I was about to pick up a full size M&P9, in VTAC form. Courtesy of this forum, I had heard of mags not dropping freely. The two mags that it came with were fine, one of my fullsize mags was ok, but alas, the 2nd mag I owned/brought in did not drop free.
My guess is that this is a newer production pistol, because it recently arrived at the LGS.
So, bottom line, if you are looking at a VTAC M&P9, take a few mags and check for dropping free, it might save you some time and warranty “fun” with S&W. And thank you M4carbine for being a resource to learn about these types of problems.
My M&P doesn’t always drop free, however the issue is my grip. My middle finger does not allow the mag release to fully depress without me changing my grip. I’m considering swapping it out for the Costa Catalyst which is slightly extended and should assist
Interesting point Wahoo. The one I was looking at seemed to stop about an inch out of “battery” or fully seated. It had the problem both with the magazine full or empty. Hopefully the release helps you out!
I bought my VTAC last year. It came with three mags, all dropped free just fine. I purchased an addition six factory mags last year, those all drop free as advertised, even after painting the bottom 1/3 of each mag and the base plate. This year I bought a M&P .40 S&W slide assembly from a member here and additional six .40 magazines, I painted the bottom 1/3 of these magazines and baseplates as I did the 9mm magazines. I have had no issues with any of these magazines either. The pistol functions fine with either slide assembly, in either caliber. I have not experienced any malfunctions with the pistol. Accuracy is on par with any other service pistol I have either owned or have been issued. The only issue I have had is early on the front hi-vis tube backed out. I repaired this myself for less than $10.00 and the problem has not repeated itself. I have approximately 3,000 rounds through the pistol, probably close to 1/3 .40, and 2/3 9mm.
I was dry firing last night and was practicing reloads on empty mags. At first I thought it was the mag or the gun that was hanging up one or two of my mags. Then I noticed that I wasn’t hitting the mag release as far/deep as I should have that casued the hang up. I’m taking a 3 day pistol course this weekend and I hope to see if repetitions will cure it. Right now I think its a software issue, not the hardware.
My VTAC 9 bought last year drops all of the magazines I’ve used in it just fine (probably at least 8 or so different ones). Now it does eject the brass straight back at me; breaking my concentration on followup shots by bouncing casings of my forehead or burning my arms…but the mags are never a problem.
I posted this on another thread here regarding the mags not dropping free in my VTAC 9mm. All three mags that came with my gun are all different widths that can cause issues.
Last year I posted about this problem with a VTAC M&P9 that was being sold at Shooter’s Express in Belmont, NC. This pistol would not drop free any of the supplied magazines. I pointed it out to the store owner as a deficiency with the pistol - he did not seem to care.
About 3 months later, I purchased a different VTAC M&P9 from Hyatt Guns in Charlotte. I was careful to inspect all of the supplied mags and even brought a few of my own for testing prior to finalizing the sale.
I had the same issue running my VTAC through an ISPC match this weekend, I think I wasn’t pressing the mag release down as well as I was during class though. I will probably give the costa catalyst a try and see if that makes any difference
Hyatt is very simple to deal with - simply show them where you can find it for less and they will cut the price. I paid $609 for my VTAC 9mm instead of the sticker which was $709. Most of their Gen3 Glocks can be had for $509-525 if you drive for a bargain which is not too bad for a gun store (I understand the military / LEO is less). Most people do not seem to know this a get taken to the cleaners.
Just finished a 3 day pistol course today using my 9mm VTAC. All my mags dropped free. The sights though don’t work for me. The pistol shoots high and left. Confirmed by multiple shooters and instructors at 25 yards prone. So I think I may ditch the VTAC sights and get some blacked out Heine’s.
Interesting. Mine is dead on, but for some reason I was shooting way up and to the left at 25 yd line. I figured it was just me. At 15 yds I am more than fine. I don’t feel like it is a sight issue it must be the barrel. I will try to confirm from shooting at a supported position at 5 yard increments.
Even at 15 yards and under you could tell there was a up and to the left tendency. I wish I would have taken a pic of my target at the end of class. 600 or so rounds formed a up and to the left pattern. The windage we can fix, but the elevation not so much.
are you convinced this is a sight issue or is it barrel related? I am having a hard time believing it is a sight issue considering how well they work before getting out to 25yds
Even at 3-5 yards there is a average of shots high left. Just very subtle. As you move farther out it just increases. At 3 yards firing 3 rounds into the same hole where my point of aim was on head, I’d hit high and left consistently by just a half inch if that. Moving back to 25 yards prone aiming center chest firing 5 rounds (3 seperate times), I was hitting to the left of the head.
My groups throughout class were in the fist sized range. So the barrel groups well when you do your part.
The thing is that the VTAC sights are alreay high, meaning that getting a taller sight may be out of the question. That reasoning may make it a barrel issue.
I might try and get Grant from g&r tactical’s thoughts on this, if it really is a barrel issue then it might be time to get on his list for fitted barrels.
I wouldn’t dump it, especially since it sounds like you got a good one. not all m&ps are affected. I’ve got 2 full sized 2012 made m&ps and a Compact that have no accuracy issues.
I haven’t found another striker fired handgun that has the reliability, ergonomics, light recoil impulse, and price that can match the m&p
