XD Talk

old frank · 03-09-2010, 04:38 PM

My friend has a new XDM9 and was having problems with it misfiring, two or three rounds out of a magazine would not fire. tried several brands of ammo with no help and so he sent it back to SA, they repaired and tested it.

Sunday he tried to shoot an IDPA match with it, he had not tried it since he got it back(his bad) it locked back on every single round the first time he tried it. We watched his hands and he was away from the slide lock lever.
He lubed it and changed magazines and tried it again with the same results. He was shooting WWB ammo just for reference.

I brought his gun home with me and compared everything and could find no differences in looks or feel of the slide lock. I cycled two magazines through it by cycling the slide and everything worked OK.
Today at the range I fired it 9 times fine and it locked the slide on # 10. I thought there was a possibility I got sloppy and hit the lock. Fired the last 9 with no problems.
Changed magazines and shot left handed to be sure I was away from the slide lock. #1 and 2 fired ok. 3,4,5 locked the slide back, 6and 7 fired 8 locked 9 locked 10, 11 fired.. You get the point.
I read 50 posts on here about the problem and 90% were hitting the slide lock, I know that is not happening.
I came home and made six rounds with no powder or primer and used a wooden pencil to push rounds down in the magazine while the slide was open and I just don't see any way the bullets are activating the slide lock either.
He is calling SA to get a label to return it but it bothered me that I can't figure it out. I am usually pretty mechanical and can get things to work.
Any other thoughts on this?

**powder river** · 03-09-2010, 06:09 PM

Is the slide stop being held down under spring pressure?

old frank · 03-09-2010, 08:24 PM

Yes, It sure is. I compared the spring tension of the slide lock between the pistols and also the length of the pin that engages the magazine to hold the slide open and both seem to be the same.

old frank · 03-28-2010, 05:56 PM

He sent this gun back to SA. They replaced the slide, slide stop and a bunch of other parts. He fired it about 150 rounds with no problems.
He tried to shoot a match today and it locked back on every shot with three different magazines and two different shooters.
After the match I shot it about 10 times with no problems and then he fired it 10 times with no problems.
This is a real head scratcher.
I wonder if it could have something to do with the mechanism that allows XDMs to be disassembled without pulling the trigger?
I can't imagine what can cause a sporatic problem like this.

gordonm1 · 04-15-2010, 08:35 PM

having same issue with xdm .40 with about 1500 rounds fired. I am moving on to a new weapon so it could be my grip is no longer correct.

jlow · 04-15-2010, 08:57 PM

If you have the same gun, switch slides with him (after clearly labeling both the slide and frame) and see if the problem transfers. This would not narrow down the exact component but it would at least reduce it by 50%

DPGDirk · 04-17-2010, 08:50 PM

My XDM 9 did this after a little while. I don't have that extra take down lever junk in mine, but I found that the magazine was sitting too tightly against the trigger bar in my gun.

Inserting the magazine a number of times wore a slight groove into the side of the trigger bar. That groove began snagging the mag when pulling the trigger and making the mag want to spin in the magwell slightly.

Somewhere in all of this, it caused the slide release to pop up and lock the slide back after every round or most every round.

Pop the slide off of your gun and insert a mag and see if there's any room between the front right side of the mag and the trigger bar. There wasn't on mine. Pull the trigger and see if the mag moves.

Look and see if there's a slight groove getting worn in the trigger bar from the mag being inserted.

I actually had to remove some material from the side of the trigger bar on my gun to get it work right with no interference.
I didn't send mine back to SA because I have a Springer trigger bar in my XDM, so they probably wouldn't warranty that anyway...

I'd be interested in hearing if that's the issue. I had not heard of anyone having this problem before I did...

bel970 · 04-18-2010, 03:16 AM

how tight does the mag fit in the grip with the slide open? what does the bottom of the ejector look like? does the bottom of the mag base plate or the ejector stop the mag from rising?

try using something (masking tape or foam tape works) to build up the top of the base plate of the mag a bit (but enough that it still engages the lock), your trying to stop the mag from jumping up to high and see what happens.

why did SA replace the slide? did they also replace the lock block? have you noticed any slide peening (usually going to happen above the lock block while slide is closed)? thinking may the frame is flexing more than normal.

I wouldn't completely give up on the rounds hitting the slide stop, I'd move on to looking for other possible problems but you can never by hand replicate the violence of the actions during actual shooting.

jlow · 04-18-2010, 06:17 PM

I put in the Springer Precision trigger kit in my XDM 9 mm a few weeks ago and notice that if you do not take enough off the front of the trigger bar, it will push against the plastic frame which in turn will push it against the mag.

There are a number of symptoms for this. First, take the slide off and look down on the frame. One symptom is that when you pull the trigger without the mag, the trigger pull will be smooth and crisp. Now if you put the mag in, you will feel an added pressure when you pull the trigger.

Assuming you still have the slide off and the mag still in, if you look at the mag when you pull the trigger, you will notice that the trigger bar pushing against the magazine and moving it from right to left. If you look at the trigger bar at the area in the front (which is where you are suppose to remove the extra material), when you pull the trigger, you will notice that the bar will actually push against the plastic frame and bend it outwards i.e to the right.

The reason all of this is happening is because you have not removed enough material from the front of the trigger bar, so when you press the trigger, this extra material is pushing against the plastic frame which in turn push against the mag. You need to remove enough material from the front of the trigger bar so that when you pull the trigger, the trigger bar only moves forward with NO sideway movement i.e. it is no longer hitting the plastic frame. When it is fixed this way, the trigger bar will no longer push against the mag. Of course, the real benefit is a smooth trigger pull.

old frank · 04-20-2010, 01:10 PM

I am going to pass all this information to my friend. After getting it back from SA he fired about 150 rounds without a problem. Then during a match it started it again.
He returned it to SA and they said three different people tried it and they could not find anything wrong.
He is going to get a range trip in and see what happens.
Thanks for all the suggestions.