[JimVT]

Is anybody else unimpressed by the gap between the mag and the grip, or is this just an issue with my 40c? My hands are fairly small so this afternoon I tried shooting with my pinky finger on the grip instead of curled underneath. The result of this effort was a nice little blood blister.



I've also noticed that occasionally when I slap a mag to seat it the slide will release. I assume this is from simple inertia causing the slide release to activate, anybody else run into this?

 

[Kenn1320]

My 40c has a similar gap. Could it be better, I supose it could. I think they errored on the good side, as I would hate to have a tight gap and find myself having to force the mag to get it to lock in.



As for the slide releasing when you load the mag, thats interesting. When you say from inertia, how are you generating that much inertia? I slide the mag in and press it with constant pressure and it clicks. I dont get it in there 1/4 of the way and then Miami vice it home. Is that what your doing? If the mag is empty, it actually pushes up on the slide release when loaded.



Hope you get it fixed if in fact there is something wrong.



Also, I dont shoot with the short mag. Did your gun come with the finger extension mag?



Ken

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I had never noticed until reading this, but my 9 has the same gap. However, if you also try to cram all your fingers onto the frontstrap, it is easy to see how your little finger might get pinched. The answer is simple: don't do that. :wink: When using the flatbase you have better control if you wrap your little finger under it anyway.

 

[Walker]

Jim, I too have suffered the blood blister and a vicious tear in my left thumb doing tactical and speed reloads. I really wish I had an answer here for us all. As a real novice to hand guns I want blame my inexperience as the reason why I am beating myself up. Its when I am in a hurry that I usually do it, so I either need to slow down a bit, or just pay more attention to what I am doing. Sorry I don't have a solution, more so they same problem.



I should mention I have done this on both my full size and compact, so its just not on a one particular weapon.

 

[JimVT]

I usually shoot with my pinky wrapped under, but I decided to try something different because it looked like I could fit all my fingers on. Personally, I think it's an error in design, but that's just my guess. If you look at the gap that is closer to the backstrap, you'll see it's smaller then it starts to open up as you get closer to the front of the grip. It almost looks like they designed either the grip or the mag with the wrong angle. I don't know if this is true with the full size M&P's. Perhaps this was a design decision, but I don't see what it accomplishes. The only other pistols I own are Glocks, and somehow they manage to keep a consistent gap (about 1/16" or less) all the way around the mag, and they function flawlessly. Plus they don't seem to have as much play in them, which I guess could be considered a detriment when trying to reload under pressure.



Concerning the slide releasing by itself, I've only had it happen with a fully loaded mag. I'm fully seating the mag then giving it a slight tap to ensure it's locked in. It's not a lot of force, no more then with a tap, rack, bang drill. It doesn't happen all the time, maybe one in twenty, and I think it's all been with the flat base plate mag. Perhaps when it does happen I'm tapping harder then I think, I'll have to try and be more aware of this to narrow down the cause.

 

[itr674]

Yes, I'm unimpressed by the gap between the frame and magazine, I'm also unimpressed by the gap between the front of the frame and the slide on the full sized guns.



S&W engineers should have fixed this as soon as it was noticed--I don't care how much it takes to get it fixed, it should be fixed and I will not purchase another M&P until it's fixed or at least tighten up a bit.



Again, if most of the other pistol manufactures can keep this gap to a minimum why not the biggest name in the business?



See attached pic that compares gap on S&W45 to other manufactures...

 

[Jester]

Eh, more pistols for me.. If it keeps running, I'll keep shooting it.

Yes, I'm unimpressed by the gap between the frame and magazine, I'm also unimpressed by the gap between the front of the frame and the slide on the full sized guns.



S&W engineers should have fixed this as soon as it was noticed--I don't care how much it takes to get it fixed, it should be fixed and I will not purchase another M&P until it's fixed or at least tighten up a bit.



Again, if most of the other pistol manufactures can keep this gap to a minimum why not the biggest name in the business?

 

[YukonGlocker]

... If it keeps running, I'll keep shooting it...

Yep.

 

[CivilianM4]

I don't have an M&P yet, but "slapping" a loaded mag into my Glocks usually releases the slide.

 

[40SX]

I think the slight gap between the frame and the magazine is a good thing. Functionally it gives a bit of relief between the two when loading a magazine which causes the mag to lock into the frame with less exertion. I actually very gently sanded down the mag plates on my S&W 4516 and 3913s for this identical reason.



Dennis

 

[Sigman]

I haven't noticed the gap on my 40c but all and all I think it is a very well made gun. You get a lot of gun for a reasonable price. For the money I saved over the Sig 239 I was looking at I'll take a minor imperfection any day.

 

[johndoe1027]

Anyone that dislikes the slop in the magwell should try out a double stack para 1911. They are too tight which causes a lot more problems than too loose does. I used to think that tighter is better but that is not the case. I have noticed no wedge between the mag and grip on my 9c either. That might just be an issue on the 40c's.

I actually shoot better with the flat mag than I do with the extension. I know. Makes no sense but I do. That is how I carry so that is how I practice now. I find the pinky mag a little hard to conceal in certain clothes. I'm going to carry a full size mag (for a reload, not in the gun) once I get a pouch and full size mag so then I won't need the pinky mag at all. It's so comfortable too. Shame.

I bump my mags in (1911 mentality maybe) every time and it lets the slide drop about 40-50% of the time. I am trying to get my bump just hard enough to do it every time. I think it did it with the pinky mag too but I can't hit that one as hard without pain. So the pinky mag may have done it less, but only cause I wasn't bumping it as hard.