[ConcealedMP]

Folks-



Well life started great and went down hill quickly...



Been an owner of a Glock 26 for 3 years now and thought it was time for a change as I started hating the Glock's ergonomics and trigger feel. I chose to pick up the new S & W Subcompact 9mm. Went straight to the range to do a comparison between the two and boy I loved the MP. Shot straight, grouped within .25 inch at 5 yards. I was in LOVE!!



Then things became worse when I took it shooting a week later. Magazines started dropping out at no particular time during shooting, Had FTF several times, FTE several times... I was royally pissed off with this MP. So I took it back to the store I bought it from and proceeded to have the gunsmith there tell me there was nothing mechanically wrong with it all the while tugging on the magazine to showing me it was locked in place. I asked him if he shot it in a smartass way and he replies... "I don't need to... I can tell you that S & W have a 99.9% quality control rate." He proceeded to accuse me of limp wristing and pushing on the mag release button and decided to place the mag release button on the right side of the firearm so that it was now between my index and middle finger when shooting (I'm a right handed shooter)... Oh how royally pissed off I was about this...



I decided to take it back to the range and shoot some more to verify the problems I was having as I wanted to get the gun to Dan Burwell for some clean up on the trigger and grips.



I shot 2 different kinds of ammo this time as I didn't have any of the original ammo that I was shooting that caused the 3 contagious problems. One type caused the ammo to FTE and the other ammo was as clean as purified water. So I'm guessing that the original ammo I shot that was causing the problems in the first place was the culprit that time. The second time being another bad batch of ammo only causing FTE. The 3rd kind of ammo did not cause any problems at all no matter what I did. I also made sure to shoot some Cor-Bons through it to see if that had any effect and there wasn't any... I now know which ammo to avoid like the plague and hope that the MP is fine now. I have just sold my Glock 26 and wish to carry the MP from now on...



So, should I send it to S & W anyways? Forget about it and send it to Dan Burwell anyways? Or keep shooting it and cuss at it for not wanting a relationship with me? :?



Cheers-

Erich Tucker

 

[matt7184]

1) What brands, weight, type of rounds were you trying to shoot?



2) Did you clean and lubricate the firearm prior to purchase?



Sounds to me like you may have been hitting the magazine release (you did not mention it after the gunsmith changed it to the other side).



Also, you can't blame the gun if you put **** ammo in it such as American Ammo or reloads from god knows who. Without details like this, it is hard to say if it is gun related or what. If I had any problems with a gun, I would want to sort it out before sending it off to anyone.

 

[ConcealedMP]

I will have to go and look at what I was shooting. I do know that I was shooting the exact same ammo in the beginning as I was on my second trip when I had the 3 contagious problems.



I shot 200 rounds through the MP in the beginning with no failures whatsover, I had 100 rounds left of this ammo and went the second time to shoot and this is when the mag drop, FTE, and FTF started occuring. I then dumped this ammo and went to a different brand (also included was the mag release switch to the opposite side) and only had FTE on this ammo. I then switched to a different brand and had no issues.



As to you questions:



1) I ALWAYS field strip, clean and lube my guns before shooting for the first time and after every range trip. So yes the gun was clean and lubed.



2) I NEVER use re-loads in any of my firearms. I have had too many bad experiences with re-loads in the past. I try to use the best factory ammo.



As far as the mag release, the gun smith at my range shot my firearm one handed without ever touching the mag release button and it would still drop on him. So obviously we were not touching the mag release in the first place. He is the one that suggested I take it back to the store I bought it from to have it ship to S and W.



I will find the ammo brands, weight, type etc. tonight and report back.



Cheers-

Erich Tucker

 

[matt7184]

I would not say that shooting it one handed would necessarily isolate the hand from activating the mag release, especially if it is set up on the right side with a right hander.



I have used a defective .40S&W with a mag popping out issue and first tried to rule out myself as the culprit. Most of the time, the issue involves the operator. Using only two fingers (thumb around top of grip, index to pull trigger), with observers I confirmed that it was indeed a firearm issue. Smith and Wesson confirmed this and replaced the frame.



Also try both magazines to ensure it does it with both magazines. If it does not then it may be an improperly cut magazine catch slot on the magazine itself. If it is S&W will replace the magazine.



Take a look under your extractor claw. Ensure that it is clean. If it looks clean take a toothbrush anyways and clean under it.



Definitely report back on the ammo and also on your SN (letters plus a number or two after).

 

[ClosetCaseNerd]

As far as the mag release, the gun smith at my range shot my firearm one handed without ever touching the mag release button and it would still drop on him. So obviously we were not touching the mag release in the first place. He is the one that suggested I take it back to the store I bought it from to have it ship to S and W.

It may be something simple, like maybe your magazine housings have too loose of a tolerance on the notch that engages the magazine release. OR, maybe the magazine release itself and the point at which it contacts the magazines housing is buggered up or out of spec.



You M&P shouldn't be too picky about ammo (Mine has devoured a lot of WWB, Remington UMC, and Speer Gold Dots, and some really crappy range ammo) so maybe your chamber length or width is ever so slightly out of spec?



Try to isolate the problem, get it to be repeatable (in whatever condition necessary) that way you can present it to S&W and have it corrected. I do know one other fellow here had his frame replaced by S&W because it was auto-ejecting magazines when fired, so its not as if your scenario is impossible.

 

[ClosetCaseNerd]

oops, sorry some of our posts' points overlap matt

Great minds think alike!

 

[matt7184]

LOL.

Most of the auto ejecting magazine issues seem to be isolated to the .40S&W early model M&Ps.

 

[ConcealedMP]

Here it is folks... This is the life of my MP and ammo breakdown...



1) 100 Rounds of Magtech 115 gr. Full Metal Jackets - Symptoms: NONE



2) 100 Rounds of Magtech 115 gr. Full Metal Jackets - Symptoms: FTE, FTF, Mag drop intermittenly.



At this point, I had the magazine release button switched to the right side.



3) 100 Rounds of Aguila 115 gr. Full Metal Jackets - Symptoms: FTE 2 times



4) 100 Rounds of Stellier & Bellot 115 gr. Full Metal Jackets - Symptoms: NONE



Tonight I shot these after a thorough cleaning from hell and back on the pistol beforehand...



5) 200 Rounds of Remington UMC 115 gr. Jacketed Hollow Points - Symptoms - NONE



6) 50 Rounds of Stellier & Bellot 115 gr. Full Metal Jackets - Symptoms: NONE



So folks... you should see my face after my range report tonight. I shot the tightest groups ever on a handgun and a guy shooting in the lane next to me was so impressed with this gun that he's going out to buy one in 9mm and .45. He's going to sell his Springfield XD .45 and will join this sweet forum when he's done purchasing...

P.S. All of this ammo was shot with the small backstrap, I am thinking of bumping it up to the medium or even the large as I noticed a lot of movement in my hand and being unable to have a completely strong grip...



Cheers-

Erich Tucker

 

[matt7184]

You will have to experiment and find what works best for you grip wise. I like the medium on both of my M&Ps.



I am not the biggest fan of Magtech or Aguila, but the M&P should function with it. Seems like your M&P issues may be related to those two makes or lots of that make.



I tend to only use Federal, CCI/Speer, Winchester, or Remington ammo personally. I would run some more boxes of bulk packs/value packs from those brands before you send it off for any issue.



If you do not have magazine issues with the following brands, I would still watch for it. Try to isolate the issue to which magazines should it happen again. If both send the gun to S&W. Otherwise ask for a magazine replacement.