Failure to Feed, Help!

[90FoX]

Originally Posted by Tally XD

Did you shoot one brand of ammo today or several different brands?

I would try this:
- Buy several boxes of one brand ammo
- Try to repeat the failure
- Note the magazine that had failures (lay it aside and don't use)
- Continue with other magazines until next mag failure occurs (lay aside)
- Continue till next mag failure
- Continue this until all mags have been used or have failed

Next step:

- Load up all the magazines that failed
- Hand the gun to another shooter
- Have them empty the magazines and see if the same mags fail


If the same mags fail with another shooter then you have a magazine or ammunition issue.

If none of the magazines fail then YOU are the issue and will need to diagnose your grip problem.

I have tried different ammo and it had the same failure to feed problem.

I know three mags have failed. The second to last time at the range I set aside one that was failing, the rest ran fine. The next time I went to the range the mag which was failing before ran fine but a different one was failing. It seems to happen randomly. I know is can't be my grip. I've fired nearly 3k rounds and it just started happening about 4 range trips ago. Also the second to last time I went to the range it was failing to feed the 6th round. The last range trip it was a different mag but failing on the last round twice in a row then fired fine after. I don't see how three mags can go bad at once. They are never dropped on the ground for reload or anything. They are stored in the springfield case, there is really no reason for them to have any physical damage either.

[g.barnes]

I'd try going to pistolgear and buying some heavier mag springs. It seems like if it was pistol related it would do it more often and more randomly. When it keeps being the same number round that doesn't sound like the gun. Do you leave the mags loaded all the time. If you buy the springs and it's not the problem your not really out anything since they will work better and xds are picky about spring pressure. Try buying two and leave two stock and see what the difference is. The extra bullet weight could be the problem if the springs are weak. You could rent an xd and try your mags and see if you still have the problem then you'll know for sure if it's a mag issue before you send the gun off.

[90FoX]

Originally Posted by g.barnes

I'd try going to pistolgear and buying some heavier mag springs. It seems like if it was pistol related it would do it more often and more randomly. When it keeps being the same number round that doesn't sound like the gun. Do you leave the mags loaded all the time. If you buy the springs and it's not the problem your not really out anything since they will work better and xds are picky about spring pressure. Try buying two and leave two stock and see what the difference is. The extra bullet weight could be the problem if the springs are weak. You could rent an xd and try your mags and see if you still have the problem then you'll know for sure if it's a mag issue before you send the gun off.

One of the mags that failed always stays loaded the other mag is never loaded except during range trips.

I'll see what SA has to say first before I make any purchases. I figured someone may have had the same issue and found a solution to it so I posted here first.

I don't want to rent an xd, local ranges aren't the best at keeping their rentals clean. I wouldn't want to run a control experiment with those guns haha.

Thanks for the suggestion.

It's just really random that I would suddenly get a FTF after around 3k rounds. She's still just a baby

[90FoX]

Update:

I ended up sending it back to SA. Sent it out and received it in under two weeks. I'm very pleased with their customer service and help. They definitely stand behind their product.

They opened up the feed ramp by removing some material and polished the feed ramp. They also replaced the recoil spring. Is this the standard treatment for xd's that fail to feed?

Took it to the range and ran 200 rounds of federal fmj 180gr. No problems so far. This is the same ammo it had problems with before. So if it was going to fail it would have happened. But I still want to run more rounds through it before I feel more confident in the pistol again, if I ever can be.

I want to put my old recoil spring in to see if I can get the gun to fail again. Just to narrow down if that was actually the cause. What do you all think about that? Is there any point?

To me I would feel a bit more comfortable knowing why the gun was failing.

Thanks for the input everyone gave.

[JustSomeGuy]

I had a similar incident with my oldest XD, a .40 Service, a while back. It would feed everything but the newest wide mouth hollowpoints. All my other .40 XD's which were newer WOULD feed those bullets and so would my XDm. I compared the feed ramps side by side and discovered the newer ones had slightly wider feed ramps with a better contact with the locking block upper face... the part the barrel feed ramp rests on. I tried to "clean up" and polish my old barrel (which at that time had about 15,000 rounds through it), but I would still occasionally get those feed failures with some types of wide mouth hollowpoints. I looked around at replacement barrels and noticed they all seemed to have the "improved" profile that Springfield now uses on their factory barrels. I bought a new barrel (semi-drop in) from Pistol Gear which is one of the sponsors here. It did drop in, shot to the sights, and was very accurate. The feed problems disappeared!

Here's what I'm getting at. Either Springfield completely recontoured the feed ramp on your OLD barrel, or they put in a NEW barrel and polished the feed ramp just for good measure. Either way, I doubt you will be seeing any more of those failures. You did the right things all along. You tried to isolate the problem, you looked for advice and got some. You called Springfield and followed their advice as well. Then when all else failed you sent in the gun and they corrected the problem. That's what's supposed to happen, and that's why gunsmiths exist. It could have been something as simple as the barrel feed ramp sticking out over the edge of the locking block detent slightly, or an old style feed ramp and newer ammunition, or perhaps even something that was not perfect from the factory, but got just enough worse over time to cause the situation. They fixed it. They warranty their fixes for LIFE! They may have even changed the locking block. We won't ever know. But we do know they fixed it, they will stand behind that fix, and I wouldn't worry about it not working anymore. Keep testing though, but knowing Springfield, I think you will be happy now.

[90FoX]

Originally Posted by JustSomeGuy

I had a similar incident with my oldest XD, a .40 Service, a while back. It would feed everything but the newest wide mouth hollowpoints. All my other .40 XD's which were newer WOULD feed those bullets and so would my XDm. I compared the feed ramps side by side and discovered the newer ones had slightly wider feed ramps with a better contact with the locking block upper face... the part the barrel feed ramp rests on. I tried to "clean up" and polish my old barrel (which at that time had about 15,000 rounds through it), but I would still occasionally get those feed failures with some types of wide mouth hollowpoints. I looked around at replacement barrels and noticed they all seemed to have the "improved" profile that Springfield now uses on their factory barrels. I bought a new barrel (semi-drop in) from Pistol Gear which is one of the sponsors here. It did drop in, shot to the sights, and was very accurate. The feed problems disappeared!

Here's what I'm getting at. Either Springfield completely recontoured the feed ramp on your OLD barrel, or they put in a NEW barrel and polished the feed ramp just for good measure. Either way, I doubt you will be seeing any more of those failures. You did the right things all along. You tried to isolate the problem, you looked for advice and got some. You called Springfield and followed their advice as well. Then when all else failed you sent in the gun and they corrected the problem. That's what's supposed to happen, and that's why gunsmiths exist. It could have been something as simple as the barrel feed ramp sticking out over the edge of the locking block detent slightly, or an old style feed ramp and newer ammunition, or perhaps even something that was not perfect from the factory, but got just enough worse over time to cause the situation. They fixed it. They warranty their fixes for LIFE! They may have even changed the locking block. We won't ever know. But we do know they fixed it, they will stand behind that fix, and I wouldn't worry about it not working anymore. Keep testing though, but knowing Springfield, I think you will be happy now.

Good points, thanks for the response. I'm pretty positive its the same barrel and locking block. I don't think I will be using the old recoil spring to test the gun for failure as i had mentioned i wanted to.. I figure the feed ramp is now changed and it wouldn't really be a controlled test. Also the 150+ rounds I would shoot are probably better off being shot with the new recoil spring and improved feed ramp. Time to see how many rounds I can put through before another problem, lets hope there aren't any....right?

You mention newer xd models vs. older models. How can I find out what year my xd is from? or if it is the "older" or "newer" model? I bought it in 08 so i know its cannot be newer than that.

When did you get your newer and older xds?

I compared my feed ramp after the SA treatment to a stock pistol at the range.(obviously the same caliber and barrel length). I was surprised how much material SA removed from my barrel. But my feed ramp seems much more open and I think that's what I want compared the the factory feed ramp.

[DjHardcore]

I had failure to feed issues today at the range. 10 out of 25... then switched to federals from wally world and had zero issues. Any pictures of the newly polished feed ramp vs old?

[90FoX]

Originally Posted by DjHardcore

I had failure to feed issues today at the range. 10 out of 25... then switched to federals from wally world and had zero issues. Any pictures of the newly polished feed ramp vs old?

No pictures yet. I'll try to get some up.

In my first post I mentioned my ftf issue occurred with different brands of ammo. I personally think the federal is great target practice ammo. But a friend of mine had issues with failures to fire due to bad primers.(He has a 9mm) I think it happened 2 or 3 times out of about 1500 rounds.

[JustSomeGuy]

Quote: You mention newer xd models vs. older models. How can I find out what year my xd is from? or if it is the "older" or "newer" model? I bought it in 08 so i know its cannot be newer than that.

My "old" gun was about 8 years old I think. Probably one of the first XD's so marked by Springfield rather than the "HS2000" types from before that. I am not sure when they changed the feed ramp but all of my other XD's range from only a couple years old to about a year for my XDm40.

I have also heard of failures to feed caused by the striker retaining pin being broken, but I don't think that was the case in your gun. Still... if you do a lot of dry firing, it is something to be aware of. Since the pins are cheap and readily available from Pistol Gear for ones like the stock pins, or more expensive but much stouter pins from Powder River, it would be a good idea to get some. I have a couple three packs of the standard pins on hand now myself just in case! Also, a small set of roll pin punches would be good to have, inexpensive, and can be easily obtained from Brownell's or MidwayUSA. I cringe when I see guys on UTube pushing out pins with small screwdrivers and a framing hammer... I mean... c'mon! A set of roll pin punches, a set of regular pin punches, and a replaceable head "gunsmith's hammer" (one brass and one non-marring plastic head) would take you far if you own a gun or two and would cost less than a couple of movie tickets and some popcorn and colas. Just don't use 'em to remove XD sights with!