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10-06-2018, 05:21 PM
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New 2.0 4" , Ugh. Horrible trigger
So, went to pick up my new 2.0 4" and when I went to look it over, I of course dry fired it and was like what the heck, trigger was terrible. The resistance, gritty feel at about half-pull was so bad I almost refused it. Ive dry fired many M&P's over the last few years and some are ok, some not but this one was not right at all. But knowing (hopefully) it was probably the usual firing pin block/plunger/plunger channel ( not exact on the terminology ) which has plagued these guns for years I took a chance and accepted the gun and took it home and immediately tore into the slide.
Detail stripping a brand new gun, putting it into a vise and having to use a hammer, punch and sandpaper is not fun but after an hour I was finished. After removing the sight, firing pin etc I began by wrapping a small wooden dowel in 280 grit sandpaper and just started to essentially sand/polish over and over the plunger channel in the slide. Finished with 600 grit. If you look close in the image, there is the smallest, slightest "ridge" or horizontal machine mark that I believe was the culprit and when I was satisfied I had pretty much removed it I cleaned, lubed and reassembled the gun and viola!! a 95% improvement in the trigger. Some very negligible grit but a nice pull to the wall then a crisp break. Whew!
Here is my new addition, going to the range on Monday to try some really hot stuff in the .40 and break in the 2.0 9mm.
If you look close, its barely visible but the small machine mark is visible in the channel, almost looks like a hairline crack. This was about after a half hour of sanding & polishing
Pretty much done and time to clean all the grit out of the slide
I know this is nothing new but just wanted to share what I did. Thanks!!
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10-06-2018, 08:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cohiba66
So, went to pick up my new 2.0 4" and when I went to look it over, I of course dry fired it and was like what the heck, trigger was terrible. The resistance, gritty feel at about half-pull was so bad I almost refused it. Ive dry fired many M&P's over the last few years and some are ok, some not but this one was not right at all. But knowing (hopefully) it was probably the usual firing pin block/plunger/plunger channel ( not exact on the terminology ) which has plagued these guns for years I took a chance and accepted the gun and took it home and immediately tore into the slide.
Detail stripping a brand new gun, putting it into a vise and having to use a hammer, punch and sandpaper is not fun but after an hour I was finished. After removing the sight, firing pin etc I began by wrapping a small wooden dowel in 280 grit sandpaper and just started to essentially sand/polish over and over the plunger channel in the slide. Finished with 600 grit. If you look close in the image, there is the smallest, slightest "ridge" or horizontal machine mark that I believe was the culprit and when I was satisfied I had pretty much removed it I cleaned, lubed and reassembled the gun and viola!! a 95% improvement in the trigger. Some very negligible grit but a nice pull to the wall then a crisp break. Whew!
Here is my new addition, going to the range on Monday to try some really hot stuff in the .40 and break in the 2.0 9mm.
If you look close, its barely visible but the small machine mark is visible in the channel, almost looks like a hairline crack. This was about after a half hour of sanding & polishing
Pretty much done and time to clean all the grit out of the slide
I know this is nothing new but just wanted to share what I did. Thanks!!
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Poor machining? 1st I've heard of this, thanks for sharing!
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10-06-2018, 08:52 PM
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Great job! Too bad you had to go to that effort on a new pistol but job well done. Would an after market trigger improve it more?
Not familiar with M&P pistols but is it required to remove the rear sight for what?
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10-07-2018, 12:20 AM
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You're more patient than I.
I would not have accepted the pistol. There are too many good pistols out there that don't need to be worked on right out of the box.
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10-07-2018, 02:58 AM
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Good on you for tackling the project yourself.
IMO 230 grit is too coarse and aggressive. It takes a long time with finer grit paper to fully reduce the scratches 230 leaves behind. I never use anything less than 400 grit, and that only rarely when I can be very aggressive, like on a feed ramp. 600 is usually my minimum, with 800 and 1000 used much more often for real polishing rather than metal removal.
Polishing the back of the trigger bar candy cane loop that pushes on the striker block interface is also helpful, but 800 or even 1000 grit should be used exclusively.
The part of the trigger bar that engages the sear could use some 1000 grit polishing also. Any part of the trigger bar that rubs on anything else, even the frame, benefits from polishing.
The outside of the striker block could use a few dozen strokes of 1000.
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10-07-2018, 09:41 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by deadduck357
Great job! Too bad you had to go to that effort on a new pistol but job well done. Would an after market trigger improve it more?
Not familiar with M&P pistols but is it required to remove the rear sight for what?
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The rear sight sits above the striker safety plunger, holds the plunger spring in place. You have to remove all this to free the striker which obviously has to be removed to get access to the plunger channel. 3rd gens kinda have the same system but there are TWO springs that sit under their rear sights. Great care is required when removing these sights cause if you go to fast you'll have springs and retaining plates flying all around.
polished the plunger while it was out also...
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10-07-2018, 09:43 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by deadduck357
Great job! Too bad you had to go to that effort on a new pistol but job well done. Would an after market trigger improve it more?
Not familiar with M&P pistols but is it required to remove the rear sight for what?
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Yes the rear site must be removed to gain access to remove the striker plunger. Which in this case was the issue.
Unfortunately removal of rear site is fairly notoriously difficult on many (not all) M&P’s due to the very tight fit of the site in the dovetail.
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10-07-2018, 09:44 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CB3
Good on you for tackling the project yourself.
IMO 230 grit is too coarse and aggressive. It takes a long time with finer grit paper to fully reduce the scratches 230 leaves behind. I never use anything less than 400 grit, and that only rarely when I can be very aggressive, like on a feed ramp. 600 is usually my minimum, with 800 and 1000 used much more often for real polishing rather than metal removal.
Polishing the back of the trigger bar candy cane loop that pushes on the striker block interface is also helpful, but 800 or even 1000 grit should be used exclusively.
The part of the trigger bar that engages the sear could use some 1000 grit polishing also. Any part of the trigger bar that rubs on anything else, even the frame, benefits from polishing.
The outside of the striker block could use a few dozen strokes of 1000.
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Trust me, I fretted about using 230 before I started, 600 wasn't doing anything, after a few minutes with 230 I essentially spent 30 minutes with 600 until that burr or line was almost gone. Put it back together after a thorough cleaning and it was fine..
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10-07-2018, 02:51 PM
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Good photos too. ✔️
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10-07-2018, 09:36 PM
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Just want to add that this will be my EDC and I don't want to install any sort of aftermarket triggers. This gun may not even get night sights. I am a little paranoid, there are just too many things that can go wrong in a self defense situation and I don't want to add any sort of lawyer fodder....if it got that far.
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10-08-2018, 04:12 AM
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Stating this legal position about not altering your gun, can you articulate why you improved your trigger?
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10-08-2018, 08:03 AM
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Gone are the gunsmiths that fitted each part to make the best pistol possible. Now they are assembled by a technician that has to work as fast as possible. I always fluff and buff the innards on new pistols. I added an Apex sear to my Shield 45 big improvement to reset and feel.
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10-08-2018, 10:54 AM
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My wife bought a m&p9c and a 4.25 core right after each was available and as nice as my 669 is these pistol show how QC has taken a dump at s&w . I spent far to much time and money make these pistols practicle for carry or matches but thanks to some polishing and apex both have good triggers and the CORE now shoots small groups instead of something that looks more like a 12ga 000 buck shot pattern . I have range swapped guns to shoot a new m&p full size and compact and I will not own a new 2.0 .
scarrywoody comment about - Gone are the gunsmiths that fitted each part to make the best pistol possible is spot on .
I have an old s&w 669 that I carry occasionally and its still a great pistol and as much as I really like how a m&p pistol feels in my hand we will not buy any more m&p's unless I find a nice used super cheap pistol as I know it will need parts and tuning just to make it like it should have been to begin with !!
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10-08-2018, 05:05 PM
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Congrats on finding the culprit so quickly. You must be pretty confident in your "Smith"ing abilities. Removing the rear sight on a new gun would have been a show-stopper to me. Glad it worked out.
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