Cliff R Posted January 29, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2020 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...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted January 29, 2020 Report Share Posted January 29, 2020 They ran over it, tied it to a car dragging it, buried it in mud,sand, on and on. Firing 5k without issue. IMO no personally but doesn't fail. Just my 2 mags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff R Posted January 29, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2020 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....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARTrooper Posted January 31, 2020 Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 On 1/29/2020 at 6:16 AM, Cliff R said: 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...... What pistol was this that you were having problems with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisco Posted January 31, 2020 Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 Made the mistake yesterday of handling a full size XD in 45 acp at the local Bass Pro shop. I know this will not end well for my bank account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff R Posted January 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 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?........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketch Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 (edited) set back those hollow point projos a couple more thousand.. like 2. see if that works. I had a run in reloading hp and just needed little extra.. Edited February 1, 2020 by sketch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98Z5V Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 On 1/29/2020 at 5:16 AM, Cliff R said: My main objective here is reliability. I bought a 45 ACP auto pistol in another brand and it jams with hollow point ammo. Feed ramp issue. Nothing more, nothing less. That's the only thing that trips up hollow-points on a .45ACP. Chamfer that feed ramp. Feed like a champ. It's all about the feed ramp angle. And it's nothing more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff R Posted February 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 (edited) 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 Edited February 1, 2020 by Cliff R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff R Posted February 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98Z5V Posted February 1, 2020 Report Share Posted February 1, 2020 That sucker nose-dived hard in that magazine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff R Posted February 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2020 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........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted February 2, 2020 Report Share Posted February 2, 2020 Might as well get the threaded barrel and suppressor sights brother 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff R Posted February 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2020 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.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff R Posted February 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2020 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......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted February 3, 2020 Report Share Posted February 3, 2020 Outfukinstanding brother Cliff 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff R Posted February 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2020 Thanks.......hopefully it doesn't jam like the S & W does.......going to run some mags thru it later today time permitting..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff R Posted February 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 (edited) 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 Edited February 5, 2020 by Cliff R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 Hell yeah 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98Z5V Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 (edited) I've loved my XDs45 since day one - once I stopped limp-wristing it, or trying to shoot it like a 5" 1911... Hell of a pistol. Edited February 5, 2020 by 98Z5V Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff R Posted February 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 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........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketch Posted February 6, 2020 Report Share Posted February 6, 2020 xd-s family is growing ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff R Posted February 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2020 Yep, I'm eye-balling a 3.8" full size pistol right now in FDE. It might just follow me home here one of these days!....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketch Posted February 7, 2020 Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 get a tactical version adds a threaded barrel just in case you can can down the road. 🇺🇸🍻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff R Posted February 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 Good plan. Not in a hurry and not really wanting to add another 9mm right now anyhow, but I really like the look and feel of that pistol, plus 19 + 1 capacity...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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