Springfield XDs, firing pin hitting off center?

[Josh45]

Picked up a Springfield XDs some time ago. Maybe a month ago?
Brought it home, Did not clean it. Took it the range a few days later and shot it.
I was using some hand loads at the time and everything went fine.
Until one didn't go off
And yes, I did clean it after I got home.

I ejected the round after waiting about 10 seconds to see if it was a hang fire pointing downrange. Picked up the round and looked at the primer and noticed that the firing pin had hit off center. Shot the rest of the magazine without any issues. Put that same round back in and it shot.

Fast forward to yesterday, I had the same type of malfunction 3-4 times.
Of course, I did try some factory ammo. Which happen to me my carry loads and I never had this problem come up with them and I am sort of paranoid that it could happen with them and worst yet, When I may need it the most.

Each hit that did not go off, Was around the same area off center.
Nothing else was wrong with the cases or loads, Just the primers.
Just to be clear, It happened only with my hand loads.

Now, One more thing, I had made some rifle rounds and I never once had a misfire with my rifle until yesterday. Chambered it again and shot it with no problems. How ever, The primer hit on that was dead center.

Now, I do understand that misfires can happen and you can have bad primers here and there. These were Tula Primers that I had bought very recently and this was the first time I ever had an issue with them. Maybe it has to do with whats going on or maybe it just what it is.

My question is, Should I be worried about the Springfield XDs hitting off center on the primers? Like I said before, I really do not want that to happen should I ever need it and want to use this gun as a CC. I did clean out the firearm again and cleaned out the firing pin channel as well.

Thoughts?

 

[Sam1911]

First of all, collect a bunch of your fired cases and check them. Are they all a little off-center? Many, if not most, autoloaders strike a little off-center, and some appear to strike quite a bit off-center. (That has to do with how far the barrel rises to lock into the slide, so it's an up/down thing, rather than a side-to-side issue.) If only a few strike off-center, something's not right. They should all be the same.

Primers can be struck surprisingly far off dead center and still fire, so unless it's way out at the edge, I wouldn't specifically worry about that. However, if you're getting light strikes that don't set off the primers, hitting a little closer to the formed edge of the primer cup, rather than right in the soft, least rigid center, can't make that any better.

I'd consider talking to SA about it and see if they'll give you a shipping label to send it back for a check.

 

[918v]

If the barrel is out of battery, then the FP will hit off center. If you discharge a round out of battery, your casehead will let go. Thank God those rounds did not go off.

 

[Sam1911]

Well...it COULD be that bad, I guess. But that seems pretty unlikely. As long as the firing pin hit somewhere within the middle-ish region of the primer the gun wasn't out of battery.

Heck, an XD won't drop the firing pin if the action is out of battery so if he's got strikes, he shouldn't have that to worry about.

 

[Josh45]

The gun was always in battery.
I had some hand loads that did not chamber before and ever since then I always check to make sure the slide is always in full battery before I fire the gun off. At all times, It was in full battery.

Sam1911,

I'm starting to wonder if they are just light primer strikes instead.
I will grab some of them and make sure to check them again.

 

[918v]

What's unlikely is the off center hit while in battery. Breechface dimensions are static. Chamber/breechface alignment is dynamic. And even the slightest change in barrel geometry will cause a major change in FP impact. The barrel does not have to be completely out of battery, just outside of the dwell time zone and just starting to tilt.

 

[918v]

Do the handloads pass the plunk test? What are they?

 

[Sam1911]

What's unlikely is the off center hit while in battery.

Really?

I see relatively few autoloaders which really make perfectly centered FP strikes. I pick up brass at many ranges that probably contain noticeably off-center strikes at a ratio of something like 10:1. (And I pick up many thousands of cases, so that's a lot of off-center strikes!)

And even the slightest change in barrel geometry will cause a major change in FP impact. The barrel does not have to be completely out of battery, just outside of the dwell time zone and just starting to tilt.

Or a gun that locks up a bit high, or a bit low, of the center line every time. I wouldn't call that out of battery.

I've got autos which strike a little off center and have done so since day one, for many tens of thousands of rounds. I really wouldn't stress over it.

 

[Walkalong]

I was using some hand loads at the time and everything went fine.
Until one didn't go off

Of course, I did try some factory ammo. Which happen to me my carry loads and I never had this problem come up with them

99% of primers not going off in handloads is from a primer not seated all the way.

Slightly off center firing pin strikes are not uncommon. Could you get a pic of one? If it is bad enough, SA will of course fix it.

 

[jakk280rem]

Sounds like high primers to me. First hit seats the primer absorbing enough energy to not fire. primer should be .002-.003" below the surface of the case head. Centering isn't really a big deal. As others have said, most auto pistols hit a little off. As was stated, what you want is consistency. Same place every time. If you are getting inconsistent strike locations, check your case length. A long case length will cause the striker to hit lower.

 

[918v]

I see relatively few autoloaders which really make perfectly centered FP strikes. I pick up brass at many ranges that probably contain noticeably off-center strikes at a ratio of something like 10:1. (And I pick up many thousands of cases, so that's a lot of off-center strikes!)

My reading of the OP indicates that only the problem rounds had off-center FP hits, not that all of the rounds had off-center FP hits.

Maybe the OP should clarify.

 

[Sam1911]

Ok, that's certainly true! That's why I asked if all of his brass showed strikes off-center, or only these that didn't pop.

 

[Josh45]

Some show off center but not by much.
Most are near center if not on center.
The ones that did not pop, You can see a off center strike and a on center strike.

Im getting the pics now.
Only the ones that did not pop have the effect shown much more.

 

[Josh45]

Okay, The first picture is factory ammo.
These shot with absolutely zero malfunctions of any kind.

The second picture is a reload/hand load that had zero problems to fire.

 

[Josh45]

Now, This third picture is one that failed to fire after the first hit but went off on the second hit.

 

[Sam1911]

Ok, pictures are great! That's odd -- the one that didn't fire at first got two strikes and they happened to land in exactly the same place? (I don't see a second off-center strike at some other quadrant of the primer.)

 

[918v]

OP, did you load these into the mag orientated the same way each time so that the "PMC" stamp was on the bottom?

 

[Sam Cade]

The oblong strikes are normal for a XD.


Perhaps the OP has a striker spring that has reached the end of its life or has a bit of schmukus in the channel.

 

[Josh45]

918v,

No I did not orient them in any fashion.
Just loaded them up.

Same Cade,

Is that possible for a brand new firearm?
Like I mentioned I just bought this gun about last month and it was brand new in the box from the dealer. Still, it could be defective right?

 

[918v]

OP,

Do your handloads plunk in the barrel? Take the barrel out and see. Are they flush with the end of the barrel hood?

 

[Sam Cade]

Is that possible for a brand new firearm?

Absolutely.

It could have a bad spring from the factory or was assembled with a bit of hardened grease or detritus from the manufacturing process in the channel.

 

[Walkalong]

This third picture is one that failed to fire after the first hit but went off on the second hit.

Classic high primer. The first hit pushed it deeper, and the second one set it off.

Those are not any more off center than some I have seen. Sure, we would like to see them dead center, but it doesn't always work that way. If it bothers you, call SA and see what they say about it.

It could have a bad spring from the factory or was assembled with a bit of hardened grease or detritus from the manufacturing process in the channel.

or too much oil in there.

 

[Sam1911]

I am very surprised to see the strike location (distance from dead center) shift from cartridge to cartridge. That seems to me like there is something about that round which is keeping the gun from returning to exactly the same point in battery. Too long OAL, bullet impacting the lands? Case too long (strange as that would be...autopistol cases usually don't stretch)?

 

[918v]

Bullet too big for the throat?

 

[Thompsoncustom]

I've talk to SA about this same thing and what they told me was the gun was not fully in battery if the primer strike was off center at all and I explained that the slide seemed fully forward but they said that it probably just had a little bit left till fully in battery.

SA had some advice on lube points but other than that they said I could ship the gun into them and they would take a look at it.

Gun doesn't seem to act up any more so I'm not sure what it was but maybe running .45 super through it for awhile loosened it up.