M&P45 First Range Report

[schmitty133]

Took my new M&P to the range for the first time today. Put about 100 rounds through it. Wow what a nice gun! Incredibly accurate right out of the box. Very mild recoil. I had 2 jams. Both failure to feeds. The last round in the mag would stove pipe in the chamber. Easily cleared by dropping the mag and opening the slide. The trigger is a little heavier than I would like, but that can be fixed later. One thing I did notice was rather weak ejection. I had brass flying in my face and off the bill of my cap. Is this something that will rectify itself? Or is this normal?

 

[turbo38gn]

what ammo were you using?

 

[schmitty133]

I had a mix of Winchester white box, CCI Blazer, and some handloads.

 

[turbo38gn]

230 gr? or less

 

[Rastoff]

Is this your first semi-auto pistol?

 

[schmitty133]

The Win and Blazer were 230gr hard ball and the handloads were 185gr JHP. I was shooting them side by side with my Kahr CW45, and it didn't have any issues. That gun does have around 750rds through it though. This isn't my first semi auto, so I know it isn't a limp wristing problem.

 

[scattershot]

Sounds like a mag problem to me. Is this a new pistol, or new-to-you? Did you have the problem with all the rounds, or just the handloads?

 

[schmitty133]

It's a brand new gun. I had one jam with the 230gr ball in both Winchester and CCI Blazer. The handloads cycled fine, albeit with somewhat weak ejection.

 

[andrewcdub]

I have well over 5000 rounds through my 45fs with no problems at all. All the brass ejects away from my face, but every now and then it will send one off way right. Everything in it is still stock and I'm not going to replace the recoil spring until it starts to give me problems. Most of what I shoot with is the Remington umc 250 pack, CCI Blazer, Speer Gold dots and Federal HST. All 230 other than some 200+p Gold Dots. And honestly over half of the round count is from SD ammo. It gets expensive yes, but I like to shoot what i'm carrying.

 

[turbo38gn]

It's a brand new gun. I had one jam with the 230gr ball in both Winchester and CCI Blazer. The handloads cycled fine, albeit with somewhat weak ejection.

Sounds good, keep shooting. Doesn't sound like anything that warrants concern at this point.

 

[Rastoff]

This isn't my first semi auto,...

OK, good, you have some experience with pistols.

The next time you have the feeding issue, try this:
Firmly tap the bottom of the magazine with your support hand. Don't slam it, just give it a decent tap with the heel of your hand. This should send the round into the chamber and the slide closed. It isn't the whole answer to the problem, but it is the fastest way to get back in the action.

If that works, and it should, there are a couple of other things to try to ensure that it never happens again.

 

[schmitty133]

I don't think slapping the mag would have mattered? When I dropped the mag the round stayed sandwiched between the slide and barrel and the mag dropped freely. It almost looked like the bullet hit the feed ramp and stood straight up instead of entering the barrel throat. It looked to be wedged between the slide and barrel in a vertical position. Are you guys polishing the feed ramp and throat on these guns? I had to polish the hell out of the ramp on my Kahr to get it to feed consistently and 100% reliable.

 

[turbo38gn]

Shmitty... you had 2 FTF out of a new gun, that has a reputation of being flawless, in the 1st 100 rds..... shoot it, then tell us how it performs after the next couple hundred rds... I own 8 M&P's, 2 of them of the 45c and fs variety, never an issue I recall. If I had a fTF, or any other hiccup, that's all it was... I ran some rounds through and they have been flawless from what I recall... SHOOT IT!

 

[Pants]

I had a similar issue with my 45c when I got it. I would try to get at least get 500 rounds though it and see if it works itself out and if it doesn't...send it in! I sent my mine in and S&W polished my feed ramp and replaced my extractor.

I haven't had really any issues since. I did have one FTF a month ago after putting over 150 rounds straight through. I diagnosed the issue as being a filthy feed feed ramp. Once I swabbed it down I was GTG.

 

[Rastoff]

Did your feeding failures look like this:

If it did, tapping the mag might have fixed it. This turned out to be an extractor issue. The rim of the round was getting caught on the extractor. This retarded the slide just enough to stop it from going into battery. A new extractor fixed my issue.

Tapping on the mag put enough force on the round to send it into battery. It's not really about the mag, it's about overcoming the extractor. Just try it.

 

[schmitty133]

Mine were both stovepiped straight up and down. Look like the round missed the throat of the barrel all together. The rim hadn't even engaged the extractor.

 

[Rastoff]

Mine were both stovepiped straight up and down.

OK, that is something altogether different. It should never do what you describe, even with a bad mag. I'd call S&W.

 

[schmitty133]

I'm gonna take it to the range again tomorrow. If it happens again, I'll be sure to snap a picture.

 

[turbo38gn]

I'm gonna take it to the range again tomorrow. If it happens again, I'll be sure to snap a picture.

what ammo do you plan to use... I might suggest, go with one brand or keep track of exactly what you are shooting.. I might suggest no reloads at this point.

 

[crazdgunman]

Wow, I've got 3K on my M&P45 without a stutter, with all 185, 200, and 230 grain hand loads.