M&P 9 feeding problem

Can anyone help? My firing pin broke off the old type striker, fitted the new type and went to the range. Rounds would not feed because the tip of the firing pin was still protruding and the base of the round jammed against it. If I rack the slide without a mag the sear holds the striker back and then it feeds perfectly. At first this worked and the gun functioned for about a hundred rounds so I thought it just needed running in. Then it started jamming as above all the time.I have looked at the way it works and it does hold on the sear but it seems to be retracting too late, not sure how it is supposed to reset in time to feed? Can anyone give me some tips, thanks.

Tip 1: Send to Smith & Wesson for warranty service. Firing pin stuck and protruding out of the breech face is a recipe for a slam fire.

thanks for your reply. The striker/firing pin is not stuck, it moves freely but just doesn't get pulled back into the slide early enough. I have checked the safety button and it holds as it should until the trigger is pulled. I wouldn't have tried firing it but that when the fault is there there is no way that a round can be fed. I am a Brit living in Germany which makes it a little more difficult to send it to S&W so I thought I would ask if anyone else knew of this problem. Thanks again.

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Originally Posted by HF

thanks for your reply. The striker/firing pin is not stuck, it moves freely but just doesn't get pulled back into the slide early enough. I have checked the safety button and it holds as it should until the trigger is pulled. I wouldn't have tried firing it but that when the fault is there there is no way that a round can be fed. I am a Brit living in Germany which makes it a little more difficult to send it to S&W so I thought I would ask if anyone else knew of this problem. Thanks again.

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I have had M&P's since they first became available and have not seen or heard of the type problem you are having. The fix for a broken striker is to simply put a new one in. The early versions did have a tendancy to break but I have not heard of a problem with the new version. Replacements that I have seen all came with new springs and plastic as an assembly. Do the ones available to you come as an assembly or just the bare striker? The plastic and springs are different on the new vs. old desigh. Did you by chance receive a new model and put the old spring-plastic hardware on it?

The striker gets pulled back when captured by the sear just before the slide moves forward. If the capture occurs the pin can not stick out as the slide moves forward unless the striker is broken. One of the springs should prevent it sticking out if the sear does not capture it.

When you say "Fitted the Striker" are you saying you adjusted it in some way or simply installed it?

What I would do:

1. Remove the striker
2. Clean the striker channel thouroughly of any debri grease or oil.
3. Inspect the plastic liner for any burrs that might impede striker motion.
4. Make certain the striker assembly is assembled correctly and has no burrs.. There are two springs that have to be in their correct position within the plastic elements.

Have you had the rear sight off and if so are you quite certain the spring and disk associated with the drop safety plunger is in correctly?

If you don't find the problem after the above take it to a gunsmith.

Good luck.

PS: M&P45 Strikers are different than 9,40,357 units. If memory serves, they are longer. Is there any possibility you have the wrong striker?

Hello TOF,
I just replaced the striker with the new type and it is the correct one, I have compared measurements and apart from the heel that engaes on the sear being ever so slightly shorter it is the same. I can't measure the length of the firing pin tip as the old one broke off. I bought the gun as almost new and it was having problems igniting factory ammo from the start so I got in touch with S&W who kindly sent me a complete new style striker to friends in CA. Two weeks before going there the old one broke on the range so I ordered a second one as a spare from shooting specialties who are very quick and so I could bring both back home with me.Everything seems to be as it should be , the sear does engage and draw the striker back into the slide but too late although I cannot see how it could do it any earlier. I have cleaned everything spotlessly as you said although again after reading all the posts on various forums I had already done that, I did find one thread where someone had the same thing happening but it din't end by saying what the fix was. Could you do me a favour and look inside your slide to see when the firing pin goes back into your slide, mine goes back after it gets to 0.175 inch between the back of the hood and the breach face. The round is already up against the firing pin before this point I also considered if the second small spring at the back of the striker was supposed to reset it but is so weak that I don't think it could possibly overcome the striker spring which is also much stronger on the new ones, I am still not certain how the reset is supposed to happen?
Sorry to be so lengthy and many thanks for your help,
best regards,
Howard.

When hand cycling my slide after pulling the trigger the striker is never visible. My vision is inadequate to observe the striker when the gun is fired as I believe you will find to be true also.

The rear of the cartridge case does not get even close to the striker hole until the slide has scooped it forward 3/8 to 1/2 inch or more by which time the springs should have it under control.

In my opinion either the springs are defective, installed wrong or you have a burr or obstruction inhibeting striker motion. The only other remote possibility is a defective magazine allowing the rear of the cartridge to rise very early in the cycle.

You indicated the gun is second hand. Did the previous owner possibly alter it in some way?

I think I have the problem now, I found an exploded view on the internet and it looks like the striker channel liner is missing! Don't know why, maybe the first owner lost it? I have also learnt that that second small spring is the one that is supposed to reset the striker to behind the safety button, I never would have thought it was strong enough to do that! Probably when I put the liner in it will free it up enough to function properly. That is the one good thing about having problems, you get to find out how things work.
Thanks a lot TOF, I appreciate your help, are you anywhere near to CO? I visit my good friends in Denver once a year if possible and shoot as much IPSC as possible, don't have many outdoor ranges here ,
best regards,
Howard.

I can envision your problem without a channel liner. That is one I hadn't thought of. I did think you might have some damage of the liner or other plastic causing drag on the striker.

We are around 150-200 miles from Colorado's southern border. I am surrounded by a few million acres of outdoors firing range and use it frequently. I sent around 100 .223's down range earlier today and some .45's yesterday about 5 miles from home. I have to drive 50 miles through the outdoor range to an IPSC shoot in the morning. :mrgreen:

Let us know it the new liner helps although I have no doubt it will.

Enjoy

Hi TOF,
I e-mailed a friend in CA and he has already ordered me the liner plus a spare so according to Murphy's law I should never need a second one :-)). It used to be that I could order things myself but nobody accepts non USA credit cards anymore. Same with American Express travellers cheques, not even banks will cash them now!!
Anyway, I will let you know what happens when the parts arrive,
best regards,
Howard
Ps really envious about your outdoor range. How did the match go? I trained with my 625 revolver yesterday, lots of fun too. If you want to you can contact me at sandparty@gmail.com

Hi Howard,

I expect one liner will do you for a lifetime unless you get real rough with that pistol.
I managed to place 10 out of 27 overall and first in Limited 10, so am feeling good about it.
Do you have a spare striker in case the one you have been using without a liner has been damaged by the lockups you experienced?

I am curious how difficult is it to own and use firearms in Germany. You might fill us in on the life of a Gun Nut in Germany when you have the time.

Enjoy

tumbleweed

Hi TOF,

I have a second striker so I should be alright at least until I get to Denver in September:-)), still hope I won't need another one of course but as I said Speed shooting specialties give good delivery on S&W bits.
Shooting over here is a lot more difficult than in the States, unless you live in Washington ( had trouble both times I came through there! ) or somewhere like NY City !
To get a sports shooters firearms permit you need to be a provisional member of a shooting club for a year and they have to be affiliated to one of the national associations. After the year if the club accepts you you can then apply for the permit which takes a while for the police to process and also the fee is not cheap! When you eventually get your licence you can then purchase your first gun but only for sporting purposes and it has to be securely locked away as does the ammo except when you are taking them directly to the range and back still under lock and key. In theory you can use a gun in self defence if you are in a life threatening situation but in practice it would be impossible to get them out in time, also you would probably end up paying the poor thug compensation or worse!
I told you I was so envious about your rather large outdoor shooting area. Well the reason is that even if there was such an area in Europe it would be a serious crime to discharge a firearm there, even if there was absolutely no danger to anyone! The only places we can shoot are on certified ranges and there are not too many of them and certainly very few outdoor ranges. You can get a hunting licence if you have lots of money to pay for the course which takes about a year long and afterwards you have to find a place where you can pay to hunt ( lots more cash ) and after all that the meat doesn't even belong to you! An extremely expensive way to fire very few rounds outdoors :-))
I live right near to the Dutch and Belgian borders and do most of my shooting in Belgium, in a range just this side of Liege. It was originally built by FN in the ditch around a pre second war fort ( I think it held the Germans up for at least a few minutes ). Oh and I heard that FN are not too happy about S&W M&Ps being selected as the new Belgian police sidearm !
Well have to go now, hope my parts arrive soon and will let you know how it goes,
best regards,
Howard.
PS have you ever shot at the Whittington centre? There is a Whittington near to Chesterfield where I come from in England apparently there is the house still there where a revolution against the King was planned in 1680 I think it was !

I have been a bit over halfway around the earth but never been to a Whittington anywhere that I know of.

We can't take guns accross either of our borders without a great deal of bother. How do you manage that between Germany and Belgium?

I think I will make you envious again. My fishing and hunting license for the rest of my life is free. Arizona has what is called a Pioneer License that individuals having lived in the state for 25 consecutive years and age 70 or older receive a free permanent license for the asking.

I went to the open range again today to further test my new Mini 14. It is a blast (pun intended) to shoot. I have put around 500 rounds downrange over the past couple of weeks so it is about broken in. Now I have to work up a good load for it.

Enjoy

tumbleweed

Hi TOF,

well, I have had an eventfull week one way and another with doctors and dentist appointments but had a great Sunday, drove to see my son and his family as it was my grandson's fourth birthday. We had a bit of a Fryer family, German side, re-union. My ex and her husband ( we still have a good friendly relationship) along with my daughter and granddaughter were all there. Unfortunately my lady is in Ethiopia for a week training some people from a German aid association but she will be home tomorrow evening :-)) Weather was pretty good apart from a few showers so we could spend most of the time in the garden.
The good news is that the liner finally arrived an hour ago and it is in the gun, I can now see how it is supposed to work and in fact it is functioning properly now.I don't know how it worked so long with the old type striker and no liner? I have been shooting 1911s and Browning type pistols for the last 25 years and this is my first striker fired gun. As I said, the good thing about having this problem is that I now pretty much know all about this type now. I found a really interesting gunsmith video on the internet where he strips them down to the last pin and spring and then shows how to put them back together again.
Bet you are having lots of fun with that Ruger, will you be using it in conjunction with your lifelong hunting licence? Yep, I am envious again ;-))
When you say your two borders, I assume you mean Canada and Mexico? Here in Europe we need a firearms licence ( Difficult to get as I explained previously ) to possess a gun and then only for sporting purposes at certified ranges, however the European Licence to go to other European states to take part in matches is then pretty much a formality and of course you have to pay about 120 dollars for it, renewable every 5 years. Here in Germany you also need a licence to buy powder. You have to take a two day course and a test before you can then be issued the licence to buy propellant, this of course costs quite a bit and the licence itself is about 130 dollars every five years!
You said you have been around the world a lot, did you ever get to the UK or Germany? I drove down from Denver to Las Vegas in 1994 along the Colorado river taking in the sights and did go through Arizona but only the little corner up by Kingman, When I asked about the Whittington Center I forgot that it is in New Mexico not Arizona, I meant the big NRA shooting center,
so, have to get ready for work, will let you know how it goes on the range, unfortunately I don't have a big one outside the door so I will have to wait till Sunday,
regards,
Howard.

I expect it will work well for you now that it is complete. I hope it serves you as well as my M&P's have for me.

tumbleweed

Hi TOF,

just to let you know, the M&P is running perfectly now. I must have put close to 500 rounds through it without a hitch. Thanks for your help,

best regards,
Howard.

That is good to hear Howard.
Enjoy it,
TOF

tumbleweed