M&P9 2.0 5” break in period and reliability issues?

[Dr. Marneaus]

Hi!

Looking for thoughts and advice here.

I am not a huge polymer striker fired handgun guy (I’m a 1911 and smothrevolver Guy) but my wife needed a gun and after handling a lot of options she landed in a nice new 2.0 with the 5” barrel and the manual safety.

We took it out for the first time today, and I was running 115gr Federal brass cased Ammo through it. We experienced a number of issues.

-First mag I fired didn’t lock back on empty. A few mags later the same thing happened for me. It happened to my wife a few times and it happened with both magazines.

-during the course of about 150 rounds my wife induced a number of type 2 malfunctions (stove pipes) and failures to feed.

Upon watching her I determined she may be limp wristing the gun. I intentionally limp wristed it and was able to induce a number of stovepipes and failures to feed. Okay, that’s good to know.

Upon further research I see a number of folks on YouTube mention a number of reliability issues when using 115gr cheaper Ammo. It also appears that S&W states that the gun just isn’t made for cheap or weak Ammo. I understand that, and I can understand that maybe these issues are more apparent given the big long heavy slide on the 2.0 5”.

What I’m wondering is that if anybody else can echo these statements or experiences, and if it will become less of an issue upon the gun breaking in more?

I am continuing to train my wife on proper technique so I’m not worried about that. When I was firing I had no issues with stovepipes, only issue I had was the slide not locking back a number of times.

While I understand all of the above (heavy slide, light Ammo, New gun) I’m still a little weary at this point. I don’t own any other guns that are ‘ammo specific’ and I really don’t like that. I’m hopeful that the issue will become less of an issue with time, or an o just going to always have to make sure to feed it 124gr NATO spec Ammo?

Either way, the good news is the wife really likes her new gun, and I found it incredibly easy and pleasant and enjoyable to shoot when it was running right. It feels and shoots well and naturally, but again I’m just a little concerned with the stovepipes and mags not locking back.

Thoughts? Advice?

 

[mcap1655]

I had a few fte’s with el cheapo Federal Champion in the first couple rounds. Switch to American Eagle and WWB and no issues.

Clean it. Lube it and run it.

If you get to 500 and still have issues. Call SW.

After maybe 500. Champion was good to go.


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[kdub]

Excellent choice of handgun. I'll echo what the previous post said. It should break-in after about 500 rounds. Let S&W know if you still have problems after that.

The majority of my handguns are M&Ps (1.0 and 2.0 and including 5") and I mostly shoot 115g with no issues, including in the 5" in IDPA competitions. I primarily use Blazer, Winchester, and Remington. But Federal has worked fine as well. With a new gun, I usually load and unload the magazines a bunch of times to loosen the springs and I dry fire a bunch to "break-in" the recoil spring and polish the mating surfaces of the slide and trigger/firing mechanism.

I agree that "limp-wristing" could cause issues with any gun and it's good that you recognized and addressed that. It's hard to tell in the photo, but your wife might be able to improve the grip of her support hand (right hand in her case). A photo of her grip from about 2:00 (instead of the 5:00 in the photo) with an unloaded firearm, of course, might reveal an area for further improvement. I hope this helps.

 

[Just another 22 shooter]

Took my 2.0 compact to the range yesterday. Took a variety of ammo(all hand loads) including some light loaded 115gr. While shooting the 115s, the gun failed to stay open on the last shot twice. Shooting my 147 gr self defense loads, it had 0 problems. Shooting my "normal" 124 gr loads(loaded to just short of max) it was flawless. Both my other M&P 9s...a fullsize and compact 1.0 do the same thing; they do not like light loaded ammo. I'm not talking minimum loads from the book, either; my light loads usually are just under half way between minimum and max.

 

[BigBadWolf11B]

Thanks for the feedback. From all my “research” on the interwebs, i keep finding that the 2.0 Compact really likes the 124 grain stuff. I still haven’t had a chance to hit the range yet (picked up mine a couple days ago), but I will be shooting about 250 if 115 grain (Federal, Fiocchi, etc) FMJ as well as at least as many of 124 grain from various manufacturers to see what it really likes.

The following session I’ll shoot some 115 and 124 JHP defensive Ammo and see how she does as well.

Does anyone have any feedback on what your M&P 2.0 9C’s are liking, FMJ or JHP, of whichever grain???

 

[FloridaS&W]

My full size Gen 1 M&P 45 ACP has over 1,000 rds thru her with zero malfunctions of any kind, and I mean zero. No break in period; I never even cleaned it from the factory. This gun has been fed almost exclusively on 230gr brass Federal Value Pack AKA "Champion" and Winchester WB from Walmart, with limited runs of Rem. Golden Saber HP's. You couldn't pry this pistol out of my hands with a crowbar.

 

[Rastoff]

I haven't fired a lot of 9mm, but my original full size gun hasn't experienced any of the issues you have. I fact, I've never seen a shooter induced malfunction (Type II) with an M&P. The fact that you were able to reproduce the issue concerns me. It shouldn't do that.

The M&P doesn't need a break in period. It should work correctly right out of the box. I can see that a 124gr bullet might be a little better due to the extra mass, but it should make no difference.

In my 9mm I've used 115gr, 124gr and 147gr bullets. All have cycled fine, but the 115gr did have a noticeably weaker ejection.


About not locking the slide back, was there any possibility that the shooter's thumb was on the slide stop? Normally not an issue for a lefty, but this gun does have an ambi slide stop.

 

[Ranger17]

Maybe I've just been 'lucky', as after thousands of rounds thru my MP 9's (from compact to full size to Pc Shield, all 1.0 versions) i have never had any issues. Ammo has only been 115gn factory brand name; and I sure don't have any better shooting mechanics than others out there. Because of that and the accuracy for me is good, I never bothered with 124 or 147 grain rounds.

I dont yet have any 2.0's in the collection and never fired a full size with the 5" barrel so guess I cant speak for those specific models. But all of my MP's ran fine when new and continue to do so after had has had 1k+ rounds so reliability has been just fine to this point.

 

[Deadeye Dick]

My guess is the T2 failures were due to a combination of light ammo, stiff (new) return spring, unburnished (again new) mating surfaces and a limp wrist.

The first two issues will go away after some break in and the limp wrist requires some training and maybe some wrist strengthening exercises.

As for the slide not locking back. Have you cleaned and lubed your magazines. New magazines sometimes leave the factory dirty from the manufacturing process. How about the gun? Did you clean and lube it before your first outing?

Once broken in and properly maintained these M&Ps are very reliable.

 

[Joe4d]

Looking at the picture she needs someone else to teach her how to hold the gun, She left handed I presume ? Looks like some kinda cup and saucer hold. She also doing the classic lean over backwards thing people do for some reason. She needs to get into the gun, get her off hand and arm up and thumb forward and wrist lock so the slide is rebounding against bone, not muscle. Couldnt find any good pics of left handed shooters to share, but probably dome good books or videos out there.
Far as the gun ? Yeh its new, probably a bit tight. And factory guns tend to be over strong recoil spring. It should loosen up with time. In the mean time find some military surplus 124gr ball ammo, pretty cheap and loaded a bit heavier than most of the discount 115 gr stuff.
Usually to be perfect you want your load and recoil spring to match. Assuming propper grip, you brass should be hitting the ground a good 6 feet away from the gun. If its slinging it 20 feet away you need a heavier spring or lighter load.
If the brass is just barely rolling out the ejection port you need a heavier load or lighter spring..

 

[mcap1655]

I would like to expand on my initial comment.

I have numerous 1.0s and a 5” 2.0. Only two have had any feeding issues are the 2.0 and a 1.0 PC. Issues were with low power cheap ammo and resolved with a few hundred rounds.

Now I would say those two are the best shooters of the M&P group.


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[Jeppo]

You might want to try running 2 or 3 boxes of something like WWB NATO thru it.

 

[Okie21]

M&P 2.0, and M&P 9c - Like others stated, I've had a few issues with 115gr ball ammo not locking the slide back on the last round. Never had a stovepipe or any other failures, though. I recently switched my range ammo to Blazer Brass and Aguila, both 124gr and haven't had any issues. Also never had any issues with my carry ammo, Fed HST 147gr.

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[Mahalo_.32]

3 years of M&P ownership and 0 issues
Ammo has been:
Winchester white box
Feseral purple box
American Eagle
Speer Gold Dot
On the same note I inspect every round that goes into my magazines ever since i have found many rounds that were set back too far and casings that were peeled back. Granted i only had issues with wwb but i check them all....
Long live the M&P

 

[Joe4d]

OK .. here again.
Great the wife will come shoot with u.
But find a women centered instructor... Barbara Middlebrook taught me to shoot.
Women and men are not the same

 

[Will41]

None of my M&Ps required a break in period. The only ammo to give me problems was Browning, so I just stopped using it.

 

[Venenoindy]

Before I purchased my 2.0 5 inch I saw on YouTube that may not like the 115 gr weaker ammo, so once I got mine I actually had some 115 gr factory reloads (weak ammo) from two different brands and after about 300 rds out the box new I dis not experience any malfunctions. I have experience in the past with new shooters that they actually cause a number of malfunctions with my 1.0 M&P's, after checking all the facts the issues was improper grip but I also seen this with other handgun platforms not just the M&P. In my case I have not experience any kind of malfunctions as of today with my M&P's, I consider the M&P as a very reliable handgun but like anything else that doesn't mean that a particular sample may have an issue.

 

[oljames3]

I have had my M&P 2.0 9mm 5inch for about 10 months. Thousands of rounds. No break-in. One FTE at the end of a long day, probably weak grip. Mostly Winchester White Box 115 grain and Remington 115 grain green box.

Just last month I fired 318 rounds of WWB 115 grain over two days of training. No issues.

Here are two good videos on grip.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OZfgutNufU"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OZfgutNufU[/ame]
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJOslIIfggk"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJOslIIfggk[/ame]

 

[wjs81866]

Just bought a 9mm 2.0 FDE 5" with safety.

I have an M&P 9mm Pro and a 40 Pro both 5" barrels. They are absolutely flawless and have shot everything I have fed them.

The 2.0 was having failure to feed issues. I was using Freedom Reman 9mm 115 and 124 grain HP and RN ammo. None of that seemed to matter as every few rounds it would not eject spent round and obviously a new round would cause a jam. I continued to shoot and finally decided to take it home and clean it again. Went back to range and it was better, but all of the sudden I got 5-6 in a row. Of course this could be attributed to many things as we all know. I cleaned one again and shot 200 rounds through it and it was better but still having the issue.

Called S&W and they suggested I sent it back; which I did. Could be a while before I hear anything back I'm sure.

I also bought the same gun but in 4.25 barrel with upgraded sights. I have not shot that yet but racked a couple mags by hand and it seemed a little stiff but it's new. So we will see what happens.

Overall I will say that I really like the gun, it's accurate and I like the way it feels. I felt it was easier to stay on target with faster pace firing.

 

[DonD]

I posted earlier. First range day with my brand new gun identical to the OPs.

Ran 115gr Fiocchi, 124gr American Eagle, 135+P Hornady Critical Duty and 147gr Federal HST +P. 130 rds, all but one flawless. Solid primer strike on one American Eagle which I call an ammo failure.

Slide always locked back properly.

Agree with a couple other posters, looks like wife is not using what is normally considered a proper grip. While the risk is very low, a serious problem could blow the mag out and injure her. "Cup and Saucer" isn't good. Don

Edited to add: I like everything about this gun, even think it's one of the best looking semis on the market. Bought two 9mms in 2017, a Beretta Brigadier and a big CZ, neither of one made me really like them despite being reliable and well made. Glad I sold them. Don