New M&P ejection question

[prairie]

My son and I shot our M&P 9 today for the first time. About one third of the brass came back at us, over our heads and into our face. The rest landed at about 2-3 feet out at 3 o'clock. Were shooting Federal 115 gr FMJ RN. Have some Winchester 115 gr FMJ we will try next time.
We are going to shoot it a while, and see if something "wears in" and self corrects the problem.

 

[highaltitude]

In the Glock world this is known as the dreaded "BTF" - Brass to the Face issue. Can't believe it's happening to M&P. You could try shooting stronger rounds such as Winchester 124gr NATO, or even stronger to see if ejection improves. Federal 115gr is among the weakest. If you have a very stiff spring, the weak ammo doesn't have enough power to forcefully move the slide back to cycle the round properly. There could be a host of other issues causing it, but this would be something to try... assuming you can find the ammo.

As a side note, if you do shoot stronger rounds only to find you are getting beemed in the head even harder, then it could be an issue with the Ejector/Extractor combo.

 

[prairie]

Shot the Winchester 115 gr FMJ with perfect ejection. All the cases landed about three feet to my right at 4 o'clock in a nice 24" diameter cluster.
The Federal 115 gr FMJ RN still ejected fine, but again about 30% of the cases came back on our heads, and the rest landed 2-3 feet to my right in a 36" diameter cluster. Much more erratic than the Winchester ammo.
Guess my pistol does not like the Federal 115 gr FMJ RN. Luckily I only have 250 rounds left.

 

[Jimeg]

Interesting to hear that others are experencing this problem as well. I shot my new M&P 9 Pro for the first time on Sunday and noticed that several rounds ejected directly over my head. Luckily, none hit my face. Normally I don't notice the ejected brass, but it's hard to ignore when it's coming directly back at you.

 

[allenff1]

What did S&W do for you? I just got back today and wont be able to try it out for a few days. They replaced my ejector and polished the chamber. I'll see.

 

[ramblinmanva]

have this on the shield; not the M&P full size

I've owned the Shield in 9mm and a full size M&P in 9mm. Owned them both about 2 years. I shot the Shield a lot. I'm just estimating but I trust I have 2,000 plus rounds through it. For the first 1,500 rounds or so I haven't had really any problems. For the past number of visits to my range the Shield ejects at what I guess is 12:00 or 6:00pm. I've had a friend watch and tape me so I could make sure. It goes straight up and down on the gun or straight up and back into my neck and face. I've had a few bad burns.

I clean it regularly. Yesterday I gave it a good cleaning before hitting the range. Same problem. I've shot this one a lot so I don't think it's my shooting position at this point. I'm a novice so not sure if these parts break down with this much shooting?

Thanks.

 

[Llando88]

I've owned the Shield in 9mm and a full size M&P in 9mm. Owned them both about 2 years. I shot the Shield a lot. I'm just estimating but I trust I have 2,000 plus rounds through it. For the first 1,500 rounds or so I haven't had really any problems. For the past number of visits to my range the Shield ejects at what I guess is 12:00 or 6:00pm. I've had a friend watch and tape me so I could make sure. It goes straight up and down on the gun or straight up and back into my neck and face. I've had a few bad burns.

I clean it regularly. Yesterday I gave it a good cleaning before hitting the range. Same problem. I've shot this one a lot so I don't think it's my shooting position at this point. I'm a novice so not sure if these parts break down with this much shooting?

Thanks.

Just tossing this out there, but worn extractor / spring?

Found this discussion from 13, might be of interest.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-m-p-pistols/310773-does-m-p-have-extractor-issues.html

PS not even close to being a gunsmith, mind; just a thought about what might be wrong.

PPS Mine (Nov '13 build FS9, 1,400+ rounds) consistently flings brass to 3:00 o'clock. I use Froglube, and clean after every range session. I also use a Tipton pick in the extractor channel, by the way. Amazing how much carbon is in there.

 

[shawn mccarver]

Ejection back into the face is NOT normal with any semi-auto of any make, including S&W.

Semi-autos should not eject back into the shooter's face for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is that it is conducive to really bad shooting, as the shooter soon begins to "anticipate" the "pelting," thereby causing the shot to be delivered off target.

This is not a function of limp wristing, or an imperfect grip, both of which can happen from injuries in a gun fight. Even tilting the pistol off vertical should not cause this. I have tested this myself with M&Ps of all sizes, and have never been pelted. Even the silly "gangsta" grip will send the empties very high and right, thereby avoiding your face by a wide margin in a pistol with a properly set-up extractor/ejector system.

S&W should fix it, and if they cannot, this particular weapon should be traded or otherwise replaced.

 

[Bkreutz]

Just tossing this out there, but worn extractor / spring?

Found this discussion from 13, might be of interest.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-m-p-pistols/310773-does-m-p-have-extractor-issues.html

PS not even close to being a gunsmith, mind; just a thought about what might be wrong.

PPS Mine (Nov '13 build FS9, 1,400+ rounds) consistently flings brass to 3:00 o'clock. I use Froglube, and clean after every range session. I also use a Tipton pick in the extractor channel, by the way. Amazing how much carbon is in there.

This is good advice, while you're checking for carbon buildup behind the extractor hook, look closely for any chipping in the same area. I think there's probably a reason that Apex sells a "Failure Resistant Extractor". I installed on of these about 40K rounds ago on my M&P (the original didn't fail, I just wanted to try the Apex part).

 

[skip4309]

In the Glock world this is known as the dreaded "BTF" - Brass to the Face issue. Can't believe it's happening to M&P. You could try shooting stronger rounds such as Winchester 124gr NATO, or even stronger to see if ejection improves. Federal 115gr is among the weakest. If you have a very stiff spring, the weak ammo doesn't have enough power to forcefully move the slide back to cycle the round properly. There could be a host of other issues causing it, but this would be something to try... assuming you can find the ammo.

As a side note, if you do shoot stronger rounds only to find you are getting beemed in the head even harder, then it could be an issue with the Ejector/Extractor combo.

Limp wristing? LOL

 

[poru_desu]

install an apex FRE, problem solved - no more ejection issues