I bought a nice M&P 40 I am rebuilding. I have a bunch of APEX parts and S&W factory parts.
I cannot find a frame key plug. This at one time had a safety and it was removed which is fine but they did not put a plug in. Everybody that carried them are out of stock as with so much of the S&W parts.
Do I have to call S&W? For such a small little part? HELP!!! Please. Also do I need the frame plugs? There are 2 that go into the frame, I don't see a place for them on this gun. The frame plugs and frame key plug are different.
I also ordered a Stormlake conversion barrel to 9mm. I looked at the new .40 magazines and the follower says .40 but in reality they are the same as 9mm so I don't have to buy more 9mm mags which is great.
I like the .40 and ammo prices dropped but the reality is that if I ever have to use it the true terminal and wound ballistics are close enough as to not matter when using quality bonded JHP bullets. Especially +P 9mm like a Ranger T 127 +P+ which is almost equal to .357 SIG in terms of velocity and energy.
Anyway this will be a test gun for modifications. This is my third M&P fullsize gun and I really like them. I'm looking at a 9c in the future for possible carry, this on is probably ging into the car eventually.
Another thing I want to address to all fellow M&P shooters and enthusiasts. I took the gun apart and low and behold it had some broken parts in it. The trigger had a slight crack but what surprised me was that the plastic piece that's on the striker assembly was cracked. In my limited knowledge of firearms design I would think that would be a place that does take a lot of abuse. Did this crack from using .40 caliber ammo since it is the same as the 9mm part? The gun is a bit older and was worked on a little but it does look like the M&P 40 might not stand up to .40 as well as 9mm. Does anybody have any info on this?
Thanks