Accuracy issues with FS M&P 9's?

[JSandi]

Have the accuracy issues with the full-size 9mm's been resolved?

I know they (S&W) was looking at new barrels to address the issues, but have the newer M&P's been fixed?

Specifically the new F/S VTac 9mm's?

I'm eyeing one of those babies to replace my M9.

And to go with my ever multiplying family of M&P's.

Started out with a .45 Compact then a M&P 9mm Compact two weeks later.

I think its a sickness.

 

[OKFC05]

The latest ones have a faster twist barrel. That is mostly to better stabilize the long, slow, 147gr bullets at 125 power factor popular with many competition shooters. I never saw any issues with 124gr bullets at 130 power factor.

Frankly, I never saw a non-defective barrel that had any issues not caused by the nut behind the wheel. Did see some defective barrels, mostly crowns.

I had Mr Expert (self appointed) come up behind me at the range and start telling me at the top of his voice that the new M&P in my hand (which I had just finished sighting in) was inherently inaccurate, and I should immediately get rid of it and buy a Glock, which was his one and only pistol.
I rested the M&P and knocked down a row of poppers at 50yd, one by one. When I finished and looked behind me, Mr Expert was gone.

 

[SMMAssociates]

Several years ago, my brand new M&P40FS came through with both front and rear sights misaligned.

How the thing got past QC, I'll never know....

After running through the usual "new gun" tests, I noticed that....

Getting the front sight centered was a bear. The rear sight moved properly.

"New Gun" thing.... Sometimes you just don't hold the thing correctly - either out of inexperience, or too much experience - being used to having a gun land in your hand "just so". First thing to do besides examining your own grip, is to ask a capable friend to try it. If he can't shoot it well, either....

Once I got everything centered, a minor tweak to the rear sight put the 40FS on track. A 9C and a 40C came through fine, btw.

The "Mr. Expert" guy.... That's me , at our club range. The last guy who really qualified, and I do mean really, passed away about six months ago. My qualifications involve getting the grips on a 1911 back on the correct sides, and how to use a Dremel to mix paint. But I do know how to fully strip (& clean) a 1911, and usually get 'em back together without problems. Eventually....

Many years ago, I was at a local gun pusher's shop, and asked to see a 1911. I stripped it to "cleaning" level (pop the slide and remove the barrel, more or less), said "See you, Frank", and headed for the door.

"STU! WAIT!" Seems he just didn't remember how to put the thing back together.... He mostly handled revolvers....

Then there was the time I cleaned one of my 1911's and proved that you could put the drop safety levers back in wrong.... (Somebody had told me that you couldn't....) Dropped the hammer just right, but no ignition.... Quick check and it was obvious what I'd done. My shooting buddy still doesn't believe that I could fix that in five minutes with essentially no tools....

About all you need to take an M&P way too far apart is a little roll pin punch and a couple of small standard ones. 'Course, getting it back together can be an education.... Don't try to take the extractor out without a starter punch or you'll end up breaking the first one you try. You might get lucky and have enough left to be the starter punch, but this always happens on Sunday or when the hardware store is closed.

The Walther PPS extractor is held in by a spring-loaded button. Easiest thing I've ever seen to remove. But getting everything lined up to put it back in is a bit of fun.

The problem with the M&P's is that they are stamped out in huge quantities, for us, and for LE, and QC sometimes misses something. S&W seems to be spot on, most of the time, with repairs, and a lot of things are pretty easy to fix. If a PD has an armorer, special education and some spare parts are available, too. The rest of us get Will Call tickets....

I can't say for M&P's, but 1911's tend to multiply in the safe. Hopefully, my wife will buy that line....

Regards,

 

[Ofc.JL]

SMMAssociates; comical! I like.
If I might, Gentlemen. Yes, S&W did have a problem with the M&P FS9. I know, I had one. The weapon funtioned fine, but wouldn't group to save it's butt. Didn't matter what load I put in it, fine accuracy was not it's strong point. 15yds - 12" groups were the norm. Minute of "Bad guy", sure, but striking matches, no. This M&P just couldn't do it. Sold it to a LE buddy who knew about it, and he wasn't worried. As long as it was on the bad guy target at 15yds, he said he was good.
Now, after enough complaints S&W went back and investigated what was wrong with the FS 9. Several things were fixed, as I understand it. The sloppy head space was tightened up. The rifling twist was changed to a tighter twist(1 in 10", as opposed to the old twist, 1 in 18".) And, of course, the newer "H" trigger system was adopted, after the debut of the Shield. The new "H" trigger works very well. The new "H" system sear is almost a dead ringer for the Apex sear that everyone seems to install.
End result seems to be a much improved accuracy level on the FS 9's.
The FS .40's have not changed, other than the new "H" system trigger. Apparently the accuracy on the .40's is sufficient for everyone. My '09 FS .40 groups as well as any .40 I have tried, .40 has never been known as a tight grouping round, anyhow.
Oh, and the retaining pin for extractors: boy, you ain't kidding. The pins were usually put in with a lot of force and were hard to get out. S&W has always used a slightly tapered pin for extractors, making it an inteference fit as it goes to home position. They have been doing that since the old model 39 days. That's was how it was done, lotsa years ago. Of course, technology changes, and S&W now uses the "Spirol"(I think that's correct.) style pin. It stays in place and is much easier to get out. Problem solved on newer pistols. BTW, pinned, rocker style extractors are obviously easier to make. Look at all the new SIG pistols. If I had a dime for every mis-fit or mis-adjusted 1911 extractor I've ever had to work on, I would be rich. And not knocking 'Ol Slabsides, I love 'em. That was just how it was done back then. All manufacturers are trying to get costs down, and reliability up. Drop-in, correct dimension extractors are 1 way thay are doing that. Not my favorite way, but it's here to stay so we have learn them.
Due to some youthful indiscretions on my part(I rode Motocross from the age of 14 until I was almost 30), I now have arthritis in the base joint of both of my thumbs. Any pistol that has a large, blocky grip that bangs my hand in the base of my thumb I now cannot use. S&W's M&P's with the smaller grip insert have allowed me to get back into shooting more w/o paralyzing my thumbs. And since I carry a pistol for a living, that's a good thing.
So, anyhoo, S&W did respond to the inaccuracy problems w/ the FS 9's, it just took them awhile.
Oops! Sorry for the Diatribe. I tend to be long winded. lol!
Thanx All, and Merry Christmas.
Ofc. JL

 

[Philadelphia Patriot]

My M&P 9 FS was made October 2013, has a serial number beginning with HAF37##, and appears to have the "H" on the trigger bar. Do I have the new, 1:10" barrel? Everything else appears to be the newer parts. The headspace when I put a round in the barrel is perfect too.

 

[Rusty53]

Im buying a new mp 9mm tomorrow....should i have any accurancy problems?I narrowed it down the mp or the ppq2 made by walther in 9mm...seems im going with the mp....because..i wanted the thumb safety...should i be worried?

 

[Duster340]

Im buying a new mp 9mm tomorrow.......should i be worried?

Nope...You'll love it.

 

[PennGrizz]

Where do you look to find the date made?

 

[WR Moore]

Unless some state agency grabbed it for "ballistic fingerprinting", there should be a small envelope with an expended shell casing and the date fired in your carrying case in the slot where the owners manual is. That'll be close enough to production date.

BTW, read the owners manual. It'll save you a lot of time at the keyboard asking questions the manual will answer.

 

[SMMAssociates]

PennGrizz:

If somebody did filch that casing & envelope, there's a date code on the S&W label on the box the gun came in. I can't find my notes on how to decipher it, but somebody here should remember.

My 40FS showed up with both front and rear sights improperly installed. This is NOT normal - in most cases, a new firearm appearing to be inaccurate is usually operator error unless it's got adjustable sights and they weren't set up properly at the factory. After verifying that it wasn't my fault, I moved them to the slide's centerline, and then did a little tweaking of the rear sight. Spot on, now....

Sometimes the shooter's own idiosyncrasies make a gun "on" or "off" all by themselves. Playing with the sights is often not the right solution, but everybody does it ....

If you can put six shots in a six inch circle from about 30', it's close enough for SD use. EVERY gun that you carry for SD should be able to do that, and you should be able to do it with each of those guns. Better than that is for paper punching.

Regards,