XD Achilles heal

[back40]

is it's magazines.

I shoot tactical pistol in a gravel pit. Get the slightest amount of dust in them and you can feel in increased friction when you load them, and then you start to get failures such as the spring not having enough power to push the rounds up.

I never had this problem with my Beretta 92 mags and the guys with Glocks don't have that problem either.

I think the problem is the highly polished chrome just provides too much surface tension. The mag bodies also seem a bit weaker than Beretta or glock mags, so they seem to spread out some if the increased friction causes you to push the rounds in a little harder.

I thought I read a post that Mecgear was coming out with XD mags. Any news on that?

[spade]

The high polish and smooth feel of the XD magazines is a real plus for me. I haven't shot my gun in gravel pits, but I can imagine that the excess grit could start to affect the magazine action. Maybe blow them out with air or clean the magazines? Personally I haven't broken down and cleaned my magazines yet though. Haven't heard of the new ones you speak of yet.

[WARHEAD'Z]

Check the search feature about magazine interchangability. I believe you will be surprised on how many of the different pistol maker's mags will fit in the XD with minor adjustments. Beretta included.

[damonk]

i had a similar prob when doin a couple of quick reloads with mags in my pocket. we where in a clearing on the edge of the woods, and i some how ended up with sand in the same pocket as the mags. 3-4 times the slide locked open, because the next bullet wasnt there. a quick tap-n-rack fixed the prob, but im glad it happed while shooting at steel and not a home invader.

[RoughNTough]

I agree completely about that! I spoke with AJames about a FTF issue on the last two rounds in both of my magazines. A 10% stronger spring would fix this for sure!

[therooster]

agreed. XD mags are a blemish on the wonderful pistol. the good thing is that it is an easy fix if SA wants to fix it, and if they want the LEO market they will have to fix the mags.

[InspectorNugger]

I've never had an issue with dirt/dust in the mags causing problems. I have quite frequently taken my XD 40 out to the desert here in Utah and have not had an issue. If anything, all of my XD mags seems to have very stiff springs, even after break-in. I found that my mag issues revolved around feeding ammo, but that was because the feed lips needed adjustment.

[.40-.45]

no mag problems what so ever

other than very stiff springs when new (nothing new there)

drop them in the grass and the rocks at the range all the time

cant make my XD ftf or fte

just lucky I guess

[centermass]

I have another issue with the XD mags that I recently experienced...

Two weeks ago I finished the firearms portion of my law enforcement academy. It was a lot of fun. My XD9 service model (the only one in a class full of Glocks) turned some instructor's heads and performed very well with no failures over roughly 1600 rounds.

My only disappointment was with the magazines, which after only a few trips each to the concrete firing line during reloads, starting showing noticeable deformation and gouging around the feed lips. It seemed like every dropped mag landed directly on its head, and after every relay that I fired I was back in the range house bending the magazine feed lips back into place with my Gerber tool trying to make sure they were spaced properly as best I could.

Without any sandpaper handy at the range to take care of the resulting burrs from the mags hitting concrete, the inside of the magwell that used to be shiny smooth plastic started to develop some light scratches when the rough mags were reinserted and removed, and after time this prevented the mags from dropping completely free when the mag release was pressed. In and of itself, this is no big deal as we were trained to removed the mag manually and forcefully, but it sure was nice when the shiny new mags dropped free because I was less apt to throw them at the ground any harder than neccessary. You know, so I could avoid damaging my mags... it's a viscious cycle. This is where I think the Glock style mags may have some advantage as the plastic coating is a little more forgiving to abuse and to the interior of the frame of the pistol.

Anyway, just my two cents... I still love my XD!

STEVE

[one-eyed-fatman]

Originally Posted by centermass

I have another issue with the XD mags that I recently experienced...

Two weeks ago I finished the firearms portion of my law enforcement academy. It was a lot of fun. My XD9 service model (the only one in a class full of Glocks) turned some instructor's heads and performed very well with no failures over roughly 1600 rounds.

My only disappointment was with the magazines, which after only a few trips each to the concrete firing line during reloads, starting showing noticeable deformation and gouging around the feed lips. It seemed like every dropped mag landed directly on its head, and after every relay that I fired I was back in the range house bending the magazine feed lips back into place with my Gerber tool trying to make sure they were spaced properly as best I could.

Without any sandpaper handy at the range to take care of the resulting burrs from the mags hitting concrete, the inside of the magwell that used to be shiny smooth plastic started to develop some light scratches when the rough mags were reinserted and removed, and after time this prevented the mags from dropping completely free when the mag release was pressed. In and of itself, this is no big deal as we were trained to removed the mag manually and forcefully, but it sure was nice when the shiny new mags dropped free because I was less apt to throw them at the ground any harder than neccessary. You know, so I could avoid damaging my mags... it's a viscious cycle. This is where I think the Glock style mags may have some advantage as the plastic coating is a little more forgiving to abuse and to the interior of the frame of the pistol.

Anyway, just my two cents... I still love my XD!

STEVE

If your slamming your mags onto concrete then you deserve to have problems. Not only that but your creating those problems. When you abuse the very tool that can save your life your just dead meat waiting to die. Now go drive your car off a 50 foot cliff and see if it works ok after that.