Let me start off by saying, I'm not a bullet counting kind of guy. I don't keep track of every round out of my guns. Life's too short and I shoot a lot. I store my ammo in 30 cal cans and get 1K 40 S&W and 1200 9mm per can. It's not unusual to shoot a can in a week or even over a weekend. Weather permitting, Sundays are a major range day involving 6-10 hours of shooting and grilling with family and friends. Call my house and say, "Can we come over and shoot?" and my reply will be, "When are you gettin' here?".
In September of 2011 I decided on a M&P 40c. It fit my hand better than anything else I picked up. Actually it fits perfectly becoming an extention of my hand. I was set to buy a 9mm because I have tons of them and I wouldn't have to sort brass when shooting the subgun or others are over. Most primarily shoot 9mm. Then I found out about the 40 > 9mm barrel swap. That settled it. Now I could have a more adaquate EDC caliber and still be able to shoot 9mm as well for next to nothing in added investment.
Move forward a couple of years. I started having issues with FTF. The standard problem is the striker assembly. Not wanting to be without my EDC I decided to replace it myself and not send it in. Unfortunately it didn't solve the issue. So off it went. After not hearing back for 3 weeks I called and they said it went to the custom shop for non-warranty repair as I had an Apex trigger installed and I wouldn't be seeing it for 9 months. I told them I was informed it would be repaired under waranty even though it had the Apex. The gentleman appologized for the mistake and sent it back so I could change the trigger back and resend it for repair.
When I received it I decided to shoot it for the day. (I missed it what can I say) Then swap triggers and send it back. It worked flawlessly. I called them and they said they had no idea why as the work order said it had only been inspected but it was possible something else had been done and wasn't noted by mistake. So I went out to the range and shot 5-600 rounds through it to make sure everything was good. It worked flawlessly. So back on the hip it went.
Move forward three months and a couple thousand rounds later. (winter sucks) Problem starts up again. Facing sending it back and having to carry something less than what I feel adaquate for an EDC I went on the hunt fast & furious style. A Shield was quickly dismissed as I couldn't get a FSS for it and quite honestly there's not enough size difference in my mind as to warrant the loss of capacity. No revolvers. 1911s just didn't fit the bill for what I was looking for either. Although a couple of them almost made me change my mind. So then I looked at possibly the FS or 5" M&Ps. Not bad but in reality the FS is only .75" longer and the 5" is quite a price jump. I also had to take into consideration the additional support gear as well. Two weeks later my head was spinning and I was still no closer to a solution. So I asked the wife for some help laying out the options as well as the arguments pro & con for each. She hit me with the one option I had dismissed early on. Buy another 40c. Then made the case for me. I wouldn't need any new gear, I already knew I loved the gun, I would be using a range gun that would be identical to my EDC, if I wanted I could set one up with the 9mm barrel and leave it that way for the weekend while shooting with others, it wouldn't matter. Most importantly, I wouldn't be tempted to EDC a dirty gun or one with a high round count. It made perfect sense. Midwest was having a S&W sale, so off we go.
Now back to the worn out M&P.
After getting the new 40c I decided to have a bit of fun and see if I could figure out the issue again. So I switched the barrel, slide, return spring and every combination there of on to the old frame. The old parts just wouldn't run 100%. Then I put the old upper on the new lower half and you could actually feel and see the slide move way too slowly as you shot. I've never in 40+ yrs of shooting saw that happen. Then I went to lock it back to tear it down and you could barely force it back hard enough to lock the slide. Not good. So time to send it back.
I get a hold of S&W and as I'm explaining what's going on I happened to mention the fact I had bought a new 40c and what we had done. The guy asks me if the old lower half worked 100% with the new upper half. Along with some questions of how well they fit. Then had me send the new lower with the old upper so I wouldn't have to swap triggers. Sweet. Yesterday (2 1/2 weeks later) I get my gun back with a whole new upper. They did ask me just for their information how many rounds were through the gun. I told him 5-7K but possibly as much as 10k. I thought this was going to bite me in the **s but it didn't. They repaired it at no cost. Now I just have to run a few hundred rounds through it to break it in and it's good to go. I will no longer be making a habit of using my EDC as a range gun. It will still see range time, don't get me wrong. Just not the use the other one gets. So +1 to S&W for a great product and standing behind their products.
Now if they would just make an M&P 45 that I could swap with 10mm, 357 sig, 40 S&W and 9mm barrels. Throw in a 22lr upper that would go on it as well. I would buy 2 new guns again in a heart beat!!!
In September of 2011 I decided on a M&P 40c. It fit my hand better than anything else I picked up. Actually it fits perfectly becoming an extention of my hand. I was set to buy a 9mm because I have tons of them and I wouldn't have to sort brass when shooting the subgun or others are over. Most primarily shoot 9mm. Then I found out about the 40 > 9mm barrel swap. That settled it. Now I could have a more adaquate EDC caliber and still be able to shoot 9mm as well for next to nothing in added investment.
Move forward a couple of years. I started having issues with FTF. The standard problem is the striker assembly. Not wanting to be without my EDC I decided to replace it myself and not send it in. Unfortunately it didn't solve the issue. So off it went. After not hearing back for 3 weeks I called and they said it went to the custom shop for non-warranty repair as I had an Apex trigger installed and I wouldn't be seeing it for 9 months. I told them I was informed it would be repaired under waranty even though it had the Apex. The gentleman appologized for the mistake and sent it back so I could change the trigger back and resend it for repair.
When I received it I decided to shoot it for the day. (I missed it what can I say) Then swap triggers and send it back. It worked flawlessly. I called them and they said they had no idea why as the work order said it had only been inspected but it was possible something else had been done and wasn't noted by mistake. So I went out to the range and shot 5-600 rounds through it to make sure everything was good. It worked flawlessly. So back on the hip it went.
Move forward three months and a couple thousand rounds later. (winter sucks) Problem starts up again. Facing sending it back and having to carry something less than what I feel adaquate for an EDC I went on the hunt fast & furious style. A Shield was quickly dismissed as I couldn't get a FSS for it and quite honestly there's not enough size difference in my mind as to warrant the loss of capacity. No revolvers. 1911s just didn't fit the bill for what I was looking for either. Although a couple of them almost made me change my mind. So then I looked at possibly the FS or 5" M&Ps. Not bad but in reality the FS is only .75" longer and the 5" is quite a price jump. I also had to take into consideration the additional support gear as well. Two weeks later my head was spinning and I was still no closer to a solution. So I asked the wife for some help laying out the options as well as the arguments pro & con for each. She hit me with the one option I had dismissed early on. Buy another 40c. Then made the case for me. I wouldn't need any new gear, I already knew I loved the gun, I would be using a range gun that would be identical to my EDC, if I wanted I could set one up with the 9mm barrel and leave it that way for the weekend while shooting with others, it wouldn't matter. Most importantly, I wouldn't be tempted to EDC a dirty gun or one with a high round count. It made perfect sense. Midwest was having a S&W sale, so off we go.
Now back to the worn out M&P.
After getting the new 40c I decided to have a bit of fun and see if I could figure out the issue again. So I switched the barrel, slide, return spring and every combination there of on to the old frame. The old parts just wouldn't run 100%. Then I put the old upper on the new lower half and you could actually feel and see the slide move way too slowly as you shot. I've never in 40+ yrs of shooting saw that happen. Then I went to lock it back to tear it down and you could barely force it back hard enough to lock the slide. Not good. So time to send it back.
I get a hold of S&W and as I'm explaining what's going on I happened to mention the fact I had bought a new 40c and what we had done. The guy asks me if the old lower half worked 100% with the new upper half. Along with some questions of how well they fit. Then had me send the new lower with the old upper so I wouldn't have to swap triggers. Sweet. Yesterday (2 1/2 weeks later) I get my gun back with a whole new upper. They did ask me just for their information how many rounds were through the gun. I told him 5-7K but possibly as much as 10k. I thought this was going to bite me in the **s but it didn't. They repaired it at no cost. Now I just have to run a few hundred rounds through it to break it in and it's good to go. I will no longer be making a habit of using my EDC as a range gun. It will still see range time, don't get me wrong. Just not the use the other one gets. So +1 to S&W for a great product and standing behind their products.
Now if they would just make an M&P 45 that I could swap with 10mm, 357 sig, 40 S&W and 9mm barrels. Throw in a 22lr upper that would go on it as well. I would buy 2 new guns again in a heart beat!!!
gets at your LGS.
