Here is the original thread.
Issue with new M&P 45c (frame not straight)

I got an email back from S&W Customer Service today which read:

Thank you for contacting us. After review of the pictures you sent it does appear that the slide is not sitting properly on the rails. I recommend returning the firearm for repair. Please follow the instructions listed below:


For a pre-paid and pre-insured warranty return shipping label please follow the link below.

The prepaid return label will be sent to you via email along with instructions within three business days.

Only product deemed to be under warranty can receive a shipping label via this online method. If you are unable to obtain a label via our web site please follow the instructions below.

You may send the gun in for repair addressed to:

SAWREP

2100 Roosevelt Avenue

Springfield, MA 01104

Shipment via UPS Next Day Air or Fedex Priority service will be required.

Please include a cover letter describing the work you would like us to perform along with your return ship to information. An estimate will then be generated and mailed to you in approximately 3 weeks after receipt of the firearm. Once payment is received work will commence. Our current turn-around time is 6 to 8 weeks.

If further assistance is required please reply accordingly.

Hopefully you will get it back withot the bow. Let us know how it looks, a few photos, when you get it back.

Bob

I will keep you informed. I really don't like having to send in a brand new gun and wait 6-8 weeks to get it back, however, I am very happy that they will look at it and fix it under warranty.

Put an inconspicuous mark inside the magazine well with a marker... that way you'll be able to see if they swapped your frame or not. (I'm betting they heat it up and bend it, but I could be wrong)

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500

like a dot with sharpie? Will do.

I Just bought a 45 in January, and I noticed it too! When I was at the counter, I said, " whats up with the gap?!?" He really didn't know, but luck me I was at local shop with a gunsmith in back. They grabbed the gunsmith and asked him if it were an issue and he said likely no.

Instead of buying that particular one, we searched through all of them and found the one with the smallest gap. It appeared that almost all of the M&P 45s we looked through had gaps between the frame and the slide. Or maybe our minds were playing tricks on us because we were looking for it and questioning each 45 we looked at!

Now that this came out on the forum and S&W said its not sitting properly, I'll probably send mine back too!

Hmm this has me wondering if the lighting was playing tricks in the photo and Smith and Wesson know's something we don't about the gap. Like I posted in the other thread this is a very very common issue with Polymer framed pistols.

Hmm, very possible that it is normal, but I do like the piece of mind that they will look at it and let me know. I will keep you all updated.

Interesting comment about the slide not sitting on the rails properly. Not sure about that but what do I know?

My 45 has a droopy frame and functions perfectly so I never paid much attention to the droop. Things shrink when they cool, and it makes sense that the front of the trigger guard would warp the dust cover area if popped out of a mold while still hot.

Now I'm curious, where's my heat gun...

I agree and please keep us updated if they are wanting you to send it back on there dime then they must have seen something. Shipping a gun is expensive like 60-70 dollar's I am sure its not something they take lightly.

I know. Next day delivery is super expensive. It is nice to know that S&W has excellent CS. If they would have told me it was normal I would have just taken a heat gun to it like others suggested LOL!

Yep, best to let them determine whether it's within spec and possibly problematic, or not.

I've heard of them replacing one gun for someone for a complaint where the frame apparently wasn't determined to be within normal spec, but then say other guns were within spec and acceptable.

Find out what they think about yours.

FWIW, I've seen older and newer armorer guns (for the classes) that exhibited variable amounts of this sort of widening angle toward the front of the slide/frame when the guns were assembled, and they were all considered to be within normal spec.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Just put a straight edge across my frame (slide off) and it's straight as an arrow. Sure looks droopy but it's not. Optical illusion?

Straight edge pics...

If you look close enough at the pictures the bow in the frame actually starts before the dust cover. It actually starts at about the trigger area meaning that the slide rail attachment in the front actually is not lined up with the rear.

BTW, at some point S&W added a metal U-shaped insert to the frame at the rear of the dust cover.

My '08 production M&P 45 has the added metal insert (as well as the small offset machine cut at the bottom/right of the feed ramp, which I was told was apparently a revision added to allow for better clearance with the trigger bar).

They've been continually revising & tweaking the M&P's.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Not sayin your frame is not drooping, it certainly is. My frame looks a lot worse than it is. It is hard to show in the picture, but the thing is straight. If anything, it droops in the back behind the roll pin. The take down lever interferes with the straight edge on the left side, so I'm showing the right here.

Wow! That is interesting. Yours looks the same as mine but your frame is perfectly straight and mine is not. Weird stuff.

Weird stuff indeed. It shoots great, I'm not changing a thing.

Looking forward to a range report after your pistol returns from the mother ship.

Now take a pic of the straight edge on top of the rails, and I bet you'll see why the gap widens...

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500

It's hard to see, but you are 100% correct.

What am I missing?

Basically, it just shows that the polymer is straight, and the rails are straight, they're just not absolutely parallel to each other. This is what causes his "drooping" front end illusion.

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500

Yup. And just in case anyone is curious, the gun was test-fired at the factory on 04/27/2012.

So basically his is an illusion based on the fact that the frame and rails are not paralell, while my frame actually is not straight. Interesting.

Yup. I'd say that's a fair assessment.

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500

I had the same issue with my 45. While it has always operated flawlessly, the droop was even more exaggerated than in the pictures posted in this string. S&W replaced my frame, which still has a very slight droop, but much improved over the first. Since the frame was replaced, I got a new serial number and had to re-register the gun. Strange that this does not seem to be an issue with any of the other caliber guns.

Glad we don't have a registry in PA.

The thing about this is that it doesn't matter. The slide only touches the frame at the four "rail" points. The "dust shield" has absolutely nothing to do with the operation of the gun. It only covers the return spring.

Also, while laying your straight edge on the gun, was it touching the whole of the frame or just part? My M&P 45 seems straight, but I can make it look bad depending on how I use the straight edge.

I may post some pics later.

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Freedom isn't free.

Handgun Registry in PA

We have a sales database and not a registry. The database was never meant to be a registry and it is not legal for law enforcement in this state to use it as one. For instance if you bought the gun in another state or if it was purchased before the sales database went into effect, it will not show up. So basically, yeah, what the link says. But, I do not have to "register" it if S&W would send me a new frame with a different number.

It does matter if you plan to put a laser on your rail. Significant "droop" can result in not being able to zero your laser, and of course you'd want to get that remedied. But yes, other than that, it's pretty much cosmetic. (Though aesthetics is important as well) Would you accept a new car with the same kind of panel misalignment issue and blow it off since it runs fine?

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500

You're right Jyezahn. I guess it could affect a laser, but I'll bet it could be adjusted in.

You're also right about the "fit and finish" issue. I'm not suggesting that it not be repaired or that the owner shouldn't pursue some satisfaction. I was just commenting on how it doesn't affect the operation of the gun itself.

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Freedom isn't free.