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[rangemaster]

Light Primer Strikes from Springfield XD's
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All of us that shoot (and love) the XD45 and shoot/reload lead bullets are accustomed to periodically punching out the roll pin that secures the loaded chamber indicator. We then carefully remove the indicator and easily-lost spring and proceed scrubbing/scraping the by-products of lead, combustion and bullet lube off of the indicator and out of the channel in the slide. This ritual is performed more often if you shoot softer lead, less if you shoot a mix of hardball and lead, and even less (if ever) if you shoot hardball only. What you might not know is besides this operation and the regular field-strip/clean routine there is one other place you want to check from time to time...

Those of us that shoot lead also know that besides the loaded chamber indicator the striker is subject to contamination by the very same gremlins responsible for the stiff/stuck chamber indicator.


This will start as an occasional "click" when you're at the range practicing with no accompanying "bang" or worse during a match (don't even think about it happening on the street...). You know the striker fell because the indicator that protrudes from the rear of the slide disappeared. The next few rounds fire fine. You take the gun home and field strip/clean it.
In a while it happens a lot... now you're both ticked off and curious.

The problem (barring serious ammo problems) is usually a really dirty striker. Go look at the XD exploded diagram; on the XD45 the darn thing has to be .25" or bigger in diameter.

Look at the disassembly procedures (CD/DVD) and pull your striker out, clean it and the hole bored in the slide to accomodate it... it's amazing how much surface area the striker body has! This translates to a lot of drag if it gets gummy and gunky.

My cleaning guidlines (and I'm sure everyone else will post theirs):
1. If you shoot lead, expect to clean the striker assembly more often.
2. If you shoot lead, expect to clean the loaded chamber indicator.
3. My tests have shown that if you have problems with the chamber indicator sticking due to contamination/buildup, clean the striker assembly at least every other time you clean the loaded chamber indicator.

BTW, I usually save a little cleaning time after a match or at the end of a practice session with lead by running a few rounds of GI hardball down the tube... why scrub it out when it's more fun to blow it out? (Yes, you still have to clean the barrel, but it's not nearly as bad...)
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Gregg Smith
Rangemaster
NRA-Certified Pistol Instructor
Clatskanie Rifle & Pistol Club, Inc.
Clatskanie, OR