Cliff R

I didn't even pay attention to shooting style, just very carefully cranked off each round. The distance to the target was apprx 12 steps, so pretty close. Each round was deliberate but still surprised me and I didn't flinch, anticipate, jerk the trigger or force the shot. It has a very nice trigger for this type of weapon and quick to get on the next shot. It will be my new CCW gun and primary weapon when I'm on the job (CSI). Ordered up a couple of 7 round mags for it yesterday, it only came with a 5 flush fit and a 6 round with a sleeve on it........

Despite the heavy rain we had here most of the day I managed to put some mags thru the XD-S 45. All I can say is WOW! Flawless operation, which I kind of expected. What I didn't expect was the accuracy. Staying back under the porch I shot a hole in the center of the top I cut from my new burn barrel,, then fired a couple of mags at the hole. Ended up with one hole a little high and left of the single hole I was aiming at. ALL the rounds from two mags went thru the same 3" or so hole they gouged out in the lid. Not going to pound the rear sight over just yet even though all the rounds were slightly left of center as it was gloomy out today and I was having trouble seeing the front sight standing back under the porch. I'd say she's a keeper!.......Cliff

Thanks.......hopefully it doesn't jam like the S & W does.......going to run some mags thru it later today time permitting.....

Good ending to this saga. The new XDS 9mm runs FLAWLESSLY. I even ran a bunch of really old/crusty 9mm thru it that got wet at some point. The only malfunction was one of the crusty rounds failed to fire and the primer hit looked fine. It fed and extracted the green/moldy cases w/o issue otherwise. Ran some hollowpoints thru it as well, good to go. It's also very accurate and trigger is decent for a striker fired pistol. I managed to keep a few 25 yard groups under about 4" firing as fast as I could get back on target. Even better ending to the story, I wondered over to Rural King to get some chicken and rabbit feed late yesterday. Of course I have to visit the gun counter and see what the latest deals are. Low and behold there is an XDS-45 on clearance for $299. Well, you know how that ended........ Pic below is the XDS-9mm venting my new burn barrel. 10 shots as fast as I could fire them at 15 yards.........

Good plan. I'll flog the XDS in 9mm a bit first, then take a look at some XD's in 45...... I've never ran into this sort of thing before, thought the Shield 45 was going to be a good CCW but it's not going to work for me. Once I know something has an issue, especially something that I may need at some point for self defense, it's just flat got to "run" and run flawlessly..........

Correct. Did some more shooting with it yesterday. It runs fine if I put a death grip on it, jams if I "limp-wrist" it (only on the first 2-3 rounds) and allow it to recoil back like one would do if target shooting. Part of the issue is the basic design of the magazines. As I mentioned above the first 4 rounds stay stacked together, rounds 5, 6 and 7 separate and develop a significant gap allowing the nose of the bullet room to move down. I'll bet if I had high speed footage on this deal when I touch off a round and not holding the weapon firmly the top bullet in the magazine is driven d DOWN before it has a chance to move forward instead of straight into the feed ramp/chamber. It'll run hard ball w/o issues as they are slippery enough to push past the nose-jam scenario. So I either change my shooting style to a firm grip or send it down the road and get something that will run no matter how I hold it or what ammo I try to put thru it........ Hum.......took me about that long to make a decision.....going to send it down the road and try an XD in 45........

Update. Found a few minutes to run some mags thru the S & W 45 Shield. Jammed 2nd round first mag. Then ran 3 more mags w/o issues. After the jam I put a "death grip" on the pistol and rapid fired all the rounds thru it as fast as I could get back on target. When it jammed on the first mag I was holding it very loose and basically "target" shooting. If you look at the attached pics no amount of polishing feed ramps will correct that issue. The nose of the bullet is jammed WAY down in the mag well......Cliff

Smith and Wesson replaced the barrel, guide rod and spring, and polished the feed ramp to the bring of extinction. They did NOT polish the small area under it that leads up to the feed ramp and is part of the frame, so I did that here yesterday, hopefully it will help. In addition to polishing it I made sure it has perfect alignment and same exact angle as the barrels feed ramp. One thing I noticed is that it only jams on the first, 2nd and 3rd round then runs the rest of the mags without issue. This confused me a bit at first, then I discovered that after the 4 round is loaded the next three develop a space between them and the round under them in the front or bullet end of the rounds. This allows the nose of the bullet to move down about 1/8" as it moves forward for the first three rounds. What is happening is that the nose of the bullet is pointing down into the magazine well when it jams, rear of the bullet is up. Even with a super polished ramp it tries to shove the first three rounds down far enough to basically lock the weapon up. It's impossible to clear without removing the magazine. Compounding the issues may be my "light" grip shooting style. I shot competitively for quite a few years (Bullseye) and did some long range handgunning as well with heavy 44 magnum loads. I don't fight the recoil in the least and the pistol surprises me with each shot and flips up and back pointing almost vertical after I touch off a round. Going to try a much firmer grip and faster recovery for back-up shots to see if this helps the issues. It may be a combination of ammo, magazines, and shooting style. Smith and Wesson's customer service was EXCELLENT, and they really worked this weapon over replacing nearly 15 items according to the invoice, and didn't charge me for the work or shipping either way. Then when I called and said it still jammed they shipped new mags and new followers for the old ones, simply based on my word. Pretty unusual but shows their commitment to fixing any issues they have with their products. We've had the absolute WORST weather for a January that I can ever remember, has rained the past 5 weekends and my entire property is a big mud hole. Hopefully today it will be nice enough to run some mags thru this pistol to see if all the work has helped. If not I'm going to send it down the road and try something else........thanks for the help..........Cliff

The pistol I'm having issues with is a S & W 45 Shield. I purchased it about 2 years ago, it jammed a few times, couldn't really figure it out, didn't feel comfortable carrying it so threw it in the back of the safe. Decided to pull it back out couple of months ago and spend some more time with it, same thing, jam, jam, jam. Tweaked the magazines a bit, lubed the chit out of it, ran a bunch of hard ball thru it, things were doing well, loaded up some hollow points and jam, jam, jam. Gave up on it again and sent it back to S & W. Got it back a few weeks ago, they say it runs, jammed 3 times on the first magazine...WTF?? I called them and they immediately sent new magazines which I'll try out this weekend to see if things improve?........

Good to hear. I'm trying to snag an XDS in 45ACP but they haven't had one in stock since the first day the sale started. Deb ended up with the 9mm that I picked up last week so the hunt is still on.......

My main objective here is reliability. I bought a 45 ACP auto pistol in another brand and it jams with hollow point ammo. I even sent it back to the manufacturer and they replaced the barrel, guide rod, spring and polished the feed ramp, and said it was fine. Got it back and 3 jams on the first magazine. I was using Remington 230 grain hollow points. It runs fine with 230 grain ball ammo but I still don't trust it and for close up and personal self defense I want to use hollow points not ball ammo.. I called and complained and they sent new magazines which I haven't tried out as of yet, but the old ones look identical so I'm not expecting a fix there. Once a weapon proves to me to be unreliable I don't trust it with my life, so that's why I'm making the switch to the XD. Nothing but raving reviews as far as reliability is concerned......

"The xd-s in 9mm and the hellcat are actually 2 pistols i am looking at for my new main cc and secondary for while on duty. Just worked 26 hours of overtime this past week, so soon as i get paid i will be seeing what i want to buy. Other brands are on the list though." I looked closely at the Hellcat but like the addition of the grip safety on the XDS. Cost really wasn't a big motivator but it is over $125 less right now than the Hellcat. 9 plus 1 in a small package is enough firepower for my primary weapons since I'm behind the scenes doing CSI work, not on the front lines dealing with chit-hooks up close and personal on a daily basis. If I were back in uniform on patrol I'd be carrying a full size .45 or maybe even a 10mm, with the highest capacity flush fit mags I could find for it......

I started with a Browning B-78 so was up at the top of the scale. Didn't like the rifle much, WAY too heavy and single shot so moved to the Marlin platform in the mid-1980's. Played around with several different powder/bullet combo's, even some home-made cast bullets (400 grains/gas checked), then settled on Reloader 7 and 300 grain Winchester hollow points (bought 1000 of them). I push that bullet with 55 grains of RL-7 where I used 60 grains in the B-78. Never had any issues and it goes across the chrony at 2400fps. That load is probably going to be considered +P in the Marlin platform so don't go out there are copy it. In recent years I've backed it off to 50 grains RL-7 and the same 300 grain jacketed hollow point bullet. Really didn't change much at any distance that I can tell and just a fuzz-nut easier on the shooter. Even so these loads are not for the faint of heart. As far as a hunting load...everything I've shot with them to date has been yanked straight to the ground without taking another step!.........Cliff

Cool, feedback greatly appreciated. I had actually put one on layaway at Rural King couple of days ago when they ran a closeout on the XDS 3.3 mod 2's with a "range kit". Went ahead and picked it up about an hour ago. It came with 5 magazines, detachable laser, range bag, etc. Pouring down rain at the moment but plan on putting a few rounds thru it over the next few days and will report back. Deb will end up with this one. I'm eye-balling an XD-M in FDE, which fits me a little better than the single-stack XD-S. It will probably follow me home this weekend......

Thanks for the replies and I greatly appreciate the expertise found on here vs "google", U-Tube, etc. Although not AR related I certainly appreciate any feedback, and I don't trust a lot of U-Tube reviews, plus I have trouble watching many of them as I'm not the first bit interested in everything they did since reaching puberty, I just want the "meat and potatoes" on the weapon being discussed without all the "drama". My main requirement is that what I get will "run". Accuracy and "stopping power" not really important as most likely I'm going to have the purp in a head lock and roll one in thru his eyeball anyhow.......seriously, in my environment for sure it's going to up-close and personal...... I dabbled a bit with some smaller 380's a few years ago when I took the CSI job here and no matter what I bought would jam just often enough they all went bye-bye and I've been carrying a S & W Airweight .38 ever since. Looking for a similar size package with a bit more firepower, reliable, and quicker to reload, etc..........

I'm in the market for a smaller concealed carry 9mm, SCREAM-IN deals on XDS's at the moment. I have ZERO experience with this company and those sort of pistols, any good?......tks.....

The 45/70 has great potential in the right weapon. The problem with factory loads is that many older guns chambered for it will not take the heavy pounding of higher pressure "high performance" hand loads. I've been exploiting the 45/70 round sine the early 1980's and have not found a better propellant for it that Reloader 7. Depending on bullet weight (I prefer 300 grain bullets as they are easier on the shooter and flatter trajectory) 50 to 60 grains of Reloader 7 will have bullet performance knocking on the door of the 458 Win mag. The increased velocity also step things up for long range shots. I wouldn't hesitate to take a shot on an Elk at 300 yards with my 300 grain loads at 2400fps and in the right conditions could stretch that out to at least 400 yards. Sadly though I don't use the 45/70 much since moving to AR platforms for hunting, especially out West. I like the weatherproof and rugged design of my AR's much better. I've taken some pretty hard falls in rough terrain at high altitudes over the years and beat up my Marlin 45/70 some. I consider the 308-AR a better choice for that type of hunting and it's tough as nails and no worries at all when I go down hard and toss it into a snow-drift. I just pick it up, wipe it off and keep going........Cliff

I barely notice it in a hunting scenario. It "thumps" a bit bench resting it especially in the summer with just a t-shirt on, but not nearly as much as folks regurgitate about it on the Forum's. If you want to get whacked shoot one of my Marlin 45/70's with a full case of Reloader 7 pushing a 300 grain bullet at 2400FPS. I make sure to remove my hat and glasses before I touch one of those off, because they are going to be on the ground anyhow!......LOL.....Cliff

Not meant to get you off-track but for hunting anything on this Continent out to 250 yards difficult to beat the 450 Bushmaster. 250 grain bullet at 2200fps, DEADLY accurate right out of the box with factory Hornady ammunition. I have an early Bushmaster upper, chrome lined, extremely light and every 100 yard group I've ever shot thru it puts ALL of the bullets literally in the same hole if the shooter does their part. I've seen nothing out of the box to rival it using factory ammo. Even with all the stops pulled out to lighten things up you'll be pushing 10 pounds with these larger platforms. Not trying to talk you into or out of anything, just be aware than the larger 308-AR based guns are considerably heavier. My 308-AR crosses the scale at 10 pounds with a lighter profile 14.7" barrel, A-2 stock and smaller 2-7 Leupold scope on it. I haven't weighed the 450 Bushmaster but it's a LOT lighter and more manageable.........Cliff

Good news. Hang tough brother....... I grabbed up a couple more of the surplus vests for under $12. Going to set one up for hunting trips out West to carry my gear and side arm vs hiking in with a backpack. Easier access and better weight distribution is what I was looking for. Not getting any younger and all our hunting is done over 10,000' in pretty rough terrain........

Cool chit for sure! Don't feel bad, I never completely knew how they worked either, and was the Small Arms Instructor at every unit I was attached to/stationed at after graduating SMI school in 1985. We had A2's, M-9's and Remington 870 shotguns in the safe at every unit. I even shot on the rifle/pistol team for a few years, and built and ran the Armory at my last unit after 9-11 mandated that all units be armed and qualified personnel carry weapons. I didn't really look into specific function/parts used until many years after I retired, because at the user level it really does't matter what's going on inside the weapon, it just has to "run" effectively no matter which mode you have it in.......Cliff

I use/prefer USA made and for the most part my set-ups are Military issue gear. I was looking to add a light weight vest and mag pouches for range days this summer in the heat and ordered these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0819RM93B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00475QK4Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 They may be less expensive elsewhere but the wife had a bunch of free-points saved up on Amazon so I used them........Cliff

"A lot of folks I shoot with would have missed 6? 11? 17+1? times." .....and probably at HALF that distance IF they shoot like most of my friends!.....LOL.....

......and I'll bet the guy carrying it knows how to use it.....

My nephew sent me the live footage. Not sure if it will forward to anyone else. It seems to unfold slowly but is ended quickly. The one guy had trouble "clearing leather" and unfortunately took a round center mass before he could get any shots off. Seconds after the shooting was over guns armed congregation members start showing up in force. Certainly glad to see that it was not only ended quickly but a Church service on Sunday (at least in Texas) is no longer a "soft" target........Cliff