Just a heads up to my fellow XD owners. I recently was dry firing my XD subcompact while practicing drawing from my IWB holster. I went to rack the slide for another draw and the slide would not go all the way forward. After tinkering with it for a while I finally got it into battery. Fast forward 2 weeks to the range. I load up a mag and go to take my first shot. I pull the trigger and nothing happened. I checked for a light primer strike and reloaded the round. I tried it again with a different round and had the same result. I packed up the gun till I could break it down. Nothing noticeable with a field strip. I got a 3/32 punch to take out the striker retainer pin and found my answer. Striker retaining pin was cracked in half.

 

After some interwebz searching it appears that dry firing puts a lot of stress on that pin. Has anybody else had the same problem? I can't believe the ability to fire this weapon relies on such a frail part. Something to keep in mind if you use an XD as a carry or home defense tool. Check for a cracked pin and use snap caps whenever possible.

Glock-o-philes swear this doesn't happen to them either, but it is documented a bunch of times on Glock Talk. Bottom line. Spend $5 and use snaps caps for you handguns and rifles, striker or hammer fired.

Here is a picture of the pin in several pieces. The other 2 pictures are of where the striker retainer pin sits. If the pin (or part of it) is sticking up through either hole you need to replace it.

Glock-o-philes swear this doesn't happen to them either, but it is documented a bunch of times on Glock Talk. Bottom line. Spend $5 and use snaps caps for you handguns and rifles, striker or hammer fired.

+1

Glock-o-philes swear this doesn't happen to them either, but it is documented a bunch of times on Glock Talk. Bottom line. Spend $5 and use snaps caps for you handguns and rifles, striker or hammer fired.

 

Be careful with snap-caps if you plan on shooting IDPA or USPSA. A snap-cap in the chamber at the safe table is grounds for an immediate DQ.

+1 Good to know.

Hmmm. Maybe I should stop dry firing my M&P.

+1 on snap caps.

 

Sent from my LG-P925 using Tapatalk

I had same issue on a brand new M&P 9mm. Less then 300 rounds and striker broke. Always used snap caps when I dry fired it.