XD(m) 10mm extractor

[Steve in Allentown PA]

I recently had the opportunity to put a brand new Springfield XD(m) 5.25" 10mm through its paces.  I've put rounds through a Rock Island 1911 10mm so this was a chance to do a compare and contrast.

 

This new XD(m) is an eye opener.  It is much more civilized than the Rock in as much as the recoil is not as sharp and it doesn't launch brass into low earth orbit.  It carries 15 rounds in the mag so the grip is bigger than a 1911 but it is not at all awkward.  In fact, it beats the feel of the Glock grip hands down.  As long as I mentioned Glock let me say this factory XD(m) trigger is much, much better than Glock's.  If I weren't a dyed-in-the-wool 1911 fan boy, I wouldn't hesitate to get one of these XD(m)s.

 

The only fly in the ointment was that cleaning after a range session revealed a brass smear on an edge of the ejection port.  The brass had a corresponding ding.  This in no way compromised functioning.  The pistol ran 100% with no malfunctions of any kind.  Still, the brass smear got my attention so I broke out the Optivisor and 10X loupe to see if I could track down the cause.  I believe the extractor is the culprit.

 

Here's a picture of the brass smear.  It's much easier to see in real life so I marked the spot with a yellow circle.  It's right on the edge where the side of the slide meets the ejection port.  Using a Dremel to relieve that sharp edge would probably fix the problem but refinishing the slide would require more time and money than I'd care to spend.

I've worked on lots of 1911s over the years so the first thing that popped into my mind about the cause of the brass impacting the slide was the ejector.  A close examination of the ejector showed that it had no damage and was shaped appropriately to get the brass to rotate up.  So, I turned my attention to the extractor.  You can see in the picture below that it's very similar to a 1911 extractor.  It has the same basic areas: claw, tensioning wall, and locating pad.  The way it is retained in the slide is a pain and requires a special tool to remove.  You can see where the shaft of the extractor contacts the slide immediately in front of the circular retaining portion of the extractor.

Below is a close up view of the busiess end of the extractor.  I don't like what I see here.  The edge of the extractor claw is in hard contact with the case (A), the tensioning wall is not in contact with the case rim (C), and the base of the case is not flush against the breechface (B).  If this were a .45 1911, I'd file the ejector claw so that it didn't touch the case and I'd file the locating pad to achieve 0.010" extractor deflection.  Plus I'd do a little rounding and polishing where appropriate.  Based on my previous 1911 experience I think this would cure the issue of the brass smacking into the side of the slide.

 

The thing is I have no experience with XD extractors so I don't know if my proposed modifications would be approved of by the folks at Springfield.  Not in terms of warranty but in terms of the official design specs.  If anyone has any opinions, actual experience with these XD extractors, or knowledge of the design specs, I'd be happy to hear your feedback.

 

I'd sure like to know if anyone out there (Springer?) sells 10mm XD(m) extractors.

Edited December 19, 2018 by Steve in Allentown PA

[Joe4d]

you could dress up "A" a hair... But think u may be asking a bit much.
These are massed produced guns designed to run when just put together by semiskilled labor. 
I mean my XDM osp retailed for $425,,, and its one heck of a gun and hasnt missed a beat... Now compare that to 1k Para's and 2 K STI's that seems to need constant tweaking and fine tuning.

[Steve RA]

I'm not sure the breech face is flat, from looking at the above picture.

[Larry White]

1. I would bet that the extractor is the same as the xdm 40, Springer has them. I really don't see a problem here unless its deforming brass to the point that its not reloadable. I have a couple of guns that get that mark at the port. The brass is reloadable, I just shoot them.--------------Larry
2.  

[Steve in Allentown PA]

Guys, thanks for your replies.  As I said, the pistol has had zero malfunctions of any kind.  I just like to tinker and if I had another extractor, I'd whittle on it as an experiment.  The only thing holding me back is the cost of a new extractor not knowing if it is of the same dimensions as the 10mm.

[mont1120]

I have tried to buy just the extractor from Springfield, and they flat refuse to sell one. You have to send it back for service if you choose to do any work on it and find it does not operate correctly.

 

That is my biggest gripe about Springfield, some replacement parts are nearly impossible to get. No extractors, no slides, and they can be real difficult to get in touch with. Good repair service though.

[Larry White]

Springer and powder river precision have almost everthing you could need.----------------Larry