RELATED STORY: Modern-Day SAINT – Hitting the Range With Springfield’s First AR.To test the gun-not my eyes-I added a Crimson Trace Lasergrip to the XD M as well as a Crimson Trace Lightguard for good measure. How accurate is the used Springfield XD compared to a new one? I acquired an XD M 9mm that is arguably an improved XD with interchangeable backstraps, a higher capacity and a match-grade barrel. And the first one didn’t occur until over 5,000 rounds had been fired! A little math reveals a failure rate of 0.00109 percent, or about one in 1,000, and it appears that all malfunctions could have been avoided with better chamber cleaning every 1,000 rounds. That’s a total of 10,053 rounds with only 11 malfunctions, all failures to extract. The problem has disappeared now for 1,336 rounds. New While the author’s newer Springfield XDM came with a match-grade barrel (right), his XD’s barrel (left) is still very accurate after firing over 10,000 rounds. Not being totally obtuse, I guessed it might be time to scrub the chamber again. At that point, the gun had cycled 8,717 rounds. That cured the problem, and the XD ran without incident for about 1,271 more rounds until three failures to extract occurred in the next 380 rounds. After another failure to extract at about 7,066 rounds, I aggressively cleaned the chamber using a very fine-grit polishing cloth to remove any brass that had adhered to the walls. Afterward, the gun ran fine for about 400 rounds, when another failure to extract happened at about round 6,901. So, I cleaned the Springfield XD 9mm, paying special attention to the chamber. That seemed to cure the problem for another 641 rounds until there were two more failures to extract. Suspecting an ammunition problem, I changed to a different lot number of the same ammo. A failure to extract is when the spent cartridge case remains in the chamber instead of being withdrawn by the extractor to be thrown clear of the gun. That’s a remarkably long time to go without a single problem.ĭuring the next range session, when an additional 100 rounds were fired, another failure to extract occurred. There were no malfunctions other than a few failures to cycle when testing ultra-light handloads until December 23, 2007, at about round 5,760, when two rounds failed to extract. The first 200 rounds were fired on December 19, 2004. Springfield XD Over The Yearsįor the most part, I’ve fired inexpensive range ammunition through the Springfield XD. He reports that in testing XDs have had 30,000 to 40,000 rounds put through them without extractors losing tension. Dave Williams, an expert gun builder in Springfield’s custom shop, tells me that the XD recoil spring assembly should last for at least 20,000 rounds and that the extractor will probably be the last part to fail. And it is common to replace a 1911 recoil spring every 2,000 rounds. That’s fairly remarkable considering that some gun makers stipulate that their handgun recoil springs be replaced at intervals as low as 500 rounds. No other parts have been replaced, and that includes springs. RELATED STORY: Sweet CCC – Springfield’s EMP 4-Inch with Concealed Carry Contour.Other than that, the XD 9mm is a stock gun with no special tuning. Additionally, a Crimson Trace Lasergrip was added so that, as a writer, I could gain familiarity with lasers. They are especially helpful for aging eyes. The only modifications were the replacement of the stock iron sights with a set of Truglo Tritium Fiber-Optic (TFO) sights that are excellent because they glow bright green in daylight or dark. “…XDs have had 30,000 to 40,000 rounds put through them without extractors losing tension.” Other than lubrication, it has kept going without being cleaned for as long as 500 rounds while using fairly dirty ammunition. The gun took some abuse and probably should have been cleaned more often than it was. The maintenance performed was routine and was not carried out religiously. The test Springfield XD 9mm has been used indoors and out, in rain and shine, for informal shooting sessions, training classes and practice. It was so popular that it spawned the XD M and XD-S series of handguns. Springfield Armory’s XD 9mm is a polymer-framed, semi-automatic, double-stack 9mm that was introduced early in the 21st century. So, in anticipation of eventually reporting on the performance and reliability of a new Springfield XD 9mm, I’ve kept a running log of all rounds fired, any malfunctions, parts replacements and maintenance procedures (other than routine cleaning) starting when the gun was purchased. The magic number seems to be 10,000 for a handgun endurance test.
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