Cast boolit designs for SPringfield XDS?

[Steel185]

My question is more on the "which design" than "if it will work". I just got my XDS and I'm "ok" with it, not over the happy but not disappointed. I used 230Gr Lead TC bullet i use on my 1911 and it worked fine after the first round. I think i didn't rack the slide hard enough. The rest worked great, 4 mags in a row. Then i used 160gr SWC, and these are your normal SWC but much smaller cone, so it caused the most "issues" lots of jams with the bullet bouncing off the ramp and wedging into the roof. I tried lower powered SWC loads and i think that was the root cause, when i used the same SWC with a hot load it worked better, but not perfect. All of these loads and designs work amazing on my Kimber 1911 Gold Match, so some of it is me finding what the XDS likes. There are several variables going on, new gun, me new to gun(first XD or XDS), different bullets and then different loads on the bullets.

If anyone casts their own i was curious which design works the best for you.

[kir_kenix]

I've found that my XDS has an extremely short throat. Loads that work fine in various other .45 pistols and rifles are too long to function in the XDS. I have to seat most boolits quite a bit deeper to cycle in the XDS than any 1911, Sig, Glock, Taurus, or other handguns I own. My favorite has been 185 SWC's, but had to play with the OAL a bit to get them to cycle 100%.

I like my XDS, and I've been shooting it quite a bit lately. Usually only 45-60 rounds per range session. You can tell its a big bore handgun, even when firing the 185gr SWC at only 750 fps. The 230gr +p stuff is rediculous.

[nicholst55]

I experienced similar problems with a high-dollar, big-name aftermarket barrel in my 1911. The chamber had virtually no throat at all, and loads that performed flawlessly in other barrels gave me no end of problems. I ended up having my gunsmith cut a throat, and all is well now. You might want to consider having your XD barrel's throat opened up a bit.

I would far rather spend the few bucks required for the gunsmithing work than have to worry about loading special ammo for one gun. I have multiple guns cambered for the same cartridge, and I insist on ammo commonality for the vast majority of them. I don't want to have to worry about grabbing the wrong ammo for a gun and then having functioning problems with it.

[rnhathaway]

I use a 452630 with my XDm 3.8 and it shoots GREAT. Cycles em just as good as my STI does.

[williamwaco]

I have never been able to make any cast bullet less than A 200 grain SWC feed reliably in ANY 1911.

[rnhathaway]

I have never been able to make any cast bullet less than A 200 grain SWC feed reliably in ANY 1911.
Shoot a 155gr is my STI and it shoots like a laser. 5.6gr of Unique. Awesome load!

[2wheelDuke]

I haven't got to hold, let alone shoot an XDS, but I'd bet they like my 200gr Mihec RNHP boolits.

[Steel185]

I experienced similar problems with a high-dollar, big-name aftermarket barrel in my 1911. The chamber had virtually no throat at all, and loads that performed flawlessly in other barrels gave me no end of problems. I ended up having my gunsmith cut a throat, and all is well now. You might want to consider having your XD barrel's throat opened up a bit.

I would far rather spend the few bucks required for the gunsmithing work than have to worry about loading special ammo for one gun. I have multiple guns cambered for the same cartridge, and I insist on ammo commonality for the vast majority of them. I don't want to have to worry about grabbing the wrong ammo for a gun and then having functioning problems with it.

interesting, i wouldn't have thought of that right away, I'll look into that. I WAS thinking I'd have to look at my hardness, OAL, and loads just for this gun and such a pain that would be. If it is a throat issue, you solution would make it so much better.

Anyone with an XDS, does it feel "very tight" all around, slide on the frame, slide release lever,... just about everything? i can't remember the last time i actually put the first round through a gun, and maybe I'm used to mine with around 2K+ rounds through them. Just wanted to see if I'm in the same boat or need to do some work.

[Wots]

I have more then 500 Mihec 452-200 thru mine. No problems after zeroing in on the oal. A pleasure to shoot.

[nouseforaname1246]

My xds was a pain in the *** for the first 2-300 rounds. Its a very tight gun and needs breaking in. I was having the exact same problem with failure to feed at first. In the process of playing around with 3 different bullet styles and different oals and loads I broke it in and now I can feed it just about anything. I am now feeding it the 230 gr lee tc over 4.3 gr of bullseye. So far its gone through 600 of those without any malfunctions.

[Steel185]

I did some measuring with the XDS barrel. holding it vertical (chamber up) i dropped in several loads and measured the distance to the end of the barrel with some calipers. The empty brass, the TC 230gr (Lee 90289), and NOE 230gr HP all measured within .001 (limit of my calipers as far as accuracy i imagine) at total 3.316. I measured the SWC and it was 3.327 a .011 difference. The OAL of the SWC (Lee custom mold simlar to a saeco or redding in the recent Lyman casting handbook pg 276) of 160gr is 1.255 as its suppose to be in Lyman casting manual (4th ed, page 276) In greater detail of this little boolit, i measured the edge of the shoulder to the base of the brass (loaded at OAL of 1.255) and it was .950 (empty brass .889) putting it .061 infront of the brass. It looks like the throat are of my XDS is around .05. I would have to extend the throat by .011 or shorten the OAL. Since it is the longest load and i only have to shorten it by .01 i think I'll go at it that way instead of taking the barrel to a gunsmith and have him open the throat. It might be simple for the gunsmith but i just don't want to risk anything going wrong. I feel comfortable with OAL of 1.245 with the SWC and i don't feel it will increase the pressure too much, i wish i would have known this when designing the mold and i would have shorten the shoulder a little. I don't load that round to extremes, usually plinking loads. I wrote this in detail for anyone looking for solutions to issues like mine in the future. Good luck and thanks for Nicholsts55 for putting me on this path so quickly.

[kir_kenix]

I will probably have my XDS throated at some point in the future. Right now I am fine loading a special batch of XDS fodder. It would be way better for me to load a bunch of .45 ammo that functioned in all of my guns. I guess the deep seated ammo would work in all of my guns, but I doubt a huge jump due to the longer throat would be great for accuracy. In addition to being increadibly short, the throat "seems" (no scientific way to judge this right now) very abrupt.

Keep me posted if one of you guys lengthens the throat on your XDS. I would be very interested to hear your results, especially before and after through a chronograph.

[horsemen61]

So do all xds have a short throat?

[8mmFan]

I don't shoot the XDs, but I do shoot an XD 45. The Lee 200 SWC never seemed to work reliably at any load or OAL. The Lee 230 RN has never materially failed.

[Steel185]

The issue is with the shoulder of the SWC, mine when loaded sticks up about .061 above the brass, where as other rounds start to taper before that. The TC is about as close as i have to the RN and it works fine. 8mm if you can't get the 200 SWC you should try measuring like i did and then shorten up your OAL by a bit and see if that helps. That's assuming shooting the SWC is worth the hassle, it might not be for you.

I plan on updating the post with the same measurements from my Kimber, but i haven't made them yet. It could be the kimber has a throat just .01 longer and I've never ran up against it. So to say the XDS has a short throat, all of them do, or that its a negative take away from the gun would be twisting the data. The SWC i use is the longest OAL of all the boolits in the Lyman casting handbook 4th ed. And its the only one i have an issue with, I believe its just a minor adjustment and it will work in the XDS, and all my 45ACP guns, so its not "custom" ammo for the XDS.

[Spector]

Within 3 weeks of receiving my XDS I developed psoriatic arthritis in my wrists so I don't know that mine is ever going to be fun to shoot like my Glock 21 was. I went to a specialist and he is treating it. That is helping and hopefully it will get even better after they increase the dosage of one of the meds.

I have only put 100 boolits through my XDS, but so far there have been no boolit related malfunctions. Just my thumb accidentally locking the slide back once.

I immediately noticed the short throat as some 230 TC boolits I'd used in my Glock would not chamber in the XDS at the seat depth I had previously used.

I'm using a Lee 255 RF that has been milled to only throw a 217 grain boolit. I had this done before Lee offered their 200 grain RF and I am using Pat Marlin's pop can gas checks on those. I have only tried WIN 231 from 5.3 gr. to 5.7 gr. so far. No leading, but I was not overly impressed with the bore finish in my XDS.......Mike

[375H&HGuy]

I have shot 230 hardball factory, 230 and 185 factory hollowpoint defensive ammo in my XDS. But by far, my primary ammo is a handload consisting of a 200 grain Lee SWC Tumble lube boolit, unsized and tumble lubed in Lee Alox over 4.3 grains of Bullseye. I have shot to date over 2000 of these through it without a hickup. The little pistol just eats those 200 SWC's like candy. They are very accurate too. I did have the chance to answer my own questions about the longer H&G 68 style SWC the other day when I discovered some old Black Hills 200 grain factory ammo I forgot I had. I fed these through the XDS with no problems at all. They too were accurate. I have to say that the XDS has quickly become one of my favorites.

[gunoil]

nicholst55 has it nailed, thats what i am going to do, and the front chamber is micro pitted also.

I have had great luck with lee 228 gr RN, 6 cav mold. OAL has to be dead on and lil' short.

[SyberShooter]

My XD-s has reliably eaten everything I have tried in it. 200 SWC, 225 LRN, 230JHP, GD, GS, XTP & HST

[FThera]

What are you guys sizing your bullets to for the XDs?

[375H&HGuy]

The best thing to do is slug the bore of your particular pistol and go from there. About .002 over bore diameter is a good rule of thumb. Mine are running about .452 out of the mold so I don't size them. I just cast and tumble lube and load. When I worked up the load, I first loaded up some dummy rounds sans primer and powder to make sure the boolits were not too fat to chamber. They weren't and when I later ran the test loads and got no leading I was good to go.

[kir_kenix]

I put 250-275 rounds through my XDs the other day. All 185gr Lee's my wife casted from a 6 banger last week. I don't have the OAL in front of me, but I did have to use the barrel as a depth gauge and deffinetly had to seat them deaper then I do for any other autoloader I use. Also shot 2 mags of Magtech "golden" 230+p...REDICULOUS.

It is a really accurate pistol for such a short sight radius. I was able to bang the 8" steel at 50 yards very regularly with this boolit over a light target load of BE. I am about 99% convinced to go ahead and have the throat lengthened. I'm sure I would shoot this pistol more often at the range if I didn't have to load a special batch of ammo for it periodically. I always bring a .45 and ammo to the range, and I am usually carrying the XDs IWB when I go...but I can't shoot all the ammo I brought through the XDs.

I'm a huge fan of this pistol in just about every way. Wish it came with night-sights, but the fiber optics are pretty good for such an inexpensive pistol. Wish the throat was longer and the barrel finished better. And for range use, I wish it didn't eject the magazine so violently, but this is a good feature in a carry gun. I will buy a 9mm XDs when it becomes available.

[FThera]

Mine slugged at .450. So did my XDm Compact so am sizing to .452 I agree these guns are great shooters! Im loading some Red River #68 Clones and getting ready to cast some #68 clones from my new Mihec mold. I also can't wait for my new NOE 200gr fp/hp mold.

[jonp]

This is interesting to me as a friend just asked.me to load a few rounds for his new xds. He said 230gr factory torqued the gun so much it was unpleasent to shoot and was discouraged enough that after a few hundred rounds he was thinking of getting rid of it. I told him I had gone to 200gr boolits in my cw45 kahr and suggested he try them first. I am going to load 20 200gr rnfp Missouri boolits designed for the XD over 4.2gr promo for him as that is what I use before he goes out and buys some. The short throat everyone is talking about makes me think I will have to play with it some.

[SyberShooter]

I think the short throat is common to XD pistols in general. I have 5 of them in 9-40 & 45 and every one of them eats multiple factory brands and bullets designs with no problem but every one of them needs lead seated deeper than I do for my other guns of the same caliber. I just design for the shortest one and shoot that in all of them.

[FThera]

Have him try a Pearce Grip Extension on the short mag, or the extended mag. I dont find factory loads that bad in my XDs. It does have more muzzel flip than my XDm Compact though.

[gunoil]

i have 451 sized. They have to be seated lil' lower i guess. Aint the pistol a "HS-2000" founded in europe over 15 years ago? Hell yea. Q.C. is down in america. The springfield one is a different bird.

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/8CB115A1-A32B-4723-A1AA-91B938915FD0-4113-0000047FD632346D_zps7e6d9560.jpg
Not happy with that barrel inside or out.

[gunoil]

I've found that my XDS has an extremely short throat. Loads that work fine in various other .45 pistols and rifles are too long to function in the XDS. I have to seat most boolits quite a bit deeper to cycle in the XDS than any 1911, Sig, Glock, Taurus, or other handguns I own. My favorite has been 185 SWC's, but had to play with the OAL a bit to get them to cycle 100%.

I like my XDS, and I've been shooting it quite a bit lately. Usually only 45-60 rounds per range session. You can tell its a big bore handgun, even when firing the 185gr SWC at only 750 fps. The 230gr +p stuff is rediculous.

Short throat for sure, any lead rite past the top brass will get caught on throat. I just shoot lite cast plinkers. Then i have store bought stuff.

Casting lee (mold) 90352-a 6 cavity mold. They have to have a deeper seat in the xds. Iam trying some at 1.211 OAL W/only 4.6 gr win 231
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/470AD3CB-844C-407E-80FD-DEAC82CD1C58-1805-00000264B6762570_zps34ff434c.jpg

[300blk ftw]

I'm seating my 230gr TC to 1.18 and it shoots great. I'm using 4.8gr of bullseye. 82561

[popper]

My XDs is a 9 and is tight but works great. 130 gr TC, H-T coated - no malfunctions. 9 XD with RN is a different situation. 40 XDm works fine also, TC or SWC. I just don't use the RN anymore, too much PITA.

[cwheel]

I ran the throating reamer in mine, took less than 5 min to do and all is fine. ( I have a nice new reamer ) I ran a mix of what ever I could find just to check it out after reaming and all headspace and run fine. I just finished a run of 45 acp before getting the XDS. Didn't look forward to having reseat those rounds to make them work in the XDS. Sure, you can make it work by adjusting the OAL of the round, but I want to be able to use my ammo in any 45 acp I have and not have a run of "special rounds" for this XDS. Guess it wouldn't matter if the XDS was the only 45 acp you have. As quick and easy as the ream job is, no reason to go down the road with special ammo. As easy a step to do in the barrel production as it would be, a little surprised Springfield doesn't pick this up and do it. Be glad to see it return from the recall, shipped it out 9/5/2013. After the throating job, I got off 200 or so of my reloads, lee 225 round nose on top of 6gr. of Unique. This little pistol is surprisingly accurate for having a 3.3" barrel. I'm running the same Lee 6 banger mold as Gunoil. Difference is I'm seating @1.250 with a lite taper crimp and 6gr. of Unique.

Chris

[oscarflytyer]

Shot a few cast thru mine - before I had to send the *%&^# thing back on recall. Shooting a H&G #68 clone (MiHec) 200 LSWC tumble lubed in 45/45/10. No FTFs. COAL same as all my other 1911s (excet one that is actually long throat...) - 1.225". Yet to find a 45 that didn't like this bullet.

[MacFan]

My 230gr. round nose are seated to 1.263 and 185gr. semi wad cutter to 1.230. No problems in my XDS, Gold Cup or semi-auto Mac clone. I size to .451.
Has anyone received their XDS back from Springfield yet? Been three+ weeks for mine.