Landeeno Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Alright guys I've had this xdm 4.5 for about a mont and put about 700 rounds through it, bought it from a best friend, takes cares of everything he owns and this was just a night stand gun for him, when he got it we put about 1000 rounds through it over 3 years then I bought it a month ago, the 1000 rounds while he owned it had a failure to feed 1 time. ( leads me to think its a great gun) when I first bought it I had a competition later that week so I snagged some bullets from the local Wally world and sent about 50 down range before the competition and I experienced a failure to feed, I competed with 1 failure to load the first course and it was fine for the next 200 rounds, I order 1000 rounds the next day I get them in take 50 out to practice with and I have another failure to load, shoot about 100-150 over the next 2 weeks trying to get ready for the next competition, and I believe I have 1-2 , more failure to loads, get to the completion and have a failure to load at the end of my first mag on the first course, i shuck it and things are good the rest of the day, I shoot about 50 more through it a day or 2 after the comp and I have 1-2 more failures to load, I go out shooting a few minutes ago and with 60 rounds fired I had 3 failures to load. I wish I woulda takin a picture to show u guys but I didn't, if I need to go run bullets through it until it does it again to show yaw I will, so to eliminate some questions 1. This problem has occurred after a full gun cleaning and a magazine cleaning in and out. 2. It's had this problem with the gun not cleaned great. 3. It's had this problem before and while the new magwell and base pads have been installed. 4. This problem has occurred with a factory mag spring and with a high cap mag spring. 5. It's happend with factory federals, hand loaded 165pf estimated random head stamp bullets, as well as Winchester hollow points. With all these factors eliminated (I believe) I'm thinking there's a part that may be warn out but I'm no gunsmith so I can't say, hoping someone else has had this problem and can help. Earlier when it happend I looked very closely and noticed that the only problem was the cartridge wasnt loading straight, the bullet was going into the barrel and the case was trying to go up the ramp like its supposed to do but as the bullet was trying to feed up on the right side of the case was under that groove thing, I noticed this and could tell it was a minor problem, but to make sure I was right I grabbed a mini screw driver and pushed the bullet over to the left and wa la it loaded right up, so the problem at hand is the bullets trying to not load all the way straight, (or just the back of the case I don't know how ud all like these parts explained) the bullet is not sitting straight and the slide just not closing it, it's actually sitting sideway from the failure to go all the way up into the chamber. This is the problem and you know what bullets I've used and I have Arredondo base pads, with Arredondo springs, and pistol gear unlimited Magwell. Any help would be great, I'm about to take this thing apart and see if there's anything noticeable after removing the slide and what not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quack Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Does it run with factory mags? Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKT1106 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Sounds like an extractor issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landeeno Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 It had this same problem with factory mags. Extractor problems? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landeeno Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 Round nose factory federals, hollow point winchesters, and even reloaded flat nose have this problem..... no more suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynes_world_45 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Did anyone swap out the recoil spring for a light one? That's where I'd start...put in a new 16 pound recoil spring and go from there Can you get us pics of the chamber? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKT1106 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Try 18lb factory recoil spring and then look at the extractor. It may be pulling your rounds to the side while feeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landeeno Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 It's definitely pulling the rounds to the side, and no the recoil spring is the stock one. so the extractor would be a cause of the pulling the rounds wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIIID Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 May have missed it, but does it do this all of your mags? Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landeeno Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 Rich yes it does it with all mags, before the mag extensions it did it a few times, and afterwards it did it with them as well, I even tried using a stock mag spring with the mag extension and it did it, and with the high cap springs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landeeno Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 Anyway the factory recoil spring could be warn out? possibly causing it to bind or does this sound just like an extractor problem? Ive put another 30 through it a day ago and it had no problems, maybe ill load up factory mags and see if I cant get the problem to happen again, if it doesnt and theres no more suggestions then I'm just going to drop this off at a gunsmith and let him give it a once over. It's a minor problem and im sure an easy fix but I just want everything perfect. Ps, how tough are these guns to break down? Any special tools needed or anything? Maybe swapping this extractor out would be a learning experience for myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RammerJammer Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Anyway the factory recoil spring could be warn out? possibly causing it to bind or does this sound just like an extractor problem? Ive put another 30 through it a day ago and it had no problems, maybe ill load up factory mags and see if I cant get the problem to happen again, if it doesnt and theres no more suggestions then I'm just going to drop this off at a gunsmith and let him give it a once over. It's a minor problem and im sure an easy fix but I just want everything perfect. Ps, how tough are these guns to break down? Any special tools needed or anything? Maybe swapping this extractor out would be a learning experience for myself. Very easy to break down/ work on. If you don't have any punches you can order the set of all punches you will need for an XD from a couple of the big XD people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XD525Shooter Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 If it's an extractor problem get ready to call Springfield. From what other XDM guys have told me you will have to ship the slide to them so they can "fit" an extractor. If you send it in ask them to fit and extra so you will have a spare in case it may fail again in the furture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landeeno Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 rammer jammer Ill get a punch kit ordered! Guess ill need to figure out exactly what else I want first because im not paying the shipping for just those punches! Or its a nice excuse to order something else..haha So has anyone else had to send there gun in and have work done from springfield? hows there turnaround and such? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justsomeguy Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 (edited) I have only seen this "semi-stovepipe" problem when my wife was shooting because of her penchant for limp wristing a gun. I had two guns that ran perfectly for 1500rnds and 800rnds and she managed to show your type of malfunction in both of them within 10 minutes. Both were 40's, one a 5.25 XDm, and the other a Witness Match. I have fired both of them before and after that day with no malfunctions of any kind. She can coax a malf out of anything I guess. What I am saying here is that although you may have a mechanical problem, you might be getting a bit too comfortable while shooting and occasionally limp wrist the gun. It is just something to perhaps be aware of though I am not ruling out a possible mechanical problem, especially since you acquired the gun used. You might get out a good magnifying glass and look for any rough spots or burrs on your extractor where the shell would enter it as it comes up from the magazine, or try to move it with your fingernail or very carefully with a non-marring tool. It is very stiff and any movement or looseness would indicate a problem there. Also, if you reload, I don't know what kind of cleaning procedure you use for your brass, but if some "stuff" is building up in the case groove it might occasionally affect the loading cycle. You did mention you had the problem also with factory Federal cartridges, so I dunno... but it was worth mentioning. You could also try to slip some once fired cases up into the extractor when you have the upper off the frame and see how well they fit in there. Springfield will NOT sell you an extractor because this is a fitted part and the way it grips the cases is critical to the operation of the gun. Edited July 12, 2012 by Justsomeguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landeeno Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 Although ive always sworn off limp wristing, it could very well be a problem. I didnt think I had that problem but with just getting started in this game I've been trying out a bunch of different grips to try and find my edge, and with it only happening during the first round of each match ive mentioned it makes sense because of the nerve factor and other things. I shot another 30-40 through yesterday with no problems but I wasnt practicing I was just working on accuracy so I had a good firm grip the whole time. You also mentioned the reloaded brass, I actually meant to mention this earlier, after shooting the day with the couple failure to loads I looked in the chamber and it looked like some tiny tiny brass shavings, it actually looked like we may have dropped a bullet in the dirt but we didnt. If I had already shot a few bad rounds through it before we loaded up the winchesters then that debree may have caused them to do the same??? Justsomeguy I'm with you on these problems because im having a really hard time believing this gun is already running a warn part. I just whole heartedly believe its a better gun than having malfunctions at 1400 rounds.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattwaage Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Have a friend with a 5.25 40 and he can jam his once and a while under extreme rapid fire. gets a FTE, (Never really looked at them he just clears them and complains) I think his slide may outrun his mag but not sure. If you think this might be the prob try a new or heavier recoil spring as others state to slow the slide down a little and provide more oooomph to get the bullet in. I have heard talk about some people chamfering the throat of the chamber maybe this would help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landeeno Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 Lighter spring would slow the slide down, but heavier would be unheard of in these guns because yes it would make it go faster but if my mag can't keep up then faster would be worse, if I went to a lighter spring maybe it would counteract it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattwaage Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 (edited) Lighter spring would slow the slide down, but heavier would be unheard of in these guns because yes it would make it go faster but if my mag can't keep up then faster would be worse, if I went to a lighter spring maybe it would counteract it. A heavier spring would slow the rearward motion of the slide and speed up the forward motion. Slower rearward motion may allow your mag more time to push the bullet up before the mag returns forward, and with more force. A lighter spring will increase the rearward speed of the slide and decrease the forward speed. Maybe A lighter spring would fix it if the problem is more with you (not saying it in a bad way at all) but perhaps its some sort of short stroking of the slide? If you are limp wristing a lighter spring would help to make sure the slide returns rearward fully. Its up to you if you think its due to outrunning your mag. Make sure it isnt limp wristing first though. you said its on the first round maybe you get a bad grip on your draw? Not sure how XDM extractors look but take the slide off and make sure you can slide a bullet into the breechface easily. If you added any aftermarket parts (or have broken stock ones) check to make sure the firing pin is not sticking out of the front of the breechface catching on the case? Edited July 14, 2012 by mattwaage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landeeno Posted July 15, 2012 Author Share Posted July 15, 2012 I haven't done anything other than the mags and Magwell, if what your saying about the springs it goes against everything I thought I know about them that's why I was argumentative on the last post? And it's never been the first or second round, during competition it's been at the end of the first mag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattwaage Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Must be something silly and easy. Im not sure how sringfields warranty is perhaps after the season is over return the pistol to stock and fire a bunch to make sure it malfunctions and if it does send it to the factory for them to fix? Then reinstall your parts and function check when it gets back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landeeno Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 I haven't been able to shoot a round in over a week but I took it all down and got serious with the cleaning, and I mean I always get q tips on it but I even got toothpicks out cleaning it so I'm gonna get some more mag springs in, and some new followers, and try everything out hard and see where we stand. It's not big enough of an issue for me to give my gun up and sit out some matches just to send into Springfield right now, but when I have a few weeks off during the winter months if this problem is still there then I'll send it in. After looking and seeing some tiny tiny brass shavings I'm thinking I may have ordered some bad rounds, with it being spotless and all parts perfect were gonna try and narrow it to the rounds. It's what I'm hoping the problem is, or a limp wrist from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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