Un-supported Chambers?

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Ok I know Glocks have un-supported chambers, as seen here:



But do Springfield XD's also have un-supported chambers?

I've heard thatun-supported chambersmight have a hand in causing KaBooms, is this true? Particularly the .40S&W models.

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It's fully supported.

I just broke mine down to take a photo for you, but then I realized that I don't currently have a camera suitable for the task :quirky

The ramp does not intrude into the chamber at all.

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marshaul wrote:

It's fully supported.

I just broke mine down to take a photo for you, but then I realized that I don't currently have a camera suitable for the task :quirky

The ramp does not intrude into the chamber at all.

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Well that's good news, thanks for checking for me marshaul!

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The only manufacturer I know ofthat has made a barrel that does not fully support the cartridge at the 6-o'clock position was Glock, and they changed that in the latest generations of the gun.
There have been several catastrohic failures (Kaboom's) stated about glocks, but a great perecntage of them were caused from reloaded ammo that were hotter than SAAMI specs. The .40 is a high pressure round to begin with, bumping it up is not a good idea IMO.
Ihave more of a concern with a pistol firing out of battery than an unsupported chamber. if a pistol fires out of battery, there is nothing there to contain the beast and it gets real ugly, real quick.

I got to see a 1911 that had all it internals destroyed from a factory round, and when it happned we thought it was a dud round, we heard nothing when the trigger was pulled. But the slide could not be budged, it was locked tight.
What happened is the cartridge did not have a flash hole for the primer, so all that energy from the primer was contained and it broke steel components in the gun because of it.

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Here is my XD40 barrel with a chambered cartridge showing the fully supported chamber.
sorry about the background, I didn't realize my computer screen was that dirty.

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How common is a firearm going off when not in bettery? What causes something like this to happen?

And thatnks for the pic Jeeper.

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The two major causes of firing out of battery are hammer follow or a malfunctioning disconnector.

On external hammer guns like the 1911, if the hammer follows the slide it may strike the firing pin at just the right time so as to permit the pin to strike the live round, but the gun is not yet fully in battery (i.e. the slide is still partway back).

If the disconnector fails on any gun, the sear is effectively disabled during the recoil cycle, the lock no longer functions, meaning the hammer may follow (as above), or, on striker fired guns, the striker goes right forward as soon as at is done being pushed back. Same result.

This should never happen on any properly functioning handgun. Whereas, there are accounts of Glocks KBing even with factory ammo. Many Glock fans deny this, but why then did they suddenly change the design, after seemingly being content for years telling owners not to reload for their Glocks? Either way, buy a new Glock and it shouldn't be susceptible to KBs with its new fully-supported chamber.

Also, some long guns, like later SKSs, have a "free floating" (i.e. half-assed engineering) firing pins which lack a firing pin return spring, which, in combination with "soft" non-mil-surp primers and some crud in the firing pin channel causing the pin to get stuck, leads to frequent out of battery discharges, or at least slam-fires.

Opinion: any gun with a firing pin which "normally" strikes the primer during feeding, and relies wholly on the hardness of the primer to avoid discharge from this, is of incomplete mechanical design.

Edit: with that said, it's a very good idea to keep your firing pin channels clean, as this can cause out of battery firing, or "full-auto" firing, on just about any gun. However, on most guns that represents an extreme case, and is rather rare.

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Thanks for the explanation Marshaul.

I'm getting a new handgun this week and was really considering Glock. I'm on alot of forums, including Glock Talk. I do alot of reading about alot of guns because I like to educate myself and it helps me make a decision. But honestly, I'm getting more and more nervous about Glock everyday. I really don't think I want one anymore, it just kind of seems like a toss of a coin when you buy one.

From what I hear you either get a Glock that run perfectly or you get a $500 hunk of garbage that jams, malfunctions, or blows up. I don't think I'm even going to give one a chance as of now

That being said, would a XD be a better choice? I'm considering an XD, 1911 (RIA, Para, SA), or even a revolver. I just can't decide, but I was leaning towards Glock until I started to research them. Got any advice for me?

P.S. I've shot a 1911, and a revolver along with quite a few other semi autos, but never a "safe action" polymer pistol.

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Personally, I would get the XD, or a 1911.

XD has a better trigger (single-action and it can be tuned to feel like it is, too), better grip angle, a better (but much shorter) track record (some people care more about decades in service than specific anecdotes), and a tougher slide. The XD makes up for its use of a fully-single-action trigger by including a grip safety.

However, many people argue that the Glock provides a more naturally-assumed grip angle when used with an aggressive, forward-leaning stance. Also, the Glock has a better finish on the slide. The Glock trades other external safeties for its semi-double-action trigger, which some far prefer to a grip safety (but which I don't). The Glock also has a decent rep for working well in and around water.

It's more a matter of preference than one being "better". Personally, I think the XD is an improvement over the "Glock era" of polymer pistols. Many think it's a cheap knock-off.

My first pistol was a RIA 1911, $400. Their Tactical model is a steal, best bargain around IMO.

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marshaul wrote:

Personally, I would get the XD, or a 1911.

XD has a better trigger (single-action and it can be tuned to feel like it is, too), better grip angle, a better (but much shorter) track record (some people care more about decades in service than specific anecdotes), and a tougher slide. The XD makes up for its use of a fully-single-action trigger by including a grip safety.

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I think they're both great guns. I just prefer the XD. However, I may be investing in a G26 pretty soon. My friend let me handle his off duty weapon, G27 and it was pretty nice.

Otherwise my advice to anyone is, "Try it out!"

Everyone has personal preferences and pistol makers today have met or exceeded everything Glock has to it's name. So it's a wide open market.

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marshaul wrote:

Opinion: any gun with a firing pin which "normally" strikes the primer during feeding, and relies wholly on the hardness of the primer to avoid discharge from this, is of incomplete mechanical design.


Marshaul

M1As, M14s and Garands, just to name a few, all have free floating firing pins. I do not believe any of them suffer from incomplete mechanical design. If you are reloading for any of the above rifles one would be advised to use the harder primers. You cant blame a screwdriver for not being a good hammer.

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Orphan wrote:

marshaul wrote:

Opinion: any gun with a firing pin which "normally" strikes the primer during feeding, and relies wholly on the hardness of the primer to avoid discharge from this, is of incomplete mechanical design.


Marshaul

M1As, M14s and Garands, just to name a few, all have free floating firing pins. I do not believe any of them suffer from incomplete mechanical design. If you are reloading for any of the above rifles one would be advised to use the harder primers. You cant blame a screwdriver for not being a good hammer.

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Yeah, I figured someone would bring that up. I was really referring to SKSs, where people run them without return springs because that's how they were built after commie cost-cutting measures, and then claim the gun "shouldn't have" a return spring. Still, I question the good sense in building a gun which is unsafe with civilian "soft" primers. Personally, I would never treat a gun without a firing pin return spring as anything other than a display/safe/range queen.

Edit: No, I don't blame it, but when all I find use for are hammers, what the hell good does a screwdriver do me?

If I were being issued free ammo, all according to mil-spec, then it wouldn't be an issue. Back in the real world, where the ability to shoot what ammo I might happen to come across actually has value, then, yes, a gun which might slamfire on the wrong ammo is a serious liability, and an unnecessary one at that.

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Marshaul

OK Iunderstand the SKS ran without return springs may have problems and agreewith you fully.

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Not sure what previous Glock barrels were like and I only have one to go by - My Glock was built last January - but when I look at it next to a LWD barrel it does have bit more gap at the 6 o'clock postion and it leaves a noticable bulge there in the fired casing.

I bought it for it's reliability and ruggedness so I'm thinking you've been listening to haters without knowing the details of their experiences - like: Were they using reloads and had a hot load in it? Or do they even have much experience with a Glock in the first place?

I trust my Glock implicitly but I also don't push it to extremes like it's indestructable. Just like any other gun I have.

Just my opinion. Certainly no lab thatI'm in testing everything.

But this guy ran his own tests and showed it has some toughness we shouldn't expect from any gun:

http://www.theprepared.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90&Item

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj5Kcs4dzro&feature=player_embedded#

Is this tough enough and reliable enoughfor you? Would you try this with any other gun?

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SeniorDep,

I was also considering going with a Glock for my everyday carrier. I finally decided on the Springfield Armory XDm .40 (Bi-Tone green & Blk)

The glock just did not feel right in my hand and the sights did fall into alignment naturally for me either. I really really wanted a glock, but I spent a few weeks doing some serious research and I just felt better with the XDm. Then I started looking at all the different generations of Glocks, and the tons of new stock that was previous generations that I found alot of.


Now they just released an XDm 3.8, a shorter version of the standard XDm.

Find a range that rents both guns, and fire them to see which feels better in your hand and which one is easier to hit the target with, do not listen to any of us, you got to figure this out by finding which has a better fit for you.

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CommonMan101,

I've seen both of those examples of Glocks reliability and the are quite impressive. But I'm on GlockTalk.com and even it's memebers there seem to have alot of problems with jamming, FTF, FTE and so on. This is what worries me the most and makes me second guess a Glock. They do feel great in my hand though and I some times I say to myself "I'm getting a Glock, end of story", and at other times I hear others people's experiences and say "There's no way in this world I'm messing with one of those things".

So I'm really torn with the decision. I've been researching guns for close to 2 years or more and more specifically handguns for about 7 months. And I mean alot of researching. Iknew how to disassemble a Glock, XD, and 1911 before I ever even picked one up.

I'm really looking into an XD or a Glock, or possibly a 1911. But this is what concerns me:

1. Glock- No external safties, just a trigger safety with a DAO trigger

2. XD- Trigger safety and grip safety but once grip safety is depressed it's SAO.

3. XD- Has 2 HUGE frame rails that can be removed, but the back ones are polymer

4. Glock- Has 4 frame rails, but they are kind of tiny

5. 1911- Probably not as durable as the GLock/XD. I've never seen any torture tests done to one besides firing alot of rounds in a short amount of time. Be they are quite nice to look at.

OK I'm done with my rant, I'm just trying to figure out what's the best pistol for me.

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marshaul wrote:

The two major causes of firing out of battery are hammer follow or a malfunctioning disconnector.

On external hammer guns like the 1911, if the hammer follows the slide it may strike the firing pin at just the right time so as to permit the pin to strike the live round, but the gun is not yet fully in battery (i.e. the slide is still partway back).

If the disconnector fails on any gun, the sear is effectively disabled during the recoil cycle, the lock no longer functions, meaning the hammer may follow (as above), or, on striker fired guns, the striker goes right forward as soon as at is done being pushed back. Same result.

This should never happen on any properly functioning handgun. Whereas, there are accounts of Glocks KBing even with factory ammo. Many Glock fans deny this, but why then did they suddenly change the design, after seemingly being content for years telling owners not to reload for their Glocks? Either way, buy a new Glock and it shouldn't be susceptible to KBs with its new fully-supported chamber.

Also, some long guns, like later SKSs, have a "free floating" (i.e. half-assed engineering) firing pins which lack a firing pin return spring, which, in combination with "soft" non-mil-surp primers and some crud in the firing pin channel causing the pin to get stuck, leads to frequent out of battery discharges, or at least slam-fires.

Opinion: any gun with a firing pin which "normally" strikes the primer during feeding, and relies wholly on the hardness of the primer to avoid discharge from this, is of incomplete mechanical design.

Edit: with that said, it's a very good idea to keep your firing pin channels clean, as this can cause out of battery firing, or "full-auto" firing, on just about any gun. However, on most guns that represents an extreme case, and is rather rare

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No s*&t, Sherlock. I have a hard time believing anyone would deliberately design a firearm in which the primer would be struck at any time other than the intended moment of discharge. I used to think the worst-designed firearm in history was that cheap Japanese WWII POS with the exposed "suicide sear", but if anyone has everdeliberately designed a firearm as you describe, then the Jap pistol goes to #2 on my list.

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I wish you happy hunting for finding one you'll be happy with. When I start getting any kind of failure I'll be sure to pass on what I know. I also use aftermarket barrels and they are flawless so far too.

I can't say I shot the first round out of it since they come with two casings that were fired at the factory but I've gone from#3 to over 1,500 combined rounds of 10mm, 40sw, and 357sig so far without a hitch. Do I expect it to always be that way? no, but it's good enough for me. I've been shooting since I was 6 and every gun I've shot has had some kind of bum ammo fed into it at some time.

The grip did not feel natural to me when I started using it but now it feels just fine and now my hand goes right to the postition of great control over it naturally. When I shot a cousin's 45 XD at our last shoot the thing that stood out for me was how smooth the trigger was compared to my Glock.

Practically, as an end result, the safety on an XD functions the same - it won't shoot until you pull the trigger - yes, with the XD you do need to depress the safety on the backstrap, and I like that feature,but you're still pulling the trigger on purpose and there is no lever to switch like a 1911 has - you just pick it up and shoot. We can drop them all we want and put pressure on the trigger from the side withoutthem triggering. Neither one should ever fire just from dropping it - the safety is always on in both when your booger hook isn't involved. No switch to forget about or flip in an emergency draw.

He was nailing4 inch targets at 45 yards with my Glock and after we were done said it was more accurate than his XD. I am not accurate enough to test that though!

I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you end up with. Good luck! I don't personally know anyone who is displeased with owning either. Heck the one guy I know that has a Taurus 45acp is happy and I haven't seen a failure out of it either but I've onlywitnessed a few hundred rounds come out of it.


Added in edit: Of course thebest answer to your struggle in choosing is to get all 3!! Nothing wrong about having a Glock, XD and a 1911 in the stable!

:monkey

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Thanks for the reply CommonMan101. I guess I'll just go to the shop this week and hold all of them again and go off what feels best for me. And if it turns out the gun is a dud or just doesn't function correctly after a few hundred rounds, I'll just get rid of it. But I'll let everyone know what I get. :celebrate