Some handguns can be picky eaters, feed them what they like. If they won't eat anything on the menu don't allow them to stay in your home.
I'd like some input from any SW40C owners and the bullet types used. (RHT, FMJ or TMJ).
I have been trying to use the Federal brand RHT with terrible results. The round will jam every 2 to 3 shots with the nose of bullet catching at the base of the feed ramp.
I have polished the ramp in hope that the bullet would side more easily up the ramp but with no luck.
So before give up on the RHT or start replacing the recoil spring or clip I'd be interested in knowing if anyone else may be having similar issues.
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Some handguns can be picky eaters, feed them what they like. If they won't eat anything on the menu don't allow them to stay in your home.
Do you mean M&P40C? I've never heard of M&P's being ammo sensitive. I have a 9 and it runs on anything including cheap crap. That gun itself may have issues.
ya man what model S&W are you talking about? that would help alot, i have a M&P .40 and it works with everything i can feed it, not a picky gun....
Just for laughs I grabbed my gun and checked it out. Even with HST's the rounds dont come close to the bottom of the feed ramp. Tey hit it maybe 1/2 way up or so. They would have to nose-dive even with the massive hole in the end of these. Do you have more than one mag? Even with an empty mag in the feed ram is much too low to catch there...maybe you have a faulty mag that is seating too low?
This pistol is part of the Sigma line - Model SW40C and don't believe they produce this particular model any longer. Steel slide and barrel, polymer grip.
To ARV's reply: It does act like clip not seating properly or the clip / spring tension to weak to feed the round quick enough before slide returns. I have tried multiple clips and manufactures of ammo with the same results.
Saying that...the bullet does not catch (nose-dive) at the base of the feed ramp but appears to be catching on the ramp itself. So I went through the exercise of polishing the ramp.
I can chamber the round by pulling the slide back and releasing it - which may point to the recoil spring.
Can anyone answer to frequency of needing to replace their recoil spring ?
Glock recommends changing recoil springs between 5,000 and 10,000 rounds. That being said, many handgun owners have never changed their recoil spring.
*Is your feed issue is one type of cartridge or all makes with a similar bullet shape. *Have you noticed this problem in the past and have you used this ammunition in the past?
You may be able to test your recoil spring by doing the following: remove the magazine, unload your handgun, verify the chamber is empty, point the handgun upward in a safe direction, pull the slide to the rear and hold it back, now slowly allow the slide to run forward while maintaining enough pressure to ease it ahead, if the slide does not return completely your spring "may" be weak. Springs wear our from metal fatigue, metal fatigue is the result of the tension and release cycle, not old age. The same thing goes for your magazine springs; it is use, not being kept compressed, that wears out your spring.
If you have fired this handgun alot you may want to go ahead and change the spring, recoil springs are cheap. If you use this handgun as a carry weapon it needs to be reliable.
I did do a little digging on the SW40C - S&W only made this model from 1995-1998.
'When Smith & Wesson introduced their Sigma Series pistol in the mid 1990s, Glock filed suit immediately – and lost. This Sigma Smith & Wesson model SW40C enjoyed a brief and very successful production run from 1995 to 1998, after which it was replaced by the SW40E and subsequent variants. On this series, Smith & Wesson has changed letter suffixes in the model, similar to the way they change numbered model suffixes in their revolvers and traditional automatics. The SW40C is very similar to the Glock in operation and disassembly / reassembly – a very simple, economical, well made pistol that has served honest conservative Peace Officers and Civilians alike'
It came to me through a family member so I cannot say how many rounds have been run through it. The feed issue has been with the bullet shape, the bullet with the 'flatter/stubbed' nose as opposed to the 'cone /rounded' nose.
I did 'test' the recoil as shermris suggested and the slide return completely without issue.