M&P Slide Locked/Jamed

[rwsmith]

Not an S&W....

This isn't an S&W, it's a cheap ol Kel Tec but my slide locked back like that. The first time I tried everything, ended up putting the gun in a vise and tapping the slide from various points with a mallet and wood block. I tapped the slide parallel to the barrel on the front. The slide sprang forward. Second time it happened I tried everything......and more. It seems the spring had jumped over the 'gate' that holds it. I called the factory and they said, yeah, it happens on older guns and I had to send it back for them to disassemble, which they did satisfactorily and sent it right back to me. It hasn't done it again, but every time I put it together and take it back apart, the foot of the guide rod is out of it's notch and catches right above it. It doesn't seem to affect the operation but it bothers me. I guess what I'm saying is, call the factory.

 

[ggibson511960]

Try Tapping on Barrel Breach

As noted above, the barrel has not retracted as far as it's supposed to when the slide is retracted. If you study on how the barrel is supposed to move, the slide pulls on the upper locking surface in its first 1/8 in. of reward travel. As the barrel moves backward a camming surface on the bottom of the barrel is pulled downward, pulling the barrel breach out of its engagement with the slide. What pulls the barrel down is a crosspiece, integral with the housing that contains the slide rails and cross-pin holes for the trigger. The female camming groove cut into the bottom of the barrel is quite narrow, as it also serves to cam the barrel back up into battery with the slide locking recess (ejection port). The barrel is not under spring pressure, but is merely held and guided into these positions by the cam. If debris got into the cam groove, or if the cam itself were damaged the barrel could not complete its movement reward and downward. My money is on the housing. It is a cast MIM part and the barrel is forged. If you gently tapped on the rear breach of the barrel with a brass or plastic punch, the whole shebang might spring back forward. You could also disassemble the front housing to let the slide and barrel disassemble vertically, but the trigger bar might get bent in the process. I would tap on the barrel, and if that didn't work, drift out both sets of pins on the front and rear housings. Anxious to see what went wrong on the innards of this gun. This reminds me of the Puzzler quiz on Car Talk.

 

[MyDads38]

I keep coming back to this thread to see if the issue was resolved, any more input from the OP?

 

[Bkreutz]

I keep coming back to this thread to see if the issue was resolved, any more input from the OP?

Not since post 48 where the OP said that he told his friend (who owned the pistol in question) to call S&W and get a shipping label.

 

[Saudade]

I've been following as well and comparing to my Shield.

Fortunately, I have a S&W authorized repair facility nearby so no shipping to S&W needed. Better yet, I haven't needed them.