R-Gun Pete wrote:
Hi Ozzie21.
I own a M&P 40 that I ordered in September 2018. The last time I used it, the pistol was working fine.
Because I have a large collection it was not used very often and I had only maybe between 5 and 10 CO2 cartridges through it which is less than some of you.
After your post I was a bit curious and I decided to field strip it. At first I had a bit of problem (the slide didn't want to come out) until I watched a YouTube video, then I was able to remove the slide.
Effectively my metal strip looked like yours. The front was lifting a bit and there were some wrinkles at the back. I smoothed it up with my finger and the front part flattened but I could see that the glue underneath the thin sheet of metal is not even and there are some air bubbles.
Attachment:
M&P 40 Metal Shield in Slide.JPG
I will test it tomorrow to see if it will start acting up.
For the mag issue when loading BBs, I made a small metal wire hook embedded in a small square of cardboard and it is a lot easier on the thumb.
Attachment:
Metal Hook for Mag.JPG
I am not sure if what I am experiencing it is helpful or not. It seems that the pistol can work correctly even with some wrinkles in the metal so, is it really the metal strip causing your problem or something else?
Good luck.
R-Gun Pete
Yea it's starting to look like this is a common issue with the UMAREX M&P40. I don't know if any other models of the UMAREX BB pistols have the same type of metallic shim or not, but anyone who has a UMAREX M&P40 or any other UMAREX semi-auto should check their pistols.
Comparing your photos and mine it appears the metallic strip in mine is more damaged, at least from the photos, so it may have caused more interference and occasional failure to function properly.
Whenever, and if I can, get resolution from UMAREX on this or whatever I do myself to solve this I will do a follow-up post here reporting with photos.
On the frustration of loading the mags, yes it's a poor design. I also have the UMAREX Beretta M92 A1 and a Crosman PFM520 Night Stalker BB pistol and both of those have mags with notches that lock the spring when you pull it back so it's much easier to load the mags for those. For my M&P40 I just use a nail to push back and compress the spring then I hold my thumb on the flat part of the top of the nail to keep the spring compressed while I load the mag. It's not too bad but UMAREX could have easily manufactured the mags with a notch to hold the spring like the other models.