Just acquired an M&P .40c
When the magazine has 10 rds in it, I have to press fairly hard with force (as in take my hand off the grip and press the top of the gun down) to get it to load into the firearm. With 9 or less it goes in pretty easily. Normal? Or is there something wrong?

Normal. The amount of force put out by a spring is directly related to how much it is compressed. That last round really pushes up against the bottom of the slide when full. If you're having difficulty seating the magazine, lock back the slide first, load magazine, then release the slide. This is my preferred way to load my 23 round Glock magazines and 52 round AR competition mags. That way I can be certain the magazine is seated properly.

[This message has been edited by lexofer (edited 8/21/2012 5:00p).]

Each round in that goes in the mag the spring needs more pressure to compress it

Yeahhh, springs can be tricky...

Never had this issue with any other firearm that's why I was wondering

Some are worse than others...learn to slam the base of the mag with the palm of your hand very hard while doing a reload.

Most folks are way to gentle with their handguns like they think they are going to break them...

The spring may be catching a little on something...perhaps some design issue for when they make cali-mags on the same production line? But it should get progressively harder. I bought a load assister for my PT92. You clip in the mag and it has this little spring loaded lever you push with your thumb that presses down on the top cartridge in the mag enough for you to slide in the next one effortlessly. Makes loading a lot easier.

I think he's saying that a mag with 10 rounds doesn't go into the mag well as easily as a mag with 9 rounds.

Not that the 10th round is harder to get INTO the mag.

I've never had that issue. But I don't own a M&P. It probably means that there is some distortion in the mag that is increasing its width. If that is par for the course with M&P mags, I would say that is poor engineering.

Did you just get one magazine? If not then do all do that

quote:

---

Some are worse than others...learn to slam the base of the mag with the palm of your hand very hard while doing a reload.

Most folks are way to gentle with their handguns like they think they are going to break them...

---

This. If your slide is really loose and you slam the mag hard enough, you can also cause the slide stop to disengage and load the round. It makes for some really fast reloads.

I have that issue with my glock. It's the same reason as to why the last round is so hard to load in the magazine. The top bullet in the magazine is pressed up against the bottom of the slide. You shouldnt have the same issue if loading with the slide locked back.

OP-
sounds like something was not forged/cast/engineered properly.

If 10 rounds is full capacity, it should not be the difficult to load into the gun.

I would contact S&W immediately.

most of the other posters are misunderstanding the issue.

it is hard to insert the mag into the gun with a full 10 rounds.

He's not talking about loading ammo into the mag.

It will loosen up as you shoot it.

quote:

---

most of the other posters are misunderstanding the issue.

it is hard to insert the mag into the gun with a full 10 rounds.

He's not talking about loading ammo into the mag.

---

Wasn't there a discussion about reading comprehension on another thread the other day?

OK, that makes more sense. I would say with 9 rounds, there is room for the cartridge at the top of the magazine to "push down" a hair if it is hitting the bottom of the action. With 10 rounds, there is probably a lot less give, so if there is any interference in the fit, it is much harder to press it all the way in.

Try pressing down on the top cartridge in the mag with 9 or with 10 rounds in it and see if it is a substantial difference in pressure.

Also, you could mark the top of the top cartridge with a bit of chalk and load and unload the magazine, then use a light to look up inside the magazine well and see if it transferred to anything above it.

All of my M&P mags (9) have had very stiff springs when new. They broke in pretty quickly with usage, and keeping loaded to capacity. The short mags in the compact pistols are especially stiff, because they use he same springs as the 17 round full size mags. And yes, since they are so stiff, they are harder to seat into the pistol when fully loaded.

quote:

---

I have that issue with my glock. It's the same reason as to why the last round is so hard to load in the magazine. The top bullet in the magazine is pressed up against the bottom of the slide. You shouldnt have the same issue if loading with the slide locked back.

---

This is the correct answer. Good Lord some of y'all are making this complicated.

Edit: Or what lexofer said. This thread was over with the first response.

[This message has been edited by AgEng06 (edited 8/21/2012 9:44p).]

When my Sig was new I almost could not load the last round it was so hard. After 15 plus years of use they slide in easily.