I have been a S&W fan since my teen years (45+ years). I now am 61 and I bought my son his first (NEW) pistol for his birthday (M&P 2.0 9mm). I also bought 4 different types of ammo. Federal, American Eagle, Remington and Blazer Brass. expecting one would fire better than others. As excited as he was to get to the range, he was quickly disappointed. Every single brand of ammo jammed. It was rare to get 2 rounds in a row without either having to remove the spent casing manuallyor a dry fire from the next round not loading.
I tried 2 seperate magazines. I tried all 4 manufacturer ammo. I tried full magazines and I tried only loading 3 or four at a time. Nothing worked.
Has S&W gone down hill tramendously? Did I just get a lemon? Is there anything else I can try. My son is very discouraged and wants me to get a glock as a replacement. Im not a big fan and would really like him to be hooked on S&W as I was. Some day my boys will split my collection which are mostly S&W, but revolvers.
I could really use some advice on what the problem could be. Has anyone had this problem and how did they fix it?
Having to remove a spent shell casing or the gun failing to chamber a round indicates the slide isn't fully cycling. This might be the ammo if just one brand is the culprit, but not if every brand is doing it, so that means the gun has some impediment to the slide kicking fully back.
Use a bright light and inspect the chamber for corrosion, pitting, or roughness - shouldn't be any, but always check. Next, carefully analyze whether the slide is bearing on the ejector during movement and also check that the magazines - when fully inserted and held tight to the grip do not cause binding between the feed lips and slide.
Extractor tension should be such that you can just budge it to move against the spring, but no more. If it's too loose, it could be come off the rim, but this is unlikely if the gun is rechambering its empties...most likely something, or somethings are causing it to short stroke and finally, cycle the action - a lot. Spray it liberally with WD40, but none of the fancy oils that can create stiction at critical points.
Finally, put it in the hands of other shooters to see if the issue continues...did YOU shoot the gun, or just him? You state he wants a Glock...and look, oh my, the S&W won't work! Short stroking malfunctions are a cardinal sign of weak grip/wrist, etc. Oh, and compare the feel of the recoil spring to that of other M&Ps...it's just possible somebody dropped in the wrong weight spring.
