Things I hate about the M&P 9c

[Levetti]

Overall I like the gun, but I have a few things that drive me crazy about it. If anyone has any input about fixing the issues I would appreciate it.

First, when shooting 115gr fmj the brass ejects directly into my forehead. I am constantly flinching after firing because I have to try to avoid hot brass hitting me in the head or falling down the collar of my shirt. On the 2 shot fired through it a piece of brass went in my shirt and got caught right above my belt, which did not feel good on my belly. Around the 300th round a hot casing landed right under my collar and burnt my collar bone area. Do I just need to shoot different ammo? Or is it an issue I should talk to S&W about?

Second, what the hell is the purpose of the mag disconnect? I F'ing hate that thing! Is there anyway to take it out without voiding the warranty? The only good thing about it is that there is no big white warning label down the side of the slide.

I was torn between the G19 and the 9c. I ended up getting the 9c because I like the trigger better, the grip was smaller, and it looks cooler. If I keep getting hit in the forehead however it might be in the marketplace really soon.

[tacticalcity]

I think the getting hit in the forehead thing is a shooter caused issue. Easiest way to find out is to get a firearms instructor to shoot a few magazines through it. If a trained shooter experiences the same problem it is the gun. If not, then it is you. I'm not insulting you - just passing on some information. I've seen a lot of new shooters, especially women for some reason, have the exact same issue with Glocks. I'm told it is their grip. New shooters do what feels right. And a proper grip and stance, is not something you come to naturally. It is learned. The hot brass to the face thing is not something I've personally experience, but I've seen it happen to a lot of new shooters in courses and watched instructors help them iron it. I was so focused on improving my own shooting abilities I didn't memorize what they were being told to do to correct it. But it all boiled down to getting the fundamentals right.

I agree a Magazine disconnect is a LOUSY idea. It can get you killed in a firefight. You've done your after action drills, you're toping off the gun by reloading, and just as you drop your mostly spent magazine a bad guy pops up from being a dumpster and takes a shot at you...and even though you see him you can't make use of the one round in the chamber to return fire. It is a liberal enforced safety measure for new guns to get listed on the California Safe Handgun roster. Don't like it - vote Republican!

The Glock trigger is actually night and day better in actual practice. Yes it feels crunchy. But it is lighter, and has a shorter rest. Two very important criteria in determining which is "best". What "feels good" is often a way to end up buying the exact opposite of what you want in a gun fight. That's why the common advice of "go to a gun shop and buy what feels good" is probably the absolute worst advice somebody can give. There are just so many more important criteria when buying a defensive handgun. Feeling so wonderful it might as well be sex is just not high on the list of priorities for an experienced shooter.

Honestly the solution to your issues in my opinion, or at least the first step in diagnosing them, is to take a professional defensive handgun course. If you master the fundamentals of grip, stance, etc that getting popped in the head thing will probably go away and you'll find good workable solutions to the presence of the magazine disconnect - unless it is a bad extractor. But I am a blame the shooter first and the gun second kinda guy. 99.99999999% of the time life proves that theory right.

M&Ps are a VERY well made gun. Vastly superior to most guns on the market in my opinion. They are striker fired, which I consider an exceptional design, and one of the best striker fired guns on the market. I personally prefer the Glock, but I wouldn't balk at an M&P is handed one. Odds are one will end up in my collection in the coming years. The Shield in particular looks appealing to me. So before you sell it at a loss - get a really skilled firearms instructor to give it a go. If they don't experience the same problem then you know you just need to take a course and get a nice solid foundation built up.

Again, not trying to insult you. It's just you're describing a problem most commonly attributed to people who don't have the fundamentals mastered so I have to assume that's the case.

Wow, in just one post I gave women, plinkers who think they are too good for a course, liberals, and Glock haters a reason to flame me. But I stand by my comments. You have a good gun. Best case you take a really fun shooting course, learn a ton, and problem goes away. Worst case you end up replacing an extractor. Sounds like a win to me.

[ruchik]

As Tacticalcity said, ask someone else to shoot it next time you're at the range. See if the same issue pops up. No one will say no to shooting a gun for free!

Removing the disconnect is very straightforward and easy. HOWEVER, you are removing a factory-installed safety mechanism. Although for all intents and purposes it makes no difference whether it's in there or not, it will not look good for you if you do ever use the gun defensively. Better believe in California someone will try to use that to their advantage. But if you will not be dissuaded, here's the guide.

[JohnAmo2011]

I enjoy my M&P9c. I had to make changes though, sights, apex parts, removed mag disconnect.

[Norcal Industries]

dont wear tank tops?

[GunHo]

I think it's the MP way of extracting the brass. My MP22 does the exact same thing. I learned the tolerate the burning pain because someone told me to man up. Lol... its sort of true

[bigbearbear]

Have someone take a video of when you're shooting. Then also take a picture of how you're gripping the gun. Everyone has a smartphone these days that can do this so it should be pretty easy to do.

Once you have those, it should be straight forward for the more experienced shooters here to let you know if it might be you or the gun.

It may not be you or the gun. Sometimes, if you're in a indoor range, the brass might hit the wall beside you, bounce and hit you on the head.

[ruchik]

Apex also makes an aftermarket extractor that may help if nothing else works.

[redcliff]

Brass kicked to the face by the slide is an ejection timing and/or ejection angle issue.

Factors that influence this are grip/wrist breaking, cartridge power to recoil spring weight, extractor tension and ejector length and nose angle among others, some of which have been noted by previous posters.

Some people think the cartridge is being directly ejected at their face, but in fact its the slide that's kicking the case backwards due to not clearing the ejection port in time as can be seen in this .gif of a 1911 doing it:


Now, before we continue I want to disclaim any personal experience with the remedies proposed below as it relates to M&P pistols; my experience is primarily with 1911's, HK's, HP's, etc. and I make no claims to any significant experience with M&P's. I'm merely relaying what I've read on the subject for you to consider.

Some people claim that leaving your magazine loaded for a week or two reduces the pressure it puts on the top cartridge in the magazine which may be "over supporting" the empty case during extraction thereby changing ejection angle.

Others claim that installing a 14lb Wolff Spring and Wolff recoil spring guide rod, both shortened by 3/4" for the 9c, has solved the problem for them. If you go with the Wolff setup your recoil spring will not be captive any longer which may or may not matter to you.

Apparently S&W may be slightly "over-springing" the 9mm versions by using the same 16 lb spring as used on the .40S&W and .357SIG variants.

[tonyxcom]

HOWEVER, you are removing a factory-installed safety mechanism. Although for all intents and purposes it makes no difference whether it's in there or not, it will not look good for you if you do ever use the gun defensively. Better believe in California someone will try to use that to their advantage.

I don't think that should be an issue if you shoot someone with a magazine in the gun. Further, if I shot someone in self-defense I will say so on the stand. Why would you want to create any doubt surrounding an accidental shooting?

So safety features of the gun become moot really quick when you say "Yes, I intended to shoot the deceased and I intended to shoot until he dropped".

[Sam]

Things I hate about the M&P 9c

Apex also makes an aftermarket extractor that may help if nothing else works.

None of my apex extractor guns threw brass at me and those ejected brass well and without incident.

[axhoaxho]

Some people think the cartridge is being directly ejected at their face, but in fact its the slide that's kicking the case backwards due to not clearing the ejection port in time as can be seen in this .gif of a 1911 doing it:

Thanks for the GIF, I never thought that it could be the slide that kicked the brass backward.

[pastureofmuppets]

Mine threw brass at me for the first couple of hundred rounds in exactly the manner the above GIF shows - I know that because of the brass mark on the lip of the ejection port. Now it doesn't happen at all.

Getting rid of the magazine disconnect not a great idea if it's a defensive handgun or could find itself used as such. If you end up in court and you have an attorney trying to show you were negligent, disconnecting a safety is not something you need being brought up.

Have someone else shoot it, but I would give it another 100 or so rounds before worrying.

BTW - compressing a spring does nothing to increase wear, Google it, engineers will explain it better than I can.

Short version... how low would you five year old car be?

What does wear a spring is repeated compression and decompression.

[Mr.Caketown]

What I hate about the M&P 9 C is that I dont have one

[tbc]

If you hate M&P 9c because of BTF, then you will hate the Glock much much more.

Compressing the recoil spring alone will not reduce its strenth but keep racking the slide everyday, it will.