Is this normal barrel hood wear?

Fordfan485 · Jul 4, 2015

Was cleaning my M&P Pro 9 today and noticed some ugly looking wear on the front edge of the barrel hood and where it interfaces on the slide. Had the gun for about a year, it currently has 1857 rounds through it. I have been using brian enos slide glide regular and heavy as my lube. I have been using the factory recoil spring and guide rod. Only modification is the apex competition action enhancement kit. Anyone else experience similar wear?

Bob O · Jul 4, 2015

It appears to have a jagged edge.....is it actually gouged or rough where the wear marks are?

BlackTalonJHP · Jul 4, 2015

Looks normal to me

Fordfan485 · Jul 4, 2015

Bob O said:
It appears to have a jagged edge.....is it actually gouged or rough where the wear marks are?

Yes it is very rough along that edge.

Bob O · Jul 4, 2015

I'd be slightly concerned if it was my pistol. Wear "marks" are one thing, but chewed up metal is quite another IMO.

WR Moore · Jul 5, 2015

OK, the polished area on the angled portion of the chamber block is normal. The jagged edge of the chamber block is unusual. I can't speak to the similar appearance on the forward edge of the ejection port. It'd be difficult to say which may have caused the other. However, the jagged edge of the chamber block appears to continue on angled areas to the sides of the wedge that rides on the upper inner surface of the slide. This hints that it may be a machining error, rather than wear.

I'd send pictures to S&W customer service, they might want to take a look.

BTW, technically, the "hood" is the little projection on the upper side of the chamber block at the rear. The slide engages it to push the barrel forward into battery.

CaptRon956 · Jul 5, 2015

Only thing about "brian enos slide glide" is that it's not CLP, such as Frog lube or FP-10 that I use for example. "CLP stands for Cleaning, Lubrication & Preservative as set by military standard MIL-L-63460.

Mister X · Jul 5, 2015

There should be no rough jagged edges. Was everything smooth when you got it?

The edge of the barrel edge doesn't look right to me(I only own and familiar with Glocks though, not M&P's), but I would definitely send the pics to S&W with a detailed description and I imagine they'll have you send it in.

Bkreutz · Jul 5, 2015

The wear below looks identical. This was at 20K rounds. I changed to a KKM barrel on my Core and 70 K rounds later, it has the same look. It's caused by the repeated hammering of the barrel locking up with the slide. I did send pictures to S&W in Dec 2013 (when that picture was taken). their answer was that it's normal. I haven't noticed any change in function or accuracy. I'm coming up on 20K on my new (this year) gun with a KKM barrel and it's looking the same way.

PHolster · Jul 5, 2015

I have the same on my Shield.

marine6680 · Jul 5, 2015

Bk, yours looks better than his, it's fairly smooth and even wear... At 20,000 rounds.

His barrel has less than 2000 rounds.

It does seem unusual.

The only pic relevant it the locking area of the barrel hood. It's easy to see the wear in that area.

Most of the time such questions are usually answered with, it's fine/normal... But this time I feel it is out of the ordinary.

Bkreutz · Jul 5, 2015

marine6680 said:
Bk, yours looks better than his, it's fairly smooth and even wear... At 20,000 rounds.

His barrel has less than 2000 rounds.

It does seem unusual.

The only pic relevant it the locking area of the barrel hood. It's easy to see the wear in that area.

Most of the time such questions are usually answered with, it's fine/normal... But this time I feel it is out of the ordinary.

I think the difference is in the picture. When I look at mine (the barrel, not the picture) it looks identical to his picture. I'm just not a very good photographer.

ca survivor · Jul 5, 2015

normal for a mass production gun.

RV4driver · Jul 5, 2015

If you had relieved that area when the gun was new, it wouldn't look like that. Also, if the manufacturer had done the same when it was still at the factory, it wouldn't look like that. But, that would have taken just a smidgen more time, so they didn't. These parts then, had to find their "happy place" via shooting it. It probably won't change appreciably for some time now. You've "shot it into compliance".
As an example, I have a Kimber Solo carry 9 that had an area on the under side of the slide, and the corresponding area on the top of the barrel, show evidence of that exact kind of wear. When I got it back from Kimber after a warranty claim, it had factory machined relief cuts in those exact locations.

Rastoff · Jul 5, 2015

I don't know if these pics are any better, but mine looks a lot better than the OP's:

45%20chamber%20edgesmall_zpseunzm5za.jpg

There is a little jaggedness to it, but nothing like the OP.

Granted this is a .45, but it has just over 2K rounds through it. This means the wear should be similar to the OP's gun.

Prasko · Jul 5, 2015

I thought the barrels were stainless under the finish?

Rastoff, the edge on your barrel hood, is that rust or lube?

As for the wear on the slide, my shield has that, and only has maybe 300 rounds through it, but the barrel is fine.

Big Cholla · Jul 5, 2015

IMHO, it is ugly but not harmful in the long run. If it were mine, I would 'dress' off that edge with a stone starting with a course and finishing with a fine. Then I would watch it for a repeat of that battering pattern. This indicates that the recoil shoulder position for the barrel is much harder in the slide than in the barrel.

Rastoff · Jul 5, 2015

Prasko said:
I thought the barrels were stainless under the finish?

Rastoff, the edge on your barrel hood, is that rust or lube?

First of all, even stainless steel can rust. It just depends on the type of stainless. The type necessary for guns will rust. It's just more resistant to oxidation than regular carbon steel.

Secondly, there is no rust or lube on the point you reference. It is simply the lighting. Shiny surfaces are hard to take pictures of because they reflect the light. In this case, it's reflecting the wood on my workbench.

Prasko · Jul 5, 2015

Rastoff said:
First of all, even stainless steel can rust. It just depends on the type of stainless. The type necessary for guns will rust. It's just more resistant to oxidation than regular carbon steel.

Secondly, there is no rust or lube on the point you reference. It is simply the lighting. Shiny surfaces are hard to take pictures of because they reflect the light. In this case, it's reflecting the wood on my workbench.

Ahh, I was wondering.

I use lubriplate on that point, to ease some of the friction that may occur.

Fordfan485 · Jul 8, 2015

I got a reply back from S&W today. Here is their reply:

Dear Customer,

This does look like normal wear.

Smith&Wesson values its customers and we are happy to have served you today. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require further assistance.

Regards, Ashley

Is this normal barrel hood wear?

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