M&P9 Barrel Cracking 30-07-10.wmv

I was at the State Steel Challenge over the weekend of the 30th July on practice day, Friday. I had shot about 210 rounds from my M&P when it started to have misfires. This is peculiar as I have shot over 17 000 rounds with near zero incidents of FFE, FTF etc. I presumed it was dirty and did several stoppage reloads before I decided to clean it...
When I went to strip it down it was very hard to get the slide off. It was evident later because the barrel was effectively "bent" due to the barrel had began to crack.
Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred it just kept having misfires...

I have contacted the people at S&W and they have been very helpfull, but because I am in Australia I have to go through there reps here, Grycol. It's been a week now and I have just heard from them today 06-08-010 and will have to send the gun off for them to look at it.

UPDATE:

Well the people at Grycol (Australian S&W reps) have been absolutely amazing!!! I have a demo newish barrel, recoil spring and fire pin cover, along with an ultrasonic cleaning and oil. They have posted it back to me within three (3) weeks and I am VERY happy with their service. All of this was complementary, free, no charge!
Testing done on the barrel found no obvious signs of a squib, barrel bulge etc. Obviously liability is half way between not me and them. I am quite happy with the outcome. Date sent off, 11-Aug 2010, returned, 27-Aug-2010. Well done S&W and Grycol, two thumbs up.

30-08-10
First day out shooting with it and it's fantastic. It's more accurate than the old one by far. I could never group better than 125mm (5") but can now get the bullets inside 50mm (2") at a range of 5m! Very happy.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• shooting
• semi auto
• gun
• m & p
• m&p
• damaged
• 9mm range

[MascisMan1]

so the cracked barrel had about 17,200 rounds through it?

[243WW]

@MascisMan1

17 968 rounds.

[243WW]

UPDATE:

Well the people at Grycol (Australian S&W reps) have been absolutely amazing!!! I have a demo newish barrel, recoil spring and fire pin cover, along with an ultrasonic cleaning and oil. They have posted it back to me within three (3) weeks and I am VERY happy with their service. All of this was complementary, free, no charge!

Testing found no obvious signs of a squib, barrel bulge or blockage. Date sent, 11-Aug 2010, returned, 27-Aug-2010. Well done S&W and Grycol, two thumbs up.

[243WW]

desertmoon66

Thanks for the kind words. I am dealing with a S&W rep so lets hope that they have the same reputation.

[thanatosaurus]

As a fellow shooter, I'll say that that's quite an unsettling thing to see. Glad that you noticed the problem and didn't injure yourself. Most of the issues I see with the M&P are firing pin breakage during dry fire. Your case seems to be a fairly isolated one, so it might be good to let Smith & Wesson know right away. It's possible that a bad batch of barrels slipped through. They are known for excellent customer service, and they should take care of you.

[243WW]

@thanatosaurus

I have let them know and sent them pictures. They replied within the same day. Unfortunately I have to deal with the Australian reps, Grycol. I rand them after no reply for 3 days, saying that I was from out of state and could they call be back, (interstate calls are quite expensive) The guy laughed and said "you rang us..." I told him the story and he said "your the bloke with the cracked barrel, we'll get to that today". This is what we have to deal with... Any way, we'll see.

[RyeOnHam]

I'm going to call BS on this. Not that you can't run 17,200 rounds through a pistol but that you can run that many rounds through a pistol & not expect it to wear out or fail in some way. The US Army replaces barrels all the time on their M9 pistols.  Even well maintained, hammering on the inside of a barrel with 35,000 PSI that may times will fatigue the metal. It failed like it should, gradually. S&W stood by their product, but it isn't the fault of the pistol or shooter, just normal wear.

[desertmoon66]

I've dealt with Smith handguns since I was a kid. Every now and then I have had to use their customer service from help with restoration to fixing a frame on a 4506 ( my fault ) and in every instance, their customer service has been stellar.

I am betting that if the cracked barrel is the only damage to your weapon, you should be able to drop a new barrel and and keep on rockin'.

Good luck, Mate!!!

[243WW]

@0Weaver0

I think it is the second or third, 2007, MPP2###

[0Weaver0]

yikes. is this an early M&P?