How do I go about polishing the feed ramp in my M&P .40?

[musicman]

I have a dremel, a vise, and a good idea of what to do, but I'm looking for specifics as to what compounds and polishing bits to use. The gun is fairly new and has roughly 900 rounds to it. I was hoping the feed ramp would wear in faster, but it still is not smooth to the touch and you can see small, horizontal machining ribs along the ramp. I'd like to just smooth those out without removing any measurable amount of metal.

Thanks!

[dralarms]

Run it up and down in the direction the bullet goes and DO NOT STOP IN ONE SPOT, keep it moving.

[sschrick]

this incredibly long thread was posted over on the Springfield XD forum, but it probably has all the info you could ever imagine

 

http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/xd-gunsmithing-maintenance/83108-offical-everything-do-polishing-thread.html

[Jonnin]

same as any other gun.   First, stop and listen: to polish is not to grind.  To polish is going to remove almost no actual metal, it will not change the shape of the ramp, etc. 

 

Now that we said that, take the barrel out the gun.  Pick your polishing stuff (diamond dust, ultra fine sandpaper,  that goop dremel sells, or whatever FINE polishing compound you prefer).   Polish the ramp until it is mirror like.   If it is very bad, you can start with a dremel tool using their handy dandy approximately 9mm bullet shaped felt blop dipped in polish.   If it is not too bad, or after using the dremel for a short time, you finish up by hand.  You can use a live round wrapped in the sandpaper or something of similar size and shape to a live round, or a rag dipped in the stuff wrapped around something like that, etc. Its probably smart to go in the direction the bullet travels, even when putting a mirror finish on the ramp you still create micro grooves in the metal and its a lot better if those are aligned INTO the barrel instead of against it as rings.  That is why you finish up the dremel work by hand, to get the microgrooves aligned as the rotating dremel is making them the wrong direction.

 

The only other advice I can give is to not try to get in a hurry to get it done.  It might take 1/2 a day off and on (you will want breaks if you are human) but you only have to do it once so take your time and work with care, paying attention to detail.

[DaveTN]

First, put the dremel tool down.

Is the gun not feeding properly? Chances are pretty good its the magazines and not the feed ramp. Pick up the phone, call S&W and see what they want to do about it.

[TGO David]

Stop the madness... don't turn into a gamer here.  There's no reason to polish the feed ramp of your M&P unless you're experiencing some sort of failure to feed.  Just shoot it.  A lot.

[dralarms]

While I agree with David and the other poster. I just assumed he just wanted to polish it. I own multiple m&P's and NONE have had any kind of failure.

[musicman]

Thanks for the advice, all.

Early on (first 250-300 rds) I had about 7-8 failures to feed, with rounds seeming to stop halfway up the ramp. Other times, even though it would eventually completely cycle and go into battery, cycling felt slow and jerky, almost like the nose was climbing stairs to get into the chamber. I was actually expecting a few ftfs in the IDPA match I recently participated in but fortunately they didn't happen.

I've thought about calling S&W for a fluff n buff, but I don't want to be without my gun for a few weeks. I imagine they're quite busy these days! Of course, doing nothing but shooting the crap out of it is always an option, too. I was just wanting to see what was involved in a feed ramp polish. So far it seems about like what I thought. I'm hoping to put 2-300 rds through it this Saturday. If it runs flawlessly, I'll probably just let it be. If not, I may give it a go. :-)

[TGO David]

I'm looking at the feed ramp on my 40 and it's as slick as glass but I've probably got close to 8,000 rds through it to date.  If you're going to polish it, what Jonnin said will be your best bet.

[musicman]

C'mon David, like you haven't tweaked your M&P? ;-)

I'll take a pic tonight and see if what I'm talking about shows up in pictures. It's clearly visible in person.

Just like my guitars, I want to fix the little things I don't like in this gun.

[c.a.willard]

Mot of the time with the M&P the only thing people tweak is the trigger, this is typically just using one of the Apex kit's.  For the most part M&P's run great right out of the box.  If you are experiancing FTF's you should contact S&W.  Thats one of the reasons to buy from a company with some of the best customer service in the business.

[Jonnin]

I should have said that too.... if it works, leave it alone.   If it fails to feed on generic ball ammo, it can be worth doing.  Its pretty rare for a modern gun from a serious manufacturer to need this sort of thing, but stuff happens.   If you can see it and feel it and have had issues, yea it could be a good idea.

Edited January 8, 2013 by Jonnin

[peejman]

While polishing the feed ramp may or may not do anything constructive, you can do it just to make it pretty.

 

If you use a dremel and polishing compound, hold the barrel in your hand.  Don't put it in a vice.  Why?  So you won't use too much pressure.  If the ramp starts to get warm, you're pushing too hard.  Just like spraying paint, constant motion is the key.  Go slow, stop and check your progress frequently. 

[NRA]

I bought an MP9 at a gun show.  The next day at the range I had all kinds of trouble with it feeding (no wonder why he sold it right).  So I goggled polishing a feed ramp and found lots of great info.  With some VERY fine sand paper on the end of a pencil eraser I removed any machine marks. Then with a bullet shaped polishing bit on my dremmel a dab of automotive polish I polished the feed ramp as smooth as glass.  Guess what my problems went away.  Just remember you should polish not reshape the feed ramp. BTW I did this to the rest of my pistols that had any machine marks on the ramp.

[Guest sL1k]

I use the small felt polishing wheels and turtle wax polishing compound with the dremel. Do not use a lot of pressure. Ive only done this on 1911's.

[musicman]

Sssoooooo I couldn't get the tools marks I'm talking about to show up in a pic. I decided the dremel and mild automotive compound combo couldn't hurt so I gave that a go. I used KIT Scratch-Out and buffed on a medium-low speed for probably 5 minutes all together. It's nice and shiny now, but the underlying markings are still there. :-(

I didn't have any 2000+ grit sandpaper on hand so I didn't bother with that. We'll see how she shoots this weekend, hopefully.

[MarkInNashville]

BUY A GLOCK!!!

Sorry guys, I could not stop myself.

 

 

Now going to the corner teacher.

Shame on you! (it was pretty funny though!)

 

Musicman... I'm not a machinist but if you can actually see ridges on the ramp I can't imagine polishing is going to help this to much. To polish is to smooth that which is already fairly good... if metal actually needs to be removed it might really be best to let S&W handle it. I own 2 M&Ps and both of mine are completely smooth (although they both still have some of the black color of the Melonite coating on the ramp).

 

If you are interested I live very close, let me know and we can hook-up sometime and you can check mine out, if you want to.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Sssoooooo I couldn't get the tools marks I'm talking about to show up in a pic. I decided the dremel and mild automotive compound combo couldn't hurt so I gave that a go. I used KIT Scratch-Out and buffed on a medium-low speed for probably 5 minutes all together. It's nice and shiny now, but the underlying markings are still there. :-(

I didn't have any 2000+ grit sandpaper on hand so I didn't bother with that. We'll see how she shoots this weekend, hopefully.

I would not worry about the marks. You have polished the high spots that the bullet will ride on. Most people think they need to remove all tool marks but in 99.9% of the cases just a good polishing will fix the issues even if it does leave some tool marks behind. When I polish I start by taking 1,000 grit sand paper and rolling it up until it matches the contour of the feed ramp. I go back and forth for about a minute. Then I swap to 2,000 grit and do the same. The I use a Dremel with a polishing pad and use Flitz to do the finishing. Most times I still have tool marks but it will feel a lot smoother. And while I am polishing with the Dremel I also polish the roof of the chamber for a minute or two. With most guns as the bullet is chambering it rides on the roof of the chamber. And if the roof of the chamber is rough this can cause problems. You do not want to remove material, just polish the high spots.

 

If you are having issues it might have never been the feed ramp. The breech face generally has tool marks on it as well and that is where a lot of the friction comes from, not the feed ramp. I use a flat ceramic stone that fits most slides perfectly to lightly polish the breech face. You will likely be able to see copper where the base of the bullet rides. You only want to polish that area without removing material. You do not need to remove the tool marks, only polish the high spots. And there is no need to polish out to the edges, just the center where the bullet rides. The area polished should be about 1/3 of an inch wide.

 

And finally if the gun is designed for the round to slide up under the extractor as it is being chambered, most are, I put a slight radius on the bottom of the extractor. I use a small jeweler's file to do this. You don't need a lot of a radius, just knock the sharp edge off that most extractors have.

Here is a picture, not mine, of what it should look like:

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x319/spelf01/extractor.gif

I grabbed it from here:

http://www.ksccw.com/showthread.php?t=24384

 

If I have a gun that is having issues I generally do both the breechface and the feed ramp. And if I am still having issues I radius the extractor as well.

 

Dolomite

[enfield]

I've polished one feed ramp in my life, and it didn't NEED it.  It was rough, I was curious.  I used crocus cloth around a pencil and polished in the direction of bullet feed.  I would never use a Dremel tool to polish a ramp - too much speed that leads to too much metal removed.

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Stop the madness!!  :D

[mikegideon]

You can overdo anything. Dremel polishing with a felt wheel and rouge is pretty common practice. I do it, but am real careful in the process, and do it under magnification. Polishing anything is pretty rare for me. Doesn't happen unless I'm addressing a problem.

Edited January 22, 2013 by mikegideon

[Guest carter]

I've polished a lot of barrels and feed ramps... this is what i do... a vice is NOT needed... i take some really fine wet/dry sand paper to get the finish off... just set down in front of the TV and get to work.... usually have a towel in my lap... then i break out the dremel with a SS wire brush attachment and go over  what i want polished...THEN i got a green polish compound stick from lowe's... i change to a leather suede looking polish attachment and go over what i want polished.... i go back and forth from the fine sand paper to the polish compound...then i finish up with one of the white felt looking attachments with nothing on it just the felt.... it takes an hour or so to do all of this but that's the order i do it... i've done a p238 feed ramp and barrel, g27 feed ramp and barrel, g36 feed ramp and barrel, 1911 feed ramp

Edited February 9, 2013 by carter

[Dennis1209]

Good advice stated above.

 

I was having a few FTF problems on my 1911 Kimber at an IDPA match and wasn't a happy camper about it. With a 6" long 1/4" wooden dowel rod and some fine steel wool wrapped around it, gave the feed ramp a couple dozen strokes and the chamber a few circular swirls. Followed up with some lite strokes with "mans best friend", the Dremel tool, polishing wheel and jewelers rouge. If the ramp was flat and a little bigger, you could shave with it. Problem solved! NOPE!

 

Turns out, one of my Wilson 47D's was the culprit. Tore it apart and I see no damage on it, the feed lips look great, follower looks fine, spring seems to be O.K. inside the magazine slick, clean and squared? Went to Wilson web site and naturally they're sold out of 8 round 47D springs. Guess I'll try one from Wolff springs.

[Guest carter]

seemes like the disc shaped SS wire brush attachment was made for the curve on a feed ramp... really is simple to do...just takes time to do to get that mirror finish ... everyone should have a dremel 

[AUG]

unless you are a trained professional gunsmith one should never have a dremel near a firearm.

 

Is the gun having feed problems?  If not don't bubba it up