Mags won't drop freely

OK, getting on this a little late but I'll put my thoughts and advice in. I have a M&P Pro in .40, I needed easy release and quick drop for IPSC competition and 3-gun. Here are the steps I took to ensure it.

1. Remove the mag release butt from the lower, there is a small metal tab formed into the plastic, you can trim a little off this with a file (dont recommend a drem for this as it may get away from you) once you have taken off what you feel is enough, use a drem and jeweler's rouge and glass it up nice and pretty. if you think you didnt take off enough you can always go back and repeat steps at your will. a replacement is not that much

Take a file and LIGHTLY smooth out any rough spot in the mag well, recommend taking all the guts out of the lower to avoid any unintentional hits, check it often to ensure you have not made any uneven areas.

And lastly I bought the Taylor Freelance brass base pads, they leave little craters in the ground when I hit the release button.

Other than buying the base pads this is a free and easy way to reduce drag within the mag well and increase mag drop efficiency.
 
Rastoff said:
I have tried a few things, but I honestly believe we're running into a "stacking tolerances" issue. I'll bet the magazine well is on the small side of its tolerance and the mags are on the large side of their tolerances. This seems likely.

I may resort to sanding the inside of the mag well. I don't know, but I don't want to send it to S&W for this issue.
Click to expand...

I think you are correct. I have three full-size M&P9's...One from around 2011, one from late 2012, and one from mid 2013. I also have an older 9Pro and a 9C.

Up through the pistol from 2012, I never...ever had an issue with magazines getting stuck in the pistol. I had 12 magazines. I never really noticed anyone else having an issue either. Now I'm seeing it more often. I was issued my most recent pistol a few weeks ago with three magazines (so now I have 15 total). Using those (new) magazines, at least one sticks in the mag well of the 2012 gun that always worked great. I haven't tried the mags in the 2011 gun or the 2013 gun yet.

It seems the problem is more in the magazines than the pistol itself, but tolerance stacking may have a part as well.
 
e5gator said:
1. Remove the mag release butt from the lower, there is a small metal tab formed into the plastic, you can trim a little off this with a file (dont recommend a drem for this as it may get away from you) once you have taken off what you feel is enough, use a drem and jeweler's rouge and glass it up nice and pretty. if you think you didnt take off enough you can always go back and repeat steps at your will. a replacement is not that much
Click to expand...
The problem I'm having is definitely not the mag release. It's working perfectly. I don't see a need to alter it, but I will keep this in mind as I work on this issue.

I have sanded the inside of the mag well a little. There is a casting line in there and I will sand that smooth.
 
I've noticed this with my 9C also. I have 10 mags and feel it is the mag. One can stick, while another drops free. I have been looking at the follower on the magazine and think it may be just a hair to wide, but have not shaved anything from it to test the theory.
 
Rastoff, I seen one video on Youtube that had the same problem, and it turned out to be the magazine release. I know you said you others that worked perfectly, but if it's not that difficult, maybe give that a try?

Here's the video :
M&P 9 Magazine Release Problem - YouTube

I seen another solution to take the magazine apart, put the magazine into a vise and just squeeze it a little to make it narrower. You might want to use a venier caliper to check it, before and after, you may even want to check it against the good vs bad magazines and see if there is a size difference?

Good Luck!
 
I had a similar issue once upon a time when I reversed the mag release. It turns out I did not properly install the spring and it was rubbing on the magazine, causing it to bind. I reinstalled the spring properly and no issues since.

To make sure it's not defective or poorly installed release or spring, why not remove the magazine release and spring and see if the magazines insert and fall freely?
 
Don't know if this will help or not but I've attached a couple of pictures of some of my older mags. You can see the wear points on them which might lead you to tight areas in your pistol. I have no idea how many mag drops these have done (I tried to calculate it but it gave me a headache:eek:) Hope this might help.
Ignore the silver in the long creases, that's silver sharpie marking so i can see them in the dark. (or at least that was the plan, doesn't really work)
 

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DanTana,
The video you posted was just 6 minutes of him complaining about his mags. There was no fix offered.

dannybot said:
To make sure it's not defective or poorly installed release or spring, why not remove the magazine release and spring and see if the magazines insert and fall freely?
Click to expand...
OK, why not?

First I started with just checking the mags. All were working OK. I could feel that they were sticking a tiny bit, but they still fell free. I could hear them laughing at me saying, "Watch, we'll work now, but when he gets to the range we'll all stick. HAHAHA!" I took the mag catch out(the spring is captured and cannot come out) and the mags fell freely. I wiped it down just to be sure. I put it back in and they fell freely.

I did measure the width. Some were .003" thicker than the others. I doubt that .003" would cause this, but when talking about stacking tolerances...

I feel foolish now because it's working and I've done nothing since the last time I looked at this. Maybe it's a temperature thing?

One good thing did come out of this. I'm definitely having an issue with the followers of a couple of them. They are not catching the slide stop as they should. They are catching the follower on the side rather than the top like they should. I'll be calling S&W on Monday to see if I can get that fixed.
 
Rastoff, Glad you got it worked out. Maybe just removing the magazine release and re-installing it helped? Who knows? Good luck on the magazine followers.
 
dannybot said:
I had a similar issue once upon a time when I reversed the mag release. It turns out I did not properly install the spring and it was rubbing on the magazine, causing it to bind. I reinstalled the spring properly and no issues since.

To make sure it's not defective or poorly installed release or spring, why not remove the magazine release and spring and see if the magazines insert and fall freely?
Click to expand...

Great point.

I changed the mag release on my new M&P Friday from right-handed to left-handed. The first couple times I went to check the mechanism the mag would not fall out.

I took out the mags and gave them a quick wipe down with Froglube CLP. Two were new with the pistol, and two were new from Midway. After this they were ok.

I think the mag release spring might have gotten dislodged slightly, so you might be onto something here.

Or it's another thing to check. Just a thought.
 
Rastoff said:
DanTana,

First I started with just checking the mags. All were working OK. I could feel that they were sticking a tiny bit, but they still fell free. I could hear them laughing at me saying, "Watch, we'll work now, but when he gets to the range we'll all stick.
Click to expand...

Rastoff,
I went through this with a CZ PCR, where the problem wasn't consistent. It turned out to be the rubber grips binding the magazines. That's not relevant to your M&P, of course, but the diagnostic might be.

I coated both the magazine well and a magazine pretty heavily with smoke from a candle. Gently inserted the magazine and then released it. The marks in the soot show where the magazine makes contact with the frame.

(You can get water-soluble "spotting ink" that will do a better job, but I already had a candle....)

I had to repeat a few times to figure out what was supposed to rub and what wasn't, but it did show me where I needed to file & fiddle.


Doc
 
Doc,
That technique is actually called a "lamp black" process. Gun smiths have been using it for centuries when hand fitting parts together. They us an oil lamp and set the flame to produce a really sooty flame. Then they coat the parts with soot, put them together and take them apart. They they sand down the shiny spots. Repeat process until everything fits perfectly.

It's more difficult to do inside a mag well, but it can work. It's not a bad idea.
 
Rastoff said:
Doc,
That technique is actually called a "lamp black" process. Gun smiths have been using it for centuries when hand fitting parts together. They us an oil lamp and set the flame to produce a really sooty flame. Then they coat the parts with soot, put them together and take them apart. They they sand down the shiny spots. Repeat process until everything fits perfectly.

It's more difficult to do inside a mag well, but it can work. It's not a bad idea.
Click to expand...

Augh, thanks! I kept thinking it's "candle black" and I knew that's not it....


Doc
 
I am having issues with my M&P 9 not dropping mags. Sent it back in November. Came back just before Christmas and same problem. Threw it in the safe and came back a few days later and they were dropping fine. Went to the range a week later and all mags sticking again? I finally realized what was going on. My frame is contracting in the cold. When it's in the house and above 70 they drop fine, take it outside for 5 minutes in 40 degree weather and the mag well tightens up and they won't drop. I proved in several times by taking it outside of throwing it in the freezer for a couple minutes. Every time it's say below 50's the mags start getting stuck.

I have the Cabela's FDE model and have heard that this tan version of the frame may be "softer" then the black one. I can actually squeeze the grip with a mild amount of force and cause the mags to stick as well.
 
I previously had 2 magazines, one stuck and the other dropped freely, I bought a new one today and it also drops freely. It doesn't matter if I have a full magazine, that specific magazine that I have still sticks, it might be worth it for me to send it back to S&W to see if they replace it. I believe in my case it's an isolated magazine issue and nothing with the firearm itself
 
uechikid said:
Here is a video that shows the follower slipping off the tab on the mag stop/release. This might not be the whole problem but it looks like mine does the same thing, most of the time.
How to fix the magazine drop free for M&P 9 - YouTube
Click to expand...
DO NOT FOLLOW THE ADVICE GIVEN IN THAT VIDEO!!!

Here is the problem he's having:
MagFollowerFailsmall_zpsa413c983.jpg


This is what it's supposed to look like:
MagFollowerGoodsmall_zps33682a0e.jpg


That corner of the mag follower is what locks the slide back after the last round. If you grind it off, all you're doing it ensuring the slide won't lock back.

Yes, it's a problem and the slide stop should not ride on the side like I showed in the first picture. The fix for this is not grinding on the follower, but getting the new, redesigned one. Call S&W and they will send you a new one for free. They sent me two.
 
I know one of the shooters at S&W. He told me that the new guns they are making for California, that the mags only drop a little,then you have to pull the mags out of the gun. He said that's the only state that makes them do that. I don't know if it's some new regulation or what.
I guess California thinks it will take longer to reload and a bad guy can't do as much damage or something.
I'm not sure if that's what is going on with your gun or not.
 
Last edited:
Rastoff said:
DO NOT FOLLOW THE ADVICE GIVEN IN THAT VIDEO!!!

Here is the problem he's having:
MagFollowerFailsmall_zpsa413c983.jpg


This is what it's supposed to look like:
MagFollowerGoodsmall_zps33682a0e.jpg


That corner of the mag follower is what locks the slide back after the last round. If you grind it off, all you're doing it ensuring the slide won't lock back.

Yes, it's a problem and the slide stop should not ride on the side like I showed in the first picture. The fix for this is not grinding on the follower, but getting the new, redesigned one. Call S&W and they will send you a new one for free. They sent me two.
Click to expand...
Thanks Rastoff. I wasn't going to start cutting my followers. But, they only stick when the follower slips off the slide stop lever.
 
Booboo357 said:
I know one of the shooters at S&W. He told me that the new guns they are making for California, that the mags only drop a little,then you have to pull the mags out of the gun. He said that's the only state that makes them do that. I don't know if it's some new regulation or what.
Click to expand...
Well, either your friend doesn't work for S&W or he is just ignorant in general. There is no requirement, in any state, for such a design. S&W does not make guns that only drop the mag a little intentionally.

If the mags do that it's a design or manufacturing flaw.
 
Rastoff said:
Well, either your friend doesn't work for S&W or he is just ignorant in general. There is no requirement, in any state, for such a design. S&W does not make guns that only drop the mag a little intentionally.

If the mags do that it's a design or manufacturing flaw.
Click to expand...


He told me he's notice this on the California compliant guns he's been shooting. He was sending the guns back telling them there was a problem with the mags not dropping all the way out. They told him it wasn't a problem it was suppose to do that.

It may not be a state requirement, but I don't know why S&W would tell him it wasn't a problem and why it is only happening on California compliant guns.

I was complaining about the triggers and mag safety on Mass compliant guns. That's when he told me about the mags on California guns.
 
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Booboo357 said:
He told me he's notice this on the California compliant guns he's been shooting.
Click to expand...
Technically this is a misnomer. The only feature on the M&P guns that CA requires is the mag disconnect. Since this is not specific to CA, mag disconnects are just part of the normal line up, there technically aren't any M&Ps made specifically for CA.

Anyway, the mags are supposed to drop free. I have no doubt that someone inside S&W told him that. Ignorance is everywhere. However, if it were true, why would S&W tell me to send mine back for repair?

As far as I know, the only manufacturer to ever make a magazine that intentionally didn't just drop out was Glock. The Gen 1 Glock magazines didn't drop out because they thought it would help the user keep the magazine. It worked, but made reloads slow. So, they changed the design of the mag.
 
Rastoff said:
there technically aren't any M&Ps made specifically for CA.
Click to expand...

Just look at the Smith catalog, there are CA. compliant M&Ps. The Shield sku#187021 is just one example. Heck that is the only shield I see with what they call the Tactile Loaded Chamber Indicator on it. It may not be required but it's only on the CA compliant model.

All I know is he said he was sending them all back and they told him not to. I don't know if they were just being lazy or what. But I wouldn't think S&W would risk sending them all out just to have them returned.

I know they been making changes this year on the guns. I was buying a M&P40c and on this yrs gun the MA. compliant M&P40c has the mag disconnect safety sku 109253. Last yrs M&P40c didn't. That's how we started talking about it.
 
I'm not even sure what gun it was.All he said was California and I didn't ask.
Most of them are dropping off the Ca. list anyway from what I have been reading.
 
I contacted S&W about my
Magazine not dropping freely and the rep told me to send it in for replacement at their expense. I own two other magazines that drop freely as they should, I'm hoping I get a new one back shortly. I remembering reading that another guy received a second free magazine for his troubles, maybe I'll get lucky.
 
S&W really delivered, I sent my magazine in a week ago and today I got a brand new one that works properly, thank you S&W for the super quick turnaround
 
I have several M&P's and never experienced that until I purchased an M&P9L C.O.R.E. The mags would come out about an inch then had to be pulled out. I sent it to S&W and just got it back last week and according to the work order they replaced the mag catch and deburred the parting lines in the mag well. It works perfectly now. Just my .02
 
Ya not so hard to do at all even in the mag well take off the slide first.. you could use a candle for some things but with the oil lamp if you turn it up a but it will soot like craze so you can keep your frame away from it.. I would hit the inner mag well with a light color primer paint just a little.. Use something that you can get off the gun with gun scrub.. Soot the mag well and then slide in the mag one time.. This will give the place to take down I would use some files test and do it again if needed.. it's not going to take much .. I have never done this for fitting a mag but I would if I had too.. I don't like sending guns back for work.. George


Doc,
That technique is actually called a "lamp black" process. Gun smiths have been using it for centuries when hand fitting parts together. They us an oil lamp and set the flame to produce a really sooty flame. Then they coat the parts with soot, put them together and take them apart. They they sand down the shiny spots. Repeat process until everything fits perfectly.

It's more difficult to do inside a mag well, but it can work. It's not a bad idea
 
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