[dennisd]

Just picked up a .40 today. Can't wait to start breaking in this sweetie. I field stripped it, did a once over and cleaned and lubed it to prepare for my first trip to the range. Decided to do a little dry firing to try out the trigger a little more (I only tried it out about 5 times in the store). I’m a little disappointed in the trigger feel. Pretty gritty take up although it has a fairly crisp break. I think what I’m feeling is the firing pin block moving. Can I expect this to improve (meaning the gritty feel)?



One final statement: Thanks to this board for making up my mind between the M&P and an XD.

 

[G56]

Most triggers will smooth up somewhat with use.

 

[Puffy]

Mine did.

 

[Dan Burwell]

actually what you are feeling is the rough edge of the FP plunger against the rough edged of the trigger bar. These will wear down given some time.

 

[dennisd]

actually what you are feeling is the rough edge of the FP plunger against the rough edged of the trigger bar. These will wear down given some time.

Did a little more dry firing and put 110 rounds through. It has already gotten better so I feel it will be fairly smooth after my 1,000 round break in getting it tested for carry.



Thanks!

 

[Wilsoncreek]

Mine was very "gritty" as well. Shot 200 rds and quite a bit of dry fire. I haven't noticed any improvement. I noticed that the slide was almost impossible to get back on the frame on initial takedown. The trigger was deflecting slightly during the process so I thought the problem was the plunger. I lubed it generously and tried reassembly working the trigger slightly. It went back together but the trigger was like sandpaper. I understand this will improve with time but is there something I can do to speed this up? Like the way the gun shoots but right now the trigger sucks.

 

[dennisd]

Mine was very "gritty" as well. Shot 200 rds and quite a bit of dry fire. I haven't noticed any improvement. I noticed that the slide was almost impossible to get back on the frame on initial takedown. The trigger was deflecting slightly during the process so I thought the problem was the plunger. I lubed it generously and tried reassembly working the trigger slightly. It went back together but the trigger was like sandpaper. I understand this will improve with time but is there something I can do to speed this up? Like the way the gun shoots but right now the trigger sucks.

Man, that doesn't sound right. It shouldn't be that hard to re-assemble. You have to be careful about aligning the rails but it should slide right on. Try taking a match or something and pushing on the plunger to see how hard it moves in. It should compress easily. You can do this without taking down the gun by locking the slide open and turning the gun over to expose the plunger.



To smooth out the firing pin plunger to trigger bar contact, use a little Tetra Rail grease on the contact surface of the plunger. It helps it slide a little easier; at least it did for me.

 

[Dan Burwell]

You want to polish these two places:

You can go to the trigger job directions posted in the FAQ to see how to remove the FP plunger and how to put the radius on it. Unless you are doing the whole trigger job you should only put a slight radius on it like the one in the picture above not like then one in the trigger job directions. even if you just buff out the the sharp edges it will be much improved.



On the trigger bar just be careful not to change the angle or the height of the plunger contact area just smooth out the roughness.



Then use some king of grease on the plunger where it contacts the trigger bar this will make nice and smooth and should take less than 15 minutes. call it the $0.25 trigger job if you want to steal a term form the glock guys



Some of the newer ones are hard to take off as the plunger where it is chamfered there is a slight burr to the edge this makes it very hard to get the slide on and off.

 

[Jhp147]

I could feel improvement in mine just from putting some heavier lube on the contact points Mr. Burwell pointed out, so I figure that must be a real sore spot.

I'm in line for a trigger job so I won't mess with it more.

 

[Bigbadaboom]

I did a full trigger job on mine and got a smooth stroke with a 3.5 crisp break and didn't radius near as much as Dan did in his trigger job photos. What I did do is radius out the facets and cut off about 1/4 of the plunger spring and high polished everything. My plunger still has plenty of tension on it but when I dry stroke (Pull the trigger without the gun cocked) I can barely feel the trigger bow appendage make contact with the plunger.



I recommend sending it to Dan for a top-notch trigger job, especially if your using it for a carry gun. A good trigger job is always worth the money if you don't know how to do it yourself.

 

[vzontini]

Mine was very "gritty" as well. Shot 200 rds and quite a bit of dry fire. I haven't noticed any improvement. I noticed that the slide was almost impossible to get back on the frame on initial takedown. The trigger was deflecting slightly during the process so I thought the problem was the plunger. I lubed it generously and tried reassembly working the trigger slightly. It went back together but the trigger was like sandpaper. I understand this will improve with time but is there something I can do to speed this up? Like the way the gun shoots but right now the trigger sucks.

I just got my M&P 9mm in last night and without touching it my gun is exactly the same as Wilsoncreek's. I couldn't get the slide back on and didn't want to force it. It took me about 15 minutes to figure out it was a very stiff safety plunger. I worked it back and forth with a pencil a dozen times and the slide went on much easier. The trigger clicks when the trigger bar "snaps" over the side of the plunger rim. Some lube, some break-in, and a trigger job is very much needed!

 

[Out West]

Dan, what do you use to polish at those two points? I have a dremel with a polish wheel. Do you some tpye of compound on the polish wheel? Would Flitz do the job? Thanks,



Out West

 

[MP4ME]

A "gritty" trigger seems to be a common symptom for this gun. Why? Is this really bad? Doesn't seem like it would affect its function or performance, would it?



I generally don't like to mess with filing, or trimming anything on a gun. I don't know why, but it just doesn't sit well with me. I'm not a gunsmith, and I wouldn't want to mess it up I suppose. But then, it seems like the "gritty" trigger smoothes out over time. I hope.

 

[Out West]

Dan, never mind - I over thought the whole thing. Took it apart and set the wheel to the job. Done in less than 10 minutes. BIG improvement. Thank you very much. Looks like the same technique could be used on pistols with the same style of stamped arm and plunger.



Out West

 

[dennisd]

Since I just picked up the gun last week I'm not going to tear into it yet. I'll see how much it smooths out after around 1,000 rounds. I usually put at least 600 before I'll carry it anyway. Thanks for the tip on where to find instructions however.

 

[bigkracka]

Do the trigger job, it's not hard and does wonders for the trigger.

 

[dennisd]

Do the trigger job, it's not hard and does wonders for the trigger.

I probably will eventually. First, I want to make sure there are no issues with my gun in case I have to send it back for warranty work.

 

[Wilsoncreek]

Took the M&P over to a gunsmith friend's house and we went thru the trigger improvement process illustrated on the site. Definite improvement but in comparing to other DA's and striker-fired pistols that I own I think the M&P can be better. The pull is not as smooth as I think it should be and weight is still almost 6 lbs. Since it is a brand new pistol I considered sending it back to Smith but no guarantee that it will come back much better. I think I'll just bite the bullet and send it to Dan. Then I'll know its the best it can be.

 

[bigkracka]

Took the M&P over to a gunsmith friend's house and we went thru the trigger improvement process illustrated on the site. The pull is not as smooth as I think it should be and weight is still almost 6 lbs.

Somthing is not right, if shouldn't be that heavy.

Since it is a brand new pistol I considered sending it back to Smith but no guarantee that it will come back much better.

I sent mine back for other issues and mentioned the gritty trigger hoping they would run it through the custom shop. No such luck, I wouldn't bother.

 

[Dan Burwell]

Took the M&P over to a gunsmith friend's house and we went thru the trigger improvement process illustrated on the site. Definite improvement but in comparing to other DA's and striker-fired pistols that I own I think the M&P can be better. The pull is not as smooth as I think it should be and weight is still almost 6 lbs.

I am guessing that you all didn't do the full trigger job as in the FAQ's, probably just the plunger and trigger bar polishing right? Cause if you polish the sear and the striker at all it drops it right down to about 5#.