XDM and steel ammo

A friend of mine has a 3.8" XDM 9mm and I'm looking at picking one up soon as well. The question is whether or not the XDM has any issue with steel ammo, can anyone shed some light on the situation?

Mine shoots it just fine. .45 and 9mm.

My XDm, hasn't found any ammo it won't eat. I haven't heard of it being picky with anything.

awesome, thats the kind of info I've been looking for thanks.

My XD40 shoots everything I load it with.

I loaded my XDm .45 mags up to full capacity with the walmart "tula" steel cased ammo and after a couple days, it completely screwed up the mags ability to feed.

I suspect this is because of the polymer coating on the outside of the casing. When loaded with WWB hollow points, they feed just fine.

My verdict is its fine range ammo, but that's about it.

I trust their rifle ammo with my life, however.

Did the magazine feed properly after you got the tula out or did you have to break down the mag and clean it? I have run a bunch through my XD9 and have one magazine left loaded from a range trip. Going to get out to the range this weekend and run it through to see if I have problems.

Next to the question of which was first, chicken or egg, this is the oldest question plaguing mankind. My gunsmith and I are of the opinion that the kind of ammunition most often used in the country of origin of the firearm is the logical answer. While I'm sure there are XD/M owners out there who will tell you they shoot steel ammo in their guns all the time, I am sure there are as many owners who feel the way I do about what to feed an XD or XDM.

Since the time that the Russian Czars decided to give guns to their soldiers, they have had to deal with two facts of life in warfare: how do they make guns that will work, no matter how illiterate and unused to using mechanical devices their conscript soldiers were, and given the millions of soldiers in their armies, how could Mother Russia afford guns and ammo for all of those subhuman soldiers?
The answer was to make rifles and pistols as sturdy and as simple as could be, and to make ammunition for those guns as cheaply as possible. The answer to both of these solutions was to use steel for everything; guns made from big parts of hard steel, and ammunition from soft steel for the cases and bullets, and using nitrocellulose made as cheaply as possible with performance only as much as was needed to kill an enemy at moderate distances. Most Russian rifles had bayonets so long you could stick an enemy soldier with it tomorrow.

Soft steel does not expand as readily as brass, so steel cases may not seal up the chamber properly. Parts such as extractors may be stressed beyond parameters expected from brass cases, and thus fail prematurally. Steel bullet jackets washed in brass may cause more barrel wear than bullet jackets made entirely of brass.

I have tried Wolf polymer ammo in my AR-15 and in my CZ-75 pistol. In both cases I was forced to replace broken extractors after only a nominal quantity of rounds. I gave away the rest of my 5.56 and 9mm Wolf ammo; I held on to my 7.62x39 ammo for my SKS, and after buying a Vepr (AK-74) chambered in 5.56, I went back to my dealer and bought 5.56 Wolf for the Vepr.

Your mileage may vary.

My XDM eats everything just fine. The only steel cased ammo that I've used has been Silver Bear but it ran fine. No complaints.

My buddies xdm 9mm 3.8 magazines HATE wolf. Jams the magazine up. Shoots just fine, but good luck loading a full mag.

for all you guys shooting xds/xdms, how many of you reload?
i'd bet if you started reloading you'd find it cheaper than russian ammo for pistols. even in .45.

for all you guys shooting xds/xdms, how many of you reload?
i'd bet if you started reloading you'd find it cheaper than russian ammo for pistols. even in .45.

No problems at all with brass cased, did not clean the mags out.

It shoots wolf all day long, the mags just don't like holding it for more than a couple days.

No big deal as my mags stay loaded with JHP's anyhow.

My brother actually reloads so i'm considering just buying in bulk and sending the shells down as I use them. Thats my biggest thing right now atm because brass ammo is much easier to reload and tends to live longer.

Bought 500 rounds of tula to shoot through my .40. I got threw 2 mags just fine, but after that the rounds would get jammed in the magazine every 3 rd round or so. I will not buy Tula ammo for my xdm ever again

My nephew went through 50 rounds the other day in his .45 acp XDM with no issues.

I can only get 5 rounds of Wolf into my XDm3.8c 9mm before they jam up. The rounds bind up and won't let the follower move after trying to insert a sixth round, doesn't matter if it is the flush fit or extended magazine. If I put in brass they load up just fine.

Now the 5 rounds I can fit do shoot just fine but will be paying another dollar more per box from Aim on my next purchase and get brass case instead.

I reload currently and it certainly is cheaper than buying even the russian ammo. I'll be cranking out another batch tonight as I just put close to 500 reloads down range on Sunday. I also plan on getting into making my own bullets and my price will go down even more.

I have run into the same situation using steel cased Wolf in my XDm (and occasionally have the same jam in a 9mm AR running Uzi mags).

The steel cases are not as slick as brass and seem to bind together inside the magazine. I have found you can get the steel cased ammo to feed OK by spaying a little case lube (or rubbing on a light coat of CLP) on the ammo before inserting it into the mag.

There are downsides to lubing the steel case (attracts dirt, decreased chamber adhesion = increase breach face pressure) so ultimately the choice is up to you as to whether this fix is worth it

Copyright © 1996 - 2013 :: AR15.Com LLC :: All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.