom of a worn, damaged, or out-of-spec ejector, but I feel this is unlikely on a relatively new pistol from a quality gunmaker.

OTOH if the pistol is failing to extract the empty case from the chamber and jamming as it tries to feed the next round, this usually indicates a worn, out-of-spec, or just very dirty extractor. A generous amount of powder solvent, an old toothbrush, and some elbow grease will often fix this.

Also, when the pistol has FTF'd, have you checked that the slide is all the way forwards? If it's not, and the round in the chamber is unusually difficult to extract manually, check the bullet carefully for rifling marks around the case mouth. This is a hallmark of excessive overall length (or inadequate bullet seating depth); the bullet is jamming in the rifling before the case is all the way into the chamber.

When I addressed it to the ammo manufacturer, he told me of a hushed problem with Springfield.

The "hushed problem" may be that the design simply isn't very tolerant of out-of-spec ammo. My S&W M3904 is the same way, and there certainly isn't anything wrong with it. It just demands quality ammo. Try several different types of ammo and report back.

[cpiron]

Thank you all for responding. I do believe it was the ammo, though I am planning to call Springfield Armory just to run it by someone there. CP