Hi all. Brand new to shooting and to the site, but wanted to get your opinion on my new M&P9. A little background first.

I chose the M&P over the XDM and the Glock, though I did like those guns as well. I purchased my M&P on Jan. 2 and just went to a shooting class last night. I have now been shooting with it twice and put about 200 rounds through it and am having a fairly recurrent problem. When I load a magazine into the gun (with the slide either locked back or fully seated) and then rack the firearm to chamber a round, it simply is not doing that consistently. I have seen some videos on youtube where guys are having a similar issue but their slides are nearly seated. Mine is probably leaving 1/2" or so of the barrel or so. This can also happen when I simply pull down on the slide lever lock.

Now this does not happen every time, and yes I have cleaned it after I shot. I was wondering if any of you experienced something similar and that maybe it is an issue of lack of rounds through the firearm.

Willing to listen to any experienced opinion on what to do. Thanks guys.

Call S&W tomorrow and explain the problem to them. Sounds like it needs to be returned for repair.

First, I'd make sure all of the right points are lubed including around the barrel at both ends and the slide rail points. Next, when you rack the gun, make sure you rack it with authority, rip that slide back.

If the problem kept occurring I'd go with Carnage & call S&W. A new M&P shouldn't act that way.

What type of ammo are you using? Are they reloads? Remanufactured? Factory fresh? Steel or aluminum case? Brass case?

I too have an M&P 9mm and have not had it malfunction on anything I have put through it.

When loading, leave the slide locked, put in the mag and close the slide by releasing the slide lever, dont hold the slide and (even subliminally) ease it closed.

Try a few different brands / batches of ammo. You may find it works itself out, or, if all else fails call S&W, great service.

Thanks for the quick responses guys. I actually meant to put the ammo I was using in on the first post and forgot to. The first 150 rounds were Federal Champions from Wal-Mart. The second 50 rounds were PMC that were given to me in my pistol class. I believe both to be solid rounds, both brass cased and 115 grain FMJ.

That'll be tough to part with my new gun if I have to send it in, but I want it working properly, that's for sure--spent a lot of money on her and she is my first!

I have tried to use the slide lever lock too (as well as ripping the slide back with authority) and it works about half the time. Now, once the first round is chambered and the pistol is fully into battery, I have had no problems with it.

Definitely something going on... Can you tell what is hanging up when it jams? Are there any marks on the rounds?

Does it happen with both magazines?

To the best of my knowledge, it does happen with both magazines. I may see if I can post a picture of how the slide is hanging up. A video would be better yet.

This morning before I left for school, I pulled the M&P out of the safe and put a magazine loaded with 16 rounds of Hornady Zombie Max defensive JHP rounds and manually racked the slide. The first two rounds were fully seated and the gun went into battery. The next 8 hung up whether I manually racked the slide or used the slide release.

I am going to the range a week from today, so I may hold off from sending it in until after then and see how it acts there.

Any other input is appreciated.

As a semi newb also, and to suggest what someone else has said. Did you clean and lube the gun in the proper points when you got it (before firing)? The reason I ask, When I got mine 2 weeks ago, test fire day was 11/10/11 on the test round, it was shipped bone dry not a spot of oil or lube anywhere.

No, I did not lube and clean it before I shot it the first time...I as not told to do that. There was some oil on the barrel though.

as a rule of thumb, ALWAYS clean a brand new firearm before shooting it!! lots of time they ship them covered in cosmileen( a heavy anti rust coating) or at the very least they ship them way over oiled so they dont rust in storage. too much oil is worse then bone dry. my guess is your gun has this heavy grease in it and causing it to stick. ( as i side note i learned this from my REM 870 shotgun, shot it without cleaning well and couldnt get the shells to eject)

I cleaned it after I shot it the first time. My buddy was in the Army so he showed my how they do it using CLP and it looked great and functioned fine after cleaning, but I still have the same issue.

Failure to return to battery did not occur until after 300 rounds. It did happen the day I put a new magazine into rotation. Not sure if it actually occurred with that magazine but it never happened before that. Also it only happened on first round. A little thumb push is all that was required. Not ideal but not disastrous either. Next time out I will pay attention to which mag it occurs with. ????????????????

Update. Put another 100 rounds through my 9mm shield and did not have a single instance of the gun not going to battery. Used all 3 of my magazines as well. Must have been riding the slide when racking first round previously. Good news for me as I love this pistol.

If it is the first round out of the magazine it is probably because the cartridges are pushing up on the slide itself and retarding the forward movement. It should stop doing so when both the pistol and magazines get broken in.