Springfield XD-40 Malfunction

[Phaetos]

If this is the wrong place, feel free to move it, but I didn't see a technical help section.


If you read my other post in the Autoloader section, you will see that I just bought this Springfield. Before I fired it, I had the guy at the range oil the action down to minimize the action sticking. The gun came with 2 mag's, a standard 9 round and an Xtended 12 round mag. After about 25 or 30 rounds total between the 2 mags, I was firing out of the 12 and the action stayed back as if it were empty. I released the clip to reload and found it still had 3 rounds left in it. Odd I thought. I left it as is and asked one of the guys at the range to look at it. He couldn't find any reason for it. Looked for material that could've caused it, checked the shells. Put the mag back in, manually loaded and the shell jammed. Took out the shell, ran the other ones thru with no probs. Empty a few out of the 9 round mag with no problem. He said that was the 3rd one he had seen that week that did that.

He said that it could be the springs in the mag's were still stiff and causing it. I can attest to that stiffness, I can only manage to get 7 rounds into that 12 mag, and 6 into the 9 mag. Very stiff springs. He suggested pulling the springs out of the magazines and stretching them a bit.

So I went back to practice, and it fired 2 shots fine then on the 3rd it hung again. This time not in the empty position, it slid forward but I noticed I couldn't see the firing pin on the back. I looked and saw the slide hadn't gone all the way FORWARD by about 1/8" or less. So I dropped the clip and emptied the round out. As I went on with practice I noticed it was hanging with the 12 round mag, not the 9 round standard mag. Is this a technical issue that I should return it back to where I purchased it and have them look at it or get it replaced? Has anyone else seen this? I read a review on the gun and the tester put 250 rounds through it without any problems.

Phaetos

 

[albanian]

Sounds like a feedramp and chamber polish may smooth things up a bit. Try different shaped ammo as well. Some autos don't like the truncated stuff that seems common in .40s. It should feed ball and normal profile JHPs after break in. If after a couple of hundred rounds, you are still have problems with various ammo, you may need to do the polish job I spoke of. Also, in the mean time, keep your mags fully loaded for a week or two, that should get most of the extra power out of the mags and help them to 'set' a lot faster than just shooting alone.

You could just send it back right away but I find it is such a hassle to send guns in that I prefer to deal with it myself. Most of the time, it is a simple problem that you can fix with a spring change or a polish job.

Also, you may try a more powerful recoil sping. That will give the slide more energy on the feed stoke and may help with your 'hang ups'.

Keep us informed and let us know what we can do to help.

 

[pauli]

first, don't try to "stretch out" the mag springs. that will ruin them. if you're having trouble with loading the mags (which i did too with my friend's xd - springs from hell!), get a mag loader. makes the job a lot easier, and they cost like seven bucks.

second, has the gun been properly field stripped, cleaned, and reassembled yet? they ship in shipping condition, not in shooting condition, and you have to clean them once they arrive if you want them to work right.

 

[Phaetos]

Pauli, I didn't think stretching the spring was a good idea either. And when I looked at the mag, I couldn't find a way to disassemble it. And no it hasn't been stripped and cleaned. I was reading in the manual about disassembly and it warned about doing it unless you were a trained professional and that I definately am not. Didn't want it backfiring in my face the first time I fired it. Guess I can take it to the dealer and let them do that for me and maybe show me how so I can do it myself later.

I was shooting American Eagle .40 165 grain. Is that too much? It appeared to be a copper tip, not lead. Or it was a copper color anyway.

 

[donkee]

I would recommend taking it to a qualified gunsmith and having him/her turn it into a CZ75.

 

[pauli]

well, there's field stripping, and there's detail stripping. i'm certainly not going to tell you to detail strip it - take it all the way apart - but field stripping is simple, and it's outlined in the manual. going from memory, though:

first, MAKE SURE IT'S EMPTY. take out the magazine, too.
then make sure it's empty a couple more times.
then rotate the take down lever at the front end of the frame all the way up, and pull the trigger to release the striker. you're sure it's empty, right?
then pull the slide back all the way, and bring it back forward and off the frame. keep a hold of it the whole time if you don't want to look like an idiot when the slide sails through a window.
from there, the recoil spring and guide rod assembly should pop out, as should the barrel in some manner. then you just need to clean what you've got access too, and put it back together.

easy to do, especially with the manual in front of you. and since field stripping is required for cleaning, and it should be cleaned after every range trip, easy is good!

 

[Pietro Beretta]

Call Springfield, talk to them, if they dont have a solution for you on the phone, they will have you send it in and they will fix it. Also if you do send it back to them write them a letter detailing what is wrong. Also request a letter back from them stating the work that has been done to fix the situation.

I have only 1 failure for the round to completley load into the chamber, that was at about round 80. I am now at 900 rounds, and only that 1 failure to speak of.

Also to take the magazine apart, look at the bottom of the magazine and with a soft tip of some kind punch in that round circle it will push in, and you will be able to slide that bottom piece of the magazine off.

If you go to www.xdtalk.com www.hs2000talk.com, they have a forum up dedicated to the XD line of firearms (originally the HS2000). Their are loads of people who know this gun thier.

 

[usp_fan]

I remember reading on the XD forum several months back that .40 cal XD's were having problems with the slide stop lever being moved up by rounds in the mag and locking the slide open. This was attributed to Springfield using the 9mm slide stop in the .40's. The protrusion that the mag follower engages to lock the slide open when the pistol is empty is longer on the 9mm pistol than it needs to be for the .40. As a result, the nose of the .40 round may push up the slide stop and stop the pistol.

Could this be your problem?

Go over the the XD forum if you think it may be, I remember that they had some good pictures and discussion about it.

The good news is the fix is easy, Strip the gun, insert loaded mag into frame, measure how much needs to be removed from stop to prevent nose of bullet from hitting the stop, file, cold blue, and you're done.

I hope this helps,

--usp_fan

 

[Phaetos]

Well, I took it back to the dealer to day to ask them since they have a gunsmith on site. He recommended just a simple disassembly and good cleaning then an oiling with Remington Oil with the Teflon in it. He said it was REALLY dry inside, even though the guy at the range oiled it a bit before I fired it. I took it home and then followed the directions in the manual and stripped it down and cleaned and oiled it. I will see how this works out.

Thanks for all the help and the links to the other XD site.


Phaetos

 

[albanian]

"He said it was REALLY dry inside, even though the guy at the range oiled it a bit before I fired it. "

My XD-9 came bone dry from the factory as well. I tried to fire it that way and I had a few FTFs. Since I have cleaned and oiled it, it has only had one FTF jam. I loaded a single CCI Blazer into the mag and pressed the slide stop when it happened. Not sure why it happened but CCI Blazer ammo does cause these types of problems in some guns. My old Kahr E-9 had problems with CCI Blazer until I polished the feedramp and chamber.

I would really soak it with CLP and wipe off the excess. If that doesn't cure your problem, then it is time to look for others solutions.

 

[1911WB]

Lubing autoloading pistls

As someone who has experimented with a number of different oils for lubing 1911's with various FTF &/or FTE problems I'll tell you my findings: FP-10 is the best I've found for curing these problems. Rem oil; Breakfree CLP; Tetra oil; etc are OK for protecting the outside surfaces from rust- but for the friction surfaces (frame rails, barrel tip & hood, etc.) use FP-10 and see the difference. I am also going to start using it on my XD-9. BTW I have no financial interest in any gun oil/lube company.

 

[andrew17]

FP-10 is the best I've found

Yeah, and it smells good too. MMMMM,,,cinnamon bun