New S&W M&P 9 Woes
- Thread starter awndray
- Start date
My guess is it's because S&W has a quality control problem with their followers.
I would say a MAJOR QC problem. Interesting that they are making polymer guns now but are having shrinkage problem with injection plastic follower.
I had the exact same problem with my mags and when I spoke with d
S&W they told me that the reason the mags are so tight is to eliminate the possibility of having any more than 10 rounds be inserted in the magazine.
That being said. If you google M&P magazine mod you will find the YouTube video hoeing exactly what must be done to fix the followers, just involves shaving a bit of the plastic off, round 10 will be easier to get in, mag will go in without problems on a closed slide, and your mags will drop free much easier
S&W they told me that the reason the mags are so tight is to eliminate the possibility of having any more than 10 rounds be inserted in the magazine.
That being said. If you google M&P magazine mod you will find the YouTube video hoeing exactly what must be done to fix the followers, just involves shaving a bit of the plastic off, round 10 will be easier to get in, mag will go in without problems on a closed slide, and your mags will drop free much easier
You should have told them it would be nice to be able to load 10 rounds in them! Alternatively, you might have told them the mags and their followers were typical American rubbish passed off as a quality product. The latter might have got their attention.
Take Care
Bob
I too called S&W about this awhile ago. S&W said that it's a liability issue with the compliant States. It's made as a 9 rd mag but you can squeeze in 10 but virtually impossible to load 11. He said if it was made as a 10 rd mag he said some guys will always try to squeeze in 11th rd. The 1st generation followers, it was easy to load 10 rds. Then they changed it to the current one which makes it really hard to load 10.
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I suspect they are telling you any excuse they come up with when the phone rings, The mag us a 10 rd mag, designed wrong. The older followers they used in their 10 rd mags worked just fine and you couldn't squeeze 11 rds in them if you tried. The mag bodies and the bases haven't changed ...just the followers.
Take Care
Bob
Take Care
Bob
Hey Bob,
Seems like you don't have much to contribute as far as the topic goes, so would you mind not bothering to post if you aren't going to contribute.
awndray,
Regarding the square plugs you talk about and show in your pictures -- all the new guns have those -- they are making the same frames for the gun with and without the thumb safeties. So all they need to do is run 1 type of frame per bodies design -- instead of one frame of the 9mm with Thumb safety and one without, the round plugs you mention are for the gun lock design.
The .45 frame is different size than the 9 -- the blocks are different (I have a .45, a 9, 9C and Shield for comparison and some calipers )
Regarding the square plugs you talk about and show in your pictures -- all the new guns have those -- they are making the same frames for the gun with and without the thumb safeties. So all they need to do is run 1 type of frame per bodies design -- instead of one frame of the 9mm with Thumb safety and one without, the round plugs you mention are for the gun lock design.
The .45 frame is different size than the 9 -- the blocks are different (I have a .45, a 9, 9C and Shield for comparison and some calipers
)
- Location
- Coquitlam BC
I just posted a thread about this days ago in this forum too. I FIXED THE MAG PROB !!!
I have an MP 9 Pro . I marked the mag followers with a marker 1/8 of an inch up from the bottom of the legs of the follower and shaved it off with a dremel. I then smoothed it all off with fine sand paper. Cleaned, lubed and re installed.
I did the fix on 4 of my 6 mags and range tested them all together. Fixed on the 4 still having problems getting the other two mags seated. The follower leg length was the problem. Some people cut the springs, I did not and it still fixed the problem. Like some of you guys I need reliability for competition. I had 6 failures due to this problem on my last IPSC qualifier all due to this problem.
for someone who is a little uncomfortable doing this, ask a friend who is to do it or take it to a gunsmith. An hours labor would be worth it. Took me 20 mins to do 4 followers perfectly.
I have an MP 9 Pro . I marked the mag followers with a marker 1/8 of an inch up from the bottom of the legs of the follower and shaved it off with a dremel. I then smoothed it all off with fine sand paper. Cleaned, lubed and re installed.
I did the fix on 4 of my 6 mags and range tested them all together. Fixed on the 4 still having problems getting the other two mags seated. The follower leg length was the problem. Some people cut the springs, I did not and it still fixed the problem. Like some of you guys I need reliability for competition. I had 6 failures due to this problem on my last IPSC qualifier all due to this problem.
for someone who is a little uncomfortable doing this, ask a friend who is to do it or take it to a gunsmith. An hours labor would be worth it. Took me 20 mins to do 4 followers perfectly.
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- Location
- Coquitlam BC
My guess is it's because S&W has a quality control problem with their followers.
I think its more like a major design flaw or two on this part.
doing my black badge was actually how I found out hat the issue existed, trimming the followers did the trick, then just keep them loaded to help depress the springs for a week or so. worked for me
Trimming the followers is and has been the answer for sometime now and reported here on several threads. Leaving the mags loaded does nothing for the springs, unless of course you change the springs in your car frequently. Springs wear out from being compressed and uncompressed. Just compressing them has little to no effect on them.
Take Care
bob
Take Care
bob
Well, I will disagree on that point: You're right about compression/decompression being the source of wear on springs, but new mag springs do take a small but significant amount of "set" when they are new. This is especially significant for mag springs that are nearly 100% compressed when fully loaded, like the factory 10rd M&P mags (as opposed to pinned 17-rd mags). In my experience. Plus, I read it on the internet.
I agree they do take a set and you are right. Once the set is taken though you are where you are. I have one mag where I have to go back with the dremel. The mag remains just to tight. I suspect S&W changed suppliers for the followers as I doubt they make them in-house. The mags are now being finished differently so the change may have been for the entire mag as well. I do know lame excuses from S&W are just that lame, but to be fair imaginative. I doubt they will get around to fixing the problem until the US gets a 10 rd max limit. Smith would then be dealing with a few more complaints. Followers are relatively inexpensive and can be ordered from Brownells. For those who are tentative about using a Dremel don't be. You can always get more followers. The struggle to load a 10 rd mag with 10 rds isn't worth the aggravation.
Take Care
Bob
Were you also having magazine not dropping free problem?? I checked your other post and it seems its an entire different problem.
- Location
- Coquitlam BC
Actually no mine drop fine. They were having the somewhat related problem of being so tight they caused function probs though. I had to hammer the mag in with my hand and it seemed to be knocking the slide back out of battery.
But you are right it is a different problem likely caused by the same parts. So i do not know it my follower fix will correct the mag sticking.
