Could anyone give me insight if S&W would replace my barrel?

[virginiatactical]

So earlier this year I shot out my barrel on my S&W M&P 9L. I was demonstrating for a course and I could not for the life of me hit an 8 inch round piece of steel at 25 yards. I shot at it three times and all misses. I thought maybe I was going crazy, and felt pretty embarrased. One of my students said " hey you want to try my gun?" I joked and said sure and "ding ding ding" with an M9. I immediatly went to my backup 9L and it was driving the shots well. After the course was over myself and the assistant instructor tried to figure out what was going on and could not find any issues. We inspected the gun thoroughly and he did hit the steel 1 out of 10. I decided it might be the barrel and I swapped out my stock barrel for an aftermarket barrel I have had for a while. the steel rang "ding ding ding". Upon inspection of the rifling in the barrel I saw what appeared to be a scratch in the barrel. Now I had at this point shot around 80-100K rounds through this barrel and I am sure it was just time to go, but I had never shot out a barrel before. Nearly all the other parts of the gun had broken, but the barrel, slide, and frame. (and some other small parts)

So my question would be ... do you think S&W would cover the repairs? Or has anyone else had a similar experience and they DID repair it for free? I spoke with a customer service representative and she told me that it might not be covered since I had put so many rounds through it and it was normal wear and tear. I was shooting 115gr Federal for the last 3-4k rounds through the gun when it decided to go out. Anyone have any insight if normal wear and tear might be covered under the warranty? Or should I just send it back and hope for the best? I read the warranty paperwork and I cannot find any verbiage on normal wear and tear. If the general consensus is no, then I would prefer not to send it away since the lady told me I would have to pay for the shipping back home and the $150 for a new barrel. I could replace the barrel for cheaper if that is the case.

[ToddG]

A small scratch like that in a pistol barrel shouldn't have a huge impact on accuracy, especially at just 25yd, unless it is literally tearing the jacket.

First thing I'd do, if you haven't already, is check the locking surfaces of the barrel to see if they are worn or damaged. Ditto the crown (though the crown isn't nearly as important for pistol shooting as some folks want to believe, a damaged crown is still bad).

Next I'd soak the barrel overnight in solvent. I usually use Shooter's Choice. Then perform a thorough cleaning as usual. I've seen that knock significant accuracy back into a heavily used barrel.

As for sending it back to S&W, I'd ask to speak to one of the gunsmiths directly and have a heart to heart. They should be able to tell you whether high round count by itself constitutes acceptable wear and tear when accuracy goes down the toilet. They don't need to look at the gun to determine whether "you shot it a lot" is a possible reason not to cover it under warranty. If that's even a possibility, I'd probably just buy a new barrel and go from there.

[virginiatactical]

A small scratch like that in a pistol barrel shouldn't have a huge impact on accuracy, especially at just 25yd, unless it is literally tearing the jacket.

First thing I'd do, if you haven't already, is check the locking surfaces of the barrel to see if they are worn or damaged. Ditto the crown (though the crown isn't nearly as important for pistol shooting as some folks want to believe, a damaged crown is still bad).

Next I'd soak the barrel overnight in solvent. I usually use Shooter's Choice. Then perform a thorough cleaning as usual. I've seen that knock significant accuracy back into a heavily used barrel.

As for sending it back to S&W, I'd ask to speak to one of the gunsmiths directly and have a heart to heart. They should be able to tell you whether high round count by itself constitutes acceptable wear and tear when accuracy goes down the toilet. They don't need to look at the gun to determine whether "you shot it a lot" is a possible reason not to cover it under warranty. If that's even a possibility, I'd probably just buy a new barrel and go from there.

Thank you for your response. I had checked the locking surfaces and the crown of the barrel and did not find any wear or damage. I will check it again though in case I missed something.

I will soak the barrel overnight in solvent (I use Slip 2000 Carbon Killer as solvent), and try out what you suggested to see if the accuracy comes back. The scratch must be having an effect on the jacket, but perhaps after the solvent suggestion it will not interfere.

I'll contact S&W later today and see if I can get on the horn with a gunsmith and see what they advise. I appreciate the advice.

[ToddG]

It's also very hard to judge a "scratch" in a 2D photo. FWIW, a number of my pistol barrels exhibit what I'd call scratches without affecting accuracy in any noticed way. I don't doubt that there could be severe enough damage to cause problems, and the closer the scratch is to the muzzle the more likely it is to interfere with the final stabilization of the bullet.

[virginiatactical]

It's also very hard to judge a "scratch" in a 2D photo. FWIW, a number of my pistol barrels exhibit what I'd call scratches without affecting accuracy in any noticed way. I don't doubt that there could be severe enough damage to cause problems, and the closer the scratch is to the muzzle the more likely it is to interfere with the final stabilization of the bullet.

Right on. The scratch is much deeper then it looks in that picture. Its also about 40% into the barrel and 60% away from the muzzle. Still have not spoken with S&W but I am about to get to that phone call now. Been a busy morning prepping for my July course this weekend. I got a buddy that used to work for S&W and hopefully he will shed some insight whether this could be covered in the warranty. He is a shooter and I am sure he has blown out some barrels in his time.

I'll run that solvent when I come home on monday and see if that helps. Thanks for the insights.

[SecondsCount]

A lot of people talk up S&W's excellent customer service but they would not replace the striker on my M&P40 when I broke it.

New drop-in S&W 9mm barrels are $65.78 from Brownells if you have an account with them.

I would be curious if you have broken any other items over the life of your M&P.

[virginiatactical]

A lot of people talk up S&W's excellent customer service but they would not replace the striker on my M&P40 when I broke it.

New drop-in S&W 9mm barrels are $65.78 from Brownells if you have an account with them.

I would be curious if you have broken any other items over the life of your M&P.

Thanks Seconds Count, but my M&P is a 9L so its a little bit longer then the M&P FS. I do have a brownells account, but usually give my money to Ken at speed shooter specialties. He has 9L barrels for $95 ($55 less then S&W would charge me). http://www.speedshooterspecialties.c...=Factory+Parts I do have a spare barrel (storm lake aftermarket one) and that is what is in the gun now.

I have broken or outlived the following during its life: (not counting routine maintenance replacement)

2 Strikers (both broke, gun would have light strikes and the 1st time I could not shoot my Frangible ammo at work ... was a real big pain in the ass)
2 Extractors (it came with a really bad one, but my buddy from S&W replaced it for me, then did it again later. I replaced it a 3rd time with an Apex Extractor I had to fit it a little, and its been great since)
1 Slide Stop Lever (the left side broke off when I used it to send the slide home at around 60Kish)
3 Recoil Springs (I switched to a non captured system and used to replace the unit every 5k rounds, but now I replace the spring only every time it gets 1/2 inch smaller then original (and if it comes to that within a year they replace it for you for free!) using an ISMI #15 recoil spring with a stainless steel guide rod. I had some issues when I first started shooting the gun, but when I went on a replacement schedule I didn't have the issue anymore. Switching to non captured saved me good $$)
5-10? Magazine Springs. I have no idea how many rounds my magazines feed (I wish I had kept track, but its too late). I just use a simple guide and at the end of my 1st year my magazines would not feed properly. I found out that my magazine springs where 70% the size of the brand new magazine springs. Once my springs go down to 80% I replace them now. Its recommended every 5 thousand rounds per magazine, but I just don't have a way to tell unless i get super OCD on those magazines.

I do NOT criticize the gun. At my former job in the Marine Corps we would break 1 or 2 M9s every week. (Our students would put 20k+ rounds through 12 guns in a period of 1 week and the same guns would go through that next week) Usually it was the locking block that broke. Any firearm that you put a shitload of rounds through are going to break. A very large majority of the rounds I put through my 9L were A363. Very hot ammo. About 2 years ago I started following the maintenance guide for my M&P and I don't have problems =). A weapon is a mechanical device, and last time I check I can't drive my car 100,000 miles without an oil change and maintenance.

I have sent the gun off for maintenance off in the past and had no issues .. but its probably been 2 years since I have done it.

[ranburr]

It looks like that barrel still has plenty of rifling left. That makes me think that the service life is not up. The scratch is the only issue that I can see in your photo. I have never heard of a 100,000 mile type warranty on a gun from any manufacturer. I don't think the round count is a warranty issue. I would just send the gun in with an explanation of the problem that you are having. They will either honor the warranty or thet won't. I am guessing they will. If they don't, I would have to ask after how many rounds do I need to throw away their guns?

[SecondsCount]

Thanks Seconds Count, but my M&P is a 9L so its a little bit longer then the M&P FS. I do have a brownells account, but usually give my money to Ken at speed shooter specialties. He has 9L barrels for $95 ($55 less then S&W would charge me). http://www.speedshooterspecialties.c...=Factory+Parts I do have a spare barrel (storm lake aftermarket one) and that is what is in the gun now.

Oops, I missed the "L" in your first post.

I have broken or outlived the following during its life: (not counting routine maintenance replacement)

2 Strikers (both broke, gun would have light strikes and the 1st time I could not shoot my Frangible ammo at work ... was a real big pain in the ass)
2 Extractors (it came with a really bad one, but my buddy from S&W replaced it for me, then did it again later. I replaced it a 3rd time with an Apex Extractor I had to fit it a little, and its been great since)
1 Slide Stop Lever (the left side broke off when I used it to send the slide home at around 60Kish)
3 Recoil Springs (I switched to a non captured system and used to replace the unit every 5k rounds, but now I replace the spring only every time it gets 1/2 inch smaller then original (and if it comes to that within a year they replace it for you for free!) using an ISMI #15 recoil spring with a stainless steel guide rod. I had some issues when I first started shooting the gun, but when I went on a replacement schedule I didn't have the issue anymore. Switching to non captured saved me good $$)
5-10? Magazine Springs. I have no idea how many rounds my magazines feed (I wish I had kept track, but its too late). I just use a simple guide and at the end of my 1st year my magazines would not feed properly. I found out that my magazine springs where 70% the size of the brand new magazine springs. Once my springs go down to 80% I replace them now. Its recommended every 5 thousand rounds per magazine, but I just don't have a way to tell unless i get super OCD on those magazines.

I do NOT criticize the gun. At my former job in the Marine Corps we would break 1 or 2 M9s every week. (Our students would put 20k+ rounds through 12 guns in a period of 1 week and the same guns would go through that next week) Usually it was the locking block that broke. Any firearm that you put a shitload of rounds through are going to break. A very large majority of the rounds I put through my 9L were A363. Very hot ammo. About 2 years ago I started following the maintenance guide for my M&P and I don't have problems =). A weapon is a mechanical device, and last time I check I can't drive my car 100,000 miles without an oil change and maintenance.

I have sent the gun off for maintenance off in the past and had no issues .. but its probably been 2 years since I have done it.

Thanks for posting the history. Every gun can break at one point or another but I like to hear what areas they hold up, and the areas that they don't.

[patrick sweeney]

I don't want to sound too harsh, but let me get this straight; you've pounded 80-100,000 rounds through a pistol. Even if you only fired dirt-cheap reloads, that is $6,000 to $7,500 in ammo costs at an absolute minimum. Factory ammo, even at government prices, means you've put something like $15,000+ worth of ammo through it.

The barrel is toast, from what you can tell. And you want to know if S&W will replace it, gratis?

Suck it up, man, and pay the $150 for a new barrel. If you're really keen on knowing what is going on in there, stop with the photos and speculation. Borrow a bore scope and get a real look at it.