Help - XD45 won't manually feed

I posted this on xdtalk, but thought I'd also post it here since several members are very knowledgeable...

I've put at least 1200 rounds through my XD45, though I haven't kept track. Only FTF/FTEs I ever had were with reloads, I quit using those and have had no problems whatsoever.

Recently I've had an issue with racking the slide with a loaded magazine-it simply doesn't want to. I've tried with WWB, Ranger Ts, and some Tulammo.

I can't say for sure this hasn't always been a problem, because I don't recall if I tried to rack the slide with a full magazine and one in the chamber. It appears to be a problem ejecting the chambered round when there is a loaded magazine.

There are no problems loading the initial round in any way.

There are no problems ejecting the chambered round if there is no magazine seated.

There are no problems ejecting the chambered round if the magazine is empty.

After looking at the ammunition that I ran through the gun after discovering this problem, there appear to be slight nicks toward the front of the bullets.

Also, occasionally the slide will cycle fine, and other times it will work if I pull really hard on the slide. More often than not though, the slide will not rack and eject the chambered round.

Again, I have had no problems when firing the weapon, only when manually racking the slide.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Off the top of my head I'd say it's a mag issue or maybe you don't have the grip safety depressed when racking the gun. Could also be that the safely is malfunctioning in some way. Perhaps the fully loaded mag is putting too much pressure on the slide to rack properly. Try it with different mags after you clean and lube the gun.

If you are still having the issue then call SA and return it for maintenance.

As for a temporary workaround, when loading the gun lock the slide to the rear and load via power-stroke.

sounds like a possible mag issue. I have seen this problem when pulling the slide back and releasing manually, and it was from the person retarding the slide speed. That might be part of the issue, but, sounds more like a mag problem.

I have tried it with three different mags, three different types of ammo, and I have cleaned the gun.

It's not a slide issue either. I'm gonna call Springfield and hopefully I can just get it taken care of.

I've never tried to clear an unfired round from the chamber without dropping the magazine. Will have to try it the next time I'm out to the range. The only time I have trouble with the slide manually is if I don't have the grip safety lever engaged completely. How are you gripping this thing while you manipulate the slide?

Just to be safe, I'd suggest you not attempt to fire this gun again until you are sure the problem is solved, or that there isn't a problem. And, personally, I wouldn't wait for Springfield to find out. Take it to a good gunsmith. If he says there is a real problem, then would be the time to send it to the factory.

Just my 2 cents worth.

sultan62 said:

I posted this on xdtalk, but thought I'd also post it here since several members are very knowledgeable...

I've put at least 1200 rounds through my XD45, though I haven't kept track. Only FTF/FTEs I ever had were with reloads, I quit using those and have had no problems whatsoever.

Recently I've had an issue with racking the slide with a loaded magazine-it simply doesn't want to. I've tried with WWB, Ranger Ts, and some Tulammo.

I can't say for sure this hasn't always been a problem, because I don't recall if I tried to rack the slide with a full magazine and one in the chamber. It appears to be a problem ejecting the chambered round when there is a loaded magazine.

There are no problems loading the initial round in any way.

There are no problems ejecting the chambered round if there is no magazine seated.

There are no problems ejecting the chambered round if the magazine is empty.

After looking at the ammunition that I ran through the gun after discovering this problem, there appear to be slight nicks toward the front of the bullets.

Also, occasionally the slide will cycle fine, and other times it will work if I pull really hard on the slide. More often than not though, the slide will not rack and eject the chambered round.

Again, I have had no problems when firing the weapon, only when manually racking the slide.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

First thing: Do not test for this using LIVE ammo. Use snap-caps or another dummy ammo.

If it's cycling correctly during normal firing, then it's clearly going to be a user input issue.

Let's trouble shoot. The 1st thing to address is that you're manually cycling the pistol and that's going to give you problems anyway as that's not how a pistol is intended to function. Watch that grip safety. When manually cycling you can loosen your grip just enough to cause problems. Make 100% sure you are pulling the slide fully rearward when manually cycling the slide (don't use the slide stop/release) and hold the pistol on its side as if you're clearing a dud round. When you're cycling manually if your pull is fully to the rear the chambered dummy round should eject normally and be pushed upward by the next round in the mag.

Next thing to examine are your magazines. Check the lips carefully for burs, then check your follower and spring. If you've stored your mags loaded for a length of time or stored them fully loaded for days on end, you're likely to have mag-spring memory problems due to them being compressed for too long.

If you have a bore light at your disposal (if not get one!), check the inside of the chamber very carefully (disassembled of course) for a bur near the front of the chamber. Also check the outside of the barrel and barrel hood for a bur. A cotton ball is a cheap tool for the outside when checking for a bur.

I've been noting some odd scrapes on my striker pull-plate. When you pull off your slide, check that as well to see if the wear is even or if it's creating specific points of contact. Identify those locations and work it down to the frame where those parts meet and look for odd wear as well.

The scratches you'll note on most casings are going to be from the round leaving the mag and entering the chamber. In some cases, specific scratches on a casing can be from a bur. That makes it difficult to tell if it's a bur if it's small.


No matter what you discover as the source, post it up. There are other XD shooters out there and the information is always valuable, even if it's an isolated issue.

The problem appears to be that the chambered round is contacting the top round in the magazine. The rear edge of the chambered round is getting caught at the lip of the case around the bullet of the topmost cartridge in the magazine. This appears to be an issue with a certain time range of the XD45s.

Got it back last week from SA. No work was done to it. I called them up, spoke to a few people before I got to the service department. They said they didn't do anything because it wasn't an issue while the gun was firing. I told them that if they couldn't find a problem and decided not to do anything, they should have called me as I included multiple ways to contact me on the letter I included detailing the problem. They said that I should have specified that I wished to be contacted.

They went on to say that I could send it in again and specify that I wished to be contacted.

One of the techs mentioned that it could be occurring because the gun was designed to function when fired, so it may just be that the slide isn't moving fast enough when cycling by hand. If I make sure to rack it really fast, it usually functions correctly.

I haven't decided if I'm going to send it back in. On one hand, I can make it work most of the time if I really try to; on the other, I carry it every day and I want to be able to simply TRB if there is a misfire without thinking about it.

Thoughts?

I'm really sorry to hear this about the factory. That's total BS. I have no problem whatsoever racking the slide to chamber a round, ANY TIME.

Forget SA and take it to a decent gunsmith. It can't cost you more than all the postage and phone calls - and you are more apt to get satisfaction.

Well SA pays all shipping, so what I'm considering now is talking to them again before I send it in, then sending it back.

sultan62 said:

Well SA pays all shipping, so what I'm considering now is talking to them again before I send it in, then sending it back.

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Hope you've got an alternate to carry then. Personally, I wouldn't want to be without my primary carry gun that long.

MamaLiberty said:

Hope you've got an alternate to carry then. Personally, I wouldn't want to be without my primary carry gun that long.

Click to expand...

I do - Ruger GP100. I'm better with the XD, but I'm pretty good with the wheelgun as well.