FTF with fully loaded mag

[StevenA9]

Hi. This is my first post. I am considering buying my first handgun. My wife and I went to a range yesterday to rent a couple of 9MM's. We first went to the showroom and looked at a Glock 19. However, we both a difficult time with the mag release. Our hands are small to medium. So we wrote the Glock off. We looked at the M&P9 and it felt real good in our hands, much better than the Glock, and the mag release was real easy to operate, so we rented that. We both shot it pretty well.
I have a question: The mags held 10 rounds and I had to load them by hand as the range doesn't provide mag loaders. One time I think I loaded all 10 rounds, but the mag wouldn't lock into place and I had to really tap it in. But when my wife went to pull the trigger, nothing happened. I ended up taking out one round. Then the gun fired. This happened twicewith the mag fully loaded. After that, I only loaded 8 rounds in the mag and never had a problem. Is this something that can happen when the mag is fully loaded?
Also, I 've been to the S&W forums frequently over the past year and have learned a lot.

 

[ATF]

So you put a full 10 round mag into the M&P racked back the slide or unlocked the slide which fed a round into the chamber and it wouldn't fire?

 

[colt_saa]

Welcome to the Forum

It is very hard to say what happened based on your description.

It sounds like not only is this your first firearms purchase, but you are novice shooters as well.

You might have asked a Range Officer for help while you were there so that the firearm could be inspected as the failure occurred. Perhaps that range even has an instructor or two working there that might have helped you.

The question, can a mechanical device have a failure that causes it to not function? Absolutely it can.

However in this case I am going to guess that it is more likely you had a procedural problem and not a mechanical one. Again, I was not there so it is hard to diagnose what occurred.

You did not fill out your profile so we do not know where you are located. Based on the 10 round magazine reference, I am guessing you are not in one of the FREE States of the Union. If you happen to be in the South Florida area, I would gladly meet you at the range and try and work you through this issue. If you are not in Florida, perhaps an instructor in your area would offer to work with you.

 

[pfir]

StevenA9,

I can think of a few possibilities, and as stated above, it's hard to know. I hope you don't feel picked on, on your first post.

You mentioned you had a hard time getting the full mag seated. Was the slide forward or locked back at that point? The mag won't latch into place if the slide is already forward. And, if the slide was forward, and chamber empty, and you pushed in a mag and pulled the trigger, well the chamber was empty so no boom.

Some guns have a mag safety, meaning, there has to be a mag in there for it to fire. So if the mag was not seated good for whatever reason, that could be the reason it didn't fire, even if there *was* a round in the chamber.

It's hard to load the last round into a new mag, but a rental mag was probably not new. IMO it's a pain to load any mag without a loader so I feel ya there.

I think a regular mag for a full size M&P9 holds 17 rounds. My M&P9c (compact) mag holds 12. But as someone said above, a few states have mandated 10 round mags max. At the range I usually only load 10, because I have five mags and the ammo comes fifty to a box. Meh.

 

[robrossk]

OP. Lots of good suggestions to consider. BTW welcome to the forum.

 

[rsrocket1]

With a limited 10 round mag like the ones we have in Kommifornia, the rule states that the magazine must be made so that there is absolutely no way you can possibly force an 11th round into the mag. This leaves the magazine really difficult to load 10. The best method to load the mag is to place it on a table, and insert each round with your tumb on the rim of the cartridge about 1/3 to halfway down the already inserted cartridge, push down and back. Tap the magazine a couple of times as you load so that the rounds line up flush against each other and tap once again when the magazine is fully loaded.

Any misalignment will take up more space and can cause binding in the magazine. Of course once you start shooting, the recoil will cause the rounds to line up by themselves.

 

[StevenA9]

Colt Saa,
I live in the Socialist Republic of New Jersey. We are allowed to have 15 round mags here, but the M&P9 full size only comes in 10 or 17 round mags. I should have asked the Range Officer when I had the problem.
Thanks for your offer to help.

 

[StevenA9]

StevenA9,

I can think of a few possibilities, and as stated above, it's hard to know. I hope you don't feel picked on, on your first post.

You mentioned you had a hard time getting the full mag seated. Was the slide forward or locked back at that point? The mag won't latch into place if the slide is already forward. And, if the slide was forward, and chamber empty, and you pushed in a mag and pulled the trigger, well the chamber was empty so no boom.

Some guns have a mag safety, meaning, there has to be a mag in there for it to fire. So if the mag was not seated good for whatever reason, that could be the reason it didn't fire, even if there *was* a round in the chamber.

It's hard to load the last round into a new mag, but a rental mag was probably not new. IMO it's a pain to load any mag without a loader so I feel ya there.

I think a regular mag for a full size M&P9 holds 17 rounds. My M&P9c (compact) mag holds 12. But as someone said above, a few states have mandated 10 round mags max. At the range I usually only load 10, because I have five mags and the ammo comes fifty to a box. Meh.

Pfir,
I really don't remember if the slide was locked back or if I had released the slide and it was in the forward position. I will remember to lock the slide back when inserting the mag. Thanks for your help.