Xds light strikes

[JPS3B]

Hate to say it, I shot 400 rounds today out of my brand new XDs. Out of those 400, had about 12 light strikes and 1 FTE.

The gun was clean, we'll lubricated, and held correctly yet it still had some issues. Checked the firing case, and it had a little build up, but nothing I feel should be causing malfunctions.

I will continue to fire the weapon and reserve judgement until I have about 1000 rounds through her.

Incidentally, my light strikes only occurred after the first 200 rounds. The first 200 were flawless. Lets hope the next 600 rounds corrects the problem

Stay safe

[Stratajema]

I can't believe Springfield has still not corrected the light strike problem which has been around since the XDS became available 6 months ago. Why must people fire 1,000 rounds at a cost of about $225 to $275 to prove their $550 gun is reliable?

Springfield could save everyone time and aggravation by spending an extra $100 and doing more precise machining of the gun and add that cost to the price tag. But they won't. If you have the light strike problem after 150 rounds then think about selling the gun cause the problem won't go away. The most perfect time to sell it at a profit is right now. People are crazed and are buying ANY gun, even junky used ones that were hard to sell and sat in display cases at the LGS for over a year.

[DeathFA]

The light strike issue is really concerning me. I was thinking about picking up the XDs tomorrow. But after reading all of the horror stories I have my doubts. How can this be considered a Personal Defense weapon with that kind of issue? That is the only issue that is being reported that really concerns me. I don't think I will have any problems under "normal" conditions, but the purpose of a personal defense weapon are the "not normal" situations. How can I rely on the gun to fire if I only have one hand on it and am fighting off an assailant? Or if I don't have time to get the gun all the way up into the natural shooting position will it go click or bang? The more I type the more I am talking myself out of it. Which really sucks because I love the XD line and think this would be a perfect CCDW handgun without the issues.

Any thoughts on the matter? I am not familiar with the warranty from SA. If they get the issues worked out down the road will they replace/fix the weapon under warranty at that time?

[birdog068]

Originally Posted by DeathFA

The light strike issue is really concerning me. I was thinking about picking up the XDs tomorrow. But after reading all of the horror stories I have my doubts. How can this be considered a Personal Defense weapon with that kind of issue? That is the only issue that is being reported that really concerns me. I don't think I will have any problems under "normal" conditions, but the purpose of a personal defense weapon are the "not normal" situations. How can I rely on the gun to fire if I only have one hand on it and am fighting off an assailant? Or if I don't have time to get the gun all the way up into the natural shooting position will it go click or bang? The more I type the more I am talking myself out of it. Which really sucks because I love the XD line and think this would be a perfect CCDW handgun without the issues.

Any thoughts on the matter? I am not familiar with the warranty from SA. If they get the issues worked out down the road will they replace/fix the weapon under warranty at that time?

I just got off the phone with an SA tech. The tech claims the vast majority of XD-S's have no problems. The ones with the light primer strikes are supposedly due to limp wristing in conjunction with the very stiff recoil spring on the gun. According to SA, the more rounds that are put through the gun, the more the recoil spring will relax and that should eliminate the need to stiff arm it so much. The tech claimed the dent on the striker ramp will not affect operation and that the majority of the wear on the recoil spring (where it fits into the barrel notch) occurs in the first couple hundred rounds and then doesn't wear much after that. Apparently the gun needs to be very clean and lubed as well. I just frog-lubed my XD-S and haven't shot it since but did notice a nicer slide action after the froglube treatment (on all my guns that I've treated so far). The tech said the froglube sounded good and recommended that I continue to use that. I really want this gun to work because a 45 ACP in a small light package really excites me. But if I continue to have light primer strikes I'll be forced to replace it for concealed carry. Afterall, who can trust a CCW that must be shot using proper form every time? Proper form is a lot easier at the range than in a defensive situation and I didn't buy a 21.5 oz 45 ACP to be my range gun.

[DeathFA]

Originally Posted by birdog068

The ones with the light primer strikes are supposedly due to limp wristing in conjunction with the very stiff recoil spring on the gun.

Thank you for the response. This is what bothers me. Short draw, one handed quick fires and things of that nature. Will it fire or not. Really has me second guessing it. I keep going back and forth on it.

Originally Posted by birdog068

Afterall, who can trust a CCW that must be shot using proper form every time? Proper form is a lot easier at the range than in a defensive situation and I didn't buy a 21.5 oz 45 ACP to be my range gun.

Exactly!

Anyone that has actually dealt with the warranty, If the firearm does not perform under the one handed etc... gripping will Springfield either repair, replace or exchange the firearm for another model?

Also from a different angle, has anyone done any test fires using one handed, one handed rib cage, short draw or etc types of scenarios? If so what were your results?

[DenverPilot]

Originally Posted by birdog068

What troubles me is that every person that sends the gun to SA gets it back dripping with oil and a statement saying that the gun is fine.

And usually a report that it was test fired by multiple people and ran fine... Just to be fair to Springfield... from all the reports I've seen.

I don't think 21 FTF is a good number for the OP's gun for sure. There's something going on there. But it's not necessarily related to other's reports from Springfield.

Might be related, might not. I work in a troubleshooting profession, and I see this type of logic/assumption/mistake mess up investigations all the time... Only reason I'm pointing it out as possibly false. No offense intended.

[AmmoSGT]

Originally Posted by DeathFA

Thank you for the response. This is what bothers me. Short draw, one handed quick fires and things of that nature. Will it fire or not. Really has me second guessing it. I keep going back and forth on it.

Exactly!

Anyone that has actually dealt with the warranty, If the firearm does not perform under the one handed etc... gripping will Springfield either repair, replace or exchange the firearm for another model?

Also from a different angle, has anyone done any test fires using one handed, one handed rib cage, short draw or etc types of scenarios? If so what were your results?

We have the same brain right now. If I have to fire this one handed from the hip and the second one doesn't load/fire because I wasn't "holding it firm enough" then it's not a defensive pistol.

I've fired my XDSC and Kimber upside down (really, upside down in my hand) and they fired, ejected, loaded, fired, loaded, ejected without a hick-up. I'd love for the XDs to do the same

[DeathFA]

Originally Posted by AmmoSGT

We have the same brain right now. If I have to fire this one handed from the hip and the second one doesn't load/fire because I wasn't "holding it firm enough" then it's not a defensive pistol.

I've fired my XDSC and Kimber upside down (really, upside down in my hand) and they fired, ejected, loaded, fired, loaded, ejected without a hick-up. I'd love for the XDs to do the same

Yeah it may come down to a coin toss. There is only one in my entire area and the price is pretty good. So I think I will roll the dice. Just not completely sure. I don't want to get stuck with something I won't ever use.

[Derek79]

My light strikes were all from 1 box of ammo. My opinion is its something in the powder preventing the bullet from seating correctly. All of my failures fired after pulling the slide back enough to recock.

[AmmoSGT]

I've watched youtube videos on how to correct light strikes on XDs's till my eyes have wanted to bleed. Going to give it 100 more rounds, 2 handed, one handed, weak handed...and decide from there. 1 failure of any type and this gun is history.