This is just something I wanted to post and may or may not be of any interest. Not really a review, just sharing my experience and what I've learned with this CCW. If you have anything to add or if I've got something wrong, please post away 
.
I've read a lot of information on this little pistol and have one myself...wouldn't trade for it. There seems to be a lot of negative comments, on different forums and videos about some of the same issues over and over, even new postings. For example, three years after release, people will buy this gun and post complaints about the trigger pull. Read or try it before you buy, right?
There were a few problems/complaints from the start and I believe they have all been addressed by S&W but were they fixed? Can they be fixed? Here's what I've gathered to date:
Trigger pull-
This is a DAO, hammer fired pistol! It is long but not so hard and is what it's supposed to be. It allows you to carry it hot and maintain a lot of safety, an AD is almost impossible with this weapon. Carried this way allows you to pull and shoot, one handed, no slide racking. The sear point can be learned after about 1/2 box of ammo. There will be an aftermarket trigger kit from Galloway Precision released very soon if you feel the need to change what S&W has designed.
Takedown lever-
The initial production release did have problems with the pin falling out during cycling and has been fixed. The machining around the shoulder of the pin was modified to better lock into the retaining spring.
This created another issue and basically just involves the documentation and the molded representation of the amount of travel to unlock the pin. The manual still states that you should swing the lever 90° to unlock and remove the pin; the mold job on the polymer frame reflects the same.
In this position, you have to pry the pin out with a tool of some sort which is not correct and will damage the spring and pin. After the factory modification, you actually swing the lever to ~160° (over the molded reference point). You will hear and feel a very defined click and the pin will pop right out using only your fingers.
Main roll pins-
The two main roll pins holding the internals in the polymer frame have been reported by a few to move outward, left or right, after a few hundred rounds. This is due to the extreme forces put on these two pins.
Instead of sending the gun back to S&W, tap the pins out about half way, degrease and coat with blue Loctite, put a very small drop in the hole on the other side and tap back in...problem solved.
Mag release-
This point was brought up by Ransom and am happy to add it to this list. New out of the box, inserting a magazine can be a little difficult as the mag tends to catch on the release sear. Pressing the release button while inserting solves this. A good slap with the palm will also get past the sear pin. As Ransom mentions, this is merely a break-in thing and will smooth out after a while.
I have learned since posting the above that the mag sear is made of polymer.There was an issue wherein an owner had slapped the mag in hard and sheared off the sear and now will not lock the mag in place.
Firing pin breakage-
This issue was few and far between but did occur and there are still reports of it. Most accounts involved excessive dry firing of the weapon. I never do this with any gun but some folks practice this way. The firing pin is formed by MIM and although this technology has come a long way, there can still be issues with consistency. Subsequent annealing of the metal seems to have helped this problem and has reduced the brittleness of the material. I've also heard there was an additional relief incorporated around the FPB slot.
Galloway Precision will also be releasing a machined steel firing pin that they claim is unbreakable, I will incorporate this mod when the pin is made available.
Primer smear-
Although this is not really a problem, there has been voiced concern by the teardrop look of the impression on the spent primers. This is simply due to the geometry and action of this small, tight tolerance gun.
Laser module retaining screw-
This is an ongoing concern and there is really no 100% fix for it. The repeated shock of firing the weapon can cause the screw to back out and jam the slide. S&W has been replacing the screw with one that has a larger allen head to allow more torque when tightening down the assembly and added Loctite to the threads. This is not a true fix and could cause the PEM nut to pull loose from the polymer frame if too much torque is applied. This is just something that needs to be watched. I use blue Loctite on mine and has not moved in over 500 rounds.
Laser actuation buttons-
The original release of the polymer frame did not have the molded ring around the buttons. This was causing the laser to be actuated while holstered and also was causing the buttons to "eraser" and shave off. S&W fixed this very quickly.
Due to difficulty in the actuation, the buttons themselves were modified from a deep channel, long nub design to a shallow channel, short, flat topped nub. The result is better actuation of the membrane switch but still degrades rapidly. The Q-Tip "ring" insertion, as shown on YouTube, is a viable fix and worked great on mine.
Iron sights-
There are complaints about the sights. All I can say to this is pick up an LCP and have a look. This is a point and shoot CCW, not a range gun. These sights sit high (on one of the lower bore axis', I might add) on the slide and come to picture pretty quick if you're shooting further out. They are beefy enough to paint dots on also to help in low light situations. They are also windage adjustable and replaceable if desired.
The dovetails are very tight on these sights and if you plan on adjusting, replacing or removing for the firing pin mod, use a sight pusher. The sights are to be removed by pushing to the right (ejection port) side of the slide.
MIM barrel-
There's concern over this coming out on the latest serial numbers. The performance aspects are yet to be proven but nothing to date about failure or any other issues. I would have to question the porosity of this material accelerating bore and rifling degradation.
IMHO-
Being aware of the laser screw and the takedown pin mod is important for all new buyers to understand...it's really no big deal.
Other than checking the laser screw when cleaning this gun and modifying the laser buttons, if you want, all else has been "addressed". The action of this gun is VERY reliable and will eat any name brand ammo you feed it. I have shot over 500 rounds of different ammos and not had a single problem with one.
It's EXTEMELY accurate for a barrel this length and is due to full length slide rails and steel guide rod. The iron sights and laser are very much on right out of the box. Small, light weight and full featured...I'm in love.
I know that there are lemmons out there for almost any machine that's ever been manufactured. Hope your experience with your little machine has been a good one.
Cheers,
Don
.I've read a lot of information on this little pistol and have one myself...wouldn't trade for it. There seems to be a lot of negative comments, on different forums and videos about some of the same issues over and over, even new postings. For example, three years after release, people will buy this gun and post complaints about the trigger pull. Read or try it before you buy, right?
There were a few problems/complaints from the start and I believe they have all been addressed by S&W but were they fixed? Can they be fixed? Here's what I've gathered to date:
Trigger pull-
This is a DAO, hammer fired pistol! It is long but not so hard and is what it's supposed to be. It allows you to carry it hot and maintain a lot of safety, an AD is almost impossible with this weapon. Carried this way allows you to pull and shoot, one handed, no slide racking. The sear point can be learned after about 1/2 box of ammo. There will be an aftermarket trigger kit from Galloway Precision released very soon if you feel the need to change what S&W has designed.
Takedown lever-
The initial production release did have problems with the pin falling out during cycling and has been fixed. The machining around the shoulder of the pin was modified to better lock into the retaining spring.
This created another issue and basically just involves the documentation and the molded representation of the amount of travel to unlock the pin. The manual still states that you should swing the lever 90° to unlock and remove the pin; the mold job on the polymer frame reflects the same.
In this position, you have to pry the pin out with a tool of some sort which is not correct and will damage the spring and pin. After the factory modification, you actually swing the lever to ~160° (over the molded reference point). You will hear and feel a very defined click and the pin will pop right out using only your fingers.
Main roll pins-
The two main roll pins holding the internals in the polymer frame have been reported by a few to move outward, left or right, after a few hundred rounds. This is due to the extreme forces put on these two pins.
Instead of sending the gun back to S&W, tap the pins out about half way, degrease and coat with blue Loctite, put a very small drop in the hole on the other side and tap back in...problem solved.
Mag release-
This point was brought up by Ransom and am happy to add it to this list. New out of the box, inserting a magazine can be a little difficult as the mag tends to catch on the release sear. Pressing the release button while inserting solves this. A good slap with the palm will also get past the sear pin. As Ransom mentions, this is merely a break-in thing and will smooth out after a while.
I have learned since posting the above that the mag sear is made of polymer.There was an issue wherein an owner had slapped the mag in hard and sheared off the sear and now will not lock the mag in place.
Firing pin breakage-
This issue was few and far between but did occur and there are still reports of it. Most accounts involved excessive dry firing of the weapon. I never do this with any gun but some folks practice this way. The firing pin is formed by MIM and although this technology has come a long way, there can still be issues with consistency. Subsequent annealing of the metal seems to have helped this problem and has reduced the brittleness of the material. I've also heard there was an additional relief incorporated around the FPB slot.
Galloway Precision will also be releasing a machined steel firing pin that they claim is unbreakable, I will incorporate this mod when the pin is made available.
Primer smear-
Although this is not really a problem, there has been voiced concern by the teardrop look of the impression on the spent primers. This is simply due to the geometry and action of this small, tight tolerance gun.
Laser module retaining screw-
This is an ongoing concern and there is really no 100% fix for it. The repeated shock of firing the weapon can cause the screw to back out and jam the slide. S&W has been replacing the screw with one that has a larger allen head to allow more torque when tightening down the assembly and added Loctite to the threads. This is not a true fix and could cause the PEM nut to pull loose from the polymer frame if too much torque is applied. This is just something that needs to be watched. I use blue Loctite on mine and has not moved in over 500 rounds.
Laser actuation buttons-
The original release of the polymer frame did not have the molded ring around the buttons. This was causing the laser to be actuated while holstered and also was causing the buttons to "eraser" and shave off. S&W fixed this very quickly.
Due to difficulty in the actuation, the buttons themselves were modified from a deep channel, long nub design to a shallow channel, short, flat topped nub. The result is better actuation of the membrane switch but still degrades rapidly. The Q-Tip "ring" insertion, as shown on YouTube, is a viable fix and worked great on mine.
Iron sights-
There are complaints about the sights. All I can say to this is pick up an LCP and have a look. This is a point and shoot CCW, not a range gun. These sights sit high (on one of the lower bore axis', I might add) on the slide and come to picture pretty quick if you're shooting further out. They are beefy enough to paint dots on also to help in low light situations. They are also windage adjustable and replaceable if desired.
The dovetails are very tight on these sights and if you plan on adjusting, replacing or removing for the firing pin mod, use a sight pusher. The sights are to be removed by pushing to the right (ejection port) side of the slide.
MIM barrel-
There's concern over this coming out on the latest serial numbers. The performance aspects are yet to be proven but nothing to date about failure or any other issues. I would have to question the porosity of this material accelerating bore and rifling degradation.
IMHO-
Being aware of the laser screw and the takedown pin mod is important for all new buyers to understand...it's really no big deal.
Other than checking the laser screw when cleaning this gun and modifying the laser buttons, if you want, all else has been "addressed". The action of this gun is VERY reliable and will eat any name brand ammo you feed it. I have shot over 500 rounds of different ammos and not had a single problem with one.
It's EXTEMELY accurate for a barrel this length and is due to full length slide rails and steel guide rod. The iron sights and laser are very much on right out of the box. Small, light weight and full featured...I'm in love.
I know that there are lemmons out there for almost any machine that's ever been manufactured. Hope your experience with your little machine has been a good one.
Cheers,
Don
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. As far as the slide lock, it's all based on the mag follower pushing up the lock in a timely fashion. Clean mags are important for sure.
