MAJOR Jam - SA 45XD (Help Wanted)

[mattx109]

Today at the range I had an aluminum cased CCI Blazer round that seemed to hold the slide back out-of-battery. I attempted to load the round again, and it jammed the gun. The slide is slightly back and out-of-battery, and cannot be pulled back to extract the round. It moves only slightly forward and back.

Through the magazine well I can see the case of the round, as well as through a small gap between the slide and the chamber. Pulling the trigger gives the quiet click that I would associate with the firing pin going forward on an empty chamber, and multiple trigger pulls produces this sound every time, as if the gun is somehow recocking itself.

My best theory is that something about the case is wrong and it's now so tight against the chamber that it can't be extracted by hand.

Below are pictures taken at the range. Any help would be very much appreciated, because I have no idea where to go from here (except to a gunsmith). :banghead:



(Above you can see the slide is slightly back, revealing the front of the guide rod and spring assembly.)



(Above you can see the rear of the slide pushed back and out-of-battery.)

 

[wally]

Take home lesson number one, if a round fails to chamber the first time, never try it again!

This is not fun, but I've had to do it a few times over the years with cast lead reloads whose OAL was too long. Get a cleaning rod (or "better a "squib rod" of about the bore diameter) and a plastic or wooden mallot, put the gun muzzle up on a solid bench with the slide hanging over the edge so it can move backwards. Put the cleaning rod in the bore and tap it smartly with the mallot, hold the grip with one hand and keep well clear of the muzzle while doing this! It should hould push the round out of the chamber and act like the gun fired to unlock the action.

If you don't feel safe doing this, then take it to an experienced gunsmith.

--wally.

 

[Longbow]

Make sure you're depressing the grip safety when pulling back the slide or when using the rod and mallet method.

 

[wally]

Great point Longbow, I'd forgot to mention it and the XD is pretty much unique in regards to having the grip safety needing to be depressed before racking the slide!

--wally.

 

[mattx109]

Thanks for the input.

I might be willing to give that a try.

 

[diesel_furry]

I had this with my XD 357 Sig

I was at a gun show and i seen a guy with some reloads , i got talking to him. and they where $8.75 a box of 50 . i was think heck thats a good deal. i normaly shoot fed. eagle that are around $15.99 to $16.99 a box of 50. so i picked up 4 boxes. mine didnt jam that tight , i was holding the slide and was moving it slowly forward till it stoped short of being closed. lucky the guy with the ammo was nice i went back to the next gun show and i got my money back. I know its dif. since its reloads and not factory . but i was bumbed since i was looking forward to shooting that day.

since then ive shot the fed. eagle with no problems .

 

[mattx109]

Problem Solved

The cleaning rod and mallet suggestion worked. I gave it a few sharp hits with no apparent effect, but when I tried to rack the slide it came right back and the round ejected (looking a little shorter than it did going in).

Everything now seems to be in working order, and I think I'll go back to Winchester white box for my range ammo.

 

[diesel_furry]

Thats good to hear it all worked out.

ive looked at that alum cci but never bought any

 

[real_name]

I still have a few questions about the aluminum Blazers and the XD.
My Glock loves this ammo so I know it isn't necessarily totally at fault, maybe it's just a glitch.

Does Aluminum Blazer create problems with XDs in the other calibers?
Does any other ammo?
Does the .45 XD dislike any other ammo?
Has anyone else had this problem?
Does aluminum Blazer .45 create problems in Glocks, or other guns?

I'm intrigued why you had the failure and as I am interested in getting a XD .45 in the future I would appreciate as much information as possible on this problem.

Thanks.

 

[mattx109]

Does Aluminum Blazer create problems with XDs in the other calibers?

I can't answer regarding other calibers, but this is the first problem I've had with the Blazers in my 45XD in three hundred rounds. Still, I think I'll return to brass cases.

Does the .45 XD dislike any other ammo?

My XD hates Speer Lawman ammunition. I have a FTF every four or five rounds without exception. Speer Gold Dots seem fine.

Does aluminum Blazer .45 create problems in Glocks, or other guns?

I've fired Blazers out of HKs, 1911s, BHPs, and a SIG without any problems.

 

[Master Blaster]

Most likely the problem is that therre was a round that was damaged or exceeded SAAMI specifications by a good bit. You can always buy a case gauge and check each round before you load it. Some folks who compete do this for their match ammo.

I reload all of my ammo in .45 ACP and I periodically drop a round into the gauge to make sure everything is OK.

 

[Jamie C.]

I quit using aluminum-cased Blazer ammunition when I noticed how susceptible it is to both set-back and loose bullets in general.

I'm guessing that the aluminum just isn't as elastic or as "grabby" as brass is, but whatever the reason, I've had several boxes of the Blazer aluminum stuff where about 1/4 to 1/2 the rounds had bullets loose enough in the cases that you could pull 'em out with your fingers.
This has been in 9mm, .40 s&w, and .45 acp. No one caliber seemed better or worse than the others. 9mm did seem a little more prone to set-back, but that's not really a surprise, given it's tapered case.

So... I just don't use it anymore.

 

[Mac Attack]

I saw the same thing happen on Sunday with another unknown caliber XD at the range I go to. The gun was a rental and the range employees were discussing how it had jammed up nice and tight. I saw it sitting there and it looked the same way yours looks. Is this an inherent issue with the XD's?

 

[XDKingslayer]

Does Aluminum Blazer create problems with XDs in the other calibers?
Does any other ammo?

Aluminum cases can cause problems with any internal extractor semis.

Does the .45 XD dislike any other ammo?

Unlike Matt above, my XD GAP eats Speer Lawman by the box without fail. The only problems I have had with ammo is the Italian sounding brand with the box that looks like the Mexican flag. Sorry, the name escapes me, but that stuff is garbage in any caliber in any gun. But that is why you shoot different brands at different bullet weights, to see what your gun likes best.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Nope. I've never had a jam that bad. I've had a stovepipe here and there, probably caused by user error. That stuff I outlined above wouldn't feed or extract properly. I got double feeds, stovepipes, rounds that wouldn't chamber, and all of that went away simply by switching to a different brand on the spot, and has never locked up in the way yours has.

Does aluminum Blazer .45 create problems in Glocks, or other guns?

Like I said above, aluminum cases can cause a problem in any gun. I'm not saying that you WILL have problems, but the potential seems to be greater given one of two factors, either the hardness of the aluminum case, or the lighter weight of the aluminum case. There is another brand of pistol that someone was having this problem with and the manufacturer told them not to use aluminum case ammo because the lighter weight of the case causes extraction problems.

If you still have problems, go to www.hs2000talk.com and they'll set you straight.

 

[Rob Rocket]

zero problems with my xd-9 shooting wwb, rem umc, georgia arms reloads in +P gold dot as well as FMJ, Sellior Stuff at Bulls Eye, and Bulls eye blue box of junky dirty running reload stuff... it has run everything I have put through it without a hitch and I'm probably around 600-800 rounds through it already.

I wouldn't do blazer, wolf, or anything I would suspect to be real junk when I can get WWB from Wallyworld cheap and it works great!

 

[Daniel T]

Through the magazine well I can see the case of the round, as well as through a small gap between the slide and the chamber. Pulling the trigger gives the quiet click that I would associate with the firing pin going forward on an empty chamber, and multiple trigger pulls produces this sound every time, as if the gun is somehow recocking itself.

Now, I know that it's highly unlikely that anything could happen, but I personally wouldn't pull the trigger on a gun that is loaded, but slightly out-of-battery.

 

[crt360]

I've had good luck with CCI Blazer ammo. I've shot thousands of rounds of it in .45 acp, .40 s&w & 9mm without any problems other than erratic ejection which I suspect is due to the light weight. I haven't noticed any setback problems and I do look for it regularly. I've tried just about everything else out there and haven't found a reason to spend $3-$4 a box more for practice ammo that doesn't perform any better.

I've used large amounts of WWB, too, and while it's alright for the price, I find it inferior in all aspects other than the brass (which benefits me little since I don't reload it). It is inconsistent, will not shoot as accurately, and is some of the dirtiest ammo I've ever encountered. Having said all that, I'll continue to buy and shoot it if it's cheap enough.

 

[camper]

I've had the occasional round jam in my XD9s and have found the easiest field expedient is to always carry a pair of leather work gloves, and if it should jam. point the weapon down range, grap the slide firmly with the left hand and then slam the gloved right hand against the grip and grip safety at the same time. This also usually frees the slide. If not, concur with the mallet and rod method.

 

[sigma 40ve]

I had almost the same type jam using Rainier 230gr jhp's over AA#5. The load was a starting load, and the pistol was clean when I started the range session. After 50 rds I would have to "thumb" the slide shut sometimes. 100 rounds was all I could get thru with this load before every single rd started to require a "thumb" shut. The chambers must be really tight on the XD 45's. When I got home I polished the ramp and chamber using my dremel and Flitz. Haven't tried it again but I figure it couldn't hurt by polishing up everything.

 

[gudel]

does your gun always jam on the alum cases? my xd40 doesn't seem to like fiocchi 40 with truncated cone, it will always have feeding problem. the ammo works fine in a glock.

 

[pauli]

Is this an inherent issue with the XD's?

it's an inherent issue among autoloaders with out of spec rounds lodged in the chamber.

 

[mattx109]

does your gun always jam on the alum cases?

No, I've fired many without problems. Just seems to have been a bad round.