cleaning M&P pro core for the first time

[tubguy]

I have about 3k rounds through this gun. It started to jam and light striker hits. Hopefully a good cleaning will take care of these issues. I have read through lots of post and the gun reviews seemed to state that its a solid performer.

That being said, what should be cleaned at this point? A youtube post would be great if anybody has a few I can watch.

Thanks a lot
Mike

 

[Rastoff]

Yes, open the manual and follow the cleaning instructions. Take the striker out and clean out the striker channel.

For the record, going 3K without cleaning is not wise if you want a reliable gun.

 

[patsfan1281]

3K before cleaning? may want to do it much much more then that. Hell i do it after every range day no matter if i shoot 50 or 250

 

[tubguy]

Manual that came with gun does not show how to get striker out.
Is there any help out there or just comments?

 

[bob98366]

Search youtube. There are several videos on removing the striker and cleaning. At 3,000 rounds you certainly need to remove the striker and clean the channel.

For normal cleaning after each range session, get an aerisol can of gun cleaner and use the straw that comes with it to blow cleaner through the striker channel. Do not oil any part of the striker or channel.

 

[Rastoff]

Manual that came with gun does not show how to get striker out.
Is there any help out there...?

Yes, there's plenty of help out there. Here is a little...

It's very easy to remove the striker assembly. First you have to remove the slide end cap. Look at this pic:

Using a tool like a punch, or the tool from the stock, move the plastic sleeve, indicated by the red arrow, toward the muzzle end of the slide. While holding that in place, slide the end cap out.

Once the end cap is out, push down on the striker block (the silver round thing). When you do this the striker assembly will spring out of the slide. Place a towel near the end of the slide to catch it. The striker assembly doesn't come out with much force, but it is under the pressure of a spring.

Once out, clean the striker channel with a Q-Tip soaked in your favorite cleaner. Be sure to get it as clean as possible. Don't put any lubrication on the striker or in the striker channel. It doesn't need any and that will just attract dirt.

To put it back in, press down on the striker block and slide the striker assembly back in the slide. Release the striker block once the assembly is fully in. Then reverse the process for removing the end cap to re-install it.

Did that help? Don't hesitate to ask if you're having trouble.

Here's a link to the names of most of the parts on an M&P: http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-m-p-pistols/341115-m-p-parts-identification.html

 

[fred5876r]

Great post, Rastoff. That will help a lot of new M&P owners.

 

[Bkreutz]

Hmmm, wonder if I should clean my striker, I've got over 16,000 rounds on my 9L Core? Never have taken it out, but then again it's not a self defense gun and I have a spare gun at matches.

 

[Rastoff]

Hmmm, wonder if I should clean my striker,...

It can't hurt.

For most shooters it's a non-issue. Normal shooting won't cause it to be problematic. However, allow some grease/oil/cleaner to get in the firing pin hole, use it in a dusty environment, like most ranges, and you could start to have some light primer strikes.

Will it happen to everyone? No, but it can't hurt to keep your gun clean.

 

[tubguy]

Thanks a lot. That is exactly what I was looking for. Mine was quite dirty in there. A good through cleaning and I'm liking life again. Thank you for the parts break down as well!!!

 

[Bkreutz]

It can't hurt.

For most shooters it's a non-issue. Normal shooting won't cause it to be problematic. However, allow some grease/oil/cleaner to get in the firing pin hole, use it in a dusty environment, like most ranges, and you could start to have some light primer strikes.

Will it happen to everyone? No, but it can't hurt to keep your gun clean.

I'll get around to it one of these weeks/months (tongue in cheek) I like to shoot better than I like to clean. Maybe it's because I don't use any liquid solvent or oil (Froglube paste exclusively). Think I'll take the striker assembly out just to see what it looks like. (I also carry a spare assembly in my range bag)

 

[skip4309]

Go (very) easy on the lube...that my opinion....

 

[bob98366]

I may have missed seeing this mentioned elsewhere, but there is a cleaning hole for the striker channel that allows aeresol cleaner to be squirted through it without any take down other than normal removal of the slide. My graphic's ability is nil, so no picture.

Holding the slide upside down with the barrel end facing away from you, there is a small hole immediately to the right of the stripper just aft of the breech face. Use the straw and squirt 3-5 seconds until cleaner comes out of both the firing pin channel and the striker channel.

 

[shawn mccarver]

I have about 3k rounds through this gun. It started to jam and light striker hits. Hopefully a good cleaning will take care of these issues. I have read through lots of post and the gun reviews seemed to state that its a solid performer.

That being said, what should be cleaned at this point? A youtube post would be great if anybody has a few I can watch.

Thanks a lot
Mike

To be honest, I am very surprised that you have had any issue at 3,000 rounds without a cleaning. I truly doubt it is a dirty gun. There have been too many "torture tests" in which the M&P goes MUCH longer without trouble despite lack of cleaning.

That said, do a normal cleaning per the instruction manual. It is important that lubes, etc. not get into the firing pin channel. That channel should be clean and dry at all times. Same procedure for a Glock, which is functionally the same with respect to those parts.

A good scrub out of the firing pin channel with a DRY Q tip should be fine. That does not have to be done at every cleaning. I know people who have NEVER done it.

In the future, just make sure that you hold the slide muzzle down during normal cleaning so as to minimize the amount of garbage or oils/solvents that get into the firing pin channel through the firing pin hole. Let gravity be your friend.

If, after a normal cleaning, you continue to have problems, then it is NOT a dirty gun, but a problem which S&W should address. I am inclined to think that it is another problem (as opposed to a dirty gun) anyway, as 3,000 rounds is, quite frankly, not that many to be having light primer strikes.

 

[shawn mccarver]

Manual that came with gun does not show how to get striker out.
Is there any help out there or just comments?

That is because it is not required in normal maintenance. That is why I think there may be another cause. That channel must be dry, however, as Rastoff said. Assuming you have not been putting drops of oil or other stuff down there that has caused a sludge, it is quite unlikely that 3,000 rounds is enough to cause light primer strikes due to firing.

 

[Rastoff]

...it is quite unlikely that 3,000 rounds is enough to cause light primer strikes due to firing.

I agree, but since he is having the problem, I always like to suggest the simplest fixes first.

While it's unlikely that simply firing the gun will cause light strikes, dirt is the number one cause of this. Well, I should caveat that with, it's the number one cause on target shotguns. I've cured many of them by simply cleaning the firing pin channel and hole. Because the M&P is generally used in a more dirty environment than target/competition shotguns, dirt in the striker channel is also a likely cause of light primer strikes.

The next most likely cause would be a broken firing pin spring. This will be seen when the striker assembly is removed. Both of these potential causes can be verified in less than three minutes.

These are just so easy to check, I usually suggest them before sending it back to S&W.

 

[tubguy]

Everything is fine now
Installed apex kit and put 600 rounds threw it. Works great. Glock 34 is now going to be a safe queen!!

 

[Bkreutz]

M&P 9 at 20K rounds

I commented last week that I hadn't taken my striker out for cleaning since I got it. I figured out that I'm at about the 20,000 round mark for my 9L Pro CORE so I decided to take it apart and see what it looked like. I also included a before and after picture of my every other week cleaning (~2400 rounds). The only wear on the gun is where the holster clips over the front of the trigger guard. The two dirty swabs are what I got out of the striker channel. Never had a failure in a match and the only failure to fire was from factory ammo (one was the primer in backwards)

 

[Rastoff]

Man, you shoot a lot. 1,200 rounds a week is a staggering amount of shooting.

I'm glad your gun is working so well. Even so, I would never council anyone to go that long without cleaning. The stock market has a saying, "Past performance is no guarantee of future gains." The same is true with guns. It can't hurt to clean your gun and it's cheap insurance to keep your gun running well.

 

[Bkreutz]

Man, you shoot a lot. 1,200 rounds a week is a staggering amount of shooting.

I'm glad your gun is working so well. Even so, I would never council anyone to go that long without cleaning. The stock market has a saying, "Past performance is no guarantee of future gains." The same is true with guns. It can't hurt to clean your gun and it's cheap insurance to keep your gun running well.

I'm not counseling anyone on how often to clean. Just responding to the "If I don't clean it every 50 rounds it will quit functioning" idea. I don't have a set number of rounds for cleaning. I usually do a normal clean before a match (actually 2 days before the match so I can do my daily range practice, I never shoot a freshly cleaned pistol in a match) Or every couple of weeks if I have no match. After cleaning the striker and channel and seeing how little crud was in there, I'll probably put that on a 10K schedule. I'm somewhat hesitant to change my routine because while I haven't had any failures at matches it seems everyone else does. Maybe it's karma, I don't know. I do have spare parts and tools as well as a spare pistol in my range bag at matches so if something fails I either fix it or use the other pistol depending on how much time I have. I also read about people replacing barrels at 5K or 10K but as long as I keep putting the shots in the down zero ring I see no need for that either.