New Member with new M&P40

2569 Views 12 Replies 5 Participants Last post by satx40, Sep 13, 2006

satx40

Discussion Starter · Sep 11, 2006

Hi all,

New to this forum and new to M&P40. Picked it up on Saturday and took it to the range on Sunday after an inspection and cleaning. The gun felt good at the store. I didn't realize that it had a mag disconnect. Have to get that corrected.

Range report.

I put 200 rounds of various weights and charges thru it. My first impression was not good. The trigger is really heavy and gritty. First mag thru it were all low. The trigger was so heavy that I was pulling down. I'm used to my Para 1640 and Tanfoglio Match with 3# trigger. Once I got that corrected it shot POI at POA.

Since I load long for my Para (1.185") I decided to check the length in the barrel before I went to the range. The M&P would not seat the bullets at this length. I decreased the OAL in steps until I found that 1.155" seemed to work. At the range I found out that this was right on the hairy edge and had 2 rounds with the bullet head wedged in the rifling and the gun would not go into full battery. I will change my setting to 1.135" and check again.

I started out with 30 rnds of CCI 180gr. Blazer brass. Gun functioned well. It is snappier than my Para but still manageable.

Ran 30 rounds of Precision 155 with 4.0gr. Titegroup. This is my steel load. Real soft shooting. Had 1 FTE. This may have been because the gun was new and the load is light or it may be the recoil spring is too heavy. Since I don't know what the stock spring is I'll have to wait on this one.

Ran 50 rnds of Precision 200gr. with 3.8gr. N320. This is my normal IPSC load for my Para. Had 2 failure to return to battery. The bullet head got wedged in the rifling. Other than that the gun handled them well.

100 rnds of Precision 185gr. The gun handled these with no problem.

Observations:

Trigger is not what I expected. It has a long pull and is gritty. When I finally got the hang of it the gun shot to POA. More accurate than me. I will have to get the trigger lightened and shortened.

The mag disconnect is another problem. This will cause problems when the RO says "show clear". I will have to find out if there is a way to disable this.

Overall I like this gun. It has a good feel in the hand and with a little practice it should prove a keeper. I will try to get to the range again this week with some ammo that is sized shorter and continue the break in. I will also see if any of the local smiths will work on it. I sure ould like to find somewhere to get mag extentions that would allow +2 or +3 rnds in the mag and somewhere to get recoil springs of reduced power.

It is a good gun of good quality that wasn't made for what I wnat to do with it so I guess that I'll just work with it until I master it.

Sorry for the rambling post but it is early in the morning and I've only had 1 cup of coffee. Need to get ready for work now.

Ya'll be safe.

Art

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1 - 13 of 13 Posts

Rvrctyrngr

· #2 · Sep 11, 2006

Welcome!

Dan Burwell is doing excellent trigger jobs on the M&Ps. Check out his link on the Sponsor's page.

Additionally, the mag-disconnect is a snap to remove. You can search this site for the specific procedures if you haven't found them all ready (don't have time to post the link myself

) .

Best,

Scott

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Dan Burwell

· #3 · Sep 11, 2006

satx40 said:
I sure ould like to find somewhere to get mag extentions that would allow +2 or +3 rnds in the mag and somewhere to get recoil springs of reduced power.

Art,

Kenny at speed shooters spec. has replacement guide rods and you can use glock 17 recoil springs. He also mentioned one time they were working on mag extensions.

Dan

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akr

· #4 · Sep 11, 2006

How many mags come with the M&P .40? I was just wondering. I had one in the gun, one in a slot, and a vacant slot.

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Dan Burwell

· #5 · Sep 11, 2006

akr,

that is correct, unless you got one of the LE's, they come with 3 mags.

Dan

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tglee

· #6 · Sep 12, 2006

The mag disconnect is another problem. This will cause problems when the RO says "show clear".

Why is this a problem? Drop the mag and lock the slide to the rear.

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Dan Burwell

· #7 · Sep 12, 2006

tglee said:
Why is this a problem? Drop the mag and lock the slide to the rear.

Because the commands are unload, show clear, slide down, hammer down.

It is the last part "hammer down" where the problem lies. It makes everyone a little more nervous when you have to put a mag into a previously verified empty gun inorder to dry fire it.

Dan

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satx40

Discussion Starter · #8 · Sep 12, 2006

Hi all,

Appreciate the input. Sorry for not getting back sooner but my network was down this AM.

Rvrctyrngr:

I will search for the mag disconnect removal procedure. Kind of busy right now. Thanks.

akr:

I got 2 mags with the M&P40. I ordered 2 more from Midway.

Dan:

I will check with speed shooters about the guide rods.

I hope you all forgive me. I am used to the 1911 style guns where parts are available all over. I understand that the M&P is new and has not yet caught on enough for after market parts to be readily available. Hopefully there will be enough demand that more custom parts will be available.

I do have an S&W908 for CCW. Midway lists S&W factory parts for it but they have not yet listed any for the M&P. Brownell's also does not have many parts listed for the M&P.

Thanks again,

Art

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Rvrctyrngr

· #9 · Sep 12, 2006

Here's the link to Dan's instructions for mag disconnect removal:

http://www.burwellgunsmithing.com/M&P.htm

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Dan Burwell

· #10 · Sep 12, 2006

satx40 said:
I hope you all forgive me. I am used to the 1911 style guns where parts are available all over. I understand that the M&P is new and has not yet caught on enough for after market parts to be readily available. Hopefully there will be enough demand that more custom parts will be available.

No problem, The 1911 does have a 95 year head start on M&P but I am certain we will get caught up.

It has only been 10 months, and we already have quite a few proven tweaks and accessories.

Dan

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satx40

Discussion Starter · #11 · Sep 13, 2006

Rvrctyrngr:

Thanks for the link. I will try that as soon as I get a chance. Have to check to see if I have a 1911 mainspring.

Dan:

I ordered a guide rod from speed shooters. Since I haven't built my recoil spring weight checker yet I don't know what the stock spring weight is. I also haven't figured out what the compressed length is. I'm hoping that I can use a softer spring for some light weight steel loads. Just want to cycle the gun and knock the paint off the target.

I also have to find a good holster for it. Something I can use in IPSC and steel competition (I'm really terrible at both but it's fun).

Art

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Dan Burwell

· #12 · Sep 13, 2006

Art,

The IMSI 13# glock 17 spring feels about the same as the factory. With the factory spring you can shoot some ridiculously light loads without any problems so you may want to try your load out some before getting a lighter one.

I had a gun last week that the owner was getting some very infrequently occurring FTEs and He thought it may be "limp wristing". with his permission I loaded up some really really light loads held the gun with only my trigger finger and the web of my hand as light as I could and the gun still functioned perfectly. Everything on the gun checked out fine so I suspected an ammo problem (Blazer Brass).

Dan

edited to add:

You want a 1911 magazine release spring not a mainspring.

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satx40

Discussion Starter · #13 · Sep 13, 2006

Thanks Dan!

I guess I should have reread the instructions. My fault. I'll order one from Brownell's.

I'm going to load up some 155gr. with light Titegroup loads(as yet to be determined) and try them out on Saturday hopefully. I currently have some 200gr. loaded with 3.8gr of Titegroup that will hopefully give me about 825fps for IPSC. By the way, these are all Precision bullets.

I guess that I'll use my Para for the IPSC match this Sunday until I can sort out the M&P40.

Thanks again.

Art

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