About three years ago, I reported during the M&P9 endurance test that the right side of my slide stop lever broke off and that this was, in fact, a known issue with the M&P at the time. As a right hander it didn’t really phase me much since I never used that side of the lever anyway, and in fairness mine broke well past the time it was supposed to be replaced as part of regular maintenance (Smith hadn’t sent me a replacement yet for various reasons).
Today at Gun Nuts, Shelley Rae posted a video of the same breakage in her much more recent M&P9 … except apparently it was the left side (“right hand”) part of the lever. As you can see from this video, she takes barely a moment to assess the problem and come up with the solution to get the slide forward and keep going.
Kudos to Shelley, but after all these years this is really something that shouldn’t be happening anymore…
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
Is it believed to be a design flaw or inconsistent materials (QA)?
My M&P was an early 2010 gun, it broke on the left side too.
The M&P with all its problems is like the supermodel with a coke habit.
It’s awesome, and and has the potential to be the pinnacle of the plastic pistol paradigm, but it’ll beaver make it to the top because of stupid, inexcusable, easily fixed shit.
Never* not beaver.
Typing>me
@Josh: I may be in the market for a plastic 9, so I’m curious: what other issues have you experienced or heard of commonly happening with the M&P?
Remember what is said about fine motor skills in a gunfight, and consider using your off hand to pull back on the entire slide rather than your thumb to activate the slide STOP lever.
Monte, Mostly this: http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?1071-M-amp-P-9f-unlocking-issue.
Ryan that’s a fine motor skill too. Anything using your digits (pulling a trigger, dropping a magazine) is a fine motor skill. Walking, punching, backflips. Gross motor skills.
Ryan,
Is manipulating the trigger a “fine” motor skill?
If not-why not?
If so-why does it not degrade to the point that nobody ever can make their hits in a fight
What would be the “gross” motor substitute?
Monte, there are also other issues with the M&P, search the better (serous) forums and you’ll no doubt find the threads.
One issue I haven’t seen, at least in the 9mm guns, is a reliability problem, which is paramount for me. I can deal with a training gun that doesn’t shoot POA at distance with cheap ammo. I cannot deal with a gun that doesn’t make the loud noise when I press the trigger. My guns do that.
@Ryan http://box2263.temp.domains/~juliegol/pistoltraining/archives/160
I see she did not use the ninja kick….
Damn I wanted to be the first one to mention the fine motor control skills thing. shucks!
If anyone can find in the manual or the armorer’s manual where that part is listed as a ‘slide release’ vs. a ‘slide stop’ I’ll be happy to join in on the M&P bashing.
The part that makes the gun go off is the trigger, not the fire-switch. Many manuals refer to the part that retains the magazine in the gun as a the “magazine catch” yet we all agree it’s the part used to drop the magazine. So whether a company wants to call it the slide stop, slide catch, slide release, or anything else it’s clearly used — and intended to be used — to drop the slide should the user wish to run his gun that way.
The “Fine vs. Gross motor skills” argument has been beaten to death. I USED to be one of those that subscribed to that theory. Once I started to realize that under artificially induced stress (Shot timer, elevated heart rate, heat, sweat, etc.) I was whiffing more over-the-top grab manipulations, and slicing/injuring my support hand more than I ever did miss the slide stop/release lever to send the slide home. “Fine vs. Gross” is one of those gimmick theories that some instructors rely on that doesn’t hold true in-practice. And I couldn’t care less what the manual says.
RickP,
“If anyone can find in the manual or the armorer’s manual where that part is listed as a ‘slide release’ vs. a ‘slide stop’ I’ll be happy to join in on the M&P bashing.”
1) If it is merely a “stop” that is not intended to be used as a “release”, then why are there textured, easily-accessible external levers on both sides?
2) It makes one sound kinda fanboi-ish to regard any criticism of a firearm as “bashing”. I carry an M&P. This news doesn’t make me want to plug my ears and say “Lalalalalalalala! Lies! You’r just bashing!”
I remember when some Glock guys used to argue that the Glock’s slide release was also never intended as such and prolonged use of it for that purpose would lead to various terriable things wearing out the stop and the notch in the slide etc.
Nice try Tam, but you didn’t answer the question.
The texture “might” just aid in applying the stop when locking the slide back whether for disassembling the gun or double feed clearance.
“So whether a company wants to call it the slide stop, slide catch, slide release, or anything else it’s clearly used — and intended to be used — to drop the slide should the user wish to run his gun that way.”
I tend to disagree. Todd, you have waaaaaaaaaaaay more experience in this than I do but unless you work for a gun manufacturer, I don’t understand how you can make this assumption.
In one of my various training classes by a high profile training group, it was indicated that the only gun that has a “slide release” spelled out is the Sig. So if the user applies the function to a part in a method in which it isn’t intended, even if the user decides to do so on his own, how can the manufacturer be blamed?
RickP — I’ve worked for both Beretta and SIG and can say absolutely that both companies expected the lever to be used to drop the slide. My work with Smith on the M&P test and HK on the P30/HK45 tests leads me to a similar position about their expectations. Glock makes an extended slide stop specifically for people who want to use it to drop the slide and in fact includes that part on their competition model guns.
Again, it’s not a matter of what it’s called. Look in those manufacturers’ manuals and you’ll see that most of them expressly indicate that the slide catch/stop/whatever can be used to send the slide forward to load the pistol.
RickP,
“The texture “might” just aid in applying the stop when locking the slide back whether for disassembling the gun or double feed clearance.”
Dude, that is stretching, and you know it.
I cannot believe I did this to win an argument on the internet, but I went up to the attic and found my M&P owner’s manual.
If you will get yours out and turn to the bottom of P.14, you will see in the instructions for loading the pistol: “press down on the slide stop to release the slide“. Does this answer the question?
The very first group of M&P’s, MPAXXXX Sn Series, were produced with a significantly flatter thumb pad on the Slide Stop/Release than current production. It was near impossible for me to use it as a release. S&W reconfigured the part to provide a much better surface for use as a release. I replaced the one on my M&P40 Sn MPA9XXX with the revised part to improve release function.
If S&W did not intend it to be used as a release they would not have redesigned it.