Springfield XD

A customer brought in a Springfield XD to have a Powder River Precision spring kit installed. While not a challenging project for a gunsmith, it can be daunting for the average person. There is a schematic and some brief instruction on a single piece of paper that comes with the kit. The components include a sear spring, trigger, striker safety lever, striker safety spring, two different trigger springs, and two different striker springs.

To change the springs out, the gun will have to be almost completely dissembled. Finish the disassembly and deep clean the gun while you are at it. This is a metric gun, so metric punches area big plus, especially a 3mm punch. The gun used for this had a 6 pound, 8 ounce trigger pull when started and finished with a 3 pound, 15 ounce pull when completed. There was 1/2" of trigger travel before the striker would release and this dropped to less than a 1/8" with very little over travel.

Field Stripping The use of safety glasses when working on this gun is highly recommended. Before starting, check to make sure the gun is unloaded. Drop the magazine and pull the slide back until it locks back. Flip the disassembly lever up, pull the slide back, and ease the slide forward under control until spring tension is released. While pointing in a safe direction, pull the trigger, thus releasing the slide. Pull the slide off the front of the frame.

The recoil spring assembly is taken out by lifting it up off the barrel. Removing to the back, lift up on the back of the barrel and remove backwards out of the slide. Detailed Disassembly Start disassembly by pushing in the striker with a punch and moving the striker retainer down. Pull the punch out. Holding the striker in, pull the retainer out and remove the striker status indicator, striker spring, and striker spring guide out of the slide. Set aside the striker spring; this will be replaced.

Pull the striker safety retaining pin with a hook. While removing it from the slide, hold down on the striker safety. Once the pin is out, remove the striker safety and striker safety spring. Set the striker safety spring and striker spring aside with the parts being replace. At this point, no further disassembly is required for the kit. To finish disassembly, push the striker retaining pin out through the top. The striker can now be removed out the back of the slide along with the striker damping spring.

Push the loaded chamber indicator pin out to the right while keeping a finger on the loaded chamber indicator. Once clear of the slide, lift up and out the loaded indicator and spring. To remove the extractor, make a hook out of 48 drill rod. Flatten by grinding until it fits in between the extractor and slide. Bend a small hook and hardened it. Insert into the recess in the slide and hook the extractor while pulling out. For the frame, put the disassembly lever down to keep the trigger bar in place.

Push the sear pin out with a punch. Keep a hand over the back of the frame above the sear and pull the punch back out. Using a finger, push the sear, sear spring, and striker safety lever down into the magazine well. The ejector can now be pulled off the ejector pin. Push the ejector pin even with the inside of the frame. Put the striker safety lever and sear spring aside with all the other parts being replaced. Remove the disassembly lever by rotating and pulling to the left.

Once half way out, rotate it 180 degrees to clear the slide stop lever spring. Push out the two pins holding the locking block into the frame. Pull the locking block up and out of the frame. The trigger assembly can be removed by pinching the trigger and the trigger bar into a "V" shape and lifting up. Remove the trigger bar from the trigger. Put aside the trigger and trigger spring with the rest of the parts that are being replaced. This is the stopping point of disassembly for the trigger kit.

Continuing with gun disassembly, push out the grip safety pin to the left with a punch. Control the grip safety spring as the punch is pulled out. Remove the spring and grip safety down and out the back of the frame. The magazine release is held in place by the magazine catch. Push out the magazine catch pin to the left with a punch. As the punch is pulled out, put a finger on the magazine catch to contain the magazine catch spring from springing out. This completes the frame disassembly.

Reassembly Tips Choose which of the color-matched lighter weight spring sets that will be used. Put in the new striker spring and striker safety spring into the slide. PRP recommends using a dab of grease to hold the

striker safety spring in the striker safety when putting back in place. This does make it easier to keep the spring in place while installing the safety. The arrow points to the grip safety surface. For the frame, put the sear pin in from the right just enough to hold the new striker safety lever in the frame. Then put the sear in place and push the sear pin in enough to hold the sear. Place the new sear Once the ejector is installed, moving the sear should not lift up the striker safety lever.

If the grip safety is stuck in the "in" position the sear will also have to be sanded where it engages the grip safety. Sand and polish same as for the ejector. Assemble the trigger assembly with the new trigger and new trigger spring that matches the striker spring already installed. Put the trigger back in by pinching into a "V" shape and hook the back of the trigger bar under the striker safety lever. Place the slide stop lever back into place.

Put the locking block back in, spring in with the two legs to the front and capturing it with the sear pin. Take the ejector and try sliding into place. If it is tight, the sear will have to be sanded down. With a flat surface, start sanding with 120 grit sandpaper until the ejector just fits. Polish up the sear with 220 and 320 grit sandpaper. making sure the slide stop lever spring is flush with the locking block. Lifting up on the trigger will help get the locking block in.

Push in the front pin to lock the locking block back into the f ra me. Pull on the trigger to align the trigger hole, then push in the trigger pin

Springfield XD (Speci ications subject to change without notice) 1 Frame 2 Slide 3 Barrel 4 Locking Block 5 Trigger Pin 6 Trigger Pin Retainer 7 Trigger 8 Trigger Bar 9 Trigger Bar Spring 10 Sear 11 Sear Pin 12 Ejector Pin 13 Sear Spring 14 Ejector 15 Grip Safety 16 Grip Safety Pin 17 Grip Safety Spring from the right, then align the slide stop lever and finish pushing in the pin. Both pins are seated when the frame spring pops back into place with a click.

Start the disassembly lever with the lever pointing down. 18 Slide Stop Lever 19 Slide Stop Lever Spring 20 Disassembly Lever 21 Magazine Catch 22 Magazine Catch Pin 23 Magazine Catch Spring 24 Magazine Release Button 25 Striker Safety Lever 26 Striker Safety Retaining Pin 27 Striker Locking Plate 28 Striker Spring Guide 29 Striker Status Indicator 31 Striker 32 Striker Spring 33 Striker Safety 34 Striker Safety Spring 35 Striker Retainer Pin 36 Extractor 37 Loaded Chamber Indicator 38 Loaded Chamber Indicator Pin 39 Loaded Chamber Indicator Spring 40 Rear Combat Sight 41 Front Fiber Optic Sight 42 Recoil Spring Assy (Sub-Compact) 43 Recoil Spring Assy (Service Model) 44 Recoil Spring Assy (Tactical Model) 45 Magazine Follower 46 Magazine Plate 48 Magazine Body 49 Magazine Spring Once it hits the spring, rotate until the lever is pointing up and push in.

You will have to use a finger to line up the lever with the right side of the frame while rotating and pushing in. American Gunsmith Reader Services 1.

Hard to see the difference. Only after shooting before and after, can you feel the difference. Check that the trigger and sear are working properly as follows: Pull back on the trigger and then push down on the trigger bar. This should release the sear. While holding the trigger back, push down on the striker safety lever. Slowly release the trigger. The trigger bar should now pop back up. If it doesn’t, the striker safety lever will have to be filed down.

Take the striker safety lever out by pushing in the sear pin enough to disengage the lever. The tab on the lever will have to be filed where it engages the trigger bar. Using a fine file with a safe edge, make a few passes on the tab, and reinstall and test again. Take a little off at a time as this is small surface and it is easy to take off too much. Reinstall the slide on the frame and test the trigger operation. If pulling the trigger will not fire the gun, the trigger stop will have to be adjusted.

The easiest way of doing this is using a 1/2" wide strip of 120 grit crocus cloth. Place between the trigger and the frame, with the trigger pulled against the crocus cloth, then pull it out. Repeat until the gun fires. Do not take any more than needed as this will increase the over travel of the trigger. The sweet spot is reached when pushing down hard on the slide and pulling the trigger it doesn’t fire, but when you stop pushing down on the slide, it does.

You can use electrical tape if you are worried about scratching the frame. Reassemble the gun and preform safety checks. Safety Checks Check that the slide locks back with a magazine inserted into the gun. Remove the magazine and pull back the slide. It should go forward. If this doesn’t work, check that the slide stop lever spring is not binding in the frame. Check the grip safety. Pull on the trigger while not engaging the grip safety. It should not fire.

Release the trigger and push in the on grip safety several times and make sure it does not stick. Check the sear engagement to the grip safety if there are issues. The trigger safety has to be depressed when the trigger is pulled in order to fire. Pull on the sides of the trigger, do not touch the safety lever, and make sure it doesn’t fire. Anew trigger will have to be installed if this fails. Check the operation of the disconnector. Pull the trigger and release, then rack the slide.

The gun should recock and not fire. Pull the trigger and hold back. Rack the slide to recock the gun. Release the trigger and the trigger should reengage and fire when the trigger is pulled. Then pull the trigger and hold back. Pull the slide back and slowly let the slide go forward. As the slide is going forward, continuously pull and release the trigger. It should not reengage until the slide is almost in its forward position.

Any failure here means that the trigger bar, striker safety, or sear are out of specifications. With the slide off, recheck your work and see which part is at fault. Test fire the gun. Load two rounds in the magazine and fire both slowly. If everything is okay, load two more, fire the first one, and hold the trigger back to make sure you do not get a second shot. Then load three rounds and fire rapidly. Finally, load a full magazine and test as you would normally.

If it will not fire the last round, the trigger stop will have to have more taken off. Any issues should have already been corrected. If not, go back through the safety checks. AG