Springfield XDs

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Mainsail

Mainsail

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Wow, I really like this gun!

I ran 300 rounds of hardball through the new Springfield XDs today. It performed flawlessly other than two minor hiccups, and did so for 300 rounds, unlike the Taurus .38 Special it was purchased to replace. The little revolver began to choke after about 70 rounds due to the build-up of burned powder residue in the cylinder gap.

I needed to put on one of my flight gloves after just a couple magazines out of the Springfield as the recoil was causing the trigger to bite my finger.

Grip.png


The hiccup was two failures to fire- I pulled the trigger, heard a click, but no bang. It did the one malfunction twice around 250 rounds in. I think the slide wasn't going forward enough to put the gun completely into battery. The primer on the failed rounds had no indentation at all, so the firing pin never made contact. It was a minor malfunction that won't affect my carry of the gun once it's clean.

This is five rounds (one magazine full) from about 30' semi supported:
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After3.png

After1.png

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Before I stuffed the earplugs into my ears I heard some flies buzzing. I scanned the hillside looking for something dead but didn't see anything. After shooting for for 15 minutes or so, I looked to my right and spotted this dead coyote. Perfect camouflage; I was standing about 20 feet away the whole time and never saw it.
Coyote.png
 
Nice pistol, if springfield runs the "gear-up" program I will be picking up the all black version. I love my XD pistols and it seems this one isnt disappointing either.
 
This isn't the first post I've seen where the XDs was having light primer strikes. I wonder what the issue is here.
 
There was NO primer strike, this is why I think it wasn't fully in battery. It was pretty dirty when it happened.
 
The little revolver began to choke after about 70 rounds due to the build-up of burned powder residue in the cylinder gap.
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Not all that uncommon with most revolvers, depending on the ammo you shoot. The "revolvers are more reliable crowd" mostly ignores this issue.

I heard some flies buzzing
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But you couldn't smell it? :)
 
It was a pretty fresh kill I think; probably hit by a car.

I was close enough that my empties were ejecting near it. There are three aluminum casings in the picture; can you find them?
 
Give it a little more break in time. Not going back into full battery could be caused by the gun, the ammo, or the shooter.
Nice gun. Maybe you should have concocted a story about being attacked by a rabid coyote and had to dispatch it with a weak hand hip shot from your new XDs.
 
Mainsail said:
There was NO primer strike, this is why I think it wasn't fully in battery. It was pretty dirty when it happened.
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If you are certain there was no primer strike then what you are saying makes sense. I was only trying to point out that the "click but no bang" symptom sounds an awful lot like some of the other supposed light primer strike cases that have been floating around. I'm just wondering if maybe the firing pin is hitting with such little force that no indentation is being made on the primer. Is the firing pin even allowed to release when the slide isn't fully into battery? If not, what else could be causing the click noise when you pull the trigger?
 
^^^ I noticed during dry fire with the gun before I shot it that when I pulled the trigger the slide moved forward slightly, like it had gone into battery when the trigger was pulled. This happened only once. Being the gun is striker fired, the click can just be the trigger- it doesn't mean the firing pin ever moved.

Like 340PD says, it's a new gun. It needs some break in.
 
Just got back from the range with mine. 150 rounds, functioned perfectly. I think a lot of the reported problems are being caused by shooters firing these straight out of the box. I cleaned and oiled and lubed mine first. Like I said, no problems. Fed everything (230 grain) that I loaded it with.
 
sig228 said:
Just got back from the range with mine. 150 rounds, functioned perfectly. I think a lot of the reported problems are being caused by shooters firing these straight out of the box. I cleaned and oiled and lubed mine first. Like I said, no problems. Fed everything (230 grain) that I loaded it with.
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Sorry, but a gun should not need to be cleaned and lubed right out of the box before it is considered reliable. JMO.
 
^^^Mine functioned perfectly at 150 rounds as well. I put 300 through it and only experienced the problem at ~250.

The gun was pretty dirty as you can see from the pictures. The fiber optic was so crudded it over that light couldn't get to the tube.

I'm completely confident in the gun and will be carrying this afternoon. It'll be loaded with Powerball rounds until I get a chance to run some hollow points through.
 
I've had no issues with my XDs. It shoots great. No light primer hits or any other issues with Blazer Brass FMJ, Gold Dots and Golden Sabers. I plan to run another 150 rounds through it along with some CorBon SD ammo. I expect it to run 100%.

Now I just need to find the right holster...
 
As a pistol instructor I get many students that carry in their new purchase and want to shoot. FIRST thing we do is head to the cleaning room. The crud that comes out of a new firearm is amazing. Would it have shot safely? Probably. Should you clean it first? Yep.
 
Always clean and lube a new gun before firing it. Many oils can dry out if the gun sits for a period of time before it gets sold. Quality control people are only human, no telling what they might have let slide. Just an example:
My buddies dad bought himself a new AR. Being a $2300 rifle he figured it should be ready to shoot straight out of the box. Well he obviously didn't read the owners manual as the manual, along with the manufacturer's website, states that every rifle should be cleaned and lubed before firing. I know this to be true because his first trip to the range he was experiencing some issues and I did some research afterward. It worked just fine after being cleaned and lubed.

As long as you don't screw something up it won't hurt it to clean it before use, so why not take the extra precaution if you have 10 minutes to do so?
 
I'm not sure where the impression came from, but mine was thoroughly cleaned and lubed prior to my day shooting it. The first 100 rounds were Blazer aluminum cased, and those are very dirty cartridges.

One malfunction (twice) in 300 rounds on a new gun is pretty good. I know people with Kimbers that malfunction even after 500 'break-in' rounds.
 
Quote:
The little revolver began to choke after about 70 rounds due to the build-up of burned powder residue in the cylinder gap.

Not all that uncommon with most revolvers, depending on the ammo you shoot. The "revolvers are more reliable crowd" mostly ignores this issue.
Click to expand...

A quality revolver should not bind its cylinder after 70 rounds of any ammo. If it does, the b/c gap needs to be adjusted (though some are purposely tight to maximize velocity and accuracy).

The first 100 rounds were Blazer aluminum cased, and those are very dirty cartridges.
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Aluminum case blazers are sort of hit or miss in my experience. Maybe they are towards the lower end of the pressure spectrum, because I'd often run into short stroking of the slide with my XD9 years ago shooting the same ammo.
 
Mainsail, be sure to check the roll pin that goes through the slide and holds the spring and firing pin assembley in the slide. These have been known to break from dry firing or whatever. I think there is an upgraded pin that you can get that is supposed to be stronger. I have two XD pistols and I really like them, I haven't had an issue yet that I know of, but just learned of this problem recently on the XD forum.

Jeff
 
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