Anyone have luck with SWC in their XD45ACP?

[Old School]

I don't see any reason why they won't feed. Just wondering if anyone has cooked up a nice load for the XD45ACP with SWCs.

OS

[Tard]

I am shooting 185gr LSWC with 5.5 gr Winchester 231 and an OAL of 1.150" that works great in my XD45ACP Tactical. The gun functions normally with 5.2 gr but with weak case ejection, so I use 5.4-5.5gr.

The only trouble I have is sometimes I'm not paying attention when reloading and I start the bullet crooked so the case has a slight bulge and the slide won't fully close on the round. When I have that problem, my Colt Goldcup won't chamber the same round about 75% of the time either... and the bulge is pretty obvious, not subtle.

My 45 is at Canyon Creek getting a trigger job and the feed ramp polished right now, should be back pretty much any day now. I only have 250 reloads through my XD45 so far. This load is REALLY ACCURATE at 25 yards, it's my Bullseye competition load (4.2 gr for my reduced-spring Colt) beefed up a bit.

I am using left over bullets from a manufacturer who is no longer in business (I bought 5000 of them at once, direct from the seller) so there isn't much reason to tell you about the bullet except its LSWC.

I am changing to Titegroup very soon when my Win231 runs out, I'm not sure what the equivelent powder weight should be.

T.

[Old School]

Cool, thanks. I just bought 100 rounds of the Zero SWC exchanges, to see how my XD45ACP like the Zero SWCs. I am a big fan of Zero bullets, so I hope it likes them.

Once I prove them out, I will buy just and bullets and craft some loads using TiteGroup. I am thinking a drop of 5.5 is about right. I need a 6 grain drop in my 1911 to make 165 power factor.

Being that I intend to try my XD45ACP in IDPA, I want to go poofy, about 130 PF if possible. We'll see how close we can get it.

OS

[Frenchy]

I ordered 200gr. plated SWC's from Georgia Arms (reloads), and have had nothing but problems with them. Out of one 13 round mag, I had at least 7 malfunctions. I saw jams that I didn't think were possible...
It strikes me that it may not be the bullet profile, but that the slide is short-cycling. The spring weight may be way to powerful for the load. I changed over to WWB 230gr. "Ball", and ran 20 rounds perfectly with no feed or ejection problems at all.
Any thoughts...?

[Tard]

I agree, the stock gun short-cycles with lighter bullets sometimes. I'm waiting for the Modification Gods to agree on a lighter spring replacement which I think will solve it. I did that with my 1911 and it solved the same problem.

[Hughree]

I originally had lots of problems with 200 gr. LSWC in my 5 inch gun. Like Frenchy, I saw jams I have never experienced. before! One was so bad it dented the rear of the magazine. After approximately 1000 rounds of WWB, it began to handle the SWC as well. I agree that the spring overpowers the SWC reloads when new. Now, after 2000 rounds of WWB and lead reloads, the 5 inch handles both lead SWC and RN with equal aplomb. My 4 inch gun only has about 600 rds through it. It handles the RNL, but as yet is not happy with the lead SWC. I suspect the dual recoil spring fatigues slower than the conventional single spring setup on the Tactical. For now, I'm shooting 230 gr. RN lead in the 4" gun without problems. Neither gun has given ANY problems with WWB 230 gr. ball.

I have bi-tones in both barrel lengths that are reserved for carry. They only get jacketed loads while their blue counterparts see most of the range time and lead bullets.

FWIW, I seat the lead SWC with a tiny amount of the shoulder exposed above the case.

[Frenchy]

I noticed on that day, the slide was quite hard to retract to slide-lock. I'm not a weakling by any measure, but I was very surprise by that. My 1911 is a breeze by comparison. Today however after doing a field strip and some dry fire practice, the slide was noticeably easier to cycle. It could very well be that I just need to show some patience and run a goodly amount of standard 230gr. Ball and let it settle in.

[Old School]

Excellent. Once Don releases his guide rod, going to a lighter spring will help.

[Hughree]

I put another 200 rounds of 230 gr. RNL through the 4 inch Service model this morning. Everything fed and fired slick as a whistle. Then I tried a mag of 200 gr. lead SWC's and had a nose down failure to feed on about the 4th round. End of experiment for now. Those same 200 gr. lead SWC's went through the 5 inch Tactical without issue. I'm convinced that the weight of the springs as they come from the box is too strong for most SWC reloads. They seem to work in the Tactical, I think, because the conventional single spring weakens faster than the double spring assembly. Slide length and associated recoil impulse may also be a contributing factor.

Just my two cents.

God bless.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by Old School

Excellent. Once Don releases his guide rod, going to a lighter spring will help.

I'm looking forward to the new guide rod. I'm bringing some of the SWC's to the shoot. See how they work in your Tactical.

I'm convinced that the weight of the springs as they come from the box is too strong for most SWC reloads. They seem to work in the Tactical, I think, because the conventional single spring weakens faster than the double spring assembly. Slide length and associated recoil impulse may also be a contributing factor.

Total agreement here Hughree...I believe that the shorter length of the service model exacerbates the problem. Similar to feed problems between the Government model 1911's and the compact models.