I was about to leave my house today and before I holstered my M&P9 I performed a quick press check. Upon locking into battery, I noticed a strange feel/noise that came from the weapon. I slowly pulled the slide back (mag still inserted) until the chambered round ejected. Once the round ejected I found that the projectile and the case of the top cartridge in the magazine were separated. The powder from the cartridge found its way into lots of little nooks and crannies and made an absolute mess. Much of the powder had settled around the muzzle-end of the barrel inside the slide, suggesting that I had carried the weapon like this at least once :eek:. Scary stuff. Ammo was Speer Gold Dot 115 gr. +p+. I contacted Speer and explained the problem to a representative. He looked up the lot number for my particular ammo and found 0 reports of problems with that lot (late 2009 manufacture). He explained that I could ship the problem round with the rest of the ammo from that box to them for inspection. I don’t think I’ll do that. I asked for their COL measurement and tolerances for that loading so that I can measure all of mine, and if they all pass then I guess they will be okay. The rep didn’t really have any explanation as to what could have happened. Any ideas here? Also, I still need to clean this mess up. I was thinking of using some CLP Powder blast to blow it out, but would that cause any powder to get anywhere where it shouldn’t be? (ie. striker channel maybe?). What would you do?
I’ve had that happen with a reloaded round that wasn’t fully seated. When the slide closed, the round hit the threads and prevented it from going fully into battery. I racked the slide and the shell popped out leaving the round stuck in the barrel and I had to knock it out with a cleaning rod.
I am concerned about blowing powder into a critical mechanism and causing malfunctions. I carry this weapon every day and would like to be able to have faith in it. Do you think a good cleaning and 50-100 trouble-free rounds through it would be sufficient?
Wow, thats a new one on me. The barrel and slide are easy enough to clean. The frame might be a little tougher. If you have anyone nearby that has a sonic cleaner that might be the ticket to cleaning the frame. Other than that you might just have to learn how to detail strip the frame and get it all cleaned up.
I would treat it the same way I would treat dropping my gun in mud or sand. You can either clean it, or send it to S&W and have them clean it. Either way it’s gotta get cleaned.
yep I agree hit it with a air compressor use the needle tip. Take as much of the guts out you can blast it then re lube.
If you think this has happend nefor with the same ammo then, if it were me there is no way in hell I would trust my life with it. Although speer gd is great ammo I would switch even if its just to a new(er) box.
If you really want to play it safe, have someone who takes liability for any potential damage clean it in case something bad happens. Personally I would brush and wipe away as much of the powder in an initial clean up making sure to brush/wipe away from various mechanisms then use compressed air to blow through internals and clear out any in tight places as best as possible. After cleared as best as possible then put some rounds through it.
Should be just fine, not like each granule is a small HE charge.
Well, I hit it with some of that Breakfree powderblast. That wasn’t a good idea. It sort of melted the powder and turned it this white chalky color as well as making it hard to brush off. It sort of made the powder stick to the parts it was on. I got all of the visible stuff off of the gun and will be shooting a few rounds through it tomorrow. If it functions I may just leave it. But a detail strip may also be a consideration. I sort of know what I’m doing in the frame because I installed an APEX DCAEK, but I had a smith push the rear sight off because I don’t know anyone else with a sight pusher.
All kidding aside, just clean it the best you can and find a new carry load.