[DHart]

My M&P40C was a perfect performer for about 300+ rounds when suddenly, the mag catch began dropping the mag a fraction of an inch after each round - effectively stopping the gun. One call to S&W and I had a UPS call tag on the way. That was a week and a half ago.



I received my M&P 40C back from S&W today. S&W paid for overnight shipping both ways. Note says they replaced the original mag catch (which was marked with a "2") with another (which is marked with a "1"), tested, and all is ok.



Tonight I ran 41 rounds of Speer 180 gr Gold Dot ammo through it and the gun performed perfectly. With well over 300+ rounds through it, the trigger is now feeling really awesome (MUCH nicer than any of my Glock triggers!) and tonight I was reminded of how accurate and easy to shoot this gun is. I am now exceptionally enthusiastic about this gun -again-... all I need now is about 400 more rounds of shooting without problems to re-establish reliability and confidence again.



I am thriled to have this gun... I think it's the perfect feeling and shooting compact 40 available at any price.... feels so good in the hand you don't want to put it down. And in spite of what a reliable and solid shooter my Glock 19 is, the M&P totally smokes the Glock for trigger feel, shootability, and feel in the hand. I'm even more accurate with the 40C than with my 19 as well. Here's hoping the mag catch issue never rears it's head again.



Looking forward to shooting my 40C a lot more in the coming days! This gun is truly amazing and S&W is unrivaled in the firearms industry these days in customer service & warranty. Buy Smith & Wesson!

 

[YukonGlocker]

 

[Walker]

Thats good news...



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[targetsup]

Thats great! Sounds like you are a Smith fan, glad to hear that the customer service was outstanding as always.

 

[DHart]

Since getting it back from S&W, I have put an additional 202 rounds (Speer 180 gr. Gold Dot, 180 gr. West Coast Plated FP reloads, and Winchester USA 165 gr. FMJ) through it (626 total rounds since new) and function is perfect. I'll give it another 300 rounds or so to confirm flawless functioning and then it will be in my carry gun rotation.



With S&W's lifetime warranty and superb customer service, I'm perfectly content that if I ever have problems with the M&P, Smith & Wesson will make good on it through repair or replacement. S&W has invested heavily in their new M&P line and no doubt they are committed to making the M&P line a huge success.

 

[Walker]

With S&W's lifetime warranty and superb customer service, I'm perfectly content that if I ever have problems with the M&P, Smith & Wesson will make good on it through repair or replacement. S&W has invested heavily in their new M&P line and no doubt they are committed to making the M&P line a huge success.

I couldn't agree more, thanks for the update.

 

[DHart]

Another Update...

I don't have my original (marked "2") mag catch to compare to, but the replacement S&W put in is marked with a "1" and the metal has squarish edges on it and appears slightly toned in color. After a few hundred rounds of shooting with the new catch, the top flat surface is showing some wear near the engagement edge.



As of tonight's shooting session...I have 425 rounds through my 40 Compact SINCE S&W replaced the mag catch (829 rounds total since new). That's about the same amount of use I had when the mag drop problem first appeared. And this time, so far, so good! All I have to report is that the trigger feels better than ever... wonderful, in fact, for a striker-fired pistol and accuracy is great. I LOVE this little gun. Tonight I shot 50 rounds carefully placed on target and then another 50 rounds fired as one might in a close encounter with the worst evil imaginable... fast, furious, but still attempting to hit COM. Everything fed and fired perfectly. I'm ready to put this hot little blaster back into my defense gun rotation. 8)

 

[giggsy]

Thanks for this posting DHart. I've been very pleased with my .40c until today. After about 300 trouble free rounds I started to have the exact problem you have mentioned. After reading your post this doesn't seem like a big deal and I'll be calling S&W on Monday.

giggsy

 

[Kraigster414]

My M&Pc 9 went back for the same problem. It was returned in exactly one week. They replaced the mag catch and now what a difference (so far so good). Before I could practically blow on the mag release button and the mag would drop. No more. This is something folks need to watch because when my gun was brand new there was ample tension on the button. The more I shot, the lighter things became suggesting abnormal wear on the mag catch. This is not an isolated problem. S&W acknowledges they are having problems with the mag catch.

 

[DHart]

Unfortunately, now I'm just waiting for "the other shoe to drop", that is, when will I fire a shot and have the next mag drop. My confidence is better, but not as great as I would like it to be. I love the M&P Compact very much, but there are some reliability issues that are so common as to be a fly in the ointment. That's why my new Glock 19 (an incredibly reliable and versatile pistol by any standards) is seeing more of my carry duty than my M&P is. A couple more years of M&P models in service will be telling as to reliability.

 

[Kraigster414]

Unfortunately, now I'm just waiting for "the other shoe to drop", that is, when will I fire a shot and have the next mag drop. My confidence is better, but not as great as I would like it to be. I love the M&P Compact very much, but there are some reliability issues that are so common as to be a fly in the ointment. That's why my new Glock 19 (an incredibly reliable and versatile pistol by any standards) is seeing more of my carry duty than my M&P is. A couple more years of M&P models in service will be telling as to reliability.

I believe you are spot on. I traded in my G19 some time ago but kept my G23. Say wha you want about the Glocks but the fact remains, they are reliable to a fault. Ugly yes, horrible grip, strictly combat accuracy but they go bang every time. Hold the factory to the fire on M&P problems plus your experiences are valuable in educating others at this site.



I'll be darn, just looked at my aviator. I've been promoted to Sharpshooter. A little respect please!

 

[DHart]

Unfortunately, the thrill did not last very long.



I now have around 750 additional rounds through my 40C since I got it back from S&W for the mag drop problem. The gun is dropping the mag now at a rate of about twice every two to three mags.



I'm working on trying to reposition my thumb so as to eliminate the possibility that my thumb is touching the mag release button during recoil. BUT.... I don't like having a gun where the mag catch is so sensitive that I have to worry about whether my thumb *might* activate it if my hold becomes anything less than perfect... during a gunfight, one's hold on one's gun can and commonly does change. TO have to tip-toe around that mag catch button really bothers me! No other semi auto I have exhibits this mag catch sensitivity and frankly, I don't need a gun that I have to worry about this with.



The nature of the gun is that during recoil (which twists a little to the side as well), there is a tendency for one's thumb to come in contact with the mag release button... and it so happens that the mag release button is sensitive... I think more sensitive than the button on most guns. My hands are not small, nor huge... but perhaps slightly larger than average. If I had relatively shorter length fingers, perhaps my thumb wouldn't even get near the mag catch button... but it does.



I reversed the mag release button to the right side (as a southpaw might do) and so far, with just a few mags, the mag drop problem hasn't happened. I will need to shoot a dozen or so mag fulls to know for sure whether this work-around is truly effective in eliminating the mag drop problem. Trouble with this approach is that of my very many semi-auto pistols, my M&P would be the only one with the mag release on the right side and if I should be so unlucky as to have to defend myself with the gun AND have to do a mag swap... that little difference could be a big problem.



As I mentioned in another thread, I recently bought a Glock 19 and have been really thrilled with its performance. It doesn't feel quite as nice in the hand as my M&P 40 Compact, but it does shoot well and feels good.... and is stone reliable, round after round, mag after mag. For this reason, I decided to buy a Glock 23... as an alternative to my 40 Compact - a gun I can rely on until such time as the 40 Compact becomes equally reliable without the not-so-great workaround of switching the mag release button to the other side.



By comparison, yes the M&P Compact feels better in the hand, but the 23 does feel good, the 23 is comparable in size to the M&P Compact (there is a negligible difference in size, really, to the M&P 40 Compact), the Glock 23 carries 14 rounds standard (16 with Glock 22 mags) with capacity of just 11 in the 40 Compact, and the 23 is proven reliable and exceptionally durable. Glock has increased case head support on recent production .40's, so I'm not so concerned with that issue. (Case head support is still a little greater with the M&P and the chamber size in the M&P is a little snugger than the 23). I may buy a KKM or LoneWolf barrel for the 23 just for that extra measure of case head support and chamber tightness as I shoot a LOT of reloaded ammo.



SO... for now anyway, I'm going with the Glock 23, with my M&P 40 Compact lurking in the shadows - I may return it to S&W again to see if they've come up with a stronger spring for the mag catch... but until the M&P becomes stone-trouble-free, I'm going to have to pass on using mine or perhaps sell it. I'm hoping that something can be done to minimize the sensitivity of the mag catch button on the M&P because I see this issue as a true achilles heel for this gun. With a stronger mag catch spring and slightly re-designed mag catch button... I feel this problem would go away for me. In the meantime I'm very disappointed.

 

[YukonGlocker]

Sorry to hear about your continued troubles.

It's hard to beat the old standby (Glock).

 

[balin]

I am a lefty. When I moved the mag release to the right side I had mag drop problems most every magazine. So I switched it back to left side and my troubles went away. And as I am used to shooting right handed pistols it is any problem.

 

[DHart]

Yukon... your objective support is much appreciated. Sounds like we both appreciate both Glocks and M&P's.



balin... your comment, along with others I have found, points toward the need for some type of improvement to the sensitivity of the mag catch on the M&P's... Is yours a 40 Compact as well? Perhaps the aggressive recoil of the 40 in the Compact frame increases the tendency for the mag catch to be triggered during recoil by a thumb anywhere close to it.



I am going to appeal once more to S&W to correct this problem with my gun, if they can. Otherwise, I wonder if they might have some other remedy... possibly replace my gun with another, perhaps a full size model... I don't know what else to do. I don't think I want to have one gun among my defense guns where I will have to remember to release the mag catch on the opposite side than I am used to.

 

[PR1]

Sorry to hear about your continued troubles.

It's hard to beat the old standby (Glock).

I like my M&P but since I'm also having those issues, I decided to buy a glock.

 

[HeedJSU]

I sent my M&P 40c in tuesday before last, It's been almost 2 weeks now, makes me wonder what they're doing different that I didn't get my pistol back in a week like everyone else.



Justin

 

[PPCmaster]

I sent my M&P 40c in tuesday before last, It's been almost 2 weeks now, makes me wonder what they're doing different that I didn't get my pistol back in a week like everyone else.



Justin

Could just be that S+W has more pistols to take care of now... they might just be a little backed up ATM.... I wouldn't think they are doing anything different to your pistol than anyone else's... unless they found something else wrong with it...

 

[HeedJSU]

That's crossed my mind too, but when I sent it in the guy on the phone gave me a turnaround time of 7-10 days. Each time I've called and asked, the turnaround time has gotten progressively longer. We're up to possibly 4 weeks, now. I returned my pistol for the mag drop issue as well, already having the #2 release in place. At this point, S&W has had my pistol longer than I have. I had it for 3 days before I sent it in, and now they've had it for 2 weeks. I WANT MY GUN BACK

Justin

 

[DHart]

Justin.. could be they're out of mag catches at the moment or are considering replacing your frame or other possible remedies. S&W has a big problem on their hands with the mag drop issue - just replacing the mag catch doesn't necessarily eliminate the problem.... so perhaps they're considering other solutions which may be more time consuming than simply dropping another mag catch in your gun. Personally, I think some new engineering is in order - IMHO, the mag catches on these guns are simply too sensitive for ultimate reliability. Hopefully S&W is working on a new and PERMANENT fix to the mag catch sensitivity issue. There are way too many of us with this problem to blame it on the shooter or the shooter's hand hold.



Do you have another, reliable carry gun? Best thing you can do is just relax and enjoy your other guns (if you have any others). Not a bad idea to have another carry gun or two so you're covered if you have problems with one of them.