The Armory Life
Alpha
Welcome to The Armory Life Forum. This auto-generated thread is for discussing The Armory Life article titled Strayer’s 40K “Blue Flame” which can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/strayers-40k-blue-flame/.
Strayer’s 40K “Blue Flame”
- Thread starter The Armory Life
- Start date
sandy4cbhb
Alpha
Interesting that he's going to carry a Hellcat when he already has other carry guns. It would be good to get his take on the Hellcat.
KingDiamond
Operator
It'd be really interesting to see what he thinks of the Hellcat. Maybe he'll swing by and do a post?
If any of the Mods/Admins are watching this thread, and they have an in with Mr. Strayer, would someone please consider contacting him so that he can share the gun's maintenance log?
and
I had a moment of crisis about a three years back that stemmed from my XDms starting to really accrue age and use.
My EDC is at 12K, with its training/range copy at over 20K. My main range/training beater 4.5-inch has over 50K rounds fired (its copy, my HD gun, only has about 2K or so, and it rarely ever gets out to the range).
Even at 50K, my main training/range 4.5-inch XDm9 still has its original striker, extractor, ejector, barrel, and guide rod, and of what's aftermarket - notably the trigger pack from Springer Precision - that's only 700 rounds younger. To say that I've been happy with the durability and reliability of my XDms (the others mirror my experience with this high-mileage example) is an understatement.
^ These pictures were taken right around the time when this gun passed the 30K live-fire mark, after having been used for 5 out of 6 days of the combined Costa Ludus HE01/HE02 classes that I enrolled in, in the summer of 2012.
So, yes, I do trust these guns......
However, I am also well aware that the reality demands that everything that gets used will eventually degrade.
And that's really why I had that moment of crisis.
I realized that for as long as I've been in the XD-community online (I joined XDTalk in November of 2010), there are rarely any reports of other high-mileage examples. There's little to none written of troubleshooting or overhauls versus that of S&W M&Ps or Glocks. There's a distinct lack of aftermarket support - that although in many cases one or two quality alternatives exist, we lack the sea of choices that seem to be afforded M&P or Glock shooters.
I'd actually saved up enough cash by that point - January of 2016 - to completely transition over to Glocks (with 4 XDms, twelve 13-rounders for my 3.8 Compact and somewhere around forty 19-rounders for the 4.5-inch, plus both concealed-carry and range/training OWB support-gear, you can do the math of how much I'd be spending to completely transition to Glocks, at the same capacity). Then I stumbled onto this thread on M4C.net:
^ I voiced this same concern of mine there, too (same screen-name). Luckily, DanjojoUSMC there saw my post and gave a reply that pushed me into looking at some of the old posts on the Brian Enos Forums about the long-term durability and reliability of the XDm.
I spent 2 days digging through those past posts on BE and documented the high-round-count/longevity concerns, which I then posted as a follow-up in that very same M4Carbine.net thread.
What I saw was encouraging, and as a result, I've decided to keep-on-keeping-on with my XDms.
But some brainstorming with fellow high-round-count users would be nice......
and
I had a moment of crisis about a three years back that stemmed from my XDms starting to really accrue age and use.
My EDC is at 12K, with its training/range copy at over 20K. My main range/training beater 4.5-inch has over 50K rounds fired (its copy, my HD gun, only has about 2K or so, and it rarely ever gets out to the range).
Even at 50K, my main training/range 4.5-inch XDm9 still has its original striker, extractor, ejector, barrel, and guide rod, and of what's aftermarket - notably the trigger pack from Springer Precision - that's only 700 rounds younger. To say that I've been happy with the durability and reliability of my XDms (the others mirror my experience with this high-mileage example) is an understatement.
^ These pictures were taken right around the time when this gun passed the 30K live-fire mark, after having been used for 5 out of 6 days of the combined Costa Ludus HE01/HE02 classes that I enrolled in, in the summer of 2012.
So, yes, I do trust these guns......
However, I am also well aware that the reality demands that everything that gets used will eventually degrade.
And that's really why I had that moment of crisis.
I realized that for as long as I've been in the XD-community online (I joined XDTalk in November of 2010), there are rarely any reports of other high-mileage examples. There's little to none written of troubleshooting or overhauls versus that of S&W M&Ps or Glocks. There's a distinct lack of aftermarket support - that although in many cases one or two quality alternatives exist, we lack the sea of choices that seem to be afforded M&P or Glock shooters.
I'd actually saved up enough cash by that point - January of 2016 - to completely transition over to Glocks (with 4 XDms, twelve 13-rounders for my 3.8 Compact and somewhere around forty 19-rounders for the 4.5-inch, plus both concealed-carry and range/training OWB support-gear, you can do the math of how much I'd be spending to completely transition to Glocks, at the same capacity). Then I stumbled onto this thread on M4C.net:
Springfield xdm 9mm mags
I used to carry a Springfield xdm in 9mm (19+1) and I have noticed the springs in a the magazines are weak now (mags loaded to 18 rds) and will not lock the slide back on the last round. I am aware of people saying the springs do not fatigue from storing loaded mags, just from cycling. Is...
www.m4carbine.net
^ I voiced this same concern of mine there, too (same screen-name). Luckily, DanjojoUSMC there saw my post and gave a reply that pushed me into looking at some of the old posts on the Brian Enos Forums about the long-term durability and reliability of the XDm.
I spent 2 days digging through those past posts on BE and documented the high-round-count/longevity concerns, which I then posted as a follow-up in that very same M4Carbine.net thread.
What I saw was encouraging, and as a result, I've decided to keep-on-keeping-on with my XDms.
But some brainstorming with fellow high-round-count users would be nice......
Last edited:
John Strayer
Alpha
Hey guys, Mas reached out to me about the questions on this thread. Sorry, I am not much of a blogger.
On the maintenance side of things I like to shoot guns and do not like to clean them. The Blueflame has been shot a lot and cleaned very little. When this was my primary competition gun, it typically only got cleaned before a major match. The only part that has been replaced other than action parts (trigger job done by Springfield Custom Shop) is the recoil spring, that was replaced trying to tune the gun for reloads. This pistol along with all of the other Springfields that we own has been rock solid reliable.
As for the Hellcat, for EDC I have been using a pocket pistol. For years I had carried a J-Frame in the front pocket. With the size and capacity of the Hellcat it has replaced the J-Frame. The Hellcat handles very nice and shoots where it looks.
The bright yellow front sight and u-notch rear are easy to pickup and large enough that I can see them OK when I do not have corrective glasses on.
Hope this helps.
On the maintenance side of things I like to shoot guns and do not like to clean them. The Blueflame has been shot a lot and cleaned very little. When this was my primary competition gun, it typically only got cleaned before a major match. The only part that has been replaced other than action parts (trigger job done by Springfield Custom Shop) is the recoil spring, that was replaced trying to tune the gun for reloads. This pistol along with all of the other Springfields that we own has been rock solid reliable.
As for the Hellcat, for EDC I have been using a pocket pistol. For years I had carried a J-Frame in the front pocket. With the size and capacity of the Hellcat it has replaced the J-Frame. The Hellcat handles very nice and shoots where it looks.
The bright yellow front sight and u-notch rear are easy to pickup and large enough that I can see them OK when I do not have corrective glasses on.
Hope this helps.
John, thanks so much for stepping in and giving us this insight. We appreciate it!
John Strayer
Alpha
Not a problem.
Thank you *so* much for taking the time out of your busy day to visit this thread and respond, Mr. Strayer! I *REALLY* appreciate it!
Mountain Man
Elite
40k rounds with minimal to no problems. Gives me peace of mind of longevity for my own XD.
CheeseMan
Operator
Agreed. That is way more rounds than I would ever run, but its nice to know the gun can do it. Makes you feel better about investing your money in it.