Front sight loose, shifts when shooting (M&P 9c)

[ablaut]

I discovered that the front sight moves a lot while shooting my brand new M&P 9c last weekend. It's not quite movable by hand, but the racking of the slide (from shooting) makes it shift quickly. The attached picture was taken after a little wrench-knocking, but you get the idea.

How should I remedy this? Is this common?

 

[SMMAssociates]

ablaut:

I don't think it's all that common.... The three M&P's I have basically have front sights that won't move without a pusher or the Samsonite Gorilla....

Some Loctite, once you've got it re-centered, should do the job.

If it was me, I'd remove the sight and raise a little burr on a contact surface first, and then put it back in place and add some Loctite.

Just IMO, but the sight's probably a hair too small for some reason. I suppose the cut for it might be oversize, but usually such things happen when a cutter wears, making it smaller....

The best way to figure this out is to buy another one and compare them.

Regards,

 

[WashMP9]

Call up SW and tell them you want ot send it back. They will send you a shipping label. Loose Mp sites are common these days, mainly on the pro models.

out of the 5 " pro's friend and I have owned,2 of them came from the factory with loose front sites. they said bye on the first 100 rounds.

 

[evnash]

remove the sight....lay down a bead of red locktite...install the sight and center it with the bore of the barrel (not the slide) ...let it sit for two days. it wont move again.

 

[growr]

I agree with Washmp9, as I too had the same problem with my m&P 9 pro.
Now I could have easily followed the procedures mentioned by SMM Associates which would certainly to the job, however I wanted S&W to be aware of the problem and let them take care of a new gun.
They sent a call tag and had it repaired and back to me in 9 days total.
I guess it is your call, but I would let S&W take care of you.
Randy

 

[dandor]

If this is a new pistol, by all means send it to S&W for warranty repairs. If not under warranty, try this method. I have used it on gas cylinder barrel splines on M1 Garands and it worked for tightening up the front sight/gas cylinder on the barrel. Remove the front sight blade from the dovetail slot, take a ratchet socket and lay it along the length of the dovetail (use one big enough to spand the entire width of the dovetail) then tap the socket lightly with a hammer (not too much). This should tighten the dovetail cut.

 

[ablaut]

Thanks everyone. It is indeed new and under warranty. I just submitted a request for a shipping label. Hopefully they fix it in a timely manner.

Loc-tite was the first thing that came to my mind, too. But, seeing as how they'll ship and repair it free of charge, I'll let them take care of it. I'd hate to cement on a misaligned sight! And if it helps them discover manufacturing/quality control issues, even better.

 

[southchatham]

My first thought was this is such a simple fix, but maybe your right to send it back. It could be a bad dovetail cut or something more serious.

 

[SMMAssociates]

Thanks everyone. It is indeed new and under warranty. I just submitted a request for a shipping label. Hopefully they fix it in a timely manner.

Loc-tite was the first thing that came to my mind, too. But, seeing as how they'll ship and repair it free of charge, I'll let them take care of it. I'd hate to cement on a misaligned sight! And if it helps them discover manufacturing/quality control issues, even better.

ablaut:

If it was my only gun, I'd probably fix it myself.... Not much to it that you couldn't see....

After 42+ years, though, I've got some that even the wife doesn't know about .... No panic to get one working.... Since S&W is helping out, it indeed might be a good idea to let 'em see it....

About 35 years ago, my late father-in-law was working for an outfit that sold pocket calculators (and TV sets, lawn mowers, microwaves, etc.), and he gave me a cheap TI (remember them?) that wasn't working. WTH - they were about $15 then.... I was sitting in his family room, and put a battery in it. My wife and mother-in-law called me into another room for some reason, and when I got back to the calculator the chip was HOT....

Well, it was getting power, but somebody'd soldered in the battery clip (9V thingie) backwards. Well designed integrated circuits have reverse polarity protection, and it'd kicked in.... I held the battery against the contacts backwards, and the thing worked fine. Next morning I soldered it in properly, and then called TI with the lot numbers & such. I figured I'd get a nice sample , but nothing ever came out of it. My dad, who has also passed away since then, used that thing by his chair in the family room for quite a few years - it's around here someplace.... (The wife and I moved in with mom to take care of her. She promptly decided to winter in El Paso, and hasn't been back .... Gotta think about that....)

Regards,

 

[Rangel]

SMM:

I thought about Loctite too. Pretty amazing stuff, but especially with sights, I'd have S&W do it under warranty. It'd probably come out looking better too. And without the right specialized tools, it's a pain and you can make a real mess doing it yourself.

They'll likely (hopefully anyway) give the whole gun a look over--maybe, best case scenario, send you an extra magazine for your trouble. If it were me, I'd probably say something like 'The trigger doesn't feel quite right--seems to require too heavy a pull--could you check the pull pressure and smoothness?' or ask them to look at whatever issues that have been problems with some guns of that serial # sequence/model. Heck, they've got your gun already, why not make sure they give it a whole physical exam?

Had to laugh at your Texas Instrument's calculator mention. While 35 years ago, $15 for a calculator wasn't exactly chump change, my son is skipping 9th grade and for 10th grade, they require the new TI 'NSpire' graphing calculator, with a separate touch pad, which can cost you $150+. It slices and dices, I guess. I have problems with decimals and multiplying fractions and he needs that!

I guess with inflation adjusted, at about $150 today, compared to $15 35 years ago for yours, it's not too extreme, but then again, I paid $3500 for a Compaq computer around 1997, that had a whopping 1.6 GB hard drive, a floppy disk drive and a 14 inch, box type monitor--so maybe the new calculator 'should've' cost $30...

 

[ablaut]

Great story SMMAssociate! Some people can fix anything..! Unfortunately, that isn't one of my gifts This actually is my only handgun at the moment. If this sounded like an extremely common problem, I'd probably try to fix it myself. Then again, like Rangel said, leaving sights to the experts isn't a bad idea either! And since it's not common I'll send it in -- let them get it in their records so they know

Out of curiosity...I can't push down on the slide release/lock to slam it forward. I have use the "sling shot method". Is this normal? I handled one in a gun shop that could be operated by hand...only one.

 

[SMMAssociates]

ablaut:

My grandfather (he passed away about 50 years ago) was a genuine "Mr. Fixit".... About anything he got near.... I inherited some of that ....

I try to not do any damage, anyway, and to know when to holler for professional help. I also get lucky once in a while....

Sure looks like a fairly common problem to find that the sight's aren't quite right, although I have no idea why. Maybe they are still thinking PD sales, and presume that the armorer will handle stuff like that.

The slide stop on all three of mine is a bit too tight for reliable operation as a slide release. I trained myself to use the slingshot method with my 1911's, so it's a non-issue. Again, tolerances may be getting into the act, and the weight of the magazine springs (you are pushing against the magazine spring when you do this when the mag is full) may be conspiring against you, too. That should clean up a bit as things age. (Store the magazines full for a while....)

Might help to lubricate the surfaces of the slide stop where they rub against the frame, too....

As long as you're shipping the gun back, might as well ask about it. I like the idea of having the slide stop work as a release, just in case, but prefer the slingshot method anyway.

While yours is in the shop, you should buy a couple more. Support the economy and upset the Criminal and Terrorist Friendly....

Regards,

 

[emt931]

Loose Sight

I had just got a new M&P 9mm compact for CC here in TX.The very first time on the range the white dot shot out of the FS.This was after about 60-70 rds of Fed.tac,LE 124gr.No biggie I fig;I have some high gloss enamel white I use on shotgun beads and works great and stays on.The gun shot great point of aim was point of impact.Then after another 60-70 all of a sudden I was shooting all over the place.Got too looking and the FS had drifted almost all the way out of the dovetail to the left.Well so much for buying an M&P.Should have got a XDm for 150 more.A call to S&W got a shipping label and a 3 week turn around.If it happens again the M&P will be going for trade on that XD.I cant have my CC gun get me killed because my FS flew off.The gun got to FEDX on 7-24 for second day back to Smith.Well we will see how long it takes but needless to say I ticked.Stay Tuned.

 

[SMMAssociates]

emt931:

Seems like that white dot going flying problem is fairly common. Trivial fix, IMHO, although something we shouldn't have to deal with. (Grabbing some enamel paint from the hobby shop beats shipping the gun back to S&W, though, even if it's free....)

The flying sight is a tad more important, but I'd grab some Loctite (Red, I think) and put it back, rather than return the gun. 1911 guys know all about that stuff .... (But you're excused if you don't.)

There are some Tuppergun folks out there who are utterly clueless once they pop the slide off for cleaning, and some have problems figuring out how to do that .... Just us superior shooters ....

(OTOH, I know a guy with a $1K-ish Kimber who has no idea how to clean it. He shoots it well, but guess who has to take it apart for him....)

All kidding aside, I wouldn't panic over the front sight being loose. You wouldn't return the gun if a grip screw was loose? (Yeah, I know, no grip screws, but that goofy backstrap-swap pin can get loose.)

(Anybody's guess what else S&W will fix while they have the gun, so it's really a win-win if you don't mind the time. I'm the guy with three pairs of glasses: one for when I feel nearsighted, one for when I feel farsighted, and one to find the other two.... Sending a gun off for repairs without it being in bits & pieces kinda bothers me, but not having a spare or two is worse .... I once blew up two 1911's on the range, and still had something to wear home....)

I don't have any XD(M) experience. I did have an XD9SC, which I swapped for an M&P9C.... NOTHING wrong with the Springfield, but I just didn't like it. More importantly, it was for my daughter, and she didn't like it either.

Regards,

 

[Bicky Robby]

Send it back to Smith & Wesson. They will fix it and give the gun a good going over. Although inconveinent, things like this happen.

My front sight was so loose after 3 months, it had shifted to the left. I replaced it with a HiViz fiber optic for IDPA shooting.
Good gun.

 

[emt931]

The front sight shot almost all the way off my brand new M&P 9mmc the first time at the range.That was right after the white dot shot all the way out.S&W has it now had CS told me it would be about 3 week turn around.Ive goggled the problem on the net and it seems Smith is have quite a few 40's and 9's Compact with this problemIf it happens again Iam going to spend the extra money and get a XDm 3.8