40c first range visit...one Major problem

2153 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by featherbndr, Jul 6, 2007

dbshabo

Discussion Starter · May 28, 2007

So I finally got to get off to the range this morning with my new 40c. I was shooting Winchester White Box 165g FMJ and Federal American Eagle 155g FMJ. I experienced the same very positive impression of this little pistol as most everyone else on this site. Very nice ergonomics, slight perceived recoil, reasonably accurate @15yds, and smooth action. It did seem as though the magazine had a loose fit in the magwell when it was fully loaded. Overall I'm impressed with the weapon.

I did experience one major problem that renders this pistol useless for the purpose I purchased it for, concealed carry. I had one of the Winchester rounds fail to fire. I removed the magazine and attempted to manually clear the defective round. I racked the slide back and the extractor did it's job and brought the round out of the chamber. The problem was that the round wasn't brought far enough to the rear for the bullet tip to clear the front of the ejection port before the butt of the case contacted the ejector. The extractor still had a firm grip on the rim of the case and the round became wedged in the ejection port with recoil spring tension holding it in place. Now the slide couldn't be brought back far enough to clear the round. It was very difficult to clear this round from the gun. I experienced this problem with both brands of ammo.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? I haven't read this one here as of yet. My guess is that the ejector is too long, not by much either cause the nose of the bullet only needs a wee bit more travel to clear the ejection port. My serial # is MPN39xx. I guess I'll be calling Smith for a shipping label next week.

Shabo

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saigonsmuggler

· #2 · May 28, 2007

YES! I had the very same problem firing my 9c for the first time yesterday. Very difficult to clear an unfired round from the chamber. Basically the round is stuck, as you'd said, between the ejector (casing's base) and chamber (bullet nose). I would ended up either refire the round or just keep racking back and forth until the round falls off thru the mag well.

Very frustrating. Thanks for the post. Now I remember another problem to report to S&W CS.

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Jester

· #3 · May 28, 2007

Little info. This has been covered, and if you rack the slide like you really mean it, the round will clear.

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dbshabo

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 29, 2007

Jester, I can assure you I racked that slide with more than enough force that the shell should have been ejected in a properly working weapon. My other auto's function flawlessly in manual clearing drills.

When I field stripped the gun for cleaning I noticed the ejector had a 'notch' at the end of it. If you look down on the ejector from the top there is more metal on the right side of it's end than on the left. Like it was being ground down to size from the side but the process wasn't completed leaving too much metal on the right side of the piece. Can anyone tell me what their ejector looks like looking down on it from the top, uniform length across it's width or notched like mine.

I really like this little gun and will do what it takes to get it right. I want to carry this piece for protection and right now it just won't do. Like others here I too am a little peeved that I have to package this brand new gun up and ship it Smith to make it right.

Shabo

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Walker

· #5 · May 29, 2007

IMO, take it to the range again after cleaning, I suspect it maybe do to extractor being dirty. Don't be so quick to send your 40c into S&W on a issue that hasn't been proven, except for the one time it happened. Again, I would clean it and fire it; if the problem persists then I would call S&W and get their opinion on the FTE problem.

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saigonsmuggler

· #6 · May 29, 2007

Same issue here for me - I tried racking back with much force, to no avail. However repeatedly racking back and forth can make the cartridge falling thru the mag well. Racking back with force caused minor damage to the cartridges as well, so this is not right to begin with.

In my case, it did not happen once but about 3 times in about 400 rounds. I have bought this gun as a possible substitute for my Sig 229 during the summer month but I guess I am sticking with the Sig still. Let's see how it performs after the trip back to S&W.

As for as the extractor being dirty? On a brand new gun, after 2 thorough cleaning sessions?

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dbshabo

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 6, 2007

Sent my 40c off to S&W about three weeks ago so they could look into this ejection problem I was having. I got my pistol back today.

The paperwork said they replaced the slide and the mag catch. I loaded up one mags with Winchester White Box and one with Federal Am Eagle. I racked the slide to load the chamber and manually ejected all shells from both mags with no malfunctions at all. I'm now a happy camper!! I don't expect any problems at the range this weekend but you never know. I must say that the service I got from Smith was superb and just what I expected. Think this one is gonna turn out to be a keeper.

Shabo

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featherbndr

· #8 · Jul 6, 2007

That's good to hear that they fixed it for you. Sounds like S&W are standing behind what they sell to us pretty well.

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