How often should my handgun be serviced?

[BrianJacobsen]

Hey all,

I'm still a fairly new shooter and I was just wondering, I've had my Springfield XD for about two years now and I've put several thousand rounds through it at the range.

Here's my question: How often should I take it to a gunsmith to check the workings? Do people do that? I'm thinking of it like a car. Every so often you take it on to a professional and have them do a diagnostic. Yes, no?

Honestly I'm not confident enough in my mechanical skills to do more than a basic field stripping.

Thanks!

 

[GBuck]

Basic field stripping and cleaning should suffice until you hit 8-10k rounds. At that point you'll probably want to get at least the guide rod spring replaced. Some people will tell you more or less on the round count, but 8-10k is usually a good number. Of course there can be some variances, as far as what kind of rounds you are using and how often you clean. I've seen a few Glocks go into the 30-40k range without having anything replaced.

 

[downzero]

You should never have to take it to a gunsmith. It has a lifetime warranty. Springfield will take care of you; their customer service is legendary.

 

[BrianJacobsen]

Gbuck: Thanks!

Downzero: I want to make sure I'm understanding. Are you saying I should just shoot until something breaks? Or is there a point where you would have it serviced, whether by Springfield or a gunsmith?

 

[downzero]

It will start acting up before something breaks. Worry about it then. Until then, just keep it lubed.

 

[GBuck]

You should never have to take it to a gunsmith. It has a lifetime warranty. Springfield will take care of you; their customer service is legendary.

Downzero: I want to make sure I'm understanding. Are you saying I should just shoot until something breaks? Or is there a point where you would have it serviced, whether by Springfield or a gunsmith?

It will start acting up before something breaks. Worry about it then. Until then, just keep it lubed.

While I understand what Zero is saying, I disagree. I would rather not ship MY firearm back to ANYONE if I don't have to.

A) You're without it for a period of time.

B) It could get lost in shipping.

C) For normal wear and tear, you're probably going to have to pay shipping as well as the service.

D) It's MUCH less of a hassle to take it to a 'smith to fix it and cheaper.


(If you're just replacing a guide rod order it online. They're cheap and if you know how to field strip, you know how to replace it. )

 

[pudly]

With any quality gun, about the only parts that you would have to replace over time are some of the springs, mostly the recoil/guide rod springs. And those aren't due for replacement yet. Most any other part will last until you have *much* more experience with the gun. Other than that, proper cleaning and lubes periodically and you are good to go.

 

[Tydeeh22]

i field strip and clean my EDC once a week. overkill? probably. but at the very least, it gives me the peace of mind knowing. youd be surprised how dirty your gun gets after a week of carry.

 

[GBuck]

^^Hangs out with too many loose women.

 

[pokersamurai]

I keep a supply of most of the springs and small parts that wear out or break on most of my pistols. I don't worry about it until something does break at which point I fix it myself (no gunsmith involved). If a major component of the pistol were to break that I could not fix (slide, frame, etc.) Then I'd send it back to the factory.

 

[Birds Away]

Clean, lube, shoot, repeat.

 

[XDLover]

Learn to care for your primary pistol yourself. There are plenty of good YOUTUBE vidoes to take you through many of the steps out there. All those are basic stuff too.
Plus if you ever had to care for it you can without issue. But I would also find a good smith you can trust to care for it if you ever need to. There are things I don't like doing on a gun.

 

[JettaKnight]

Your XD should last forever if (semi)regularly cleaned and properly lubed (not over-lubed). There's not much else you can do beyond field stripping that gun.

Have you ever seen the torture test of the XD they do on those TV shows?

 

[figley]

By the time you've shot it enough to require any maintenance, you'll be comfortable enough with it to determine what needs to be done, and how to do it.

Until then, just clean & lube.

 

[nipprdog]

^^Hangs out with too many loose women.

No, hangs out too much on INGO. 7000 posts in 5 months.