As the title suggests, I recently bought an aftermarket threaded barrel for my XD Mod 2 in 45 ACP. Although I'm not a gunsmith, I purchased the “semi-fit” model thinking I could do the minor fitting, if required. Upon receipt, I starting measuring surfaces and noted the width of the forward lug was 0.035" narrower than the OEM barrel. Measuring the rear lug/feed ramp found it to be 0.075" narrower than the OEM. I dropped the barrel into the locking block and there must be 0.040" of clearance between the sides while the OEM barrel has maybe 0.005" or so. The barrel feed ramp also hangs over the lower feed ramp and doesn't begin to fit the contour of the lower portion. I spoke to their customer support who informed me that Springfield made their locking lugs and feed ramps wider a while back but that they didn’t see a need for it. They assured me "We have fit hundreds of these and they all shoot very well with no issues." They did offer to fit the barrel for free but I'll have to cover shipping both ways.
The best info I have been able to find is Springfield redesigned (widened) their XD barrel lugs and feed ramps when they designed the XDM. They carried over that design to their XD Mod 2's as well. It sounds to me like they're trying to sell me a std XD barrel to fit into a Mod 2. Why would anyone not change their design to match the newer Springfield design? If Springfield felt the design change was necessary, why wouldn't an aftermarket mfgr do the same? Am I making too much of this? Your thoughts would be appreciated.