What cast boolit for an early XD45acp?

[tazman]

I never thought I would like a plastic gun.
Recently, I have been shooting and falling in love with a Springfield XDM 45acp 5 inch service pistol. Very reliable so far and will feed anything I can load in it.
I picked up an early Springfield XD 45acp for cheap as a backup to my XDM 45acp service 5 inch since it uses the same magazines.
I hear and read about problems with some of the early XD pistols not wanting to feed SWC ammunition. Basically anything that has a fairly sharp shoulder just in front of the case.
I looked at the bottom of the slide and there is NO hump below the breechface, so this one has not been updated.
I have molds for 452374, 452460, H&G 68, and Lee 230 tc.
Which ones would have the best chance of working properly with this pistol?
I pick it up in a few days and need to get some ammo ready for a trial run.
Even if I can't get it to work with cast, I got it cheap enough I could afford to just run new ammo in it if I absolutely needed to but would very much prefer to use my cast loads in it.

[osteodoc08]

Anything with a rounded profile should run. In my S&W M&P 45, it’ll plug and chug anything I feed it.

[44MAG#1]

I had an early XD with the narrow feed ramp and one bullet it wouldnt feed worth a plugged nickle was the Saeco 058 which i really love because of its wide meplat.
Springfield wised up and now has a nice feed ramp.

Again I mean no hurt, harm, anguish or turmoil by my post I have posted on this posted subject. I am not baiting, trolling or calling out anyone. I am making a post based on my experience, knowledge and/or belief or opinion. That is all.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Well not a XD but this boolit works good in my XDs https://www.opticsplanet.com/lyman-pistol-bullet-mould-45-auto-452374.html?_iv_code=LY-RBM-ECDBEA-2660374

[EMC45]

My brother had an early XD and it did not feed SWCs AT ALL. It was a pump action pistol. It fed fine with the Lee TC 230gr. however.

[bobthenailer]

Is the XD you are having problems a short stroke gun like the Kahr PM45 & P45 that the breach face in the slide only goes to the back of the mag box ? if so ammo has to be around 1.210 col or shorter. none of my 4 45 acp moulds would work that have a col of around 1.250 so I tried some borrowed HG-130 and they worked fine so I bought a Lee 6 cavity 230 gr tc and load with a col of 1.210 .

[mjwcaster]

Lee 230 TC runs in my 10 year old (pre XDM) 45XD 4”.
Never heard of a feeding ramp change with the XD series.
Was familiar with the ‘hump’ for feeding swc.
There was a thread on xdtalk about someone figuring out the issue and thinking of modifying the slide, but then the XDM came out so he just bought that. Maybe he did modify his first, cannot remember.

Watch out for seating of the guide rod, it is round, the seat is flat.
Was not uncommon to have it get a little off center when reassembling, locking the gun up.
The official fix requires a box end wrench and a hammer. Hook onto the exposed guide rod with the box end wrench and whack the wrench with the hammer, pulling the guide rod out, allowing it to snap into the correct position.
This was fixed in later guns.

Also if yours is a 4” the only guide rod/springs seem to be the factory ones.

And the striker retaining roll pin breaks/falls out on some of these guns, seen it happen on a brand new one years ago.
Mine has been fine, even removed/replaced a few times.
Gun functions fine without it, it just retains the striker during detail stripping.

Other than that it is a nice fun, mine has 10-20k through it, just need to order a new guide rod for it, noticed a crack starting last cleaning.

Have fun with the new old gun.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RobS]

The best I used was the Lyman 452374HP that Mihec made or I later designed one similar over at Accurate Molds I believe it's the 45-230V. The thing is you do not want a nose profile that will have any full diameter front drive band sticking out side of the case mouth (no barrel throat) and one does not want a shouldered bullet such as a SWC for those original XD's since they will not cycle worth a hoot.

[tazman]

I am going to pick the gun up on Monday. I will run it through it's paces at the range and see what it will do. I have several different boolit profiles and a couple of different jacketed profiles I can test in it and see what it likes.
Thanks to all for the input.

[Boogieman]

The 452374 should feed ok, it has the same nose shape as G I ball. Woks in my 1911's seated at 1,265"OAL.
If you want a SWC bullet the lee 200gr. TL or RCBS 200 gr. were very accurate for me, but would not feed 100% in my Colts. They are too short when loaded to pass the plunk test.






'

[tazman]

Picked up the early XD 45acp today and made it to the range before I went home.
As some of you said, it won't feed semi wadcutters. Actually, it will feed the first one every time but never the second one. The case leaving the barrel hits the step on the boolit drive band on the top cartridge in the mag. Sometimes it will ding the case so badly that the case will not fit in the chamber afterwards. Usually just stovepipes or tries to pick up the case from the mag in front of the rim.
Anything that looked remotely like a round nose or TC fed flawlessly and shot well. I put quite a few Lyman 452374 boolits through it without issue. Hardball worked perfectly of course. I ran some Nosler 185 grain hollow points through it and these worked perfectly as well although for some reason, they didn't group as well as the cast RN or hardball.
All in all a very serviceable pistol.
I think I may pick up a Lee 452-200-RF and see how those shoot.
Anybody have a few of those I can buy or trade to try out?

[marlinman93]

Tough to say what your particular gun can digest, and feed reliably. So I'd try some various bullet shapes to see what it likes. You can always sell whatever doesn't work, and keep those that do.
I've always had great results with 185 gr. and 200 fr. SWC in my various .45 ACP semiautos. My S&W 745 IPSC loves them, as does my 1911A1. And they're a nice feeling load to shoot with mid range charges.

[OFFSHORE]

I have a XDS Mod2 3.3 and load the Lee 452-200-RF bullet to a 1.1520" COAL over top 7.5 grains CFE Pistol and lubed with Ben's Red. These are sized .452" from 50/50 COWW and SOWW, H2O quenched (not that its needed, I just do) for an average weight of 214 grains. This WIDE meplat load is very accurate at 25 ft., functions flawlessly (I performed ten 10-round rapid fire magazines and ten 10-round double tap magazines, 200 rounds total without a hick-up!!!) and is screaming at 940 FPS for this little gun! I'm so confident in this load/pistol combo that it is my main self defense/carry package. I have a Long Slide Springfield that I use the same load to target shoot and hunt with. Accuracy has been top notch and as for a hunter load, I've taken many hogs and several whitetail with it all with outstanding results for a 45 ACP. For an inexpensive run-of-the-mill mold I'm very happy with it and so are several of my .45's that shoot it.

[tazman]

Latest update on the early XD 45acp.
I recently acquired a Lee 452 200 RF in 6 cavity from a member here on the site. I cast up a bunch of them but only lubed 200 of them since I had not tested them yet.
I went to the range hoping they would work in the XD and expecting they would fail in my 1911 pistols due to the short OAL of 1.140.
Turns out they worked in everything. They ran perfectly through the XD and shot good groups. That gives me the lighter boolit load I was wanting for practice sessions.
They also ran perfectly in 2 of my 1911 45acp pistols. I only had 2 of the 1911 pistols with me so I will need to check the others later. Groups were good to excellent in them depending on the gun.
Now I have some work to do getting the rest of the boolits lubed and loaded. This turned out to be an excellent choice.
An acquaintance had his Colt Gold medal 1911 match pistol at the range last week and he couldn't get this type of boolit to feed in it for some reason. That is why I was expecting issues in my 1911 pistols.

[mattw]

I have a first gen XDS in 45, I love it and it eats 200 SWC if you pay attention to the OAL.

[tazman]

I have a first gen XDS in 45, I love it and it eats 200 SWC if you pay attention to the OAL.

The problem I was having had nothing to do with OAL. The first cartridge in the magazine would always feed. As the fired cartridge came out of the chamber as the slide came back, the bottom of the rim would hit the ledge on the top SWC in the magazine, causing either a stove pipe or a failure to feed. In the case of the FTF, the top round in the magazine would get damaged by the outgoing case and either be too large to chamber or the mouth of the case would get opened slightly causing the jam.
It took a round nose or an FMJ to cure the issue. I already had some 230 grain round nose that worked but wanted a 200 grain boolit I could shoot in it. This new boolit worked perfectly for me.

[Boogieman]

If You want a 200gr. SWC a H&G style#68 loaded at1.250" works is most guns. I use Lee's non TL

[Walks]

If not the H & G # 68 profile, then try the

ACCURATE #45-210J, a Round Nose Flat Point.
I bought it for My Buddies Cowboy loads. But it feeds in everything:
Colt Series 70 - not ramped or throated.
Colt Series 80 Combat Gov't Model - ramped/throated
Glock 21 - stock bbl & Wolfe bbl
H & K USP (old)
Ruger 345
Browning BDA (old Sig Sauer)

[tazman]

If not the H & G # 68 profile, then try the

ACCURATE #45-210J, a Round Nose Flat Point.
I bought it for My Buddies Cowboy loads. But it feeds in everything:
Colt Series 70 - not ramped or throated.
Colt Series 80 Combat Gov't Model - ramped/throated
Glock 21 - stock bbl & Wolfe bbl
H & K USP (old)
Ruger 345
Browning BDA (old Sig Sauer)

That is pretty much what I ended up with. Lee 452-200-RF. Worked perfectly.


If You want a 200gr. SWC a H&G style#68 loaded at1.250" works is most guns. I use Lee's non TL

Any SWC that has a lip at the outside edge will give the same failures. I tried the H&G 68 clones first. They were a total failure. First round from the mag feeds but everything following fails.

[tazman]

If You want a 200gr. SWC a H&G style#68 loaded at1.250" works is most guns. I use Lee's non TL

I did some more research on this issue today and found out something interesting. Springfield became aware of this problem soon after the XD 45acp hit the market. They worked with their builder and came up with a solution. They added a smal "ski ramp" on the bottom of the slide right at the bolt face so it would push the top round in the magazine down just a little and allow the fired case to clear the round in the mag. If you take the gun apart you can see where they built up the area on the slide.
Mine doesn't have the built up area on it.
They added this to the XD line before they came out with the XDM series. Not certain exactly when this took place.
I guess I need to find out if there was a recall or if they would fix the issue since they know there is one.

[pworley1]

All the bullets you listed work just fine in mine.

[Ramjet-SS]

XDS owner here as well runs like a top OAL where it needs to be will shoot cast well. My main EDC during the winter months.