View Full Version : The XD problem thread
Littlelebowski
07-12-10, 08:55
Here is the spot to talk about your problems experienced first hand with Springfield XDs and HS2000s. This is NOT the place to brag on them. Threads like this exist to help other folk make informed decisions and diagnose and remedy problems.
The XD I had, devloped a light strike problem within the first 1000 rnds..The problem was traced back to weak mag springs, I bought some AGP mag springs (I think these are 20% stronger) and the problem dissapeared..Folks over at the XD forum had a running debate over this, many denying the fact that light strikes and weak mags springs ARE related.. Also found out rather quickly the XD refuses to feed LSWC's, Lot's of jams..(I had a 4" service in .45) and if fed the LSWC's it would push the rear of the mag out with enough force that it would no longer drop free, The fix for this was to use some needlenose pliers and carefully bend the mag back into place, and not to use LSWC's... Long story short, I quickly got fed up with the XD's quirks, and so-so accuracy and sold it, and bought a M&P...
variablebinary
07-12-10, 09:36
Three friends and I got XD's right after it won HGOTY the first time.
All of our guns shit the bed around 500 rounds. None of our guns would eject cases. We tried all types of ammo, and swapped mags.
We all dumped our XD's and got Glocks after that.
I will never consider XD's again.
Even more amusing is my XD was like $379. Meaning, since then XD's have had the greatest increase in price, by percentage, than better, higher quality pistols.
I bought an XD 5" Tactical for USPSA Production in 2006. At around 1,500 rounds I started to to get intermittent extraction problems, about one FTE in 200. I sent it to SA, they put a new extractor in and have had zero problems in the last 7,000 plus rounds...
...the XD refuses to feed LSWC's, Lot's of jams...
Ditto for me on the FTF LSWC.
Mine, as well as many I have seen in classes, also failed to freely drop empty magazines when the release was pressed. Mags had to be manually stripped.
...sold it and bought a M&P...
Ditto X 4.
BLACK LION
07-12-10, 20:16
Ditto for me on the FTF LSWC.
Mine, as well as many I have seen in classes, also failed to freely drop empty magazines when the release was pressed. Mags had to be manually stripped.
Ditto X 4.
I have experienced this problem but only after beating the mags for 2k+ rounds. 1 out of 5 of my factory 10 rounds mags developed a slight deformation towards the top that casued it to get hung up.
This has to be attributed to speed reloading and letting the mags fly and on rocks and hard cement.
I have also had issues with remanufactured ammo not extracting properly due to a weak charge of powder.
Othere than some really basic shyt that for the most part has nothing to do with the gun...mine has run flawlessly.
I have owned both the .45tactical and .45service...I currently still own the .45 service and it is eclipsing the 3000 round mark.
SpeedRacer
07-12-10, 20:34
XD-40: No problems for ~1800rds, then snapped the slide lock lever in half, rendering the gun inoperable.
XD-45 Tactical: No problems for ~1500rds
XDm-9: No problems for ~1600rds, then 3 of 6 mags stopped locking the slide back and I had intermittent (1 every 200) FTF. Each mag only had about 400rds through them. The mag springs were already FUBAR, severely weakend and twisted. Apparently there's a downside to cramming 19rds in a mag. I highly recommend replacing the springs OFTEN, or upgrade to Wolff.
For the most part all of my XDs treated me well. They all have gone off to find new homes at this point though...
Pumpkinheaver
07-12-10, 21:51
The only problem I've had with mine is I dropped the damn thing and half of the "flange" on the end of the recoil guide broke off. Thing still runs 4 years later. I never bothered to get a new one.
I had an XDm. I was experiencing FTE about every 25 or so rounds. I also had to use extraordinary force to seat a fully loaded magazine. I went M&P.
I bought one just after SA picked them up, somewhere over 8500-9000 rounds now and I don't shoot it much anymore.
I have had three issues with the xd none of which make it a game ender.
The finish is crap on mine it rusted in the TN heat daily. It took constant scrubbing to keep it from turning orange. I'm pretty sure they fixed that problem after the first batch shipped.
The Sights... oh the friggin pressed in sights. Any front sight that requires cursing and a hack saw blade to get it out ****ing sucks.
The location of the slide release blew chunks for about 500 presentations and as many rounds fired. The placement of my thumb would stop the slide from locking back on an empty magazine.
I can shoot the xd really really fast and accurate.. better in fact than a 1911 which sucks. Due to the thickness of the grip and finish issues I don't carry it anymore, I've gone to a g19 or 1911 when the mood hits me.
I currently own two XDM 9mms and one XD 9mm. The only issue that I have personally experienced is a shredded roll pin. This was after thousands of dry fires without snap caps. The gun still fired fine, but I do think it is a design flaw. The only other issues that I have ever seen have been broken trigger bars on high round count guns. This is easily fixed with a trigger bar from Springer Precision (all of my guns are oufitted with it). I think Springfield should have this issue addressed at the factory. Secondly, the early models would eventually crack blocks. This was corrected by the factory with relief cuts. I have 9,500 rounds through one XDm, 5k through the other and I have no idea how many through the XD (a bunch). I have used all of them in numerous classes without a single malfunction (Howe, Hackathorne, Southnarc, Suarez, Tac Pro, Farnam, etc.). I used to clean them every 1K rounds. I now clean every 2K. Glock is the only striker fired out there that can claim to have anything on the XD. If you can't keep an XD running, it is you, not the gun.
I have a 45 Compact. I've put somewhere around 2500 rounds through it, mostly WWB, Blazer, and Federal HST. The slide lock placement has led me to cause it to not lock back a few times. Other than that it's ran perfectly.
Two of the three magazines I have started separating at the welded seam on the back of mag. This occurred pretty much right off the bat. They split for about 1/4 inch, but so far it hasn't progressed or caused any problems. This was a common problem with the 45 mags for awhile, and SA would send new mags to anyone who reported having the problem. I should have, but never did.
Not first hand experience, but upgrading the mag springs does seem to be a commonly recommended idea.
Littlelebowski started a good thing here. It would be nice to see this thread stay info only.
I do believe if you took the time to read the entire post you will see that it stayed on track. I am sorry that you have a problem with it.
The XD9 SC was my first pistol, I got it probably around the 2004-2005 time frame. I put probably 3K rounds through 2 examples (sold one to pay bills them bought another later) IT wasn't a bad gun, but I eventually had several failures to feed. I sold it off after that and bought a Colt CCO. More than likely the recoil spring assembly and magazine springs needed changing but I was younger and dumber than I was now and not just related to firearms either.
The location of the slide release blew chunks for about 500 presentations and as many rounds fired. The placement of my thumb would stop the slide from locking back on an empty magazine.
I experienced the same issue and has been my only problem with my XD9. It only manifested during defensive drills as I never had a problem during plain range visits. I would hold my thumb higher on the slide and prevent it from locking on the last round.
I had to relearn how to hold the weapon. So far, I still like it better than my G23.
Sparky5019
07-13-10, 08:19
I'm glad to see this thread here!
A few weeks ago, my best friend's XD chambered a round during a shooting string and didn't go into battery but it locked up so hard I had to use a tabletop to get the slide back enough to get enough leverage to pry to slide back and get the round out. AND HE KEEPS HIS GUNS RELATIVELY CLEAN! Chamber the round in my G22 and it fired and cycled fine...WTF?;)
Sparky
I’ve owned three XD’s. A XD40 Service, XD45 5” and a XDm in .40S&W.
The XD40 I bought back in 2003 and have put about 5000 rounds through it with no problems. The most I’ve put through it at any one time, without cleaning, was 850 rounds over a weekend. The only issues I’ve had with it are some rust buildup on the slide and pins from carrying it IWB.
The XD45 I bought right when they were first introduced to the market. I put about 2500 rounds through it with a few FTF issues and some of the magazines have had issues locking the slide back after the last round. The FTF would start to occur when the round count started getting high say at around 500+ rounds. The remedial action needed to fix the FTF was to tap the back of the slide forward to finish feeding the round. I number all my magazines so I can document which ones, if any, give me problems. I could never diagnose why certain magazines failed to lock the slide back. When I compared the feed lips and magazine follower to the magazines that worked well there was no obvious difference. Consistently the same numbered magazines (2 out of 9 mags I owned) would give me the failure to lock back every second, third or fourth time I used them.
The XDm (.40 s&w) was admittedly an impulse buy. I wanted to see if Springfield improved the design and if it lived up to the hype. I only ever put 1150 rounds through it with maybe 3 or 4 FTF. The remedial action needed to fix the FTF was to tap the back of the slide forward to finish feeding the round. The trigger I found was not that different than the XD40 or XD45.
I’m going to refrain from judging the accuracy of the XD’s I’ve owned since I never bench tested them at any distance. I’ve never had a problem hitting a 3x5 consistently at 7 yards and have been able to shoot one hole, 5 or 6 shot, groups with them at 5 yards. Accuracy seams comparable to other handgun I’ve owned.
I recently sold the XD45 and XDm so I could buy a HK P30 with the LEM trigger. My reason for selling the XD’s is a lack of confidence in their design as compared to the other handguns I own and/or carry (Glocks, M&Ps and HKs). I decided to keep the XD40, for a little while longer, because it has never given me any problems. It’s relegated to “Hangar Queen” status as an extra gun in the back of my gun safe.
I have experienced this problem but only after beating the mags for 2k+ rounds. 1 out of 5 of my factory 10 rounds mags developed a slight deformation towards the top that casued it to get hung up.
This has to be attributed to speed reloading and letting the mags fly and on rocks and hard cement.
I have also had issues with remanufactured ammo not extracting properly due to a weak charge of powder.
Othere than some really basic shyt that for the most part has nothing to do with the gun...mine has run flawlessly.
I have owned both the .45tactical and .45service...I currently still own the .45 service and it is eclipsing the 3000 round mark.
Was the deformation on the back of the mag, towards the very top of the mag? That's where my mags would also deform after shooting LSWC's. This is'nt caused by dropping the mags, but rather the pistol is doing it. In the case of shooting LSWC's, when the slide is pulling the empty case from the chamber, it is also riding on the next round to be loaded in the mag, the rim of the empty case gets hung up on the shoulder of the LSWC bullet, and is kicked off as if it was being ejected, causing a jam, at the same time, the loaded round in the mag is also slammed into the back of the mag itself, causing these deformations in the mag. I suppose it's also possible that this can happen with other ammo besides LSWC's, S.A.'s answer to the problem was to replace mags, I don't know if they fixed this issue or not, To me, this is just another flaw in the XD design.. These pistols were designed primarily around a RNFMJ bullet, and when you deviate too far from these parameters the result is usually a jam, and possible mag deformation..
Lots of guns do not work with LSWC or "cast" rounds.. I really do not see this as a flaw in the design.
BLACK LION
07-13-10, 10:53
The Sights... oh the friggin pressed in sights. Any front sight that requires cursing and a hack saw blade to get it out ****ing sucks...
The location of the slide release blew chunks for about 500 presentations and as many rounds fired. The placement of my thumb would stop the slide from locking back on an empty magazine.
I can shoot the xd really really fast and accurate...
+100
The location of the slide stop/release sucks shit.
I do believe if you took the time to read the entire post you will see that it stayed on track. I am sorry that you have a problem with it.
No, I'm sorry dude. Long night.
I'm glad to see this thread here!
A few weeks ago, my best friend's XD chambered a round during a shooting string and didn't go into battery but it locked up so hard I had to use a tabletop to get the slide back enough to get enough leverage to pry to slide back and get the round out. AND HE KEEPS HIS GUNS RELATIVELY CLEAN! Chamber the round in my G22 and it fired and cycled fine...WTF?;)
Sparky
It sounds like the guide rod wasn't centered. If it's not centered the barrel can drop and wedge under the locking block when the slide is cycled.
In April I went shooting with a friend and his son. Between the two of them, they had five XD's in 9mm and 45ACP. We went a bit crazy and went through several packed ammo cans that day. As the guns grew hot and dirty, I personally witnessed four of the five XD's persistently fail to function; feed failures, ejection failures, etc. Two of the guns experienced locked slides that could not be remedied at the range.
Meanwhile, my M&P 9 and 45 functioned well and handled better too. On the drive back my friends were lamenting the fact that they had purchased over 30 XD mags, and were talking about trading in their XD's for M&P's.
This probably sounds like hyperbole. Sadly, it is not.
Lots of guns do not work with LSWC or "cast" rounds.. I really do not see this as a flaw in the design.
I also had trouble with 2 other types of JHP's not feeding as well, They had large openings and would get intermitently hung up on the way in. The XD is marketed as a "service" pistol..To me, that means it should feed anything you put in it, As I said, get too far away from the design parameters, and you'll have problems..There are too many other pistols in the same price range that don't have this little quirk, Myself, I use the reliable feeding of LSWC's as a sort of benchmark..If It can't feed a simple practice round, what else won't it feed? I won't keep pistols that have to have a strict diet for reliable function.. As always, YMMV..
TheSmiter1
07-13-10, 19:58
I do believe if you took the time to read the entire post you will see that it stayed on track. I am sorry that you have a problem with it.
Uh, not the last part of your first post. I'll paraphrase:
"Herp derp, if you can't keep an XD running, it's you and not the gun, da derpee derp."
On topic, the XD I had did not exhibit any issues over a whopping 300 rounds. It's balance and recoil characteristics, however, were not to my liking. It was also in .45acp, and I couldn't afford to put rounds downrange.
Lucky Strike
07-13-10, 21:22
I've got an XD9 and had an XD subcompact 9
I had the subcompact first (fired around 2k rounds through it) and then sold it to buy a full size and chopped the grip (giving me the best of both worlds)...I've got about 3k rounds through it now.
I mostly shoot reloads and will have FTF's but that's when I'm trying out a new bullet type and playing around with the OAL on my reloads...once I find the right OAL for the bullet I'll have no issues. Not really something you can fault the gun with as it's just part of normal load development IMO.
donlapalma
07-13-10, 21:52
My first gun was an xD 9mm Service model. I shot between 2 to 2,500 rounds through the gun without any issues at all. Had to sell it off though due to hard times.
Fast forward several months.....bought the xDm 40 and have had about 6 FTF's in about 1,000 rounds. Now that people mention weak factory mag springs in the thread it seems to make sense. The issue was always that the next cartridge in the mag was getting hung up and was not being placed into battery completely. It's not a terrible malfunction rate, but my expectations were pretty high based on my experience with the 9mm. I expect any gun that I own to function flawlessly. If not, than it's getting sold. I'll give the 40 a few more hundred rounds before I decide its fate.
I have 2 XD's. One is the .45ACP service 4", and the other is
the .45ACPcompact (short grip). I took the Magpul handgun 1
class FEB 2009 with the service model. I had one FTF at the
begining of the low-light portion of the class. Using my flashlight
the reason was evident, the mag/follower had caked up mud/dirt
from drills earlier in the day. Took the mag out of service, no further
problems for the rest of the course. In fact, the only malfuntion I've
had between the 2 guns.
The service model has over 3000 rnds, the compact approx
1500 rnds. I'll add the caveat that from day one I felt the magazine
springs were way too weak and replaced them with AGP springs.
Before anyone says it, I'm not bragging, just presenting the
facts.
The service model will be sold to a co-worker tommorow,
and those funds will immediately go to purchasing a Glock G26
to add to the 3 G19's I currently have.
I simply haven't shot the Xd's since purchasing my first G19,
I love the G19, nor can I afford to shoot .45ACP anymore even
when its available, which is rarely around these parts.
The compact XD will sit in the safe.
I've got an XD 9 Tactical that is 1.5yr old with prob 2500rd through it that has ran flawlessly. Had the paint dot in the front sight fall out one day during a string of fire. A paint dot on the rear sight fell out the next range trip. I had been dunking / soaking the entire gun (stripped down) in OMS / CLP mixture during cleaning and suspect that may have loosened the paint but can't say for certain. I filled the dots back in with Testors model car paint and they've been fine since.
I've got an XD 45 Compact that is under a year old with prob 500rd through it and while it has also ran flawless the barrel is showing significantly more finish wear than the 9pm Tactical which is showing minimal finish wear in the same areas.
I also had trouble with 2 other types of JHP's not feeding as well, They had large openings and would get intermitently hung up on the way in. The XD is marketed as a "service" pistol..To me, that means it should feed anything you put in it, As I said, get too far away from the design parameters, and you'll have problems..There are too many other pistols in the same price range that don't have this little quirk, Myself, I use the reliable feeding of LSWC's as a sort of benchmark..If It can't feed a simple practice round, what else won't it feed? I won't keep pistols that have to have a strict diet for reliable function.. As always, YMMV..
I've had hollow point ammo not feed in a few different guns including a stubborn g19... it happens. Also lead as a benchmark? Wouldn't that rule out two of the best manufactures that pretty much tell you not to use it in their guns?
I have three XD's and the only problem I have had is I dont have enough time to shoot them as much as I would like.
I've had hollow point ammo not feed in a few different guns including a stubborn g19... it happens. Also lead as a benchmark? Wouldn't that rule out two of the best manufactures that pretty much tell you not to use it in their guns?
If you're referring to Glock and Hk, I use lead in my Hk's..Lead in a Hk is NOT a problem...The difference here is the barrels, With Glock barrels there is a rather abrupt angle at the end of the chamber before it starts into the rifling, lead can shave off the bullet in this transitition and build up.. I don't know if Glock has addressed this problem or not.HK barrels however, don't have this problem.Hard cast lead can be safely shot through a HK,I've done it, a couple thousand times, with NO issues...The problem is, that alot of people, (like you) believe that since hard cast lead dosen't work in a Glock polygonal barrel, it dosen't work in ANY polygonal barrel...That's hardly the truth... Anyway, this disscussion is getting off topic..this thread is about XD problems, not lead in a Glock or HK.. Oh, and by the way..in either manual I got with my USP, or P-2000 there's NOT one word about using hard cast lead bullets in either of these pistols...I'm guessing here, but that's pretty much a Glock thing..And that's one reason I don't own Glocks..
My wife was shooting an early model XD9 I had bought used (low round count) when the recoil spring assembly came apart jamming the gun with a live round in the chamber. It was the funniest thing ever when she turned to me and said 'I think I broke it' while the gun was still pointing downrange with most of the guide rod sticking out of it at a downward angle. One of the range gunsmiths managed to open it enough to get the round out but he could not get the slide back enough to take it apart so he suggested I send it back to SA. I brought it home and after a while managed to field strip it. Other than a few inside scratches and the busted recoil spring assembly the gun was OK and kept working fine until I sold it. I replaced the assy with one that came of a more recent gun which had itself been replaced by a Don's Guide Rod.
Other than that:
XD9SC #1 - 1200 rounds / No issues
XD9SC #2 - 1900 rounds / No issues
XD9SC #3 - 500 rounds / No issues
XD9SC #4 - 2110 rounds / One FTE *
XD9 #1 - 1100 rounds / One double feed **
XD9 #2 - 800 rounds / No issues
XD40 - 800 rounds / No issues
* Failure to extract a spent case of Wolf happened to my wife during the monthly CCW shoot at our club.
I had actually told her to use Wolf because of the higher probability of it inducing a failure which is always good while training under pressure.
** WWB ammo - Double feed happened at the range the day after completing a 4 day class.
I was not the shooter so I am not sure if limp-wristing caused it or if the lack of maintenance after 4 days of shooting was a factor.
I don't shoot the XDs too much these days but I will update this if anything else happens.
Ralph good to know about Hks..
DIRTMAN556
02-06-14, 20:03
<sigh>
It took four years to rehash this thread eh? My XD40 Service let me down yesterday at the range. There has been around 800 rounds through it and it ALREADY developed light striker issues. Worse thing is when you press your trigger and all you get is 'click.' I don't care if there was crud in the firing pin channel or the spring. A pistol should just work. Moving on to a Glock as I should have done in the beginning.
Good move me thinks. Sold my remaining XD compact back in Aug 2010. All Glock shooter for the last several years. They all have several thousand rounds through them. The highest is a July 2011 Gen4 which is now at 9,300 rounds without a single malfunction. :dance3:
attrapereves
02-06-14, 22:38
Honestly, my XD pistols were very reliable. At the time, I was anti-Glock, so I bought two XD. I later started hating the grip safety, high bore axis, and difficulty in racking the slide. Traded them for Glocks.
Without the grip safety, I would like the XD better than the M&P.
Kinda funny to see this thread after all this time...Since I got rid of the XD I had, I've since owned and sold M&P FS9, M&P midsize .45, a Gen 3 G19, (I really liked it, But the BTF problem couldn't be completely resolved) I now own a PPQ, HK P-2000, P-30, HK45ct (all light LEM) I think I found what I was looking for in the HK's and Walther.. Namely, accuracy and reliability, without the drama....
Seems most people either love or hate the XD. I have 3 and they work pretty good. The ones I shoot are the 40 tactical which works good and the XD sc in 9mm that has been flawless through probably 5,000 rounds of my 9mm reloads that are loaded from so mild they bloop out of the ejector port to +P loads just because I don't care about the pistol. I only clean them after 1000 rounds{I load a 1,000 rounds per loading binge then shoot them up}with a relube at around each 400 rounds. I think they are as well as the Glocks way overpriced for how they are built. But then put a gun in my hand and I will enjoy shooting it. Single actions I HATE for some reason.
From a gun smith's point of view, I would rather work on a Glock vs a XD or XDm a thousand times over. Im not saying they are bad guns by any means, but they are kind of a PITA to actually work on.
I had the XD tactical in .40S&W. I had it for a year and about 3,000 rds, I could never shoot it as well as my other handguns but a friend of mine fell in love with it and was extremely accurate with it. Last I heard he was over 8,000 and had done nothing but replace recoil and mag springs.
DIRTMAN556
02-09-14, 03:12
Took apart the striker assembly of my XD40 and there was definitely crud in the striker channel which I will verify upon next range visit if it was causing the light-strike issues. So shame on me for over-lubing that area. Using FrogLube by the way. Still went ahead and snatched a Glock 19 today.
The problem I have with the XD is:
The premature release of the XDS and the way Springfield handled the recall. My personal opinion is that the single stack sub compact was rushed to market, without thorough testing. SA issued a voluntary safety recall, and did not notify the customers that at the time of recall they did not have a fix. Then they issued a statement saying a fix was being identified. Once the fix was identified and implemented, they notified customers of a heavier but " crisp trigger pull. So my take on this is they dropped the ball somewhere along the way, and wanted to issue a recall CYA for liability purposes, they did ultimately do what was right to make the gun safe, but it has a new trigger design that is different than the original design. One of the things I really liked about this gun was the original trigger, the new one just aint the same.
For me it is not a deal breaker, I am not going to sell what I have, it is not terrible, just not as good as originally purchased, and I would consider buying something else in the XD line, I am looking at some SA 1911's as well, but I just don't like the way the recall, and design change was handled. I believe they did the best they could to fix the issue, and no matter how it was handled some people would have not liked it. I just wish they would have spent a little more time during the original R&D of the product.
My personal issue is that I looked for a gun that was on the lighter side of the trigger pull spec 5.5-7.7 lbs. I purchased one with a 5.5 lb trigger and was returned one with a 7.7 lb trigger, and I can feel the difference, but because it is spec, there is really nothing SA can/will do.
DIRTMAN556
02-26-14, 21:58
As I mentioned before. Like a dummy I frog lubed the striker channel and crud built up in there causing light primer strikes. Took it apart and cleaned t.finally had a chance to fire it today and it worked. A few hundred rounds and it worked as it should.
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