Possible issues with new M&P 9's

[Zimm1001]

I carry an M&P 9 and love it. Never had an issue with it. We sell a lot of the M&P 9 range kits for our defensive handgun courses and many people have bought them and shipped to us as an FFL.

There seems to be a recurring theme with the new M&P 9's. They are having a lot of light primer strikes. A DR. came in to shoot his. He had run 4 different brands of 9mm ammo through it over the last few weeks and continuously had light primer strikes. One day I went out on the range with him with my M&P 9. Exact same model only a few years older. The ones that would not fire through his even after a couple of tries fired fine through mine. Ok once in awhile a bad one gets through, striker issue. Send it back to S&W. Problem solved right.

Now in our all women's Intro to Level I class last week two more brand new M&P 9's had the same issue and I just learned of two more. Now another lady in the class had a brand new M&P 9 and did not have one issue with it. All shot the same brand of ammo from the same batch.

Anyone else here of this problem with the new M&P 9's lately? Like I said I love mine and have close to 2,000 rds through it without one issue.

 

[85t5mcss]

Haven't heard of it. A friend just got one, we only put about 300 rounds through it at Atterbury but not one FTF. He shot most of it since I didn't care for the trigger but it seemed to function flawlessly.

 

[Dog1]

There is a fellow over on AR15.com that had that problem, but it was a while back.

Wonder if they changed the weight of the striker spring?

I don't have any problems like that with mine. Wolf, Tula, WWB, etc, they all go bang.

 

[jve153]

a few thousand rounds in mine, and no issues. mine was purchased last summer. 9mm compact. could be onto something though. maybe the bit on the machine was worn when building them? could cause a whole lot of parts to go through unnoticed. s/w customer service is pretty top notch, theyll fix it im sure.

 

[Boost Lee]

I'm not sure if mind falls under the "new" M&P9's, (Purchased middle of last year)...

I've put 500+/- rounds through the chamber,
Federal, Remington, Winchester & S&B... Not once an issue. Ever.

 

[HandK]

No issues with mine ether, you might want to look at limp wisting! that could be the cause the light primer strikes,

 

[cedartop]

Not sure how new they have to be, we see quite a few M&P's in class, but I haven't seen this as a regular problem. Since you clarified that you tried different ammo, there goes the #1 culprit. I recently went through 500 rds of Tula that had about 5 bad primers a box.

 

[greyhound47]

Never. Mine runs like a clock.

 

[Goodcat]

Hopefully not, just took mine out of the case it walked home in! Born in 2011, I'll be at the range soon and report in with any issues.

 

[WebSnyper]

you might want to look at limp wisting! that could be the cause the light primer strikes,

How exactly do you get light primer strikes from limp wristing?

 

[3point5]

Never. Mine runs like a glock.

fify

 

[down3green]

fify

.

I knew somebody was going to do that...


.

 

[3point5]

Not going to lie...just got my first glock, love everything about it....BUT i have had 2 FTFeeds out of about 500 rds. Im pretty sure it was the lousy UMC ammo though....Tula, Reloads, WWB, and Federal Champion have been flawless

 

[Goodcat]

Just ran the first 150 9mm through my brand new m&p from Bradis. No issues!

 

[jayhawk]

I've had problems with Tula, but everything else runs just fine. I typically shoot WWB or Federal for practice ammo out of my M&Ps.

 

[TLHelmer]

Mine has worked fine so far, Knock on wood!

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Neither of my M&P pistols have had light strike issues. (nor any other issues related to feeding, firing, extracting, or ejecting)

 

[Hoosierdood]

Might have to talk to gglass. He has quite a bit of experience with the M&P.

I wonder... Were all these M&P's the same model, caliber and size? Were any the Pro Series? Did any of them have the Apex trigger? Full size or compact, or a combination of the 2?

I bought my M&P 40 a couple weeks ago and have put about 250 rounds through it and havent had any issues yet. Wonder if this is happening with just the 9mm.

 

[gglass]

Yikes! I have been called out by name. That is never a good thing.

I have several M&Ps that date back almost to the introduction of the brand. I've also worked on dozens more. The times I have heard of Light Primer Strikes (usually on the M&P forums) in the M&P over the years, the issue could almost always be tracked to these two sources:

• Crappy ammo like Remington UMC, Winchester Winclean or poor reloads. (You said that it happened with different brands, so this is not the likely culprit.
• Gunked up striker channel. (Even a new M&P can have enough shipping grease in the striker channel that carbon and soot can begin to slow the striker.)

I would start with cleaning the striker channel. This can be done by removing the slide's end cap. (Lightly depress the white striker spring sleeve and push up on the end cap to remove.) Push down on the striker safety plunger to remove the striker assembly. Clean the striker assembly. Use a Q-Tip to clean all the gunk from the striker channel. DO NOT use any lubrication in the striker channel or the striker assembly upon reassembly.

While the striker assembly is out of the pistol, you should look for any marring or peening around the tip of the striker. This would indicate a bur or a misalignment with the firing pin hole in the breach face. If this is the case, only a trip back to S&W is advised.

I will be at the next 2nd Amendment meeting, and would be happy to look at the M&P(s) in question. Let me know, so I can bring some tools if needed.

 

[Zimm1001]

All great info. To answer a few questions. They were all the same model, caliber, with no modifications. One of the husbands did tear down the M&P all the way and cleaned out the channel, vent hole etc. No gum ups or anything. Still had a problem the next class. I was thinking the same thing. It's not limp wristing. I tried the guns as did my chief instructor and it did it to both us. I doubt I limp wrist but no one is perfect. I am certain my chief instructor didn't. We also checked for burs. All looked good.

I am at a loss other than bad springs, or misalignment. The strikes do seem to be on center although that is not necessarily an indicator of misalignment. I have not heard of any issues with .40 M&P's. I have a new one for myself coming in next week. I am going to try it.

Just seems very odd that all of a sudden all these light primer strikes only with the M&P's but not all. Like I said mine has somewhere between 1,500 and 2,500 rounds through it without fail. I emailed S&W but have not heard back yet.
Like all of us with our carry weapons we want to be sure it will go bang if we have to use it defensively.