[MP0WER]

Originally Posted by CollinsE90

I don't know what I'm looking at, but it sure does look purty.

http://www.edbrown.com/customhandguns.htm

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by BMWinNorthdakota

Don't those Ed Browns run like 3 grand+ lol?

Better be good.

Not quite that much. I'm trying not to think about that aspect of it at the moment hah.

Originally Posted by darwin316

Love that Kobra man!

this thread reminds me that I still have to break in my Springfrield Pro, lol

Thank you sir. Springfield Pro?! Did I miss you posting a picture of that? If so - where can I see it?

Originally Posted by MisterSkiMask

That is a beautiful piece, enjoy it!

Thanks man! I thought the fit and finish on my TRP was outstanding - this is just unreal. She's tight but buttery smooth.

Originally Posted by MP0WER

Very nice! Know someone with a Cobra Carry and they love it!

I've got something coming in the mail from the midwest.... Will be beside myself until it gets here!

Thanks MP0WER. What do you have inbound?

Originally Posted by MisterSkiMask

This thread is responsible for thousands of $$$$ in gun sales

Hah so true. Honestly putting money into a firearm is a pretty darn good investment if you take care of it and sell it privately.

Originally Posted by CollinsE90

I don't know what I'm looking at, but it sure does look purty.

Thanks for the kind words Collins. It's an Ed Brown Kobra 1911. How is your XD running? Has the new mag solved your FTF issue?

[solefald]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

I just had to make your 1911 wait a bit more agonizing. How's that Mossberg?

that cobra is beautiful. i love dragon scale checkering on it.

Picking up the 1911 and my kids/girlfriends Remington 870 youth next Saturday. Got to play with my Springfield at the store the other day. Sooo smooth. Can't wait to get it, but the Mossberg is pretty damn sweet and keeping me entertained. Brought it down to the range yesterday and shot 5 rounds of regular and wobble trap. Took a bit to figure out the physics of it, but I am shooting consistent numbers (nothing impressive yet). It's a lot of shotgun for $450! Definitely satisfied, but now a friend of mine is looking to replace his absolutely stunning 3 week old Remington 1100 and shopping for one of these beauties below (Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon Sporting). So I am now planning for that next shotgun I can't even afford right now. lol




Oh, and I just came back from the range. They had a comedy show inside the 100 yard rifle range. lol. I've never seen anything like that before, but wanted to go and support, since all proceeds go to range improvement. They had a raffle at the end, so for the first time in my life I have won something! A Pelican case for a 15" laptop, which will easily fit 4 handguns

[Oregon]

Would it be reaching to include gun safes in this thread? I recently took delivery of a safe which is possibly a complete extravagance for a workin' man, like me.

3,000 lbs of hand-crafted, made in the USA, steel as art. I think it's beautiful, but then, I'm a machinist by trade/inclination.

http://www.graffundersafes.com/

Cheers,
O

[CollinsE90]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

Not quite that much. I'm trying not to think about that aspect of it at the moment hah.



Thank you sir. Springfield Pro?! Did I miss you posting a picture of that? If so - where can I see it?



Thanks man! I thought the fit and finish on my TRP was outstanding - this is just unreal. She's tight but buttery smooth.



Thanks MP0WER. What do you have inbound?



Hah so true. Honestly putting money into a firearm is a pretty darn good investment if you take care of it and sell it privately.



Thanks for the kind words Collins. It's an Ed Brown Kobra 1911. How is your XD running? Has the new mag solved your FTF issue?

Recieved the new mag, and it failed to fire mid mag while firing.

[CollinsE90]

Found this about the XD40's. Not sure what I'm reading, though.

http://www.xd-hs2000.com/longsliderelease.html

CAUTION- The following article describes modification of a factory part, and is offered for reader interest
and hopefully product improvement purposes. Doing so will probably void your warranty, and I will assume
no liability for damages or injuries if you choose to repeat this procedure on your guns.

Having suffered this malfunction once myself, I wondered what could cause this otherwise superbly-reliable
gun to have this problem. When gremlins of this kind rear their ugly heads, there are basically ten steps to
take toward killing them:

1. Establish that a problem exists.
I wanted to make sure that this wasn’t just a fluke, so the first order of business was to poll a good cross-section
of XD owners. No better place to do that than right here’ see it at www.xdtalk.com. When over 100 XD shooters
responded to this poll, I was convinced that a problem exists, particularly in .40 caliber guns and magazines. NEXD
(xdtalk member) has posted another .40 caliber specific poll at www.xdtalk.com

2. Identify the problem.
In normal operation, the slide stop lever has a spring which exerts light downward pressure on it until the follower
of the empty magazine engages it, overcomes the spring pressure and raises it into the notch in the slide. For the
slide to lock open with rounds still in the magazine, something has to exert an upward force on the slide stop lever.

3. Evaluate the potential hazards that the problem creates.
If, as the poll indicates, 10% of the XD's fail to fire in defensive shootings because the slide locked back- that's
way too high. The potential hazard is that the operator could be KILLED. I refuse to recommend the .40+ Glocks
because a far fewer percentage of them have experienced "explosive disassembly" on the range. I will make no
exception for Springfield's product, until the problem is corrected.

4. Isolate the conditions in which the problem exists.
It appears that in virtually all reported cases, either the gun or magazine involved has been of .40 caliber. The
problem occurs when firing with .40 caliber XD’s, or firing 9mm XD’s with .40 caliber XD magazines. 9mm XD’s are
evidently not afflicted with this problem, at least in any meaningful numbers- so long as you stick with 9mm magazines.

In my case at least, I believe there is another contributing factor. The XD that locked open while firing had always
functioned great when shooting from the bench, or in any relaxed shooting position where either or both hands are on
the gun. It wasn’t until I started doing “yank & blast” two-handed drills that the problem manifested itself.

I have been doing combat shooting with hard-kicking handguns for years; everything from 3” 1911’s to a 4” S&W .44
Magnum- with full magnum loads. In order to control these unruly beasts in “yank & blast” drills, I long ago adopted
a two-handed hold that involves crushing the heel of the off-hand into the butt of the gun. In my case, this is the
left hand. The photo below illustrates the result:

With guns that use a flush-fitting magazine, like the 1911, this is of no consequence. With guns that use and extended
base-plate ( XD, etc.) this type of grip presses hard on the base of the magazine from the left, and if there is some
play in the mag well the top of the magazine is going to move a few thousandths of an inch. If you are what my Dad
used to call a “hard-handed individual” (weightlifter, bricklayer, mechanic, martial artist, etc.) this effect is probably
magnified by that fact.

5. Eliminate potential causes which have no relevance.
Often, one or both of the shooter’s thumbs bump the slide lock under recoil. As an old 1911 shooter I had to get over the
"high-thumb" grip a long time ago, and these problems disappeared when I did. I trained a lot of cops over the years and
have seen this problem resurface occasionally, with various auto-pistols. The established training solution is to turn the
shooting-hand thumb down, and place the off-hand thumb on top of it. If the problem persists after that point, you either
have a gun or magazine problem. The slide lock/release on the XD is unobtrusive, and protected to some degree by a shelf
molded into the frame. I did not see it as being particularly susceptible to this problem, so long as the shooter makes a
reasonable effort to avoid it.

Unfortunately, this does not seem to cure the problem with 40-XD’s.

A shelf on the magazine follower is what activates the slide lock- and when the magazine has rounds in it, the follower
simply can't contact the slide lock. The problem has to lie somewhere else, unless the rounds themselves are hitting the
inward extension of the slide lock. This was considered as a possibility worthy of further investigation.

If the spring that acts upon the slide lock fails, the slide could certainly lock open when the lever jumped up under
recoil. The slide lock would also probably flop around like a loose tooth, which was obviously not the case here.

6. Positively identify the actual source of the problem.
I began by field stripping both our XD-40’s and checking the cartridge presentation characteristics with several different
factory loads, and the reload I was shooting when my “slide lock incident” occurred. With double column magazines like the
XD uses, live rounds rise in columns on either side. It was immediately apparent that those presenting from the left side of
the magazine were very close to touching the inward extension of the slide lock, when the round above them was presented for
feeding from the magazine. This essentially translates into the eighth, sixth and fourth round loaded into 10-round, .40
caliber magazines. I recalled that my slide lock malfunction had occurred on the third round fired, from a fully-loaded gun-
the eighth round loaded in the magazine.

With the slide off the gun and a magazine loaded with nine rounds, this became readily apparent. The round directly below the
top round rode dangerously close to the inward extension of the slide release. By duplicating the two-handed grip described
in #5 above, I noted that I could feel the slide stop rubbing the #8 cartridge when I moved it with my thumb. As I suspected,
the condition was aggravated by the heel of the support hand pushing inward on the left side of the magazine baseplate. There
was enough play in the magazine well to allow the top of the magazine to shift to the left a few thousandths fo an inch, under
the pressure.

Seeing for it myself wasn’t enough, however, and I needed to be able to illustrate it for those who have pulled their hair out
trying to figure out what was causing this problem. Springfield Armory also has a right to be presented with the results of
the experiment, to provide them with the opportunity to make the appropriate changes to effect a cure. So I took a Magic Marker
and blackened the bullets on the four factory loads and one reload, as illustrated and listed below, left to right:

WW 165 FMJ, UMC 180 FMJ, Wolf 180 FMJ, UMC 180 JHP, 175 SWC reload
Repeating this exercise with the blackened rounds produced a significant rub mark, where the inward extension of the slide lock
rubbed on all but the SWC reload, as can be seen in the photo below. The aforementioned contact point shows up as a little brass
“comma” on the nose of the cartridge. They appear in the same order as above:

I am at a loss to explain why the reload malfunctioned, other than the fact that it was a very low-powered load. I am going to
“bump it up” a tenth of a grain before the next batch gets run off, and I’m sure that will be enough to insure positive function.

Between the comparison of the cartridge presentation characteristics 9mm and .40 XD’s, I was pretty sure we had a winner here-
but the bold type says “positively” identify the source of the problem- so I wanted to be sure. Since the poll indicated that this
is a “.40 caliber problem”, I decided to compare the slide lock/cartridge clearance between the 9mm and .40 caliber guns. If a picture
is really worth a thousand words, this one is worth the entire effort I put into this experiment. I used a resized case as the #9
(top) “round” in the .40XD photo, so a bullet wouldn’t block the view:

Please note that I did not precisely size the pictures of each gun listed above, but if you look at the arrows you will see the
difference in clearance between the 9mm and .40 caliber guns. Unlike the .40 magazines, the 9mm magazines tend to arrange the top
two rounds almost vertically. This creates plenty of clearance to allow good function, even under adverse conditions.

In a final effort to insure that I just didn’t “get a pair XD-40’s with XD-9 slide locks mistakenly installed in them”, I decided
to call Springfield and inquire if the 9mm, .40 and .357 XD’s use different slide locks, for each caliber.

I was told what I suspected all along- the same slide lock is used on all three guns.

7. Correct the actual source of the problem.
This problem can only be corrected by shortening the inward extension of the slide lock. This must be accomplished without over-
shortening it, and negating the purpose of having a slide lock in the first place. The current-issue part was well (if not perfectly)
engineered for the 9mm cartridge. Equally apparent is the fact that is does not allow sufficient clearance for the .40’s, particularly
when dirt, sand and Mr. Murphy start playing a tune on the inside of your gun. Rounds which present up the left side of the XD-40
magazine are eventually going to contact the internal extension of the issue slide lock- and it evidently don’t take much contact to
raise it enough to lock the slide. A slightly-stronger spring extension acting on the slide lock might also help prevent this malfunction,
so long as it still allows it to function as originally designed.

I disassembled both our .40’s, took measurements on the internal extension of the factory slide lock, and determined that both measured
almost .174” exactly. I also noted that mine had some brass-colored transfer on it, where it had been rubbing the copper bullet jackets.
I proceeded slowly, removing about .005” and reassembling each time, to insure that they would still raise the lock into position on an
empty magazine.

I stopped after removing .025”, which produced significant clearance for rounds in the magazine. The modified part is shown in the two
photos below, next to an unmodified part. Hopefully this will give some indication, by comparison, of how much metal was removed.

Next, I modified Peggi’s 40-XD in the same manner. Upon reassembling both guns, I studied the cartridge presentation characteristics
with the modification. The difference is easily noticed, and leaves plenty of clearance for crud and fouling. I also repeated the
“marked cartridge” exercise described in #6 above. It was now impossible to touch or mark any cartridge with the inward extension of
the slide lock, regardless of the grip used or the effort made.

Shortening the inward extension of the slide lock by .025” seems to work well in both our guns. I am confident that Springfield can
come up with a modified slide lock that will work in the .40 caliber guns.

8. Test to insure that the “correction” does not create problems of its own.
The only foreseeable “problem” the modification could produce is a possible failure to lock the slide open after the last round is
fired. I tested both guns by ripping the slide back on an empty magazine, and letting it slam forward as if it were being fired. The
modified slide lock functioned as designed, each and every time. Even if it hadn’t, I would much rather have a gun that will positively
function until it is empty. The AK is my SHTF carbine, and I know the drill. I can reload it and get it running again in short order.

9. Test correction under varying and severe conditions.
See #10 Below.

10. Consider the problem solved.
The jury is still out on these two- but after seeing the rub marks on test cartridges, I am pretty confident that .40 caliber bullet-noses
impinging on the inward extension of the slide lock were the primary contributing factor in this malfunction. Too many of you reported
that you had taken precautions to avoid shooter-induced malfunctions, and still the problem kept occurring. It was time to look inside the gun.

Even if I were wrong on this, the situation creates an unnecessarily-fertile environment for a malfunction to occur. The difference in the
round/slide lock clearance between the .40 & 9mm guns is striking.

By my personal reliability standards, this situation needs to be corrected by Springfield before the XD-40’s can merit serious consideration
as carry guns. Mine did get corrected, and the only reservation I had regarding the XD-40 is now gone.

An old training axiom goes something like this; “This is simply A way to solve a problem. It may not be the ONLY way. Learn what
works in your circumstances, and keep an open mind about new methods as they are discovered.”

It certainly applies here.

By xdtalk member: Invsst
August, 06 2004

[CollinsE90]

Also,

[Fredds112]

Originally Posted by CollinsE90

Also,

and this is the reason why some places wont allow you to wear serpa holsters

[nittany]

just picked this up today, my xdm 9mm compact, sorry for the poor iphone pic, but i like it

[CollinsE90]

Get the mag extension for it, adds length to the grip^

[MP0WER]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

Thanks MP0WER. What do you have inbound?

Something along the lines of your cobra. I've officially been bitten by the 1911 bug. I'm already eyeing up a carry 1911 to replace my glock 23.

This is a pic of what's coming..... i love that it's all murdered out and has no visible logos.

[MisterSkiMask]

All right, you bastards are making me want a custom 1911 (I have been afraid to dabble in custom guns for years...because I know I will love them). Knock it OFF!!! I am about to have two mortgages and you guys have no sympathy!!!!!

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by CollinsE90

Recieved the new mag, and it failed to fire mid mag while firing.

Damn man. That's frustrating. It will make practice much more enjoyable if you don't have to worry about malfunctions. There are a few other things that could be causing the problem. I'll PM you soon.

Originally Posted by MP0WER

Something along the lines of your cobra. I've officially been bitten by the 1911 bug. I'm already eyeing up a carry 1911 to replace my glock 23.

This is a pic of what's coming..... i love that it's all murdered out and has no visible logos.

EXCELLENT choice. You are going to LOVE it.

Originally Posted by MisterSkiMask

All right, you bastards are making me want a custom 1911 (I have been afraid to dabble in custom guns for years...because I know I will love them). Knock it OFF!!! I am about to have two mortgages and you guys have no sympathy!!!!!

You've got your priorities in the right place, for sure.

That being said, you only live once man! Do it!!

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by Oregon

Would it be reaching to include gun safes in this thread? I recently took delivery of a safe which is possibly a complete extravagance for a workin' man, like me.

3,000 lbs of hand-crafted, made in the USA, steel as art. I think it's beautiful, but then, I'm a machinist by trade/inclination.

Cheers,
O

That's a hell of a safe you got there O! I think it looks outstanding. And most definitely, gun safe pics are welcome in this thread as well.

[Fredds112]

Originally Posted by MisterSkiMask

All right, you bastards are making me want a custom 1911 (I have been afraid to dabble in custom guns for years...because I know I will love them). Knock it OFF!!! I am about to have two mortgages and you guys have no sympathy!!!!!

You'll thank us later

[bosstones]

Went to check out a fairly new range this weekend (On-Target). It's been a few weeks since I last went to one since I've been TDY. Even more interesting is that I smashed my hand a work again. It did not seem to affect my lack of skill so it is therefore not a suitable excuse. Previously, I would tend to go left and high, but, for the most part, I seem to have that under control (still do it sometimes, but no where near as bad as before.....usually...lol). I had, however, done some dry fire exercises to help me diagnose my tendency to shoot a bit low. For me, shooting low is the new "left and high". I was pretty sure my trigger control was the culprit. My noobness on the trigger would cause a slight muzzle dip of varying degrees. By the end of my hour at the range, I shot some pretty good groups (for me). Granted, these were fairly close range, but I figure going out too far is just wasting ammo (and $) at this point in time.

The pix below are where I ended up at the end of my session. The first pic is w/ the CZ (75B) at 5 or 7yds...I don't remember but it may have been 5yds since I was occasionally deviating from my normal 7yds. The second and third are with the Buckmark; from 7yds and 10yds, respectively. For the latter, I was feeling cheap so I started aiming off center (purposely, I swear!) at various spots to see how well I could group my shots. I marked up the image to indicate the various spots I was aiming. It could've been a lot worse. It didn't help that I was starting to not focus on my front sight as well since my contacts were bothering me a little (should've swapped out for a new pair last week). I also started rushing since I was almost thru my bulk pack of Federal 22LR and my range time was up....didn't want to bring home a near empty box of ammo!

Anyways, it is a good feeling to notice some improvement! I figure to gradually move out to longer ranges as I am able to consistently get a tight grouping on my shots. I'll bring out the XDM more at that point in time, too.

BTW, ybbiz, curious but what is making the XDM line of Springfields grow on you (vs the XD's)?

Collins, that sucks about your FTF issue. Hope it gets diagnosed and resolved soon.

[MP0WER]

Originally Posted by MisterSkiMask

All right, you bastards are making me want a custom 1911 (I have been afraid to dabble in custom guns for years...because I know I will love them). Knock it OFF!!! I am about to have two mortgages and you guys have no sympathy!!!!!

I feel the same way, i almost suspect that i'll have some buyer's remorse. But i'm thinking no. We'll see.

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

EXCELLENT choice. You are going to LOVE it.

I hope so, the guy i bought it from is really cool. he's in Michigan and is a dealer for Wilson Combat, Ed Brown & Nighthawk. Has a few of each in stock for sale. Gunslingers.com

[darwin316]

man, i'm lovin all the 1911s in this thread...especially since we're posting semi-custom ones!

ybbiz34, I did post a pic of the Pro, but would gladly repost it, lol







This completed my dream of owning the top 1911 semi-custom maker... Brown, Baer, Wilson, Nighthawk and Springfield Custom.

My next goal is to buy a Colt series 70 and sending it out to Heirloom Precision for a full house build

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by bosstones

Anyways, it is a good feeling to notice some improvement! I figure to gradually move out to longer ranges as I am able to consistently get a tight grouping on my shots. I'll bring out the XDM more at that point in time, too.

BTW, ybbiz, curious but what is making the XDM line of Springfields grow on you (vs the XD's)?

Nice shooting man!

I took my M&P 9 Shield to the range the other day. At one point, after warming up a bit, I put one round in the sternum of the silhouette and the next six follow-up shots landed in the same spot, creating one ragged hole. This was at about 10 yards. I'm no marksman, but I was very impressed with the performance of a pistol that small.

Regarding the XDM, I prefer its ergonomics, aesthetics (subjective and irrelevant criterion), and I think it is a nice touch that the XDM pistols come with a "match grade" barrel. I don't have "extensive" experience with either of the variants. I still can only tolerate a grip safety on a 1911.

Originally Posted by MP0WER

I hope so, the guy i bought it from is really cool. he's in Michigan and is a dealer for Wilson Combat, Ed Brown & Nighthawk. Has a few of each in stock for sale. Gunslingers.com

Nighthawk Custom makes outstanding pistols. I really like the finish on the pistol that you have ordered. That gun just looks mean but gorgeous at the same time.

I think that someday, I'd like to have a Wilson Combat, a Les Baer, and Nighthawk Custom as well. In no particular order. And also a Springfield Professional.

BTW, do you have a link to that site? I went to "gunslingers.com" and it was not what I was expecting it to be.

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by darwin316

man, i'm lovin all the 1911s in this thread...especially since we're posting semi-custom ones!

ybbiz34, I did post a pic of the Pro, but would gladly repost it, lol






This completed my dream of owning the top 1911 semi-custom maker... Brown, Baer, Wilson, Nighthawk and Springfield Custom.

My next goal is to buy a Colt series 70 and sending it out to Heirloom Precision for a full house build

Wow you posted this just as I was typing out my "dream" 1911 list. Haha.

And thank you for re-posting your Pro. Looks outstanding. I would love to get my hands on one of those someday.

[darwin316]

Haha...we have the same taste in guns man. George at gunslingers is awesome. I got my Wilson, Baer, Brown, and pro from him. His website is migunslingers.com

[solefald]

Originally Posted by darwin316

man, i'm lovin all the 1911s in this thread...especially since we're posting semi-custom ones!

ybbiz34, I did post a pic of the Pro, but would gladly repost it, lol







This completed my dream of owning the top 1911 semi-custom maker... Brown, Baer, Wilson, Nighthawk and Springfield Custom.

My next goal is to buy a Colt series 70 and sending it out to Heirloom Precision for a full house build

I just can't look at this thing without drooling... and my want list is getting longer and longer. I am already looking to expand my consulting business for the sole purpose of financing fire arms purchases. My new motto is: "Work hard. Buy more guns."

Oh, and here is a new Arsenal Arms 2011-A1. My people know how to make a stupid-looking gun....