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The following is reported at Modern Home Security:
Reports of Springfield XD Cracked Locking Block
There have been reports of locking blocks cracking on some Springfield XDs. The locking block is shown in the Springfield Armory XD manual in the exploded view of the frame. The manual is available here.
The information presented here is in no way intended to discredit Springfield Armory or the XD series. Personally, I find them to be fine firearms. In my experience, in the instances where owners reported problems to Springfield Armory, the firearm was repaired and returned in a very timely manner.
I simply want to show XD owners how to inspect their firearms for this particular problem. The good news is that, apparently, if a crack begin to appear, it will be obvious long before the operation of the firearm comes into question. In other words, you should have plenty of warning.
Before you inspect your firearm, make sure you follow the safety procedure outlined in the owner's manual. Please unload it and triple-check the mag well and the breech to make sure there are no rounds in the firearm.
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In the picture, you will see the frames of two XDs viewed from the top. The one on the left is a .45 ACP Tactical purchased new in June of 2006. On the right is a .40 S&W sub-compact purchased new in September of 2006.
Springfield has already taken steps to correct the problem. By rounding the edges of the inner corners of the locking block, the stress applied is to corner is dispersed. This should eliminate the cracking problem.
This was done on the .45 shown on the left.
The .40 on the right has not been modified. Perhaps this is unnecessary, as the problem seems to be related to pistols with longer barrels. The XD .40 sub-compact has only a 3" barrel.
You may notice an aberration on the right side of the locking block in the .40 cal. I increased the zoom factor and enhanced the image here, but I still cannot tell if this is the beginning of a crack. This would be unusual, as this pistol was fired only at the factory. As of this writing, I have not had a chance to get it to the range.
By the way, the .45 has had about 500 rounds through it.
Don't be alarmed by the way the metal appears under high magnification. Any metal begins to look a bit odd as the zoom factor is increased.
Here is an enhanced view of the factory mod done on the XD45.
As I said earlier, you might want to take a look at your XD or have a gunsmith inspect it. Based on my previous dealings with Springfield Armory's customer service, I suspect you will be satisfied.
The article can be found at; http://www.modernhomesecurity.com/items/item96.htm
- Janq
Reports of Springfield XD Cracked Locking Block
There have been reports of locking blocks cracking on some Springfield XDs. The locking block is shown in the Springfield Armory XD manual in the exploded view of the frame. The manual is available here.
The information presented here is in no way intended to discredit Springfield Armory or the XD series. Personally, I find them to be fine firearms. In my experience, in the instances where owners reported problems to Springfield Armory, the firearm was repaired and returned in a very timely manner.
I simply want to show XD owners how to inspect their firearms for this particular problem. The good news is that, apparently, if a crack begin to appear, it will be obvious long before the operation of the firearm comes into question. In other words, you should have plenty of warning.
Before you inspect your firearm, make sure you follow the safety procedure outlined in the owner's manual. Please unload it and triple-check the mag well and the breech to make sure there are no rounds in the firearm.
In the picture, you will see the frames of two XDs viewed from the top. The one on the left is a .45 ACP Tactical purchased new in June of 2006. On the right is a .40 S&W sub-compact purchased new in September of 2006.
Springfield has already taken steps to correct the problem. By rounding the edges of the inner corners of the locking block, the stress applied is to corner is dispersed. This should eliminate the cracking problem.
This was done on the .45 shown on the left.
The .40 on the right has not been modified. Perhaps this is unnecessary, as the problem seems to be related to pistols with longer barrels. The XD .40 sub-compact has only a 3" barrel.
You may notice an aberration on the right side of the locking block in the .40 cal. I increased the zoom factor and enhanced the image here, but I still cannot tell if this is the beginning of a crack. This would be unusual, as this pistol was fired only at the factory. As of this writing, I have not had a chance to get it to the range.
By the way, the .45 has had about 500 rounds through it.
Don't be alarmed by the way the metal appears under high magnification. Any metal begins to look a bit odd as the zoom factor is increased.
Here is an enhanced view of the factory mod done on the XD45.
As I said earlier, you might want to take a look at your XD or have a gunsmith inspect it. Based on my previous dealings with Springfield Armory's customer service, I suspect you will be satisfied.
The article can be found at; http://www.modernhomesecurity.com/items/item96.htm
- Janq
