XD barrels?

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Uhhhhh...exactly what is so wrong with the factory XD45 barrel that it NEEDS to be replaced with an aftermarket stainless-steel one?
 
Did I say there was anything "wrong" with it, or that it "needs" to be replaced? I simply asked about availability. I happen to personally prefer the aesthetics of a stainless barrel in a black handgun. :scrutiny:
 
Well, if it's just for aesthetics, seems to me you could just polish the exposed parts(chamber block & muzzle) bright with emery cloth to get the same effect; I think the barrels are also Melonited, same as the slides, so polishing off the black coating should have no effect on the barrel(just like Glock owners polishing away the black oxide from their slides/barrels, the Tenifer treatment still remains to protect against wear/corrosion).

Now, if you were trying to monkey with a perfectly reliable defensive big-bore carry gun and make it into some kind of 2"-at-50-yards match pistol, that would be a different story...:banghead:
 
Kor, thanks, I never would have thought of that. Pardon my ignorance... does emery cloth come in different levels of abrasion? What would be best, and where would I find some?

Thanks...
 
Well hey...if I came across as a little too snotty, I apologize.

Emery cloth, crocus cloth, or 400-grit sandpaper should all do the job, and should be available at any Ace hardware, Lowe's or Home Despot. If you've got some Brasso or Flitz metal polish at home, it should work also, but it'll take longer than the sandpaper would. You may want to come in with the liquid metal polish after the harsher abrasives to really "shine-n-fine" things up. I'd also suggest trying out your polishing medium on the left-hand side of the chamber block/hood area first, so that any unsightly blemishes will basically be hidden by the slide instead of being visible through the ejection port. Normally, I'd also suggest wrapping the abrasive cloth/paper around a sanding block to keep from dishing/rounding the surface, but since the Melonite treatment is supposed to make the barrel surface almost as hard as diamond, the sanding block may not be necessary.

If you like the results you get, and it saves you having to buy a $200 aftermarket barrel of undetermined reliability, so much the better...
 
Steelharp, just so you know, many people do indeed use "aftermarket barrels of undetermined reliability" in their pistols to improve accuracy. Lot's of people apparantly like pistols that will shoot 2" or less at 25 yards, but some people settle for 4-5" and call it "combat accurate".

I'm told that as well as just having them laying around, some people shoot thousands of rounds a year through their pistols. things like IDPA or IPSC competition and so on. I'm pretty sure most of them like reliability in their pistols as well as accuracy. Having to clear jams means you lose, whether in competition or on the street.

Sorry I don't know of a current source, but as already mentioned I'd guess Barsto and others will have them within the year.
 
well this is sorta on topic..i took the barrel out of my xd40 the other day and polished the feed ramp..if shiney is what you want ..it was shiney after i got finished ..i thought of doing the whole barrel or at least on top of the chamber and sides since you can see a lot of the stainless underneath the coating..its starting to wear thin on that part but the tube itself is as good as it was 1200 rnds ago, looks like it still has all the black coating that is
 
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