does the M&P have extractor issues?

what is the point of this product?

APEX M&P Failure Resistant Ejector

is it for wear and tear after many rounds, because some guns don't like certain ammo, or is it something to do with the stock extractor being lack luster in some regards?

why would I want or need to buy this product or one like it?

I have an M&P 40fs and have never had ejection issues.Maybe its a cool sounding product that someone thinks someone will buy(snake oil kinda thing)..

I have a full size 9mm and a 40C. No ejector issues on either of mine.

They did have issues for a while. About 4-5 years ago i think. I had a M&P 357sig with that problem. Upon firing the slide would go back but the case would remain in the chamber. Or it would start to extract and let go before it got ejected

Apex parts are excellent and in some ways are more durability and longer lasting then the OEM. Their Glock extractors fixed the Gen 4 Glock 9mm problem

ok, well maybe its to help with people who get stovepipes or limp wrist jams.

the products I see from apex , from what I've seen, are for well known issues or dislikes people have about their guns so when I saw the FRE I figured it must have been for an issue the gun has or in this case apparently for an older issue they had like the RAM.

one of the main reasons I chose the M&P was the seemingly endless supply of aftermarket upgrades and accessories for it

My M&P9c, made in 2010, had that issue with Winchester white box ammo, which has very slightly more of a tapered neck, than other brands. I re-shaped the extractor for a more aggressive hook and it's been 100% ever since. The newer ones come with a slightly more aggressive hook.

keakar said:

ok, well maybe its to help with people who get stovepipes or limp wrist jams.

the products I see from apex , from what I've seen, are for well known issues or dislikes people have about their guns so when I saw the FRE I figured it must have been for an issue the gun has or in this case apparently for an older issue they had like the RAM.

one of the main reasons I chose the M&P was the seemingly endless supply of aftermarket upgrades and accessories for it

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Look at it this way ....buying Apex parts for you M&P is like buying Wilson Combat parts for your run of the mill 1911. In both cases the 2 guns will most likely function fine with OEM parts but Wilson makes a better, higher quality, longer lasting part. You dont need the upgrade but it isnt a step down.

My M&P 45 has the full Apex trigger kit and there is no way the trigger would ever smooth out like the way it is with the Apex kit. Its a crisper, lighter trigger with a shorter more pronounced reset. An excellent trigger for a striker fired gun. Prior to that it wasnt bad but it was mushy with a springy vibration feel through the trigger finger when striker fired and a reset you had to search for

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Your car comes with wheels but many companies make after-market wheels. Does that mean your stock wheels are substandard or defective - NO. After market companies exist because of people's tendency to never be satisfied. Therefore, if someone offers them something that seems better - they buy it. Rarely is it better than the factory engineered item. I've been a competitive shooter for over 20 years. I slowed then stopped after retiring from the police department and never had a need to modify a pistol or rifle, other than installing ambi. safeties. Never wore out parts, never had malfunctions and never felt a need to spend money replacing perfectly fine factory parts. Your needs may vary.

no hunh huh

well I can usually make the distinction between custom parts like triggers, sights, and grips from actual function and action components which I consider to be (mostly) repair and upgrade items for known issues with some guns.

I suppose any aftermarket part is just another unnecessary mod you can use but don't NEED to have, its just one of those things where you need to ask the question just to be sure there isn't something about your gun that you didn't know.

the only dumb question is the one you don't ask

M&P .40

I have an M&P .40 that I bought in January. I have put over 1000 rounds through it with no ejection issues. I have fired Winchester white box, Winchester ranger, Winchester JHP, PMC, Blazer, and Corbon JHP through it and have not had one problem.

I have had FTE issues with Winchester white box 9mm in my pistol with test fire date of March 2009, but no issues with the pistol test fires in 2007. That said, the problems only occur on fully loaded mags, and rapid fire, usually towards the end of the mag dump.

I remember from my last M&P pistol armorer recert that there was a limited issue discovered with some "over-molded" extractors a couple of years ago (back at the time the LASD reported an issue with a small number of M&P 9's). That issue was identified and resolved. (The extractor is a MIM part, and S&W owns the MIM molds used, although the parts are made in a vendor MIM house, as I recall.)

Also, I can't remember when it occurred, but sometime about a couple years ago the engineers revised the M&P extractor to give it a bit more negative rake and a sharper point. Something about revising it to make it run better with some of the hotter loads some folks were using. (The same extractor is used in all calibers of the M&P pistol line, BTW, which is a neat engineering trick, and simplifies parts support. )

The MIM extractor is a robust design, with a beefed up front shoulder.

While we were told in my first M&P class that we should buy the .40/.357 Go/No-Go extractor bar gauge to check dimensions if we ever had to replace an extractor (in case it required fitting), in my last class we were told that current manufacturing tolerances made the extractors considered drop-in parts, and that bar gauges weren't going to be needed by armorers.

As a matter of fact, last time I asked, they haven't even considered making armorer bar gauges for the 9/.45 guns, as they feel they aren't needed if an extractor has to be replaced "in the field" (meaning outside the factory, by an agency armorer).

I bought a .40/.357 bar gauge after my first class, and I kept asking about when a 9 & .45 bar gauge would be available, simply because I like to own the tools as an armorer. (I have 9/.40/.45/10 gauges for the 3rd gen guns, and one for the standard SW1911 .45, too.) Every time I've asked, they keep telling me the engineers don't feel it's necessary due to the current manufacturing methods and tolerances.

They might be right, as I actually found an extractor that dropped into a 5906TSW for my last 3rd gen armorer recert a couple years ago, without having to be fit (filed).

First time I'd seen that happen in 4 armorer classes for the 3rd gen guns. They typically require fitting in any particular slide (and the extractors are made with extra metal on the adjustment pad, to allow for fitting in each slide). The instructor told me that he'd seen that happen in a couple of classes recently (at that time), and attributed it to the tight production tolerances and newer parts being made for the 3rd gen guns.

I haven't personally looked at, or used, the aftermarket extractor being discussed, but that's because as an armorer I use factory parts on guns intended for dedicated use as defensive weapons. (There's a pretty significant potential liability on me if I use a part not approved by the factory in a duty or off-duty pistol, and a problem occurs which is determined to involve non-factory part.)

As I recall when I looked at the part info, though, it's described as a nearly drop-in part.

One thing that can be said for the aftermarket parts demand for the M&P pistol is that it has apparently driven S&W to continue to revise and refine their own parts.

Denversteve said:

Your car comes with wheels but many companies make after-market wheels. Does that mean your stock wheels are substandard or defective - NO. After market companies exist because of people's tendency to never be satisfied. Therefore, if someone offers them something that seems better - they buy it. Rarely is it better than the factory engineered item. I've been a competitive shooter for over 20 years. I slowed then stopped after retiring from the police department and never had a need to modify a pistol or rifle, other than installing ambi. safeties. Never wore out parts, never had malfunctions and never felt a need to spend money replacing perfectly fine factory parts. Your needs may vary.

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Amen, to this post, brother. I feel the same way about "custom" 45's. I don't question that 1-2% of the shooting family can take advange of a 3K+ hand gun. For the rest, it's one of those-"Look what I got" things.Add to this the almost one yr. waiting list and the whole thing could be funny, if it really wasn't so very sad!

The real extractor story

The little Beretta bobcat and tomcat semi autos with tip up barrels do not have extractors. It would just get in the way.

Shells blow themselves out. A bit straighter in the rimfire blowback pistols is all? Perhaps?

Anyway, contrary to popular opinion the extractors only extract when we need to empty the chamber by hand.

No doubt there is a relationship between the extractor slightly helping the shell hit the ejector rod just right, and helping give direction to the flight of the shell.

Hey, I am still on my learning curve here. Has anyone ever tried to shoot anything bigger than a .22 rimfire without an extractor. I am willing to bet fifty cents it will work fine.

Until you want to empty the pistol when it is dirty, and then need a pocket knife to pry out the cartridge?

If we had a contest when shooting a target, also had people betting on putting empty shells flying into a large box……… maybe extractors could be more important?

Right now all extractors normally do is control the feeding of the shell as it jumps up from the magazine, and help give direction when ejecting?

Extractors give flexibility to feeding control and ejection control. When actually shooting they are just a control device? The pressure in the barrel does not instantly drop to zero when the bullet leaves the barrel. Barrels have different lengths. It gets complicated.

Maybe they need another name? More respect?

I have a M&P 9MM full size also. From day 1, spent casing were ejecting straight up or straight back at me about 50% of the time. Sent it in, they sent it back. Took it to the range, and found out that instead of it lobbing them back at me 50% of the time, it was now rocketing them back at me 100% of the time. 4 types of ammo - all same. Flaming hot casings. In fact, 1 or them managed to get behind my safety glasses and I now have a 2ND Degree burn on my face. Called S&W, explained situation and sent a pic of my injury. They decided to replace the gun and have me pick up the new one in 4 weeks, YES, 4 weeks. So 3 weeks for first repair, 4 weeks for the new gun which I have to pick up at a local gun shop at my expense. I asked them to explain to me how I got a gun back with the problem worse that it was, they said they replaced the extractor and tested it with NATO rounds and it worked perfectly. Amazing. Now I have a burn, and probably a permanent scar. In return, they will replace a 5 month old gun with a new one and expect me to be satisfied with that. I have 3 S&W guns, and was a loyal customer. Wont be buying another one anytime soon. VERY disappointing to say the least.

If you got a 2nd degree burn on your face from getting hit by a spent case, you have very bad luck indeed. You might want to reconsider handling firearms at all, or even sharp objects. Dangerous stuff!

Wear baseball cap, shoot +p awhile, clean chamber

calvoni said:

I have a M&P 9MM full size also. From day 1, spent casing were ejecting straight up or straight back at me about 50% of the time. Sent it in, they sent it back. Took it to the range, and found out that instead of it lobbing them back at me 50% of the time, it was now rocketing them back at me 100% of the time. 4 types of ammo - all same. Flaming hot casings. In fact, 1 or them managed to get behind my safety glasses and I now have a 2ND Degree burn on my face. Called S&W, explained situation and sent a pic of my injury. They decided to replace the gun and have me pick up the new one in 4 weeks, YES, 4 weeks. So 3 weeks for first repair, 4 weeks for the new gun which I have to pick up at a local gun shop at my expense. I asked them to explain to me how I got a gun back with the problem worse that it was, they said they replaced the extractor and tested it with NATO rounds and it worked perfectly. Amazing. Now I have a burn, and probably a permanent scar. In return, they will replace a 5 month old gun with a new one and expect me to be satisfied with that. I have 3 S&W guns, and was a loyal customer. Wont be buying another one anytime soon. VERY disappointing to say the least.

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Run an oily patch or swab down the barrel (and chamber), then a dry one. Oil the slide rails.

Get safety glasses that cover over top to forehead or wear a baseball cap.

When 3 or 4 shells got behind my glasses, shooting 60 required light reloads for yearly requal, in glock 17, I looked downward until I could remove glasses enough for shell to fall out. (Never look up).

You also might lock your slide back for a few weeks to take the newness off the spring. Or shoot +P for awhile.

I would try holding the pistol with grip horizontal until the shells started hitting me again. Some people shoot their best scores with horizontal hold.

Shoot +P and you do not need to clean it as often. They will kick themselves out of a much dirtier chamber.

Revolvers work better dirty than autos.

It has the same purpose as "snake oil" or any other number of potions, tonics and spells used to treat made up illnesses. That purpose is to make the salesman a fortune at YOUR expense.

No extractor issues in 4 M&P 9mms now. I have a few extra stock extractors from SSS since they're dirt cheap and is a part that's nice to have on hand jic.