new m&p9 with slide scratches

FISTER 13F · #1 10-20-2014, 09:14 PM

I bought my first m&p9 last week and when I got home I noticed there was a few scratches on the top of the slide. I plan on carrying the gun and I know it will gain some wear marks but it sorta bothers me that there is already marks on the slide and I haven't even shot it yet.

gunfighter48 · #2 10-20-2014, 09:38 PM

Take it back to the dealer and see if they will exchange it. Or call S&W and see if they will replace it. If it were me, as long as they aren't deep into the metal I'd probably just keep it. Since it's going to be a carry gun you don't have to worry about putting the first scratch in it! But it is frustrating to have a new gun that came with scratches.

1hatchet · #3 10-20-2014, 10:40 PM

Pictures please.

dullh · #4 10-20-2014, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FISTER 13F

I bought my first m&p9 last week and when I got home I noticed there was a few scratches on the top of the slide. I plan on carrying the gun and I know it will gain some wear marks but it sorta bothers me that there is already marks on the slide and I haven't even shot it yet.

Sounds to me like your dealer let someone fondle the thing and maybe they dropped it?

If that's the case, and this dealer sold it to you new anyway, I'd never darken his door again...

Rastoff · #5 10-21-2014, 12:11 AM

The M&P slide has a treatment called Melonite. This is a process that infuses and hardens the metal. It's super hard and very difficult to scratch.

It's more likely that what you see is not scratches in the slide, but material left behind by something else. Take a green scrubby pad and some soap and gently scrub the slide. I'll bet it comes completely clean. If it doesn't, or there are more marks on it, then there is something wrong with the Melonite process and it needs to be fixed anyway.

PastureOfMuppets · #6 10-21-2014, 04:41 AM

I've abused the hell out of mine... and I mean abused and includes hitting the deck a few times. No scratches.

As Rastoff said, if it is a proper scratch there's a Melonite problem.

FISTER 13F · #7 10-21-2014, 09:45 PM

I've tried rubbing it with some solvent and that didn't help any

poru_desu · #8 10-22-2014, 02:06 AM

pictures would put everyone at ease ...

WilliamG · #9 10-22-2014, 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rastoff

The M&P slide has a treatment called Melonite. This is a process that infuses and hardens the metal. It's super hard and very difficult to scratch.

It's more likely that what you see is not scratches in the slide, but material left behind by something else. Take a green scrubby pad and some soap and gently scrub the slide. I'll bet it comes completely clean. If it doesn't, or there are more marks on it, then there is something wrong with the Melonite process and it needs to be fixed anyway.

A few years back when I got my new M&P 9 Pro, the slide had a few scratches on it out of the box. It's definitely possible to scratch melonite, that's for sure. It never got any worse, but scratches there were!

Cobbler · #10 10-22-2014, 06:17 AM

I would use 000 or 0000 steel wool and not green scrubby pads, they are agressive..

Rastoff · #11 10-22-2014, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WilliamG

It's definitely possible to scratch melonite, that's for sure.

Didn't say it wasn't possible, just difficult.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobbler

I would use 000 or 0000 steel wool and not green scrubby pads, they are agressive..

Steel wool is fine, but a green scrubby, like what we all have in the kitchen sink, is fine. It won't hurt the Melonite.

My previous post was just a suggestion. It has worked for me and several others. If it doesn't work, then maybe you do actually have scratches. You can return it to the place of purchase or call S&W. One way or another it can be made right.

FISTER 13F · #12 10-22-2014, 09:46 PM

Alright so I don't believe they are scratches but some sort of metal left behind by something else. I been working on removing the marks with some solvent and using an eraser. The marks are actually fading away now.

shawn mccarver · #13 10-22-2014, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FISTER 13F

I bought my first m&p9 last week and when I got home I noticed there was a few scratches on the top of the slide. I plan on carrying the gun and I know it will gain some wear marks but it sorta bothers me that there is already marks on the slide and I haven't even shot it yet.

Since the M&P slide is hardened nearly to the hardness of a diamond, it is EXCEEDINGLY unlikely that your slide is "scratched." Most ordinary files will not affect a slide made hard through the hardening process known as Melonite or Tenifer (they are different trade names for the same process), and often, someone handling an M&P or Glock slide while wearing a ring will leave bits of metal from the ring on the slide so that it looks like the slide is scratched when, in fact, part of the ring has essentially been rubbed off onto a slide. It is often possible to see brass left on the slide from violent ejection, and the brass is often mistaken for scratching in the slide, when in fact the brass is actually a "deposit" onto the intact surface of the slide. Clean it up and you should be fine. If not, it needs to be looked at by the metallurgist at S&W.