Old Lead in a New XD

[marcodo]

I have been shoting Missouri bullet lead out of my XD 9 for several years without issues.

Recently I had some stovepipes...sent it back to springfield where they replaced the extractor..firing pin retaining spring and believe it or not the barrel. Not sure what the issue was but they replaced it and I didn't complain. I actually also had the put on night sights while it was there as well.

Here's the problem. Got it back and shot the same lead reloads I have been shooting for years. Had 2 episodes where the gun loaded a round and really locked tight. The first time it was partially out of battery and could not be shot..After some difficult try's I got it open and it sent the cartrige into the tall grass where it was lost forever.

The second time it loaded the round but never cocked the firing pin..took and hour to get it loose...had to bang it on the table to finally loosen it up. Didn't really see anything unusal with the round.


Stopped shooting the lead...put 100 rounds of FMJ and 50 rounds of Federal HST without the issue.


What is up with that!

By the way I used mixed cases with Missouri bullet lead w231 4.3 grains and OAL of 1.22

I decided to shorten the rounds to 1.15 and retry but would love to hear what you guys think. Could the throat of the new barrel be that much shorter than the old barrel? What else?

Edited: 124 gr LRN

 

[Dreaded]

I wouldn't necessarily say the throat is shorter but it sounds like the rifling starts sooner then your previous barrel. On another note 1.22" is longer then the max saami length of 1.169". I think seating your OAL to 1.150" will fix your problem. You can also pull the barrel out of your XD and use it as a check gage, making sure the base of the case sits flush with the chamber. If it is sticking up past at all it will cause a problem.

Be careful with seating the 9mm's bullet deeper, it's such a small case that pressures can spike fairly quick. You didn't say the weight of your bullets you're using so I have no idea if your near max load. When in doubt it's always safe to start at the starting load and work your way back up.

 

[jfdavis58]

Using cast lead suggests reloading which in turn suggests a lead shaving or a case with some belling got through your quality checking.

 

[marcodo]

OOOP's

Sorry my OAL is 1.122 not 1.22 (and I have since reduced it to 1.115 but have not shot it yet)

124 grain LRN

Thanks for the input

 

[rcmodel]

Use Dreaded's suggestion and take the barrel out of the gun and use it for a chamber gage at the reloading bench.

Like he said, if the case-head isn't flush with the back of the barrel hood, that round is not gonna work.

 

[evan price]

I own an "early" (2005?) XD9 Service (4") which I enjoy shooting my own lead reloads in. I load a 124-grain lead roundnose with the 2 radius ogive. There is a slight step on the side of the lead boolit which is basically the edge of the drive band. This is the depth the boolit is seated in the case- until the drive band is flush with the case mouth, more or less.

My XD9 eats them up.

My neighbor liked my XD so much he bought himself a new XD9 Service BiTone (4" also). Taking mine and his apart on the kitchen table we noticed the chamber area is thicker and the feedramp is slightly different.

His XD does not like the lead boolits mine does and has a jamming problem. The problem is that the empty case, while being extracted, hangs up on the "step" edge of the boolit drive band/case mouth and slips out of the extractor, leaving the empty case to either slam back into the chamber or cause a partial feed of the next round in the magazine.

My XD eats these rounds up all day long with no trouble at all. His won't go more than a half a magazine without a jam- and we've swapped mags and individual rounds of ammo back and forth and had no solution.

Our best guess is Springfield made a design change to the throat and feed ramp. I'm considering loading a truncated cone profile and trying that. His gun has no trouble feeding and firing with boolits that look like an FMJ- IE, no step.

As a matter of fact, we had to cut our last range session short because it finally jammed, tried to load the spent brass back into the chamber, and locked up solidly. We could not get the slide to go back, could not get it to do anything, even with the extractor pulled back with a long thin screwdriver, beating it with a rawhide mallet while clamped in a padded vise, and finally using a brass bar and hammer inside the fired case. It's solidly jammed. He's sending it back to Springfield (At least it is a fired round!)

 

[marcodo]

Thanks for the input Guys

Evan...a touch over my head on that..any way to dummy it down for me? What is it that is causeing it to lock so tightly

I'll pull the barrel out...if the rounds fit will it be ok to shoot or will this not identify the problem rounds?

Should I just give up shooting lead (I hope not as I have about 700 rounds of this stuff already made...ouch!!..it ran fine through the old barrel)

It locked up so tight the second time, I am really afraid to shoot the stuff!