Any tips or Mods for M&P magazines

bozzplayer

bozzplayer

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So I just got my M&P 9mm range kit and am super pleased with it, only thing i find annoying is the mags once loaded with all 10 rounds doesn't go into the gun with ease, you really have to smack it in there. I know that the mags are new and probably need to be broken in, but I've never had a new gun or mag once loaded be troublesome to load into the pistol.
 
Odd, I don't have that issue at all. I do tend to "smack it in" just because it will engage the slide and chamber a round.
 
I found mine hard to load to ten, and hard to seat. I trimmed the follower at the bottom about 1/8", and left them loaded for a month and they were much better after that.
 
Guys at our club have discussed this and most of us have:

  1. Disassembled the mags, cut one coil from the bottom of the spring and refit it to the base. This helps but isn't all the way there.
  3. Next we removed the follower from the spring and trimmed off material at the bottom edge of the front and back of the follower, I'd say about 0.10". I used a file and deburred others sanded.

After doing both of the above alterations the 10th round goes in much easier when charging the mag and the full charged mag goes into the gun with far less force and seats all the way much better.

I have two back up mags that are unaltered and they both confirm that the above work improves the M&P9 functionality. If I remeber I can post pre and post mod pics this evening.
 
romurra said:
There's a you tube vid at http://www.northeastshooters.com/vb...video-on-modifying-M-amp-P-magazine-followers that might help explain. Easy to do, makes a world of difference.

Personally, I found trimming the spring was not required.
Click to expand...

Agree entirely:

Trim the followers. Don't trim the spring. Trimming the legs of the follower will correct a function problem that S&W should have resolved at the factory. Trimming the springs will effectively reduce the functional lifespan of the springs.

Useful vid. Long-winded, though - A picture of the trimmed followers would suffice. DON'T take off too much, or your mag will hold 11rds and be prohib.
 
Do not cut the mag springs. If you do they won't drop free.

I noticed mine were a little difficult at first. But I stopped noticing it after a while.

Maybe you'll have a similar experience?
 
Follow the video posted to sand down the follower. It is by far the best way to go. People that say to leave you magazines loaded don't understand how spring work. It does nothing.
 
Ill give the follower a small trim and see how that goes, I'm kinda hesitant to cut a coil of the spring. Someone suggested to leave the mag loaded for a month to break in the spring, does that really help or do anything?
 
I would add some base pads to the mags. They have a nasty habit of breaking when dropped on hard surfaces and replacements are hard come by. If you can find some old mouse pads that were made of 1/4" thick neoprene trace the outline of the base on it, cut to shape and glue on. One pad makes a lot of base pads & your mags will last a lot longer.
 
bozzplayer said:
Someone suggested to leave the mag loaded for a month to break in the spring, does that really help or do anything?
Click to expand...

Springs wear by repeated cycling; It is observable as reduced resting length and reduced "weight" at all points throughout the spring's cycle. Springs don't really break-in in the same way that other mechanical parts on your pistol do. Over the course of repeated cycling, they just get shorter and shorter, and weaker and weaker. Cutting a spring makes it shorter and weaker in the first place, reducing its effective reliable lifespan:

By reducing the length (and therefore effective weight), there is less force on the follower pushing the column of rounds into feeding position after the slide passes to the rear. Reducing this force a small amount is fine for the short and medium term, but it will shorten the number of reliable cycles the spring has before it is no longer "heavy enough" to push the column of rounds into position before the slide needs to pick up the top round.

Unless you've got a "spring stack" issue that can't be resolved by modifying the follower or baseplate, there is absolutely no reason to trim a properly-specced magazine spring for a semiauto pistol. (possible exception of super-tuned race guns where spring weights are both micromanaged and replaced frequently)

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w ww.youtube.com/watch?v=GJRbaLDUk4A
 
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