My Smith & Wesson M&P Compact Is Defective

[armed85]

What a disappointment. I really want to like this gun because it's very comfortable to shoot. The recoil from .40 S&W in this small gun is very manageable.

1. One of the white dots on the rear sight popped off when firing the first magazine through the gun.

2. The slide locks back with one round left in the magazine.

3. Both magazines will randomly fall out of the gun without pressing the magazine release button.

This was bought for a defensive piece. I can't have my sights and magazines randomly falling out.

I will be giving Smith & Wesson a warranty call.

 

[gudel]

Send it back, make use of S&W's warranty.

 

[rbernie]

How unusual - sorry to hear this.

Send it back. S&W will make it right, and when it's fixed and working you'll be a very happy owner.

 

[tydephan]

The mags dropping appears to be a common condition on the compact M&Ps.

Check out the compact section of mp-pistol.com for more information.

There is also some information about it in the later pages of this thread.

Smith will make it right. It sucks, but it is what it is.

 

[Coronach]

Mag drops are a known issue with compacts. Send it back to S&W.

My compact also has locked back on a not-empty magazine. How many rounds left? One? On the plus side, my full-size had magazine issues when I first got it. They cleared up within 500 rounds.

Mike

 

[armed85]

Yes, there's only one round in the magazine when the slide locks back.

Why it only does it with one round is odd. Why not 2 or even 5?

I more concerned with the screwed up rear sight and the magazine falling out.

I hope they do fix it. The Compact M&P fits my hand better than a Glock or XD.

 

[Coronach]

The mag drop issue is something Smith has either fixed, or is actively working on (depends on who you ask...the M&P Compacts I have seen that had mag drop issues were fixed by Smith and have behaved fine since then). The rear sight sounds like boneheaded assembly- I've never heard of that happening before, so it's (hopefully) just a case of assembler error.

The mag issue, I think, is this:

The mags seem to be REALLY twitchy when you first get them. They're a PITA to load, the follower does not move freely, and the spring seems to get hung up, causing the follower to move oddly. I think that the last round wants to tip up, allowing the nose of the follower to move up a smidge more than it should, which trips the slide stop.

My M&Pc is doing it, too, but mine is still brand spankin' new. My fullsize had some magazine irregularities, too, that ironed themsolves out in the first 500 rounds, and have not reapeared since (for instance, the slide would fail to strip a round from a half-full magazine...it would just go into battery and *CLICK*...to me that sounds related, the follower/mag spring is not pushing up on the rounds properly).

I'm keeping an eye on both of them, but I'm happy withthe performance of the fullsize. The Compact is wait-and-see. I'm optimistic, though, since the mags get notably smoother and easier each time you use them. Try loading them up and letting them sit loaded between range sessions.

Mike

 

[gudel]

is the mag dropping because people are accidentally releasing the catch, or the catch is messed up?

 

[armed85]

After the first time it happened, a friend and I were very careful to not press the magazine release thinking that was the cause.

Unfortunately, the magazine will randomly drop out on it's own and without pressing the magazine release.

 

[jeepmor]

If it's like my Witness, the mag catch is screwed up and S&W will be replacing it. On my Witness, with EAA support have the reputation of used toilet paper, I worked on it myself. I thought for quite a while that it was my thumb swiping the mag release on recoil due to it being a 10mm and using full power cartridges. But it was not.

The shoulders of the mag catch on my witness were protruding into the mag well. The catch itself was working, but I had to use a dremel and move the shoulders back on either side of the catch part about 1/32" of an inch. This is likely a cast part and a mold is getting out of spec.

Drop the magazine and lock open the chamber and peer down into the mag well. If either side of the mag catch is protruding into the magwell even the tiniest bit, it's this jostling from recoil hitting these shoulders that should not be protruding. Thus, dropping your magazine.

This may actually due to more varaiation in the sizing of the plastic handle and not the mag catch itself. Metal work being inherently easier to be accurate than working with plastic. This would be considered a stacked tolerance issue from the engineering and manufacturing point of view. Regardless, the fix would employ moving these shoulders back a touch more.

As for the slide lock issue, can't be much help here.

jeepmor

 

[Coronach]

Yes, it is the mag catch. It is a known defect, which Smith is working to rectify.

Mike

 

[cbsbyte]

Sounds like a similar issue a friend had with his new full size MP9. Personally I am not a fan of Smiths plastics pistols, they make great revolvers, but the quality on the Sigma, and now the MP series leaves serious doubt in my mind about Smiths commitment to quality products. Maybe in a few years the MP series will prove to be excellent pistols but until then no thanks, I don't want to be a beta tester for Smith's QC.

 

[Harold Mayo]

Oh, my...

This rules out any further thoughts of a purchase. Ergonomics are SO good, though...

 

[ewayte]

uality

Makes you wonder if Smith outsourced production of its polymer semi-autos to Kahr...

 

[Coronach]

I wouldn't rule them out just yet. S&W realizes that this gun must work if they are to remain competitive in the duty gun and duty gun back-up market. The full-size .40s are running fine (my PD has close to 2,000 of them in service, with no serious issues). The compacts are having a mag-drop issue. That strikes me as being imminently fixable.

Mike

 

[gudel]

so it's only for the compact thing then, doesn't affect the full size forty yes?

 

[raginrednek]

no more S&W 4 me

my last S&W 22 thought it was centerfire.about a 30 day turn around for repair, shipping at my expense. people less than pleasant. hope you fare better.

 

[Coronach]

so it's only for the compact thing then, doesn't affect the full size forty yes?

I can't swear that a fullsize .40 has never suffered from a defective mag release, but as a systemic problem, yes: it seems limited to the compacts. And, to reiterate, the 40Cs that I've seen that have suffered mag drop issues, S&W has replaced the mag releases, and they have behaved fine since.

I'm keeping an eye on mine, but so far, so good. I'm not particularly worried.

Mike

 

[tango3065]

I am starting to hear lots of M&P problems on various forums and at my range, I hope S&W gets their butts in gear or they are gonna make a complete failure with polymer guns just like they did their last try.

 

[olyeller]

JUst shot my MP40 at the USPSA Nationals, didnt clean it once, didnt so mauch as blow dirt off of the mags. Zero Malfs.

 

[Coronach]

I am starting to hear lots of M&P problems on various forums and at my range, I hope S&W gets their butts in gear or they are gonna make a complete failure with polymer guns just like they did their last try.

This is because any place that is a forum for anything mechanical (guns, cars, tools) is going to attract people having problems with the item in question. They're not very likely to seek out a gun forum if the gun they own is running fine. If it has a hiccup, they'll go looking for a place to ask questions and get advice. This leads to an influx of people talking about how their new Widget isn't working right.

What matters is not how many people you have showing up at a place complaining of problems, because that is soley a function of how many lemons have been produced. While that might seem counter-intuitive, consider:

Gun Maker A produces 500 Ghetto Blaster Model 1s. Of those 500, 400 guns are junk and refuse to run. The rest are fine.

Gun Maker B produces 5 million Ultra CCW Model 2s. Of those 5 million, 400 guns are junk and refuse to run. The rest are fine.

Both makers have produced 400 POS guns. 800 people are looking for a place to vent, ask questions, and seek advice. If you go by this alone, it looks like both makers produce crappy guns. However, when you realize that one maker has churned out five million units, with four million, nine hundred ninety nine thousand and six-hundred of them being stellar performers, things become a little more clear. I, for one, know which one I would buy.

Obviously, these numbers are exagerrated, and no one is claiming that there's not a glitch with the compacts. I'm just saying that you can't judge the general quality of a pistol by the mere number of complaints on gun boards.

Mike

 

[DHart]

Just as with anything... if you get an M&P that's stone reliable, you like it, a LOT. If you get one with mag drop problems, S&W "fixes" it... then a few hundred rounds the problem returns again, then S&W "fixes" it again (replacing mag catches), only to have failures return yet again... you not a happy camper with the gun at all. Mine is on it's way back to S&W a second time (after trying 3 mag catches in 1200 rounds). I have a feeling they're going to replace the frame this time. We'll see. I love the gun, but my Glocks get all of my carry duty... can't trust my M&P. Since the problems with my M&P, I've learned that you really can become accustomed to Glocks, shoot them well, and really like them a lot! ;-)~ Glock makes a great, reliable gun.

 

[armed85]

I've owned a Glock and it was reliable, but I do not find that it fits my hand as well as the M&P. That's why I own an M&P.

I might end up buying a Glock 30, Glock 36, or a small 3" 1911.

I'm not really looking for more "knock down power." Rather, ammo commonality. Having more than one gun for the .45 ACP cartridge is convenient.

I haven't given up on the M&P Compact yet. We'll see how it goes.

 

[pwrtool45]

I am starting to hear lots of M&P problems on various forums and at my range, I hope S&W gets their butts in gear or they are gonna make a complete failure with polymer guns just like they did their last try.

Probably because gun owners are panicky and reactionary. A whisper becomes a rumor, the rumor becomes a fact and the fact becomes common knowledge. Truth is less relevant than believability.

To further Coronach's point, I haven't posted anything about my M&P9 on the internet. So, there's one full-size 9mm that's running 100% that hasn't been represented in the intarwebs dataset. It only has 350 rounds though it. Sure, it's only 350 rounds, but it's the first 350 rounds. Where the break-in problems should be. Mixed NATO ball, Speer Gold Dots, 125gr lead reloads belonging to a guy at the range, PMC FMJ and some WWB. Additionally, I used whatever 9mm I had buried at the bottom of my ammo closet. (Some of that ammo was heavily discolored with age and had noticeably less recoil; the brass landed on my boots. Very unlikely it would have made 125PF ) Also, there was no initial cleaning, lubing or wipe down for its first range session. Took it out of the box, loaded the mags with whatever I had, and went shooting. So far, 100%.

So, let's say someone had posted a poll entitled "how is your M&P running?" last week. I probably wouldn't have voted in it. Anyone who has one that's running fine is going to be less motivated to do so than someone who's had problems. Just the nature of the beast.

 

[armed85]

My M&P has returned.

The following repairs were done:

Repaired: Replace Slide Stop
Repaired: Replace Mag Catch
Repaired: Replace Rear Sight
Repaired: Replace Front Sight
Repaired: Inspected/Tested & Passed

I gave Smith & Wesson a polite hint that I wanted night sights and to my surprise they installed a brand new set of tritium night sights!

I will post a range report soon.