Review of my new M&P vs Glock 34

[Underwhere]

With a new recoil assembly on the way, a spare Glock 34 recoil assembly, I modified the stock assembly to roughly the 13 pounds like my G34. God my fingers hurt from that

I also gave the chamber a light polish.

 

[Underwhere]

I think it's funny that you have to put so much work into a gun to make it work as well as a Glock..

Well, all the work was purely aesthetic (while I was home sick with the flu). None of the work was intended to help make the gun function better. Well maybe fixing the takedown lever and polishing the feedramp but that's minor stuff.

It's only now that I'm starting to do work on making the gun function better.

Now that would be a plan that was flawed from the beginning!

Agreed
It amazes me that so many years newer does not necessarily mean "better"

He put all that "work" into it to look cool: All show and no go.

This is my flashy range gun now.

 

[Gammon]

If stove pipes are your only problem, you don't have a problem. This is a common problem with new semi autos; they need to be broken in. It is also possible that the five inch barrel and slide are adding to the problem as their extra weight is adding resistance which is preventing proper ejection. This is a classic case of tuning the pistol to work reliably with the ammunition; a lighter spring will cure the problem. If it doesn't, I volunteer to take it off of your hands.

PS I own a couple of M&Ps and Glocks. I find the M&P to be much more sturdily built with a better trigger. The grip angle is very close to the 1911 which is ideal, and the adjustable back straps allow you to tailor the pistol to your hands. The accuracy I have obtained with my M&P 45 is so good that I hesitate to make any claims, lest I be accused of BS.

 

[MassMark]

I really want to know where the first design for a semi-automatic pistol came from that requires "breaking in" to function properly... I've never had this experience and I'm not a new shooter. I've owned over a dozen different semi-autos and have never encountered this mysterious "break-in period". It seems to me that a gun - especially a gun, should function properly out of the box. Remove gun from box, clean and inspect, load, aim, fire, rinse, lather, repeat....Have we just become conditioned to accepting this? I can see if it's a custom built 1911 or a race gun with custom parts, but every time I read a "you need to let it break in for a few hundred rounds", I can't help to scratch my head...My scalp is becoming irritated and flaky....

 

[Underwhere]

If stove pipes are your only problem, you don't have a problem. This is a common problem with new semi autos; they need to be broken in. It is also possible that the five inch barrel and slide are adding to the problem as their extra weight is adding resistance which is preventing proper ejection. This is a classic case of tuning the pistol to work reliably with the ammunition; a lighter spring will cure the problem. If it doesn't, I volunteer to take it off of your hands.

PS I own a couple of M&Ps and Glocks. I find the M&P to be much more sturdily built with a better trigger. The grip angle is very close to the 1911 which is ideal, and the adjustable back straps allow you to tailor the pistol to your hands. The accuracy I have obtained with my M&P 45 is so good that I hesitate to make any claims, lest I be accused of BS.

Nope. No stovepipes.

I really want to know where the first design for a semi-automatic pistol came from that requires "breaking in" to function properly... I've never had this experience and I'm not a new shooter. I've owned over a dozen different semi-autos and have never encountered this mysterious "break-in period". It seems to me that a gun - especially a gun, should function properly out of the box. Remove gun from box, clean and inspect, load, aim, fire, rinse, lather, repeat....Have we just become conditioned to accepting this? I can see if it's a custom built 1911 or a race gun with custom parts, but every time I read a "you need to let it break in for a few hundred rounds", I can't help to scratch my head...My scalp is becoming irritated and flaky....

I concur. When I bought my Glock 34 I don't think I even took it to the range. If I remember correctly went straight to an IDPA competition.

I've never had a polymer gun that needed "break in"

 

[Supermoto]

I agree and would add that customs and racegun should run 100% when you get them.
The gun should always be functioned fired by the builder (200 rounds) to make sure everything works

 

[Dan S]

I agree and would add that customs and racegun should run 100% when you get them.
The gun should always be functioned fired by the builder (200 rounds) to make sure everything works

That's the way it should work, however not all smiths take the time.

 

[Lugnut]

My bets are still on:

-Loads not hot enough AND/OR need lighter recoil
-Rounds not passing gauge check

I'd like to see what a box of WWB does. Right now you really don't have a "baseline" to compare anything too. Do you need stock 10rnd mags to do any testing? If so let me know.

 

[Dan S]

That and bad reloads- some with lead wadcutters... 1911s run best with good ball ammo the way John Moses Browning wanted it to be.

If a 1911 runs with ball, it should run with 200 SWC's. The H&G 68 style bullet was designed to feed as a round nose does, it justs cuts a nice clean hole.

 

[Dan S]

My bets are still on:

-Loads not hot enough AND/OR need lighter recoil
-Rounds not passing gauge check

I'd like to see what a box of WWB does. Right now you really don't have a "baseline" to compare anything too. Do you need stock 10rnd mags to do any testing? If so let me know.

My 9L worked fine with Winchseter White Box from the first pull of the trigger. I think the reloads were too soft.

 

[Underwhere]

B

My bets are still on:

-Loads not hot enough AND/OR need lighter recoil
-Rounds not passing gauge check

I'd like to see what a box of WWB does. Right now you really don't have a "baseline" to compare anything too. Do you need stock 10rnd mags to do any testing? If so let me know.

Yea I may go out and buy some but still...that ammo has always worked without issue in all my 9mm and everyone elses who has used it.

As far as mags go I may take you up on that. Mine still haven't come in.

 

[Gammon]

My 9L worked fine with Winchseter White Box from the first pull of the trigger. I think the reloads were too soft.

Where did you get your hands on a 9L?

 

[Gammon]

I really want to know where the first design for a semi-automatic pistol came from that requires "breaking in" to function properly... I've never had this experience and I'm not a new shooter. I've owned over a dozen different semi-autos and have never encountered this mysterious "break-in period". It seems to me that a gun - especially a gun, should function properly out of the box. Remove gun from box, clean and inspect, load, aim, fire, rinse, lather, repeat....Have we just become conditioned to accepting this? I can see if it's a custom built 1911 or a race gun with custom parts, but every time I read a "you need to let it break in for a few hundred rounds", I can't help to scratch my head...My scalp is becoming irritated and flaky....

Design is not the problem, tolerances are. Many guns that are reliable right out of the box are loose to start with. The problem is that with use they become even more loose and accuracy suffers. A tight gun that needs a break in period will usually be a little more accurate after the break in period. Many gunsmiths warn their customers that their guns need to be broken in and I see no problem with this. What's the big deal? A few practice sessions and the gun is broken and you are more familiar with the gun. Anyone who expects a new gun to function flawlessly out of the box is asking for trouble.

 

[Dench]

Anyone who expects a new gun to function flawlessly out of the box is asking for trouble.

There are countless guns that run flawless out of the box. .22 LR pistols, however, are the biggest offender in the "need to break in to work right" category.

 

[Underwhere]

Good news tonight.

I went back to the range with some friends of mine.
Both of them are LEO who were issued new M&P45's.

After cutting 8 coils off of my recoil spring (yes I know that is a crazy number) the slide feels like my Glock 34's 13 pound spring.

Running 2 types of my reloads I experienced NO failures.
One type is designed to run pretty close to WWB and the other is an IDPA fluff load.

When I handed the gun to an experienced shooter I watched as every shot ended with the slide not going into battery and having to push the rear of the slide forward after every shot. I think it was a grip issue for him. I'm not too concerned for myself...but I may just polish the rails tomorrow to allow the slide some easier movement.

Here is a pic of a group shot free hand and at a pretty good pace at 30 feet. I think it must have been 30-50 rounds.
I put the gun on a bench and fired a few rounds to confirm it was indeed hitting right. Just to make sure I put my Glock 34 on the bench as well and was hitting POA on the target at 30 feet.

And here is a picture of the front site.
An NES member graciously offered to lend me a sight tool so I am taking advantage of that to fix this thing.

On a side note 1 of the LEO friends looked at his front sight and noticed he had the same problem that I did. His front site was drifted significantly off to the right and he thought his POI being left was a problem with him as a shooter. I may have to use this sight tool on his gun as well.

I guess S&W has an front sight assembly worked with a lazy eye?

Did they even test fire this gun?

 

[Lugnut]

Glad you kind of figured it out. Man that front sight would piss me off! That group is way of at 30 feet... you'd miss a bunch at 20 yds! I'm not a fan of clipping springs but as a temporary thing I guess it proves a point...

Most factoy guns run properly with "real" loads.

 

[Supermoto]

The problem with cutting so much of the recoil spring is that it will be easy for the striker spring to pull the gun out of battery

 

[Underwhere]

Glad you kind of figured it out. Man that front sight would piss me off! That group is way of at 30 feet... you'd miss a bunch at 20 yds! I'm not a fan of clipping springs but as a temporary thing I guess it proves a point...

Most factoy guns run properly with "real" loads.

Yeah the front sight bothers me but that's adjustable. It's inconvenient and probably should have been done better but whatever. What's done is done. I just want it right.

The problem with cutting so much of the recoil spring is that it will be easy for the striker spring to pull the gun out of battery

It's somewhat of a tradeoff isn't it? If I left the spring as-is then I'd just short cycle every shot.

If I cut the spring then I risk having the gun not going into battery.

From what I've read on the MP forums, when you press check it's common for the gun not go into battery. I think it's the way the barrel hood is designed. There's a lot of resistance between the hood and the front of ejection port.

 

[Supermoto]

I think its better to have the right size and weight spring then to cut a spring that now might not have the correct weight through its full range

 

[Underwhere]

I think its better to have the right size and weight spring then to cut a spring that now might not have the correct weight through its full range

I cut it as a test. S&W has a new recoil assembly in the mail for me.

I was going to range anyway so I figured I'd see whether reducing the spring weight would fix my original issue.

 

[eisenhow]

From what I've read on the MP forums, when you press check it's common for the gun not go into battery. I think it's the way the barrel hood is designed. There's a lot of resistance between the hood and the front of ejection port.

I've never had an issue with that on my M&P. I press check every time I load it. It always goes bang.

 

[Underwhere]

I've never had an issue with that on my M&P. I press check every time I load it. It always goes bang.

I think Jar mentioned (if I remember correctly) his M&P9c does the same thing. (fails to go all the way forward when press checking)

 

[jar]

I've never had an issue with that on my M&P. I press check every time I load it. It always goes bang.

My compact does it when topped up to 10+1. The extra friction of the 10th round pushing up is just enough drag on the slide.

 

[meth0d]

What's a "press check"? I can test it with my M&P40 for comparison, if I know what it is, haha.

 

[jar]

What's a "press check"? I can test it with my M&P40 for comparison, if I know what it is, haha.

Retracting the slide far enough to check the chamber and letting it go.

 

[meth0d]

Ohh okay, I'll try it out after work (done at 8).

 

[Gammon]

I cut it as a test. S&W has a new recoil assembly in the mail for me.

I was going to range anyway so I figured I'd see whether reducing the spring weight would fix my original issue.

Cutting coils is a bad idea as the spring is designed to work with all of its coils intact. A new assembly may not cure anything as the 16 lb stock spring may be too much for the ammo you are using. You need a variety of springs of lower power than stock to work with. Brownells of Wolff have just what you need.

 

[vellnueve]

I don't know what's wrong with your gun, but I've put about 2000 rounds straight through each of my M&Ps without any cleaning whatsoever, and I haven't had any failures of any sort in that time. YM obiously MV.

 

[Jose]

I've never had an issue with that on my M&P. I press check every time I load it. It always goes bang.

Same here with both of mine

 

[NBPD3682]

It IS possible that the wrong recoil spring got used to build your M&P.

Mistakes like that happen to all manufacturers, even Honda. Ask me how I know.....

Send it back. S&W will make it right, guaranteed.

De, my recoil spring has blue paint on the front end of it, I assume this is some kind of code for the spring weight, is yours blue also?