M&P 45 frame not straight Update from S&W (pics with straight edge added)

[rxer311]

Here is the original thread.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-...014-issue-new-m-p-45c-frame-not-straight.html

I got an email back from S&W Customer Service today which read:

Thank you for contacting us. After review of the pictures you sent it does appear that the slide is not sitting properly on the rails. I recommend returning the firearm for repair. Please follow the instructions listed below:


For a pre-paid and pre-insured warranty return shipping label please follow the link below.

The prepaid return label will be sent to you via email along with instructions within three business days.

Only product deemed to be under warranty can receive a shipping label via this online method. If you are unable to obtain a label via our web site please follow the instructions below.

You may send the gun in for repair addressed to:

SAWREP

2100 Roosevelt Avenue

Springfield, MA 01104

Shipment via UPS Next Day Air or Fedex Priority service will be required.

Please include a cover letter describing the work you would like us to perform along with your return ship to information. An estimate will then be generated and mailed to you in approximately 3 weeks after receipt of the firearm. Once payment is received work will commence. Our current turn-around time is 6 to 8 weeks.

If further assistance is required please reply accordingly.

 

[robkarrob]

Hopefully you will get it back withot the bow. Let us know how it looks, a few photos, when you get it back.

Bob

 

[rxer311]

Hopefully you will get it back withot the bow. Let us know how it looks, a few photos, when you get it back.

Bob

I will keep you informed. I really don't like having to send in a brand new gun and wait 6-8 weeks to get it back, however, I am very happy that they will look at it and fix it under warranty.

 

[Jyezahn]

Put an inconspicuous mark inside the magazine well with a marker... that way you'll be able to see if they swapped your frame or not. (I'm betting they heat it up and bend it, but I could be wrong)

 

[rxer311]

Put an inconspicuous mark inside the magazine well with a marker... that way you'll be able to see if they swapped your frame or not. (I'm betting they heat it up and bend it, but I could be wrong)

like a dot with sharpie? Will do.

 

[jagger5]

I Just bought a 45 in January, and I noticed it too! When I was at the counter, I said, " whats up with the gap?!?" He really didn't know, but luck me I was at local shop with a gunsmith in back. They grabbed the gunsmith and asked him if it were an issue and he said likely no.

Instead of buying that particular one, we searched through all of them and found the one with the smallest gap. It appeared that almost all of the M&P 45s we looked through had gaps between the frame and the slide. Or maybe our minds were playing tricks on us because we were looking for it and questioning each 45 we looked at!

Now that this came out on the forum and S&W said its not sitting properly, I'll probably send mine back too!

 

[HotRoderX]

Hmm this has me wondering if the lighting was playing tricks in the photo and Smith and Wesson know's something we don't about the gap. Like I posted in the other thread this is a very very common issue with Polymer framed pistols.

 

[rxer311]

Hmm this has me wondering if the lighting was playing tricks in the photo and Smith and Wesson know's something we don't about the gap. Like I posted in the other thread this is a very very common issue with Polymer framed pistols.

Hmm, very possible that it is normal, but I do like the piece of mind that they will look at it and let me know. I will keep you all updated.

 

[M&P Freak]

Interesting comment about the slide not sitting on the rails properly. Not sure about that but what do I know?

My 45 has a droopy frame and functions perfectly so I never paid much attention to the droop. Things shrink when they cool, and it makes sense that the front of the trigger guard would warp the dust cover area if popped out of a mold while still hot.

Now I'm curious, where's my heat gun...

 

[HotRoderX]

Hmm, very possible that it is normal, but I do like the piece of mind that they will look at it and let me know. I will keep you all updated.

I agree and please keep us updated if they are wanting you to send it back on there dime then they must have seen something. Shipping a gun is expensive like 60-70 dollar's I am sure its not something they take lightly.

 

[rxer311]

I agree and please keep us updated if they are wanting you to send it back on there dime then they must have seen something. Shipping a gun is expensive like 60-70 dollar's I am sure its not something they take lightly.

I know. Next day delivery is super expensive. It is nice to know that S&W has excellent CS. If they would have told me it was normal I would have just taken a heat gun to it like others suggested LOL!

 

[Fastbolt]

Yep, best to let them determine whether it's within spec and possibly problematic, or not.

I've heard of them replacing one gun for someone for a complaint where the frame apparently wasn't determined to be within normal spec, but then say other guns were within spec and acceptable.

Find out what they think about yours.

FWIW, I've seen older and newer armorer guns (for the classes) that exhibited variable amounts of this sort of widening angle toward the front of the slide/frame when the guns were assembled, and they were all considered to be within normal spec.

 

[M&P Freak]

Just put a straight edge across my frame (slide off) and it's straight as an arrow. Sure looks droopy but it's not. Optical illusion?

 

[rxer311]

Just put a straight edge across my frame (slide off) and it's straight as an arrow. Sure looks droopy but it's not. Optical illusion?

Straight edge pics...

 

[rxer311]

If you look close enough at the pictures the bow in the frame actually starts before the dust cover. It actually starts at about the trigger area meaning that the slide rail attachment in the front actually is not lined up with the rear.

 

[Fastbolt]

BTW, at some point S&W added a metal U-shaped insert to the frame at the rear of the dust cover.

My '08 production M&P 45 has the added metal insert (as well as the small offset machine cut at the bottom/right of the feed ramp, which I was told was apparently a revision added to allow for better clearance with the trigger bar).

They've been continually revising & tweaking the M&P's.

 

[M&P Freak]

Not sayin your frame is not drooping, it certainly is. My frame looks a lot worse than it is. It is hard to show in the picture, but the thing is straight. If anything, it droops in the back behind the roll pin. The take down lever interferes with the straight edge on the left side, so I'm showing the right here.

 

[rxer311]

Not sayin your frame is not drooping, it certainly is. My frame looks a lot worse than it is. It is hard to show in the picture, but the thing is straight. If anything, it droops in the back behind the roll pin. The take down lever interferes with the straight edge on the left side, so I'm showing the right here.

Wow! That is interesting. Yours looks the same as mine but your frame is perfectly straight and mine is not. Weird stuff.

 

[M&P Freak]

Weird stuff indeed. It shoots great, I'm not changing a thing.

Looking forward to a range report after your pistol returns from the mother ship.

 

[Jyezahn]

Not sayin your frame is not drooping, it certainly is. My frame looks a lot worse than it is. It is hard to show in the picture, but the thing is straight. If anything, it droops in the back behind the roll pin. The take down lever interferes with the straight edge on the left side, so I'm showing the right here.

Now take a pic of the straight edge on top of the rails, and I bet you'll see why the gap widens...