Do M&Ps Still Have Any Issues?

[Race]

I've held off on getting an M&P because of issues the first year after their release. Has S&W fixed everything?

Some concerns:

Do mags release accidentally anymore?

Do slide stops break anymore?

Do mags rust easily?

Firing pins/strikers breaking?

Any other breakages?

Unresolved malfunctions?

I do have concerns about not being able to buy parts for them and having to send it back when it needs repair.

S&W has had a spotty history with semiauto pistols and I guess I'm still a bit hesitant to trust them. I keep thinking about getting an HK45 for a plastic .45, but it's a good bit larger than the M&P .45. It also doesn't help when I pick one up in a gun shop and feel that rough trigger pull that feels close to 10lbs and with gravel in the travel. I figure if I can end up accepting the pistol, I'll send it off for a trigger job.

Is there some published info on Smith's recommended service schedule? Spring changes, other parts, etc.

This is honestly not to disparage the M&P - I want to like it. I like how it feels in my hand, just have concerns with the other aforementioned notes. I also like the low bore line and the grip angle.

(And please, I'm not interested in "any gun can break", "all guns have issues", "no gun is perfect", etc. I know that - I've had plenty of them.)

Thanks for any feedback.

[JohnN]

I've held off on getting an M&P because of issues the first year after their release. Has S&W fixed everything?

Some concerns:

Do mags release accidentally anymore?

Do slide stops break anymore?

Do mags rust easily?

Firing pins/strikers breaking?

Any other breakages?

Unresolved malfunctions?

I do have concerns about not being able to buy parts for them and having to send it back when it needs repair.

S&W has had a spotty history with semiauto pistols and I guess I'm still a bit hesitant to trust them. I keep thinking about getting an HK45 for a plastic .45, but it's a good bit larger than the M&P .45. It also doesn't help when I pick one up in a gun shop and feel that rough trigger pull that feels close to 10lbs and with gravel in the travel. I figure if I can end up accepting the pistol, I'll send it off for a trigger job.

Is there some published info on Smith's recommended service schedule? Spring changes, other parts, etc.

This is honestly not to disparage the M&P - I want to like it. I like how it feels in my hand, just have concerns with the other aforementioned notes. I also like the low bore line and the grip angle.

(And please, I'm not interested in "any gun can break", "all guns have issues", "no gun is perfect", etc. I know that - I've had plenty of them.)

Thanks for any feedback.

Not to be a smart ass but have you read this thread?
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=14060

[Race]

Not to be a smart ass but have you read this thread?
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=14060

Yep. Other than a couple of spring replacement recommendations and that Todd's individual M&P has been reliable, along with a couple of other departments', I didn't notice any of the other questions I had addressed there.

[theJanitor]

i took a magpul handgun class earlier this year and one guy was running a M&P9. he said that his experienced a broken mag-catch (if i remember correctly) every thousand rounds or so. he had a few spares in his bag!! i don't know if it got rectified by S&W since.

[Race]

I'm also interested if anyone knows who makes the parts for the gun? Are they made by S&W in-house, or are they outsourced to various vendors from North America, Asia, and the Middle East, as Sig does?

Thanks again.

[ToddG]

Do mags release accidentally anymore?

Not due to a mechanical problem, no. It's still possible for a particular shooter to use a particular grip strap and a particular mag catch orientation that causes him to bump the button during firing. The downside to ergonomic flexibility is that there is always an idiot who puts his crap together wrong.


Do slide stops break anymore?

I'm assuming you mean the right wing of the lever. Yes, they still break sometimes. It doesn't affect the gun unless you routinely use that lever. Smith recommends replacing the lever (every 10k I think). Mine broke at around 40-something thousand rounds.


Do mags rust easily?

Mine haven't, and most of them are the old style. But they will rust if you abuse them, just like any other mags.


Firing pins/strikers breaking?

If you dry fire excessively without a snap cap, it's a possibility. There was a major improvement in the striker a while back, though. FWIW, except for Glocks, I would recommend a snap cap for any handgun with a firing pin block safety mechanism.


Any other breakages?

My trigger spring broke at 30-something thousand. Again, should have been replaced as part of regular maintenance.


Unresolved malfunctions?

Once in a while there will be a spurt of "my 9mm compact has trouble with JHPs" thread over at mp-pistol.com. That was a major problem in the past, I think it's resolved (or at least mostly resolved) now.


I do have concerns about not being able to buy parts for them and having to send it back when it needs repair.

Off the top of my head, every part that is subject to wear and tear is available directly from Smith (you don't have to be an armorer) as well as other vendors. About the only things they don't sell are the frame, slide, and sear housing block.


Is there some published info on Smith's recommended service schedule? Spring changes, other parts, etc.

Unfortunately, no. Companies are usually hesitant to publish stuff like that because as soon as someone posts that the Granthawk Poly-9 needs a new frizenstat every 5,000 rounds, some douchebag on GlockTalk is going to starting hollaring about how his G37 has fifty-three million rounds of lead reloads he made while in the dark and drunk on Jack Daniels and he's never replaced a frizenstat! :rolleyes:


(And please, I'm not interested in "any gun can break", "all guns have issues", "no gun is perfect", etc. I know that - I've had plenty of them.)

I appreciate where you're coming from. FWIW, I don't think the M&P has any more issues right now than comparable products from Glock, SIG, H&K, Springfield, etc. ... and in some cases, they have substantially fewer issues. You can always end up with a lemon, but personally I don't see any more M&P lemons than I do from other brands (as a percentage).

[Race]

Thanks, Todd. Good info.

I'm sure I'll end up trying at least the .45 and maybe the 9mm.

Thanks again.