Any M&P FPC Shooters Out There??

I got the FPC back yesterday.
The work order said, "Replaced Bolt".
I finally got time to strip it down and take a look at it.
It's definitely a newly designed bolt.
No roll pins are used to retain either the firing pin or the extractor.
The retaining pins have a larger diameter "head" to keep them from falling through and they can't come out the top as they are kept in the bolt by the carrier tube.
As they are not roll pins there are no close fit tolerances so they are easily removed for a thorough cleaning of the bolt assembly if desired.
Bolt assembly is now as it should have been, functional!
Nothing inherently wrong with roll pins if tolerances and materials are good.
The new design allows sloppy parts and sloppy assembly to still produce a functional gun.
No doubt the original bolt designer got a raise and was promoted to head of safety mechanisms.
If I get time next week I'll take a couple of pictures and post them.
Cheers
James
 
I was planning to purchase one of these when I could locate one. Now I think I will wait till the bugs are worked out. Almost seems like a recall is in order if a re d signed bolt is being used
 
The new bolt assembly is very well thought out, it will be easier for the assembler to quickly get together correctly, and the previous problem is completely eliminated as it is now impossible for the firing pin keeper to back out enough to adversely affect its intended function (to retain the firing pin).
I bought one thinking that it was good to go but unfortunately it wasn't.
Seeing how the potential problem has been addressed and completely eliminated I personally would not hesitate a second to buy another one or recommend it to someone who wants that type of firearm.
I didn't take the extractor pin out to measure it so I don't know if they are the same or not.
The new firing pin keeper is about .577" total length.
The "head" is about .118" diameter and about .057" thick.
The FP retaining portion is about .077" diameter and about .520" length with a small chamfer to help start it into the small portion of the double diameter (the top portion has a counterbore for the head to stop on) hole.

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Thanks for posting the pictures! The FPC is back on my buy list as long as I can find one at a LGS and can verify it has the new bolt. It looks like a great gun but only if it is reliable.
 
It will be interesting to see if all those already sold have to be sent back in, or if S&W will just send out a new bolt assembly.
 
I posted this on another thread a few days I cleaned it from Yesterdays shooting session and went back out today and on the first magazine, something broke inside the trigger housing. The magazine will not see the bolt will not go forward and there's just something flopping around in there. So there you have it Smith and Wesson. Let me down once again so tomorrow morning I make the dreaded phone call get the shipping label send it off and wait a couple months to get it back. It was fun while it was working. Stay tuned. I'll let everyone know when it comes back if it's fixed and if it happens again.
 
Sent mine back to S&W, they got it today. Wondering how long they had yours before they got it back to you.
 
I sent mine in 3/14/23 and received it back 4/14/23.

I'm actually glad that it malfunctioned right out of the box leading me to send it in resulting in it getting a much improved bolt assembly.

I put ten rounds through it off the front porch this afternoon and it went bang ten times.

I hope to get it down to our range this week and sight in the Trijicon MRO.

Cheers
James

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Thanks for the info. Knowing it will take a month is better than anticipating a quick return and being disappointed. The fix seems like a much better design with the solid pins. I wonder how much money they thought they would save with the original pins.
 
For the folks that received an updated bolt; Is their a way to identify the rifle has the updated bolt with out tearing it apart?
 
It's the same bolt. No design change in the bolt- just headed solid pins versus the split pins. You can drop in the new solid pins if you have an early gun with the split pins.
You do need to take the bolt out to see the pins.
 
JRD said:
It's the same bolt. No design change in the bolt- just headed solid pins versus the split pins. You can drop in the new solid pins if you have an early gun with the split pins.
You do need to take the bolt out to see the pins.
Click to expand...

Excellent, thank you
 
JRD

Interesting observation.
Have you actually put the "headed" pins into a bolt that came with roll pins?

To have the keeper holes counterbored to a depth sufficient to use the "headed" pins and then not use the far superior retainment mechanism is somewhat puzzling.

I do know that the bolt on mine is definitely a different bolt, not because the work order said, "Replaced Bolt" but because I had taken several pictures of my original bolt and the bolt it came back with is not that original bolt.

It seems odd that if a simple drop in of the solid "headed" pins would correct the issue that the entire bolt assembly would be replaced.

Puzzling indeed!
 
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I have indeed put the headed pins into the original bolt that came in my FPC. My contact confirmed it is the same bolt.
As to why warranty replaced the whole bolt versus just the pins in yours? Who knows. Maybe it was faster/easier for the warranty repair guy to just grab a new already assembled bolt than install new pins. That's speculation but plausible.
 
FPC bolt won't go back in

I am trying to reassembly the bolt on the FPC but it will not go back into place. I have pushed, jiggled, bumped, etc. but no luck. When I look inside it appears that maybe the hammer may be stopping the bolt from moving forward. The hammer is in the cocked position. Any thoughts? Thanks
 
If you're sure that the hammers in the cocked position push the bolt in and when you get resistance Get a wooden dowel or something and a hammer and tap it in, and it'll slide past the hammer and go all the way into the action. That's only if you're sure the hammers in the cocked position.
 
Before even trying to put the bolt back in look in the ejection port and verify the hammer is cocked.
If it's not fold the carbine and take a 3/8" or so wooden or brass dowel and recock it.
Now put the bolt in and push forward until it stops against the hammer.
With the dowel push the hammer back while pushing the bolt carrier assembly forward.
As soon as it rides over the hammer remove the dowel and push the bolt home.
There's no need to tap, hammer, etc. On the bolt carrier if the hammer is pushed back to allow the bolt to ride over it.
 
Hello, I have checked my bolt and found it has split pins.
I have no problems to date but, my? Is has anyone contacted sw cs and got the new pins from sw and installed themselves?
Semper paratus
 
First, thank you for all the responses to my question.
I finally got the bolt to go into place. The hammer was chocked but I had to use a dowel to push it down further so that the bolt could slide forward. So I either have a bad hammer assembly or the design is faulty. Field stripping and cleaning should not require a dowel, stick, hammer or rock. I saw one video showing a person using a dowel and hammer to tap the bolt into place, but in 60 years of gun ownership I have never had to tap a bolt to get it back in any rifle.
 
Just adding my experience, I ordered a new FPC from Sportsmans Warehouse on April 7th, received the order on April 14th. Performed a field strip to clean and lube, noted that the unit came with the upgraded bolt/retainer pins. Took it to the range, ran 150rnds through it without issue. Noted that it likes 124gr more than 115gr or 147gr.

Sportsmans Warehouse had the FPC up on their website back in early March and I elected to be notified when it became available. About a week later, the webpage for the FPC was removed from their website completely. It was gone for several weeks until I finally noticed it was back on their website in early April and I could order it.

I'm curious if they pulled it down for a few weeks due to the firing pin retainer pin issue becoming apparent and then put it back up once S&W had implemented the new bolt/retainers. It's possible S&W put the product on hold until they could get the new bolts in them to stave off more warranty work.

X
 
Your firing pin retaining pin probably fell out when the weapon was dry fired. This happens when the factory installs the pin backwards. The retaining pin is larger on one end (like the head of a nail). That end belongs in the larger hole at the top.

Those that see this larger end protruding out the bottom need to press on the firing pin to release the pressure on the retaining pin, remove the pin, and insert it from the top.

My wife just bought this and had this problem. The trigger block retaining pin on her Equalizer was also inserted backwards and began 'walking' out while at the range. I had to pop out the take-down lever, remove the pin, and insert it from the other direction.

I still love Smith, but that is two weapons in less than six months with pins inserted backwards!
 
I got my FPC last week. Stripped, cleaned, oiled and assembled. It does have the new style firing pin retaining pin and extractor pins with heads. Installed a Sig Romeo 5 that I already had. Fired 150 rounds didn't miss a beat. I will say the trigger pull lightened up a bit after these first rounds.

Fun to shoot, seems to be fairly accurate but won't know that until some more rounds. With the 2-23 round mags loaded in stock holder it is rear heavy for sure which I figured it would be.

The one thing so far I definitely don't care for is no easy access to the trigger group area. For both cleaning and inspection. The only way I can really see to clean the area is blasting with gun scrubber or some kind of spray cleaner. After spray I light blew it out and used some Hornady One Shot cleaner and dry lube.
 
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One other thing on assembly where they recommend using a dowel to tap bolt back in I found with the rifle folded out slide bolt in to where dowel is used you can just stand rifle muzzle end down on work bench or floor on a piece of wood or something that won't mar barrel and lift rifle and give a real gentle tap straight down the bolt will drop right into place.

This will be handy when out in the field or whenever you don't have a dowel or rod to get bolt onto place.
 
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