newbie with a brand new M&P9

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basicbill

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I just received my new M&P9. I took the advice of the pro's here and stripped it down and cleaned and lightly re-oiled the action and trigger group.

A couple of things I've noticed that I'd like to ask about.

The range kit comes with an uplula loader. That makes loading the mags almost effortless. However it will not load the last round. The uplula quickstart card says that this may happen with some magazines....so ok, I guess I'm one. That said, it takes almost super-human effort to get that last round into the magazine.
Is this normal for new kit? I thought that I'd leave the magazines safely stored with the rounds left in them to take some of the tension out of the springs.

Another thing I noticed is the slide release is very difficult to release. Of course, everything is very new and shiny but I guess I just wanted a little reassurance that these are normal conditions of a new handgun and accessories.

I have a cr*p meeting tomorrow night after work so I won't get a chance to shoot it until Wednesday. Can't wait!

BTW, mods, if this more properly belongs in the newbie section...feel free to move.
 
basicbill said:
The range kit comes with an uplula loader. That makes loading the mags almost effortless. However it will not load the last round. The uplula quickstart card says that this may happen with some magazines....so ok, I guess I'm one. That said, it takes almost super-human effort to get that last round into the magazine.
Is this normal for new kit? I thought that I'd leave the magazines safely stored with the rounds left in them to take some of the tension out of the springs.
Click to expand...
This is "normal" for the factory 10-round M&P mags. Not only is it tremendously difficult to load the 10th round, if you try to slap a fully loaded mag into your gun with the slide closed, it usually won't seat properly (which is REALLY annoying when doing tac reloads in e.g. IPSC!)

You can fix this by disassembling your mags and filing down the bottom of the followers. I did mine by starting with a mill rasp to do the rough work, then finishing all the edges nicely with a semi-round file.

You don't need to file down a whole lot -- don't go super crazy because you don't want to end up filing off too much and inadvertently making a prohibited mag :eek: . File down a bit, test, file down a bit more, test more, until you get one mag done nicely, then use that as a template for the remainder of your mags.


basicbill said:
Another thing I noticed is the slide release is very difficult to release. Of course, everything is very new and shiny but I guess I just wanted a little reassurance that these are normal conditions of a new handgun and accessories.
Click to expand...
This is perfectly normal and will break in with use.
 
Well it has been a few years since I sold my last M&P but as I recall what you are experiencing is pretty much normal.

Some of my mags were tight loading the last round and very difficult to insert under a closed bolt.

Slide release was also a little stiff at first.

But a couple of thousand rounds cured all the issues I had and the guns ran fine.

John
 
basicbill said:
I just received my new M&P9. I took the advice of the pro's here and stripped it down and cleaned and lightly re-oiled the action and trigger group.

A couple of things I've noticed that I'd like to ask about.

The range kit comes with an uplula loader. That makes loading the mags almost effortless. However it will not load the last round. The uplula quickstart card says that this may happen with some magazines....so ok, I guess I'm one. That said, it takes almost super-human effort to get that last round into the magazine.
Is this normal for new kit? I thought that I'd leave the magazines safely stored with the rounds left in them to take some of the tension out of the springs.

Another thing I noticed is the slide release is very difficult to release. Of course, everything is very new and shiny but I guess I just wanted a little reassurance that these are normal conditions of a new handgun and accessories.

I have a cr*p meeting tomorrow night after work so I won't get a chance to shoot it until Wednesday. Can't wait!

BTW, mods, if this more properly belongs in the newbie section...feel free to move.
Click to expand...

There is a common misconception that leaving your mags loaded will weaken the spring...This is not the case. In order to weaken the spring you have to either : A) Shoot the rounds, load the mags back up, and shoot some more. or B) Manually load and unload mags. I much prefer option A.
 
Obviously, some have not got the word yet. Quite a few other trainers besides Todd Green have moved away from the "slide rack reload only" doctrine. Neither method is necessarily wrong; using the slide release is faster (especially if you use your support hand to operate it), but some shooters with some guns may find it easier to just rack the slide.
 
I like the sig from deadownwind "got a gun for my wife, best trade I ever made". LOL
tn
 
tjhaile said:
Obviously, some have not got the word yet. Quite a few other trainers besides Todd Green have moved away from the "slide rack reload only" doctrine. Neither method is necessarily wrong; using the slide release is faster (especially if you use your support hand to operate it), but some shooters with some guns may find it easier to just rack the slide.
Click to expand...
Using the slide release button isn't "wrong" -- it works fine -- but I think it has a couple things going against it from a training perspective:

- Hitting that little button with gloves on, or when you're sweaty/bloody, or under extreme stress, etc, is much harder. Hitting that button is fine-motor control, which is not the type of motor control you have under stree. Racking the slide is gross motor control, which IS what you can do under stress.

- Racking the slide is more consistent with other things you do with the firearm -- e.g. clearing malfunctions, unloading, etc. Under stress when your brain goes to mush, the fewer things you have to consciously figure out (i.e. choosing one action vs. another), the better.

If you're just a target shooter, the above probably doesn't matter to you. But if you're using your firearm in more stressful situations, whether it's for your job (police/military/etc) or for high-speed competition, I think consistency is very important.
 
What a bunch of hooie :rolleyes:

So operating a trigger is NOT a fine motor skill??

This has been debated to death.

If someone can not master the 'fine motor skill' to operate a slide release they should put their firearm back in the box and never touch it again.

John
 
alter3d said:
Using the slide release button isn't "wrong" -- it works fine -- but I think it has a couple things going against it from a training perspective:

- Hitting that little button with gloves on, or when you're sweaty/bloody, or under extreme stress, etc, is much harder. Hitting that button is fine-motor control, which is not the type of motor control you have under stree. Racking the slide is gross motor control, which IS what you can do under stress.

- Racking the slide is more consistent with other things you do with the firearm -- e.g. clearing malfunctions, unloading, etc. Under stress when your brain goes to mush, the fewer things you have to consciously figure out (i.e. choosing one action vs. another), the better.

If you're just a target shooter, the above probably doesn't matter to you. But if you're using your firearm in more stressful situations, whether it's for your job (police/military/etc) or for high-speed competition, I think consistency is very important.
Click to expand...

Did you even read the link I posted?
 
alter3d said:
Using the slide release button isn't "wrong" -- it works fine -- but I think it has a couple things going against it from a training perspective:

- Hitting that little button with gloves on, or when you're sweaty/bloody, or under extreme stress, etc, is much harder. Hitting that button is fine-motor control, which is not the type of motor control you have under stree. Racking the slide is gross motor control, which IS what you can do under stress.

- Racking the slide is more consistent with other things you do with the firearm -- e.g. clearing malfunctions, unloading, etc. Under stress when your brain goes to mush, the fewer things you have to consciously figure out (i.e. choosing one action vs. another), the better.

If you're just a target shooter, the above probably doesn't matter to you. But if you're using your firearm in more stressful situations, whether it's for your job (police/military/etc) or for high-speed competition, I think consistency is very important.
Click to expand...

It's also good if you don't have opposeable thumbs.:eek: The more you train the less you f*ck up regardless of which method you use - there's no 1 right answer.
 
John in B.C. said:
What a bunch of hooie :rolleyes:

So operating a trigger is NOT a fine motor skill??

This has been debated to death.

If someone can not master the 'fine motor skill' to operate a slide release they should put their firearm back in the box and never touch it again.

John
Click to expand...


haha yeah... hitting the slide release is faster, by far, my support hand is already there adn im aiming wayy faster...

not that I use the slide release, i slam the mag in hard enough to drop the slide, even faster still.

thats my favorite thing about my m&p

and i normally wear gloves when shooting


I only rack the slide to clear a malfunction, clear the chamber, or to put one in the pipe before a course of fire.
 
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