If you've shot lead bullets, be extra certain to scrub the bore clean. Also recognize that the Glock is not very fond of lead bullets, and using them can bring trouble. Best to stick with jacketed or plated bullets in your ammo.

Remove the Glock rear plate by relieving the striker spring pressure on it. Note the chipped striker tunnel chipped--unsightly but not a problem.

The striker assembly usually does not need to be taken apart. You can easily scrub off any dust, gunk, lint or powder residue without taking it apart. The striker cups are particularly small and prone to being lost.

Lubing and reassembling a Glock will uncover a few more of the gun's peculiarities. Once you've pressed the locking block back in place in the frame (if you even removed it, which isn't necessary most of the time), you need to remember the order of the trigger-end cross pins: small then large. Press in the trigger end of the trigger assembly and push the small pin across. Then insert your slide stop and hold it in place while you press the large (lower) pin across.

The slide stop has a small wire spring attached that levers against the small pin. Trying to insert the small pin second instead of first means you'll have to push the spring out of the way to get the pin across. It's frustrating.

The XD frame rails, being larger than those of the Glock, need lubrication. Don't run them dry.

If your connector assembly has twisted around, realign it and press the connector block down into the frame. Once in place, press the rear pin (the plastic one) through; the frame is now done.

To reassemble the slide, the order is simple: extractor, striker safety and spring, extractor spring and plunger, then striker assembly. Stand the slide on its muzzle and press the extractor plunger and striker rear down to clear the rear plate as you slide that on. Done.

Lubricate the Glock lightly. Some will say that you shouldn't lube a Glock at all. Nonsense. It is a mechanical device and as such needs some lubricant. It just needs less--and in fewer places--than other pistols.

The places to put a single drop each are at the top of the chamber, connector angle and on each rail. The rails of the Glock are quite small, and some don't lube them at all. In many circumstances they don't need it. And if you over-lube you'll simply attract dust and lint. But a small amount is good, especially if you used a chemical degreaser spray to clean the gun.

One location you absolutely must not lubricate is the striker assembly. Inside the slide the striker tunnel has a polymer liner. The liner is self-lubricating and reduces friction for the striker. Instead of Tenifer-hardened steel, the striker cups ride on the surface of the sleeve. If you introduce oil there, you attract dust, lint grit and powder residue. The slurry will grind the sleeve, and the roughened surface will increase friction.

Check the trigger-return spring. While it's rare, they do break, and function suffers as a result.

THE SPRINGFIELD XD
The XD differs in a few ways from the Glock. First, the designers of the XD had 15-plus years to deal with the peculiarities of the Glock. Disassembly is more traditional.

Make sure the XD is empty, and lock the slide back. Pivot the disassembly lever on the front left side until the arm is straight up. Ease the slide forward, then dry-fire it. Pull the slide off the frame.

Recoil spring and barrel come out the same way, but that's pretty much it. The frame internals aren't built as sub-assemblies. If you drive the cross pins out, you get not a block of parts as in the Glock but a bunch (although fewer in number) of parts.