M&P 40 Blew up!

[scooter123]

Due to the very serious risk of severe injury or death modern semi automatics have so much reserve strength in the parts that limit the stroke of the slide that it would probably take at least a DOUBLE CHARGE in the ammunition for this particular failure mode to occur. With this is mind and because the OP stated the slide blew off the frame I can only conclude that the cause for this mishap was DEFECTIVE AMMUNITION. No "ifs", "buts", or "maybes" about it jcs152112 had the misfortune to experience what happens when ammunition that is severely overcharge is used and he should quit complaining about poor customer service at S&W and contact whoever made the ammunition he was shooting.

 

[tobimaru]

I don't have personal experience with this type of thing but I have heard others experiences with bad ammunition and it is not uncommon for the AMMUNITION manufacturer to work with the firearm manufacturer and compensate you. AKA, ammo dudes buy you a new gun after verifying with the gun manufacturer that their ammunition was indeed to blame.

I would get back on the phone.

 

[Fastbolt]

Out of curiosity, were either your grandson or his young friend also shooting a 9mm pistol that day?

The reason I ask is that I've seen at least my fair share of people mistakenly load 9mm in .40 mags, and .40 in .45 mags, and then chamber the wrong smaller caliber rounds in the larger caliber pistol. Not hard to hear of shooters ending up experiencing an obstructed bore if a smaller, incorrect cartridge (or empty case) gets inside the chamber/bore, and a subsequent "over pressure event" occurs when another cartridge is chambered/fired.

I've recently seen the results of this sort of unintentional shooter-induced problem, as a matter of fact, when someone didn't realize they'd loaded a .40 in a .45 mag. Yes, there was significant damage to the pistol (but no shooter injury, thankfully).

 

[hoc9sw]

" Mice" chewed the wires at the "lease??" "Lease"??? ...I wish you well. Be Safe,

My friends have a part in a 99-year deer "lease", the right to hunt on another's undeveloped property. They have a mobile home and tractor to keep it as they want it for hunting. Yes they do complain about critters (various) eating the insulation off the wiring. I guess the part about "the lease" sounds like them talking on Monday about the problems of the weekend.

No discussion of context, just that the terms ring true to me.

 

[hoc9sw]

Out of curiosity, were either your grandson or his young friend also shooting a 9mm pistol that day?

I've seen the same mixup between 9mm and .380, therefore my rule that a 9 and 380 can not be on the same lane where I am involved.

 

[Kanewpadle]

I'm thinking squib load. And if that's the case S&W would be correct in their action.

 

[Prasko]

You say the slide came off the gun? No offense, but without pictures, I find that really hard to believe.

I've never once ever heard of a slide coming off the frame backwards and hitting someone.

Not just one, but several things would had to have broken for that to happen.

The slide is connected to the frame with the take down lever, which is held in place by the locking block, which is held in place by a roll pin that is driven through solid steel AND polymer.

The front half of the gun would had to have exploded for that to happen, and if it did, whoever was holding that pistol would have no fingers on his hand.

 

[lrmnut]

I had a similar experience with a Ruger LCP and Magtech ammo we all agreed that the ammo was at fault Ruger sent me a new LCP with Crimson Trace Laser which was also damaged at no cost to me and Magtech sent me
380 ammo to also cover the cost of the LCP. Ruger claimed no fault which I totally agreed and still sent me the new LCP, Magtech agreed bad ammo and replaced the cost of the LCP with ammo. we all went away happy.

 

[Tracer_Bullet]

Soooo.... what was the ammo they were using?

 

[jcs152112]

Last post. I came here for help and get nothing but ridicule. He brought me the parts, the ammo,and the busted magazine. Yes, the pneumonia was cultured and proven. It was Winchester USA ammo. Yes, the mice and rats have done it before at the lease. For those of you who are not familiar, in Texas we have private land which we lease for hunting. Therefore there are no unwanted people around, just unwanted critters. I really don't care what any of you think and this will be the last you hear from me. I came for help and as I can read no one is interested in helping. I stated about 4 times what kind of ammo it was and what happened. If you choose not to believe me, then the fact that you call me, my grandson, and a United States marine all liars then that in itself makes the case for me to never visit again. No use in answering this as I won't be back to listen to this dribble. I hope if any of you have a problem that you are sincere about that whomever you go to for advice gives a **** about you and your situation. back to Kimber where I am welcome.

 

[jcs152112]

I have the invoice from the store in Lubbock where I paid $749.95 for the pistol. Everything I stated was true. They had only one pistol with them,, that is the only one he did own. I had given it to him for Christmas. He reloads his own 6.8spc for his Rock River and his 270 for his Remington. I have no reason to doubt him. The store is going to help me and I am waiting for another call from Smith after the holiday. Hope everyone has a good Monday.

 

[jcs152112]

sorry I was mistake, since someone mentioned Fred's they must know where I live. There is another called Sharpsh****'s I am looking at the invoice where for a b5411 Smith & wesson MP SN#HPW**** they charged me $779.95. Yes, I was a dumb***, but I learned a good lesson. I have pictures of the gun damaged by USPS and received a check for $50 from them today for the damage since it was insured for the $50. It took less than 2 weeks for the US government to settle a claim and after nearly 2 months I am still waiting on another. I am just giving up and considering it a lesson learned. Stay away from plastic. Goodbye again...this time for good!! I will contact the administrator and cancel my membership asap.

 

[Kanewpadle]

You came here for help? How can we help? This forum is not associated with S&W. All you did was complain and bad mouth S&W.

Look at from our point of view. People come here and complain like it's somehow going to do them some good. We never heard so much as a peep from them while they were enjoying their other S&W products! And they never tell us the whole complete story or show us pics. And when the matter is resolved, IF it's resolved, those complainers almost never tell us how it turned out.

 

[Bill G77]

Just saying, still not one picture of the damaged pistol after all this debate ??????

Shoot Safe All,
Bill G77

 

[Rick_A]

No need to be so hasty. Most catastrophic failures of the sort are ammunition.

The advice to contact the ammo manufacturer is spot on. The response from S&W is what should be expected. They more than anyone know what failures of every type look like in their pistols as well as the likely cause.

 

[Llando88]

sorry I was mistake, since someone mentioned Fred's they must know where I live. There is another called Sharpsh****'s I am looking at the invoice where for a b5411 Smith & wesson MP SN#HPW**** they charged me $779.95. Yes, I was a dumb***, but I learned a good lesson. I have pictures of the gun damaged by USPS and received a check for $50 from them today for the damage since it was insured for the $50. It took less than 2 weeks for the US government to settle a claim and after nearly 2 months I am still waiting on another. I am just giving up and considering it a lesson learned. Stay away from plastic. Goodbye again...this time for good!! I will contact the administrator and cancel my membership asap.

Bless your heart.

Sorry you had an issue. Good luck with the Kimbers.

 

[Bob O]

I can see "maybe" not taking pictures from the range or where ever this occurred. But not a single pic before sending it back to S&W??

Just exactly how are we supposed to help?

 

[jstanfield103]

Sorry to hear about the M&P, but I am very happy no one was seriously hurt.
I to would think that S&W would have to send the gun back so you could then get in touch with the ammo manufacturer and hopefully the would help you. I would be hacked and maybe also as said take it up the ladder. I am glad I converted my 40 Pro to a 9mm.
Good Luck to you.

 

[B0308]

These threads are like car wrecks, you know you shouldn't look, but you do.

 

[MyDads38]

Just a couple of observations:

A 20 year old WITHOUT a cell phone that doesn't take pictures?

I was at the local range when 2 young guys were firing several different handguns. The fellow who owned the guns, brought his friend-who was in the Marines. The fellow who owned the guns, could at least hit a standard size target at 10 yards; the fellow who was supposed to be a Marine, could barely operate a semi-auto pistol and couldn't hit paper at 10 yards.

I've seen pics of guns that have blown up from some type of ammo malfunction-most here on this Forum. A lot of stories of 40 cal. guns blowing up. That nobody bothered to take any pictures of what happened or of the gun, when things like this can go viral in a matter of hours; sounds a little strange to say the least, to me anyway.

I'm not making any calls on what the OP has presented, some of it just doesn't add up to me. There can be bad ammo, guns can blow up and not all Service men or women know how to use/handle firearms properly.

I would like to know how this turns out, but I doubt that will happen.