M&P 40 Question

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I bought two of the police trade-in pistols recently. The first one was pretty much new-looking and very clean. So I probably waited too long as they may be getting down to the bottom of the barrel. My issue is hopefully able to be seen in the picture. There’s some squiggly looking thing that sticks out when the slide is locked back with no magazine. I should be able to get out this week and try the gun out. So far it seems to do everything an unloaded pistol should. The picture from the bottom of the gun is almost useless.
 

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it will go away when you insert a mag. then when you remove the mag it should stay up. this lever when down means you can break the gun down without pulling the trigger. At least thats what one pic looks like, the other pic not so sure.
I suggest you download a manual for the M&P.
 
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I cannot be sure without examination of the pistol or a better photo, but that looks like a badly mangled sear release lever. As mentioned above, pushing that lever downward toward the magazine well, will pull the sear downward and allow removal of the slide without having to pull the trigger. I have seen those levers forced downward too far and the pistol required removal and disassembly of the sear block to get the sear lever put back where it belongs. That sear lever looks like it has been mangled beyond repair.
It is possible it is just a random piece of wire that has gotten down into the pistol, like maybe a wire tie from a tag. Can you reach in and pull it loose with needle nose pliers or a pair of forceps?
 
I'm pretty sure it's part of the pistol, but I was hoping I could get better pics. Should've gone out in better light. It just goes up and backs in toward the handle when I put a mag in. I can reach in with my little finger & push it or whatever, but my concentration is on holding the slide back in case it would release the slide and make my finger hurt. I think I can see it tucked back in place in the other gun. Like that curly part that you can't see in the pics should be hooked around something to stay in place. I have a manual with the parts pictures but I'll just have to dive into it a little deeper. I can't see it in the parts diagrams. Thanks guys.
 
What happens when you put a mag in, can you put a mag in? does the mag drop free? does it look like the one in your other pistol?
funny you want answers and so do we..
 
The picture isn't great.

But, without a magazine, does the trigger work?

A lot of the LE guns have a magazine disconnect safety, so it won't work without a mag being in the gun. The mag safety disconnect hangs into the magwell when no mag is inserted.
 
I can put a mag in and that part just folds up in toward the rear of the mag well. Mags release fine. I can pull the trigger with no mag. I'm going to have to let someone take a look at it. There's a gunsmith I've never met yet that's just right across the river from me.
Also, I tried to remove the slide and something was keeping it from sliding off. I may push that thing back in and hold it in place to see if the slide comes off out of curiosity. Thanks for your replies and being as humane as possible with me! I'm a fragile soul! I'll report back when I get the professional to look at it.
 
Here is a picture of a PD Trade in M&P that I currently have around here with the slide off. It may help clarify what it is supposed to look like.

The bar protruding on the left is a magazine disconnect safety. Next to it (and slightly yellow) is the sear takedown lever. This lever must be in the down position to remove the slide, and in the up position to fire. And then next to and above that is the ejector, which is fixed to the trigger housing.
 

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Here’s comparison I did today. Gun in question has green tape, serial prefix HUL. No warning on the slide. The other one is serial prefix DVR, with the warning. Neither looks like the picture above. Nice picture by the way. It looks like this thing in the gun keeps the gun from firing without a mag, which I was mistaken about in my previous post. I believe it was an add-on or something. I’m curious, looking at the born on dates, as the S&W 4th book tries to show, the gun (HUL) is about three years younger than the other DVR gun. The older gun breaks down easily. The gun in question I need an empty mag in it to pull the trigger to remove the slide, then I have to drop the mag out of locked in position but not too far down. If it shoots okay I’m not going to mess with it. Some day I will find out why the guns are so different and who installed that that thing in the HUL gun.
 

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Interesting. In almost 10 years of handling/selling M&P's while working in and managing gunshops, I guess I never saw an M&P with a magazine safety.
 
This website shows a magazine disconnect safety similar to yours: S&W M&P mag disconnect removal

My experience is magazine disconnect safeties are much more common in LE guns than civilian market M&Ps.

You should be able to take the pistol apart without pulling the trigger. In your second picture, the sear disconnect lever is clear in both pistols, and in the up position. Locking back the slide, and then pushing down the lever, should allow the slide to come off when the takedown lever is rotated normally.

I seem to recall S&W added the sear release lever as a response to the amount of ND's that other polymer pistols were having while people were attempting to take the pistols apart for cleaning.
 
Interesting. In almost 10 years of handling/selling M&P's while working in and managing gunshops, I guess I never saw an M&P with a magazine safety.

I've had a couple dozen LE Trade In M&P's come into inventory in the past few months, almost every one of them had a magazine disconnect safety.
 
S&W did a lot of focus groups while developing the M&P series. One of the big things prospective LEA customers wanted was that the disassembly process not include the phrase "Pull the trigger". Thus the sear release lever.

Briefly, to remove the slide one removes the magazine, locks the slide back and then uses a pen, pencil, handcuff key or whatever to press the yellow lever down to lower the sear and allow the slide to come off the frame. Doesn't take any noticeable amount of force to do that, but there's some folks who have trouble emptying a bucket. I expect some of the bent sear levers are from idiots who have the recoil spring pressing the striker against the sear while they're trying to move the lever.
 
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