Failure to Feed, Help!

[90FoX]

Hey everyone,

I recently developed a failure to feed problem with a tactical xd40. The gun only has about 2k rounds through it. I'll try to describe the problem as best I can.

Recently walmart hasn't carried blazer brass instead they have 180 gr Federal Premium ammo. So I've shot about 700 rounds of it with no problem. A few days ago I'm at the range and suddenly I experience a failure to feed. I look into the chamber, as the slide is only half way closed and I see a round being pushed directly into the feeding ramp. The bullet is completely horizontal. I locked the slide back and had to use my nail to push the round back into the mag and then dropped the mag to inspect what happened. This is the only way to clear the FTF.

I compared the bullet to another one and it seems this failure to feed forced the bullet into the casing, so this round was not safe to fire. I assumed it was just the cheap ammo. I continue shoot and have the same problem occur. I cannot just rack the slide to eject it and clear the chamber because the ejector isn't even touching the round. So I have to lock the slide, push the bullet back in the mag, drop the mag and inspect. Same thing happens but I notice that on both failed rounds the metal jacket on the bullet tip is damaged and there is an indent in the bullet face from being slammed into the feed ramp. Again I assume its just cheap ammo because I cannot see any damage to the mags or pistol.

I go back to the range the next day with two different mags and this time I shot 200 rounds of the 180 fed premium and 9 of them had a failure to feed with the same exact problem I describe above. I marked the mags to see if it was my mags. I seemed to only have the problem with one of the two mags I took this day. Now I'm thinking WTF is going on. I come home and do some research on the forum here and seemed to find two potential solutions/problems:

1) It's completely a mag specific issue
2) It's the gun and some people have sent the gun back to SA to have some work done such as polishing the feed ramps etc. And now claim the gun will eat anything. haha

So I go to the range today and I take all four of my mags this time to try and figure out if its just my mags. If it is a mag issue I know at least two of the four mags are bad. But this time I buy WWB 165 gr from walmart to see if it was the ammo potentially causing the failure to feed. I load all four mags and shot. The first mag I shot had this failure to feed issue on the 6th round only. So now I'm thinking maybe it wasn't the ammo causing my failure to feed. The other three mags shot fine. I load them up again and the same mag as before jams on round 6 again! The other mags check out fine. At this point I'm kind of leaning towards it being a mag issue. But I know at least two different mags jammed like this on me before but I was only able to id one bad mag. So I'm thinking maybe I'll buy some 180 gr and shoot it in the three remaining mags to see if I can id the other "bad" mag. I shot the entire box without a problem.

I also called SA today and they said call back if I encounter the same issue with different ammo. So I will be calling them first thing monday.

My question is has anyone ever experienced something like this? What are your opinions on what my issue may be? Any input would be appreciated. I've loaded some terrabad pictures from my cell phone. It's the only camera I had with me, sorry. I hope you can get an idea of the way the gun is jamming. Also the tip of the bullet continue to have an indent in them from being slammed into the feed ramp when this failure to feed issue occurs.

Thanks

[Tally XD]

Have you taken the mags apart to see if the follower is traveling through the mag as it should?

Have you cleaned the mags?

Have you checked the springs to make sure you reassembled them correctly if you did clean them?

[nothing]

Weak mag springs? any sign of damage to the feed ramp?

[JonXD]

Is it the same mag that cause the problem? Have you tried a different mag?

[john_bud]

I've had that exact failure. It was due to my dropping the full mag in the powdery sand. Even after thumping it on my leg a couple times, it had those fail to feed errors. (imagine that!) After cleaning the mag out and keeping on it, it's been good ever since.

How often do you drop the floor plate and clean the inside of the mags out?

jb

[90FoX]

Originally Posted by Tally XD

Have you taken the mags apart to see if the follower is traveling through the mag as it should?

Have you cleaned the mags?

Have you checked the springs to make sure you reassembled them correctly if you did clean them?

I have never taken them apart. Could you tell me what the follower is and what it looks like? I know, I'm a noob right?

I never cleaned the mags before.

[90FoX]

Originally Posted by nothing

Weak mag springs? any sign of damage to the feed ramp?

I don't know how to test the spring but I tried pushing down on the springs and they seem to all be about the same. Do you have any tips on checking the springs?

I don't see any damage to the feed ramp. I'll probably post pictures later of the ramp.

[90FoX]

Originally Posted by JonXD

Is it the same mag that cause the problem? Have you tried a different mag?

Yes I have id'd one faulty mag. But I know at least two of them were failing. I just have not been able to replicate the failure with the second faulty mag yet.

[Tally XD]

Originally Posted by 90FoX

I have never taken them apart. Could you tell me what the follower is and what it looks like? I know, I'm a noob right?

I never cleaned the mags before.

The follower is that black piece of plastic that is visible inside the magazine. It travels down the mag as you load the rounds into the mag.

To clean the mag use a ball point pen, or similar pointed tool, depress the small detent button on the base plate of the magazine. Using your thumb push the floor plate off the bottom of the magazine. Careful of the compressed spring that is inside that will now want to come out.

Take note of exactly how the spring and follower are positioned as they have to go back this way or they may malfunction.

Using a clean cloth or nylon brush, clean the inside of the mag with a cleaner or gun solvent. Dry it out good when done. Inspect the follower and mag spring before reassembly. The sides of the follower may need to be smoothed over with a very very fine sand paper or #000 steel wool.

If you use any type of lube when you reassemble the magazine use a good quality "dry lube".

[nothing]

If you can load all 12 rounds in your magazines without a sore thumb it might be time for new springs. I'd also agree they probably need a good cleaning.