Noobie Questions

[Rzeig]

Hello, I just turned 21 and for my birthday I went out and bought myself my first handgun. I had a few in mind including G17, P99, or a XD-9. Obviously I went with the later thats why I'm posting here. I purchased a XD-9 service with blue finish. I have a few really silly questions:

1. Rust? I have heard several complaints around the internet about these guns rusting. I do live in a pretty humid area and was wonder what the best way was to prevent rust on my gun (it is a blue finish not stainless).

2. Finish on the slide... How tuff is the finish on the slide? Like what type of brushes/cleaners can I use on it? I'm new to cleaning finished slides and I hear a lot of talk about people sending them in to get refinished.

3. Slide lock/release? And this has to be the newbest question of them all, when I lock the slide back and hit the slide release button I find it sorta hard to push down. I guess this is because this is "my" first semi-auto and I don't have tuff thumbs yet. Now the question is, when I put in an empty magazine and push the slide release down it seems near impossible. Is this by design? I can do it when I have bullets in it, but when the mag is empty it is really hard, and even when I pull the slide back the slide relaease button does not snap down. What is the relation between the magazine and the slide release button?

Thanks,
Rzeig

[KoG]

1. Eezox or Armadillo

http://www.xd-hs2000.com/gunsmithing.html

2. Not sure. Nylon shouldn't harm it but some copper ones might.

3. Mine was hard at first but it loosened up after a bit of use. The mag release was really tight on mine at first as well and just needed to be worked in.

[msidner]

1) I like Armadillo by Blue Wonder for rust prevention, plus, with several layers of it you also prevent some levels of holster wear. Check out www.pistol-gear.com for the Blue Wonder stuff. At the very least, keep the slide well lubed, that seems to have worked for most.

2) The slide finish is ok, its not super tough or able to resist harsh treatment. I've used Hoppe's No.9 on mine with no issues, got some Blue Wonder gun cleaner on it and didn't do it any harm. I use a nylon brush for all scrubbing on the outside of the slide. Normally if you prevent rust, you're peventing the biggest potential issue, most folks here have never experienced rust even though they do nothing especially different. I went preventative.

3) You'll get used to the slide release, it is a bit more firm than some other guns I've used in the past. As far as trying to close the slide with an empty mag in it, I couldn't tell you. I just pulled mine out and tested it and no hessitation or issues at all with it. Perhaps its just once again getting used to the slide release.

Biggest upgrades I'd suggest right out of the box:

A Don's guide rod
A recoil spring of your choice (18# is factory)

A couple folks have had issues with the stock guide rods, but the Don's is made of solid steel, no welds to break!

Welcome to the forums
Matthew

[The Tengu]

1) Practially all guns will rust if you mistreat them. Use appropriate protectants.
2) Just use a cloth and cleaner to wipe down the slide. The finish will exhibit wear over the course of time, like anything else.
3) Don't use the slide lock to release the slide, reach up and over to pull the slide back and then release it. This is a better way.

The relationship between the magazine and the slide lock is the round notch in the top of the magazine. When the mag is empty, the follower will press up against the slide stop and catch the slide as it's cycling.

[hobocircus]

Welcome Rzeig:
The slide release isn't actually a "button", you will probably have better results pressing down on the upper edge lever. If you are pressing in (like a button) then you will not be putting enough force to consistently close the slide. It takes a bit of practice, but you will get used to it.

Please don't practice with live ammo!

Read as much as you can about basic shooting and gun handling and you will go far. Call some gun shops and see if you can get some information on basic gun handling classes. Ask us questions before you go out on your own. Lots of good advice to be had around here.

Good luck and shoot safe.

[Son of Norway]

Welcome to the forum!

Reread the post from hobocircus.

[Rzeig]

Thank you everyone for your answers and the suggestions. I will be ordering some Armadillo soon. And I would like to point out I have been around guns all my life, I just haven't had the privledge of owning many. So I would never practice with live ammo, I don't want to create more statistics for those antigun people*. So thanks again everyone, I'm sure I will have more questions soon.

Rzeig

*The word people used after edit.

[Snakeoil]

Eezox

[Parabellum9x19mm]

stay frosty and obey all saftey rules.

welcome and good shootin`

[manygunner]

Take a gun handling course. I know many people who have been around guns all their lives and who are not safe gun handlers or who have bad habits. Even if you do not learn anything new, a refresher is a good thing once in a while. There is more to it then just the range rules, there are the 4 basic rules. I seen to many people ignore them. You just get comfy with the gun and sloppy. Then, BANG! ND and hopefully only minimal damage done. I speak from personal experience, made a 3" wide 1/2" deep crater in my garage floor a couple of weeks ago by clearing my gun while to tired and not paying attention (done it a million times, what can go wrong). I locked the slide back, forgot to yank magazine, OOOOPS! Let slide go forward and did what I thought would be a dry fire into the cement floor with a Federal Hydroshock. At least I had a good backstop and the gun was in a safe direction. Bullet disintergrated entirely, not even splatter anywhere. Just glad it ended OK with no real dammage, just my pride and self confidence shaken up a bit. Lesson learned.