[manygunner]

I was cleaning my new XD9 when I noticed soemthing. I went and comapred it to the new one I got last weekend and the quality of product is certainly taking a dive. I guess they are trying to speed up and reduce cost of production, but I am not happy. The old XD barrel has nice machined contours and looks great, the new XD barrel is sloppily machined and they do not even bother machining the reduction near the chamber. Looks like they just roughly cut it to parameters, has that half melted slag look ot it. Ughhhh. Maybe I just got one that missed QA, but I don't think so. Anyone else notice this?

 

[JackFrost]

got a pic of what you are talking about?

 

[manygunner]

Will try to get one out there, still working on this remote hosting thing.

 

[Blown330]

ImageShack for photo hosting. Free too register and you can host lots of pictures to share on forums. Just copy/paste the Direct Image Link and forget about the precoded ones.

 

[pdjplano]

I was cleaning my new XD9 when I noticed soemthing. I went and comapred it to the new one I got last weekend and the quality of product is certainly taking a dive. I guess they are trying to speed up and reduce cost of production, but I am not happy. The old XD barrel has nice machined contours and looks great, the new XD barrel is sloppily machined and they do not even bother machining the reduction near the chamber. Looks like they just roughly cut it to parameters, has that half melted slag look ot it. Ughhhh. Maybe I just got one that missed QA, but I don't think so. Anyone else notice this?

when was your 'new' XD quality checked at the factory? I bought mine about a week ago, but the QA check was from April, so it took a while to make it to the gun store/into my hands...

 

[manygunner]

MY gun was tested on 7/11/2005 so it is fairly new. I am working on editing some pics of the barrel, they definately changed the configuration.

 

[manygunner]

Here are pics. The top barrel is the old barrel, the bottom is the new. Look closely at the area where the barrel joins the chamber area. The older one was more refined and probably stronger then the new one.

http://img333.imageshack.us/img333/7696/barrel14oo.jpg

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/9392/barrel24kx.jpg

 

[Eric_Oh]

wow... its amazing that i've never seen this posted before! But i have the same type of barrel as the bottom so i guess i have the newer style. Do you think that affects the efficiency of the pistol at all?

 

[FatMatt1981]

That is really weird. I wonder what the deal is.
Let us know if it shoots any different for sure.

 

[manygunner]

wow... its amazing that i've never seen this posted before! But i have the same type of barrel as the bottom so i guess i have the newer style. Do you think that affects the efficiency of the pistol at all?

Don't know yet. Not enough testing, ask me in 3K rounds or so. I do not like change in gun configuration as a rule though. There are usualy good reasons why the original design was made the way it was. This looks like the usual corner cutting steps to produce soem thing faster and cheaper. I will try to get new pics tomorrow. These are a bit fuzzy, forgot to turn on flash. I think you cna see what I am talking about though.

 

[The Tegnu]

How does the feed ramp and chamber look?

Any different?

The barrel on the bottom looks just like the barrels they put in the Sub-Compacts, only longer.

Maybe they figured that they could cut those corners and not suffer any ill effects?

 

[Delija]

Are the barrels interchangeable in the two guns?
They seem to be shaped differently in the second pic (hard to see the first pic).

D.

 

[manic mechanic]

Looks like they were able to skip the chamber step down machine process, curiuos if it will fit in other gun, and conversion barrels in the new frame?

 

[stunksinatl]

I'd say it is only a quality control problem if their new process causes the new product to not perform as well as the old one.

Sure, the barrel looks like it is being machined differently now. However, if it doesn't affect the functioning of the weapon, does it really matter? I'll admit, the older machining looks better, but the newer machining looks more utilitarian. Maybe the newer machining improves reliability... We just don't know.

Perhaps the change was necessary so that IM Metals and Springfield could continue to provide this fine weapon to the public at the lower price point. I say manufactures "have to right to change specifications without notice" or something like that I've read before in instructions or on the side of the box...

Only time and lots of shooting will tell the difference.

-stunks

 

[pdjplano]

FWIW, Mine is the same as the bottom picture...

 

[manygunner]

I am conducting extensive range tests as much as time and ammo supply allows. Will update.

 

[growler]

Mine matches the top one , so I guess I lucked out

 

[orc4hire]

Mine matches the top one , so I guess I lucked out

Why?

 

[M1Thumb]

I have one of each myself, and I think the 2nd design looks way better. Look at the lug on the bottom of the barrel in the first design. (You can't see it real good in the picture.) There's what looks like a pin in it. Looks like a 2 piece design? Aesthetics aside, the 2nd design looks sturdier to me. I think you're backwards.

 

[XDfan]

I just took apart my XD40 to install my new Don's Guide Rod and I noticed that my barrel is the "newer" style too. I remember thinking that it seems kind of "unfinished" is the word I'd use. It's not as polished as I'd expect it to be. I'll be going to the range tomorrow after work, so I'll check out how it shoots then.