Barrel issues
Hi folks, I got a new m&p9 two weeks ago. Shot it at the gun shop's range as did my son and we both loved it. Happy with accuracy, especially for first use. I did strip and clean the factory grease and lube with my gun oil before shooting.
Now, when I got home and cleaned it and gave it my ritualistic new gun familiarlization routine, I noticed that the barrel crown was not finished. At first my eyes kept catching silver glimps of light from the crown of the barrel as it was moved under my full spectrum lamp. A closer look revealed that all around the crown there was a bare metal ring, though narrow, from shooting it. The lands were the worst-the part of the rifling that is higher and digs into the bullet. Also "chatter" marks were all around the crown. These are lines left from the tool as it contours and cuts the crown. All I did was use valve lapping compound and a piece of denum over a tapered chamfer tool to smooth out the chatter marks.
This is not a major disaster, just that the last 2 steps were missed, smoothing and then polishing the crown. Shooting the pistol would eventually accomplish this and improve accuracy some. I sped up the process. Be careful with the barrel crowns, read up on it if you are not familiar. What I did was to jus speed up the process, or do what s&w would have done, or something similar, if I sent it back. Nothing to worry about unless you mess up the crown by making it out of round ot not perfectly round and consistent. They are just trying to get these out asap. As I said shooting it will resolve the issue unless it is nicked or gouged badly.
