Problem with take down lever M&P9c

[97thSignalman]

I have two M&P's: One M&P9 and an M&P9c. The takedown lever on my full size works fine. I rotate it down where it stays while I remove the slide normally.

On my 9c, the take down lever is very hard to rotate and when I let go of it, it snaps back with great force to its normal horizontal position. I deal with this by holding it firmly in place while removing the slide. It's not easy to do but that is my only work around. Even once the slide is locked to the rear, If I let go of the take down lever it snaps back to its horizontal positon.

It has always done this while my full size M&P works normally.
Does anyone know what is wrong or how to fix it?

 

[marine6680]

Make sure the recoil spring is installed correctly.

Other than that, I am not sure what would do it.

 

[97thSignalman]

I have had my two M&P's for years and I don't think there any ways to install the recoil spring in a compact improperly. I have had it out and put it back in hundreds of times and everything works fine except when I try to remove the slide. I really see only one way to install the dual co-axial spring assembly that is unique to the compact.

I have wondered if there is something wrong with the spring assembly or the notch in the barrel locking cam lug that it snaps into. I just don't see much that could go wrong.

 

[marine6680]

Maybe the takedown lever is out of spec.

 

[97thSignalman]

marine6680, I decided that you were on to something. I tried using the takedown lever from the full sized M&P which worked properly in its own gun. The good news is that the takedown lever from the full sized M&P worked perfectly in the compact where I had experienced the problem. By the way, when I said slide lock, I meant the take down lever which you probably knew. I edited the text in my original post to correct that.

So I inspected both levers very closely under a magnifying lamp and I did see a burr on one of the flats of the "bad" lever. I knocked the burr down with a coarse stone and polished the surface with a couple of progressively finer stones. I then tried the smoothed out "bad" lever in the compact M&P where I had previoiusly had the problem.

More good news: now the lever on the compact M&P seems to perform in a normal manner.

Thanks again for your suggestion regarding an out of spec take down lever....Problem solved.

I'll keep an eye on it to make sure things are really fixed over the long haul.

 

[Rastoff]

I'm glad you got it fixed. However, if this should crop up again, I think I can explain why it's happening...

When the take down lever is rotated, it presses against the recoil spring. If it doesn't get fully to 90°, it will snap back. You can see this easily if you look at the gun as the lever is moved.

Lock the slide back.
Rotate the take down lever.
Watch the end of the guide rod as the lever is rotated. You will see it move about 1/8" forward at the lever is rotated.

When you swapped the levers, one is just moving a tiny bit more than the other. A good result. This is just manufacturing tolerances you're seeing.

 

[macski222]

I had the exact same issue with the take down lever on my 9c a couple years ago. I would get it rotated and the sucker would snap back on me. It was in fact a bur on the lever itself. No magnification was needed in order to spot it either. I just filed it flat and was good to go from then on out.

 

[Saudade]

Glad you fixed it.

I have a FS and C as well. Takedown works fine. However, I note that my 9C is more prone to "auto-rotate" the takedown back to the locked position when I reinstall the slide.

So the takedown is fully rotated to the disassembly position. I put the slide on and rack it to lock it. When the slide reaches around "battery", the takedown rotates just a bit. Full rack to lock and the takedown completes it's rotation.

Everything works fine. It seems to save a step. So have no issue with it.

The takedown retaining spring (that wire in the locking block) fits tighter in my FS. With the slide off, the lever is snug in the block. On my C, the lever is very loose and can flop around with a little shaking (doesn't fall out, just has virtually no resistance to rotating).

I hadn't thought about switching levers to see if the behavior switches. I think it's a spring issue but, again, I don't see it as a problem.

I'll have to give it a try.

 

[randyr5]

I found that if you slightly bend the takedown lever retaining wire so that it it more firmly holds the lever in place helps, too.

 

[NCW Ray]

As others have said, I just filed the nub off of the take-down lever where it comes in contact with the RSA. No more popping up. Took about 30 seconds per gun, cured all of them.

 

[ggibson511960]

40C Takedown Lever Woe

My 40C takedown lever does the same thing. I thought it was normal. I fiddled with the gun for a while before I discovered that pushing the forward end of the recoil spring up against the underside of the barrel while the slide is locked back worked to keep the takedown lever from snapping closed. Otherwise the gun was impossible to field strip. FWIW, when field stripped my takedown lever rotates very freely with no resistance at all. Now I'm going digging in the guns innards to see if something is amiss. This is not worth sending the gun to S&W, but a little annoying that the gun won't field strip without finesse.

 

[Saudade]

Like Randy says, the retaining spring is likely the culprit for the loose takedown lever.

Field strip and then remove the takedown lever. Look in the hole on the left side and you can see the spring.

Here's a vid of a detailed strip. Advanced to 3:25 to see the retaining spring in the locking block.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN6mbzypv0I

 

[ggibson511960]

Grinding Off the Nub Works!

As others have said, I just filed the nub off of the take-down lever where it comes in contact with the RSA. No more popping up. Took about 30 seconds per gun, cured all of them.

Thanks to NCW Ray for the tip. Easy fix. Can't believe some think the retaining spring wire is the culprit. That cylindrical drum attached to the takedown lever is pretty critical. The large flat perpendicular to the lever axis forms a pocket that holds the RSA. The smaller flat, the one with the offending nub, parallel to the lever axis holds the rear of the RSA until the slide is released and the notch on the barrel captures it on its way out of the frame. That tiny nub prevents the RSA from seating on the smaller flat without manually manipulating the guide rod.

It's a little disappointing to see that this is a common complaint, and so easily fixed. The takedown lever is a critical part. S&W is making them out of MIM, but failing to grind off this nub, probably the injection point. If they would spend some money for a new mold and move the injection point to a non-working surface, they could even skip the cleanup. Now, OCD perfectionists like me are grinding them off, exposing bare metal under the Melonite. I hope the metal is stainless.

 

[uechikid]

I had the same issue with the take down lever on a 40c when I bought it new. I however had S&W send me a new one, which they did gladly.
Glad you resolved this issue.

 

[Rastoff]

It's a little disappointing to see that this is a common complaint, and so easily fixed. The takedown lever is a critical part.

(My snip for brevity)

Yes, the take down lever is critical which is why I wouldn't be grinding anything. I'm more surprised that this is a complaint. It's so easy to deal with this issue, I'm surprised that anyone complains about it at all.

Take a look:

Once the lever is rotated down, just hold it with the index finger of your left hand while the slide is manipulated. It doesn't take any strength to do this.

No matter, I'm not trying to talk anyone out of doing this mod/correction/improvement to their take down lever. If that works for you, I don't have a reason you shouldn't do it.

 

[97thSignalman]

Before I knocked down the nub on the smaller flat on the takedown lever it actaully took a great deal of force to lower and hold the lever in place when pulling back the slide. Only the mighty thumb, most powerful of all the digits, was strong enough to pull and hold it down, even after the slide was all the way back. No kidding...it really was that hard to do.

That's while I felt compelled to do something about it.

 

[Paper Maker]

Just got a used M&P45 midsize today and it does the same thing. I just held it in place to field strip, per the photo above. However, I will check the takedown lever for defects and proceed with caution.

 

[ggibson511960]

2nd Method

(My snip for brevity)

Yes, the take down lever is critical which is why I wouldn't be grinding anything. I'm more surprised that this is a complaint. It's so easy to deal with this issue, I'm surprised that anyone complains about it at all.

Take a look:

Once the lever is rotated down, just hold it with the index finger of your left hand while the slide is manipulated. It doesn't take any strength to do this.

No matter, I'm not trying to talk anyone out of doing this mod/correction/improvement to their take down lever. If that works for you, I don't have a reason you shouldn't do it.

This is one of the methods I used to disassemble my defective 40C before I fixed it, and it works well. With my weak, un-coordinated fingers, I found it easier to pull the tip of the guide rod up parallel with the barrel. That skewed guide rod in the photo has its backing plate caught and pulled upward by that nub, and isn't captured cleanly by the small flat on the rotating drum of the takedown lever.

Both ways work, but neither is the way S&W meant for the gun to work.