[KI4LIV]

I've had my M&P for a few weeks now, but have only put 200 rounds of WWB through it.



Last week I picked up a box of Winchester Ranger SXTs and loaded them up into a magazine for bedside use...



When I inserted the magazine, I had the slide locked back.



I pulled the slide back and release to let it slide home and go into battery.



The round didn't feed correctly. So I pulled the slide back again and it went in normally.



I was a little concerned about this, so I decided to manually cycle a magazine worth...



3 rounds failed to feed correctly total, but they did go in upon the 2nd pull back/release of the slide.



My question is....



Do I need more break in time? Should I take the barrel down to a smith and have the feed ramp polished?



Feedback is appreciated!

 

[Jester]

My first rule.... Never use a self defense round untill I have shot at least 200 of them, and no falures. Call me crazy.



That said, Hydrashok, and sxt's feed normally in my M&P. I'd reccomend taking them out to the range and seeing how they feed after being fired. I can see how they might feed on a slide dropped the wrong way(to lightly) on them. Hydrashok's are bad in this instance cause of the broad face on the HP.

 

[KI4LIV]

I can understand that rule and will never argue with it...



With that having been said though... I've never owned - or even rented - a firearm that had any issues feeding defensive loads from the get go... I guess there's always a first though!

 

[Jester]

me either, that being said I still double check.



My feed ramp is also pretty well polished from the factory.

 

[KI4LIV]

Is it a shiney polish, or is it still black like the rest of the barrel? If I recall correctly mine is black.. I would have figured if it were polished it should have a shine.

 

[Jester]

Mine was black, but it had no friction like I had polished it. When I recieved my older XD it had machine marks on the ramp, and I polished them off with my buffiing wheel. The M&P was already smooth.

 

[raz-0]

Be sure you aren't riding the slide forward. That just isn't how a semi-auot is intended to operate, and things will hang up in most of them if you do (at least every now and then).



I'm currently putting my M&P through the paces where I see how many rounds it goes before failure from getting dirty. One thing I can tell you so far, is that given the profile of the precision delta 180gr bullets I'm using, they strike the feedramp about halfway up.



That'd have to be one hell of an aggressive hollowpoint profile to catch on the bottom.

 

[KI4LIV]

Im actually pulling the slide back and letting go - like a slingshot... I can see strike marks on the feed ramp where the ranger sxts are hitting when failing to feed.

 

[raz-0]

have pics?



If the marks don't indicate that it's hitting at the edge of the feedramp where they can hang up, or you see it jamming against the top of the chamber, it's not the barrel.



heck even then it's probably not the barrel.



As an experiment, try what you already tried, but using the slide release rather than slingshot. It removes the human element.



Most failures to feed are magazine related. label both magazines, load them both, and try the experiment again.



You can also try loading both mags and leaving them overnight if you haven't already to let them take their initial set.



Also, are you doing the standard whacking of the back of the magazine against your palm after loading to make sure everything is stacked up nice and neat?

 

[KI4LIV]

I'll take some this evening.. My camera's battery is recharging after being drained yesterday at my kid's birthday party..



And yes - whacked the mag first.

 

[SquireSCA]

It never hurts to polish the feed ramp, but some guns do need to break in.



Another thing that I would suggest, is using Corbon PowerBall ammo for defense. Corbon makes a great round, and the profile is that of an FMJ, so it can help feeding.

 

[DANO]

Don't use Winchester SXTs in your M&P and move on. Find a defensive round that will feed reliably in your pistol. Don't get hung up on one particular bullet. There are plenty of good choices out there.

 

[KI4LIV]

Gonna take pics in a few mins and will post... in the meantime I think I am going to bite the bullet on the cost of this 50 round box and feed half through my M&P and the other half through my PT-111 Pro... I've fed a lot of other JHP rounds through my PT-111 pro and had no issues - but oddly enough, I did have a similar issue when "dry feeding" Starfires through it... but no problems during live fire.

 

[KI4LIV]

Well I did the test again using the slide release... No problems at all...



Here's the photos I took - I apologize for the lack of quality - my camera is 5.0 megapixels, but if I try to take a picture of anything too close it's a bit fuzzy...



Here's the feed ramp.. Notice the brass colored marks on it... These weren't there before I tried loading up the rangers..

Here's a round that is "stuck" as I had mentioned from the top.

And another view.

 

[Skylark]

Here's the photos I took - I apologize for the lack of quality - my camera is 5.0 megapixels, but if I try to take a picture of anything too close it's a bit fuzzy...

Look for a "macro" setting on your camera to take sharp close up photos.



Do your jams on the feedramp only happen with the middle rounds in your magazine but not with

the top 3 "with a fully loaded magazine" or bottom 3 rounds?



Skylark

 

[KI4LIV]

Already been through the manual 4-5 times... No Macro setting... Nothing even related to the distance..



No, actually, the round that I captured in the picture was the top one of the magazine... Did it again on the 2nd round as well.. But as I stated, it was fine if I tested using the slide release.

 

[rverdi]

Clean it and lube it per manual specs, then let someone else shoot it. Could be a grip issue or the gun may still be breaking in. I wouldn't start to get worried about it yet. That being said my M&P .40 was perfect right out of the box and has been perking away for a couple of G's now.

 

[KI4LIV]

I don't see how it can be a GRIP ISSUE if it has to do with how I am pulling the slide back and releasing! It shoots just fine with FMJ rounds - no feed problems - it ONLY HAPPENS when I pull the slide back from the locked back position.

 

[rverdi]

My bad, I read the post too fast. If you are slingshoting the slide from slide lock and it isn't chambering the first round, you definitly have an issue. It may work itself out by continuing to shoot the gun or contact Smith, they'll make it right.

 

[Jester]

I am suspecting that its not creating enough momentium(sp) when your just slingshotting it, not slamming hard enough.



Now, they shoot fine, and feed fine as long as you use the slide lock to release the slide?