Anyone use SWCs for a .45 Springfield XD?

[Schwing]

I have recently started loading .45s for my Springfield XD. It has absolutely no problems with any hard cast or jacketed RN boolits but will not cycle reliably with any SWCs I throw at it. I have tried various OALs without much luck. They seem the most reliable at around 1.240 but still jam it up pretty often. I am stuck with Unique until my powder orders come in and have been using loads ranging from between about 6.0 - 7.0 grains (most of the SWCs I have are 200 grain hard cast lead). I have fiddled with the crimp a little but, I am using the same crimp on my RN boolits with no issues.

Anyone else have success with SWCs for an XD who knows the secret?

 

[KansasSasquatch]

I've never seen anyone claim to have luck running SWC in an XD but I've seen plenty of people claim to have feeding issues so I've stayed away from them. Round nose, rose nose flat points, and truncated cone bullets have all function great in the 3 XD's I've loaded for.

 

[LiveLife]

Schwing, sorry to break you the bad news but SWC bullets not working with 45XD is old news. The 45XD (not the XDm) has straight slide rib that doesn't push down on the round in the magazine deep enough that the case rim of the extracting case will hit the bullet shoulder of the round in the magazine.

This problem was fixed in the XDm with an extended slide rib that pushes the round in the magazine deeper to allow the extracting case rim to clear the bullet shoulder.

This issue was discussed at length at XDTalk forum and the easiest solution is to use round nose profile bullet like MBC 200 gr RNFP (IDP #4-XD). Their website describes the bullets as "FEEDS LIKE BUTTER IN SPRINGFIELD XD"

It is a 45 Colt bullet with crimp groove but I load them to 1.195" OAL and the case comes almost to the start of the crimp groove as shown in the picture below.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

I've used the IDP#4 that bds mentioned and they do work very well in XD .45s. The Cowboy #4 is the same bullet but its a BHN12 boolit where the IDP#4 is 18BHN.

 

[Schwing]

Schwing, sorry to break you the bad news but SWC bullets not working with 45XD is old news. The 45XD (not the XDm) has straight slide rib that doesn't push down on the round in the magazine deep enough that the case rim of the extracting case will hit the bullet shoulder of the round in the magazine.

This problem was fixed in the XDm with an extended slide rib that pushes the round in the magazine deeper to allow the extracting case rim to clear the bullet shoulder.

This issue was discussed at length at XDTalk forum and the easiest solution is to use round nose profile bullet like MBC 200 gr RNFP (IDP #4-XD). Their website describes the bullets as "FEEDS LIKE BUTTER IN SPRINGFIELD XD"

It is a 45 Colt bullet with crimp groove but I load them to 1.195" OAL and the case comes almost to the start of the crimp groove as shown in the picture below.

Thanks for the info! I actually find this to be a load off my shoulders since I was starting to feel foolish for having zero luck. I guess I have about 2k of SWC that will be going on sale.

So I am probably really exposing my inexperience here but I am still a little vague about the SWC vs RN. I understand that competition shooters like SWCs because they make pretty and clean holes but are they really more accurate? I have a lot of RN boolits that work just fine and I only shoot my .45 out to about 15 yards... Is a SWC going to make any difference at that range? I have also been reloading .38s and .357s in RN and in SWC and really can't see much difference. Once again, even on those I only shoot out to about 50 yards. For you guys who have been doing this for a long time, do you use SWCs for accuracy or for hole punching?

 

[0to60]

I understand that competition shooters like SWCs because they make pretty and clean holes but are they really more accurate?

And while you're at it, I can't get .45 SWCs to cut nice, clean holes. I've used 200gr from MBC and 185gr from Falcon, I've loaded light, loaded hot, but no joy. I keep getting the same ragged holes that my 230 LRN's punch.

Now, in other calibers, no problem. I use the .40 155 SWCs from MBC over 5.5gr Bullseye and the holes look like you cut them with a laser. Same thing with .357 mag 158 SWCs from MBC over 14.5gr 2400. The holes look like you cut them out with an X-Acto(?) knife

 

[tahunua001]

too bad I was late to the party. yes the XD45 has always had issues with semi wadcutters. I had hoped that they would eventually fix the issue so they would stop getting a bad rap for being unreliable but I guess your predicament is proof that they have not. the XDM45 however does not have this problem as far as I know.