m&p 40 issues..

[lue_119]

I'm having failure to feed issues...and I'm just looking for more advice. I love the feel of the gun and how it shoots but...it seems to fail a lot with hornady self defense rounds, not every round but, atleast everymag...the rounds are feeding about a qaurter way in and stopping, there also not even making it into the extractor, its like its almost loading too quick I'm not sure though..my neighbor thinks maybe recoil spring or just a break in period but, from what I'm reading, most people can feed whatever they want in it, and say, that there really isn't a break in period on the m&p series. If someone could please just shed some light on this for me, I'm just heart broken cause I traded in my beretta px4 subby for this, cause it was jamming and wasn't quite the right feel...payed a hundred dollar and gave them the beretta, and I was happy...but idk what to do now...its a used m&p, so I'm not sure if contacting s&w is even worth it, since the warranty only carries with the original buyer, I was considering taking it back to my local gunstore though, since they have a 30 day warranty on all there firearms new n used. Please any feed back would be greatly appreciated! And I do apologize for the not so good grammer and punctuation.

 

[Hometeached1]

Since it's used I'd change the magazine spring and the recoil spring. Should run just fine. Hope this helps.

 

[lue_119]

Okay thank you! Any particular brands? I've heard good about the wolf springs, but, I'm rather new to the upgrading of handguns and such, so any advice is greatly appreciated!

I really want this gun to function flawlessly, I intended to make it my carry peice.

 

[Hometeached1]

The ones from S&W should be fine. A friend of mine has some Wolff +10 (I think) for when he runs hotter ammo through his SIG. If you get extra power springs make sure there the same rate for the recoil spring and the magazine springs to keep the feeding reliable.

 

[ugaarguy]

If it's only having issues with Hornady ammo, that very well may be the problem. Also, which specific Hornady ammo are you having problems with? I'd try an ammo change before I replaced any springs.

 

[doubleh]

+1 on trying some different ammo first.

 

[lue_119]

Okay ill keep that in mind ima check em out, Thank you! And the critical defense, duty, and, just some reg, hollow point hornadys, I had one with some remington umc fmj, but these magtech first defense justice, seem to be feeding fine, ain't got to try them out yet as I forgot them at home but they chamber from the mag well, were as my hornady critical defense, and duty were'nt. I just thought from everything I've read, that they would feed "anything"..

 

[JTQ]

On a 1911 forum or two, I've seen industry professionals comment the poly tip on those Critical Defense rounds often hang up on feed ramps causing feed problems.

I haven't used them, but I'll take their word for it.

 

[lue_119]

I was kinda curious about that myself, but it failed to feed a couple of reg hornady hollows no plug, fed most fine, but, had 1 that was a pain in the ass, and didn't wanna feed.

 

[Nom de Forum]

lue_119,

Why don't you send a PM to THR member Old Dog about your M&P issue. Old Dog due to his employment has probably seen and shot more M&Ps than anyone on this forum. He may have some valuable insights to share with you.

 

[lue_119]

Alright ill give that a shot, thank you much.

 

[fastbolt]

I'm having failure to feed issues...

.. not every round but, atleast everymag...

... the rounds are feeding about a qaurter way in and stopping

... I'm just heart broken cause I traded in my beretta px4 subby for this, cause it was jamming and wasn't quite the right feel...payed a hundred dollar and gave them the beretta, and I was happy...but idk what to do now...

Am I right in reading your comments as you were also having "jamming issues" with your plastic Beretta .40?

If so, and you're experiencing inconsistent feeding stoppages with another plastic-framed .40 pistol ... it wouldn't surprise me to find that your "problems" aren't gun or ammo problems, but more likely shooter-induced problems.

If there's an experienced pistol shooter at your range (RSO, instructor, experienced competitor, etc, meaning not just some "other guy" who likes to shoot), particularly someone well versed & experienced in shooting plastic-framed guns chambered in .40 S&W, I'd ask that person to shoot your M&P 40 (with good quality American factory ammo).

Any grip inconsistencies or technique issues can help create the potential for an assortment of feeding, extraction, ejection & assorted malfunction "problems" ... but day in & day out, the most significant number of reported "gun problems" are actually diagnosed to be "shooter problems" in one way or another.

Ammo problems are a much smaller likely potential cause (presuming good quality factory ammo, of course).

Improper maintenance issues at the shooter level can certainly create the potential for occasional problems (insufficient cleaning, lubrication, improper assembly, "modifications", non-factory parts, abuse, etc), too.

Actual "gun problems" are pretty much the least common things encountered, but they do happen every now and again.

Being an owner and armorer for some different plastic pistols (Glock, Walther P99/SW99, S&W M&P), as well as a firearms instructor, I've seen far more shooter-induced problems than actual gun problems.

FWIW, the M&P 40 was the first of the M&P's designed and tested, and has been a very reliable model since its introduction.

If yours is used, though, you have no way of knowing whether the previous owner may have modified or fooled with it. I'd hope the gunsmith at the store where you bought it inspected it, and has made himself familiar with the M&P pistol line.

Thee have been a couple of mag follower revisions since the model's introduction. In these pictures they're shown oldest to newest, left-to-right, in the first 2 pics ... and on top in the 3rd pic.




If you don't have the current follower (marked .40), the factory would probably send some to you at no charge if you called and spoke with a customer service rep.

The factory recommends armorers replace mag springs and recoil springs either every 5 years or every 5,000 rounds fired, so it might not hurt to replace those springs, too.

The springs are 'captured' in the hole in the follower, and it's important the spring not be oriented backwards or upside down. (Don't underestimate the potential for owners/users to do weird things when reassembling pistols and mags after field-stripping and basic cleaning. )

Just some thoughts.

 

[lue_119]

Alright thank you much for the response, and I don't believe I ever posted anything about a beretta?? Lol although, that's ironic! Lol cause I did get rid of a beretta px4 subby, wasn't very accurate, in any hands I seen it in, jammomatic! And totally not a "real" px4 on account of the barrel, lol but ill check over my mags, and me and my neighbor, polished the feed ramps the other night, and now its chambering my hornadys, he's a professional machinest, and he did a greatt job! Its like glass now, the lines from the mill are gone. But, no, I am a rather new shooter to hand guns, last 4 years maybe, but I have to take it out, to the range now, and that will give me real results, ima bring my neighbor with me too, he's been shooting handguns, his whole life, and introduced me, but befor I was having, FTF, upon just racking in a fresh round, but I will post more updates and thank you all!

 

[Jenrick]

very reliable model since its introduction

I've got the differ with that. I will say that they are fairly reliable now, with only the occasional lemon having issues (probably on par with the other major manufactures in failure rate). My agency (full time LEO at a large municipal agency) went to the M&P .40 S&W in approximately 2009 for all in coming recruits, they had to purchase their own as at the time we did not issue pistols. I honestly thing Raven or Jennings could have produced more reliable durable pistols then the ones we saw on the ranges for next year and a half.

My personal favorite was a pistol that would fire and drop the magazine. Even in a Ransom rest. Sent it back to S&W, and they simply sent back a brand new pistol. We had numerous serious issues for approximately 18 months. After that the quality of the pistols improved markedly in everything from reliability to trigger feel. We went department wide to the M&P in late 2011 and issue them now. The data from having about 1800 or so in the wild since then is that is about as reliable as anything else out there when run on the range. In a less sterile environment we are still seeing/hearing about feeding issues. In particular if the magazines or ammo gets dusty or dirty the gun doesn't like to feed (this is coming from folks shooting competition with their duty pistols). The mag in the gun runs fine, but a mag change on a windy day in a gravel pit, can cause issues.

Overall I'd say for personal carry it's a decent pistol (particularly if you like the ergonomics), and bone stock it is reasonably reliable and accurate in this roll. Adding a few aftermarket parts can radically improve the trigger, and if one is so inclined adding a fitted barrel will certainly tighten the groups up.

lue_119: Sounds like you got it sorted. The feed ramp geometry on the M&P can be a little steep for some rounds as you noticed. Hopefully polishing it took care of the problem.

-Jenrick

 

[fastbolt]

I can see some early "batches" having had some issues, especially involving a run of mag catches (vendor parts) that had the improperly hardened steel inserts. That was mostly considered as having been identified and resolved by the Fall of '07.

I did hear about some minor & occasional issues with a grip frame tolerance (molding), and again, that vendor issue was identified and caught during the first year of production.

The Teflon-coated mag springs were a good idea, as were the Mec-Gar mags (9/.40/.357 guns), but then they discovered (like other gun companies are still discovering) that the wide range of JHP's selected by LE users required at least 2 subsequent revisions in the .40 (less in the other calibers, from what I've heard).

The mag in the gun runs fine, but a mag change on a windy day in a gravel pit, can cause issues.

This can plague anyone's guns. Another Glock armorer I know working in Texas has told me about his occasional problems resulting from blown sand/grit entering mag bodies in exposed mag carriers.

I know I've seen my fair share of guys experience problems after having dropped Glock, SIG, S&W, Colt & CZ mags onto out loose sand covered range surface over the years. Once the mags hit the sand and then go back into the guns ... all bets are off for consistent feeding & round movement inside the mag bodies. Great when it happens, but understandable when it doesn't due to the presence of sand/grit introduced into the mags.

It can sometimes be disheartening to some folks when they have a sand/contamination related stoppage ... and they'd just heard from someone at a gun shop, or read on some gun forum, how their particular make/model survived some "torture test" and feed/functioned/fired flawlessly after being used as an expedient sand shovel. Welcome to the real world.

I guess I could qualify my earlier statement about reliability since release by saying "comparatively", as some of the other big name makers of service/duty pistols worked (and are still working) to identify and address issues that allow them to revise and continue to refine their guns.

 

[fastbolt]

... I don't believe I ever posted anything about a beretta?? Lol although, that's ironic! Lol cause I did get rid of a beretta px4 subby, wasn't very accurate, in any hands I seen it in, jammomatic!...

A Beretta PX4 is still a Beretta, and is what I meant about having previously had problems with a plastic-framed Beretta.

 

[lue_119]

Oh no I agree 100% but the subcompact, px4, don't have the rotating barrel, the compact, and fullsize, have, and in my opinion, its not the same and it affected its performance, because the whole design was originally ment, for the rotating barrel, I think they just through the subcompact together, but that's just an opinion of mine after owning one.

 

[ritepath]

I'm hoping my next pistol is an M&P 40 5"


I just ditched my p229 and the M&P was in line to replace it. I may however.com wait and check out the new Sig p320 before springing for the Smith.