XD Pistol Practical Tip

[Pittsburgh Pete]

Learned something new today. Had the day off and was at the range having a good time. Shooting my Browning Hi Power and XD's in 9mm and .40. Early on, had a misfire with the Browning, using Winchester 115 grain cheap target ammo. Cleared the round and kept shooting. Awhile later, shooting the XD 9mm after about 100 rounds (same ammo,) pulled the trigger- nothing. Tried to clear the round and the slide was stuck. Had this happen before, but it was really stuck- could not operate the slide. The striker indicator at the back of the slide was flush, the firing pin had engaged, but the loaded chamber indicator on the top of the slide was only partially above where it should have been.

Ugh.

Called my local gunsmith Mark and he said bring it over. He worked on in for a few minutes, couldn't get the slide to budge. We called Springfield Armory and two things happened that made me really happy-

1) A receptionist speaking English asked a couple of questions and then connected us to one of their gunsmiths. About a minute later she had a SA guy on the line.
2) The Springfield Armory gunsmith said do this-

Hold the top of the slide with your left hand, hold it tight, make a "U" with your right hand and slam it hard against the grip engaging the grip safety.

Round popped out. The primer was about 1/32nd of an inch above the base of the round. I also had the round I shot with the BHP that caused a stoppage- same thing. Drilled out the sides to see if they had powder, they did. Manufacturing defect ? Not sure, going to send an email to Winchester. Never had a problem with this ammo before, happy my life didn't depend on it.

Learn something every day.

[alpacaheat]

Good tip, hopefully it will work on other pistols too.


A LOT of people have been having issues with Winchester ammo. My father was one.

[Bob_W]

Pete:

Just out of curiosity, could you check the brass that you had trouble with and see if the flash hole was present. Depending on the Lot # of ammo, I believe Winchester has some defective brass with no flash hole. The symptoms are similar to yours where the pistol jams when nothing happens, and the primer has backed out. The ammo would probably be over a year old if it is from those lots.

Bob

[Bob_W]

Pete:

Since I didn't hear anything from you, I thought I would post a link to the previous thread regarding the Winchester ammo problem.

Winchester ammo problem thread