my first post here i own an xd40 tactical i recently bought an efk ported convo barrel took it to the range sunday for the first time and after changing the spring it seems to cycle fine but i get a failure to extract on about every 4th round.My questions are is this common?do i need a new stock 40 extractor or do i need to go with a stock 9 extractor?could the extractor spring be weak?Im fairly cofident my problem is with the extractor just would like to know how to remedy it.any and all help greatly appreciated.
xd40 9mm conversion question
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i bought the barrel second hand and got 2 guide rod springs with it one was marked 18lb the other was in a sealed bag.the 40 stock spring didnt seem to work to well neither did the 18 but the unmarked one seemed to cycle fine but i would get the odd failure to extract from what i can see it appears the spent cartridge begins to be extracted then the front of the next round imediately below it in the mag contacts the bottom and causes the spent case to move slightly upward and jump out of the extractor and the new round gets lodges under the rear of the spent case which is still half way in the chamber resulting in a stoppage this xd has never given me the slightest problem in its factory 40 configuration i have never had a single stoppage or jam in probably 1000 rounds.
I am working with this on am XDm but I suspect that the same rules apply. You definitely need to get a factory 9mm mag - the "modified" .40 mag doesn't work reliably. Some folks may get lucky with it, others not.
The correct spring for 9mm is 16 lb for most 115gr factory ammo. The 18 lb spring, which is standard for the .40, is too stiff and results in the failures that you describe.
The only unresolved concern that I have is with the extractor claw. It is designed for the .40 and the 9mm casing lip is smaller, giving it less to grab a hold of. The design on the XD Tactical may be a bit different than the XDm so your mileage may vary. I don't have enough rounds through mine yet to know for sure but it seems that it may work better with some brands of brass than others.
The correct spring for 9mm is 16 lb for most 115gr factory ammo. The 18 lb spring, which is standard for the .40, is too stiff and results in the failures that you describe.
The only unresolved concern that I have is with the extractor claw. It is designed for the .40 and the 9mm casing lip is smaller, giving it less to grab a hold of. The design on the XD Tactical may be a bit different than the XDm so your mileage may vary. I don't have enough rounds through mine yet to know for sure but it seems that it may work better with some brands of brass than others.
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The main problem with the conversion is that the .40 slide's breach face is larger than the 9mm thus the ejection problems on some conversions. It's not just a matter of changing extractors, the case head on a .40 is larger than the case head on the 9mm. I've never heard of 9mm XDs having 16# springs where did you get this info?
16lb is what works in my XDm with the 9mm conversion. I am also told by SA Customer Service that the XDm 9 ships with a 16lb spring. I assume the same rules apply to the XD - I could be wrong... My "assumptions" along with incorrect info have gotten me into trouble before...
The standard claw on my XDm .40 just barely grabs the 9mm case lip. I guess this is due to the design of the breach and extractor limiting the claw's reach and grab on the narrower case as you describe. I have not seen an XDm or XD 9's breach/extractor up close so I can't comment.
However, the extraction/ejection on my gun is very reliable with some brands of 9mm ammo. I don't have enough test runs to know which ones yet.
On the other hand, my XDm .40 with a 9mm conversion barrel will absolutely not cycle any 9mm ammo properly (FTEs, short cycles, fail to lock on last round) with an 18 lb spring. It will operate reliably with some brands of ammo with a 16 lb spring when all other variables are the same (mag, rod, extractor, ejector, slide, etc.). This same gun fires all .40 ammo I've tried flawlessly in standard configuration with the 18 lb spring.
The standard claw on my XDm .40 just barely grabs the 9mm case lip. I guess this is due to the design of the breach and extractor limiting the claw's reach and grab on the narrower case as you describe. I have not seen an XDm or XD 9's breach/extractor up close so I can't comment.
However, the extraction/ejection on my gun is very reliable with some brands of 9mm ammo. I don't have enough test runs to know which ones yet.
On the other hand, my XDm .40 with a 9mm conversion barrel will absolutely not cycle any 9mm ammo properly (FTEs, short cycles, fail to lock on last round) with an 18 lb spring. It will operate reliably with some brands of ammo with a 16 lb spring when all other variables are the same (mag, rod, extractor, ejector, slide, etc.). This same gun fires all .40 ammo I've tried flawlessly in standard configuration with the 18 lb spring.
the ammo i ran thru it was factory winchester 9mm 115gr full metal jacket target/range stuff.im just wondering if its possible that i have the incorrect spring as i have a factory 9mm mag and i cant verify the strength of the spring i have as it was in a clear unmarked bag that came with the barrel.just seemed to be an extraction problem as i previously stated the spent case comes back so far then the extractor lets it go and the slide cycles back far enuff to strip a fresh round out of the mag that then jams behind the spent case....maybe i need to start with a spring that i can verify is 16lbs and try a different factory 9 mag....
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If the mag lips are open too much what you get is, as the shell is being extracted the next round in the mag will catch the case being extracted and strip it from the extractor. causing it to hang and the next round to get partially stripped from the mag. Some people on this board are shooting 9mm with 22# springs with no problems. I would still suspect the mag.
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