Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm Trigger Job

In this video I will show you how to smooth out the trigger on a Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm pistol. The M&P 9mm is notorious for having a "gritty" feeling trigger pull. Detailed instructions are included for disassembly, sanding and polishing of trigger parts including the plunger, sear, trigger bar and feed ramp of the barrel.

[@ChadAaronson]

You need to do a tutorial on how to do tutorial videos and it should be mandatory viewing for other youtubers. Why can’t every one be like this one. BRAVO... absolutely wonderful job. 40 minutes flew by, half the time I struggle making it through a 5 minute video. THANK YOU!!!!! Subscribed!

[@BattleBeaver]

Thank you!

[@DarkPhoenixTSi]

There is nothing more Canadian than using a hockey puck as a gunsmithing tool. That is EPIC!! I am subscribing just for that reason. #keepyourstickontheice

[@BattleBeaver]

Thanks for watching! Hockey puck is great tool. :

[@teddyrasputin3850]

Very nice video. I've watched a lot of How To videos on the S&W M&P 9mm and really like the detail in yours. Outlining the tools needed for the job before you start the process is a real plus for newbies like myself. Actually having a close up in focus view of each stage of the project was appreciated and less common on KZbin then I would've thought. Some of the little tips and tricks you showed will save me reliving the aggravation caused by some steps of reassembly. And hey, you're a fellow Canuck to boot! Thanks

[@sierrabravo9228]

you are correct to have rounded off the edges of the firing pin plunger safety. using your video I took apart my performance center MNP. to see what's going on inside and give it a deep cleaning. at the factory, they rounded it off to the point that half the flat surface remains. it's not a dome shape but pretty close. thank you for the video. It helped me through all steps of the process.

[@BattleBeaver]

Thanks! Glad it helped!

[@robk.4104]

Unless you replace the trigger spring , I was able to stone and polish the trigger bar without removing the trigger . I just removed the rear portion , polishing the sear and the round part on top of the sear spring . I also remove one coil on the sear spring and the plunger spring . Make sure the tip of the trigger bar is in place when installing the rear sear and slide portion. Works great .

[@Thedoug369]

If you have trouble getting the rear sight screw loose, hit it with a heat gun or even a torch for a bit. It will soften up that pesky red Locktite and make it much easier to loosen up without buggering up anything.

[@blackirondude]

Excellent video & I like the Canadian bench blocks you used. ;-)

[@BattleBeaver]

Hockey pucks are great for bench blocks! I actually have a "real" bench block, but I still prefer using my hockey pucks. :)

[@gordonhood6265]

Very well done B2, used your tutorial as a guide to smooth out my 2.0 shield. Awesome video, best I've found, clear, conscious and touch of Canadian twang, EHH. Thank You

[@BattleBeaver]

Thanks!

[@garywinkel1831]

I know this is an old video, but my new M&P 9 Shield will be in this week. For the price difference, I opted for the first gen rather than the 2.0. After a few break in boxes of ammo, I'll be doing this entire operation. Great video!

[@BattleBeaver]

You're right, it's an old video, but the most viewed on my channel. Glad it's helping out so many people!

[@shaunnery9765]

Best video I've found on a trigger job for the m&p ...Got to try this on mines soon.

[@BattleBeaver]

+Shaun Nery Thanks, good luck with your trigger job!

[@texfar]

Really a professional job with the video. Thanks! On the way to pick up a couple of tools I don't have and get started tomorrow!

[@YNVNEone]

So.....I just finally did my trigger job exactly the way you did it in the video (well, almost. You don't need to remove the trigger bar and deal with all that trigger alignment crap putting it back in. Just take the appropriate measures to keep crap out of the frame and polish the necessary surfaces.) Forget aftermarket kits, I now have a completely different gun with a beautiful trigger and it cost me less than twenty bucks!

[@BattleBeaver]

Thank you! If you want to make it even better (but not cheap), install an Apex Trigger Kit in it.

[@652barry]

Still drop safe?

[@BattleBeaver]

@@652barry Yes, but remember it's your responsibility if you do this mod. Be careful, and test after if your firearm is drop-safe.

[@grantbuchanan2953]

Excellent video!!!!!

[@BattleBeaver]

Thank you.

[@tenman7242]

Excellent job! That is indeed how to do a DIY video. Well done.

[@BattleBeaver]

Thank you!

[@JungleJimAB9AB]

Extremely informative and well produced video. Thanks for posting. Please keep them coming.

[@BattleBeaver]

+JungleJimAB9AB Thanks JungleJim! Appreciate your comments!

[@derekjevid2]

+Battle Beaver I bought one of this yesterday and it didn't came with the small pins on the front or back, do they all have this pins?

[@minutemenapparel]

14:26 I’ll be trying out the striker block mod you did here with the grinding stone on my 2.0 compact. With the M&P flat trigger it has this weird bounce on the reset. I tried my performance center slide which has a more rounded striker block and it has a way smoother reset.

[@Bartowham1]

Excellent video. Watching it has eased my hesitation to take on the trigger job. Thanks.

[@BattleBeaver]

Thank you! Make sure you take your time.

[@rohawaha]

Well done, this video is timeless Thank You !

[@BattleBeaver]

Thank you!

[@samhill9267]

Great video, great camera work too! Thank-you!

[@BattleBeaver]

Thanks for watching!

[@Toolness1]

Great job on this vid, very clear and helpful.

[@BattleBeaver]

Thanks!

[@Mike-zz4xv]

Excellent!

[@BattleBeaver]

Thanks!

[@FrancoShoots]

Nice video, especially 1:15 tool list, 2:10 disassembly, 11:40 polishing striker safety plunger using the drill and taking off some material to round the edge using a fine stone, then polishing the bottom of the plunger.the rounding off diagram was also helpful. 20:15 trigger bar interaction w plunger and sear. 21:50 barrel feed ramp polishing and striker catch polishing. 24:50 Reassembly. Thanks a bunch, very clear and relaxed. Great video!

[@BattleBeaver]

Thank you very much! I haven't done a video in 5 or 6 years, "life" took over. Perhaps one day I'll continue making videos.

[@FrancoShoots]

Battle Beaver Nice hearing from you. When you get back in doing videos may I suggest that you show how to “adjust” the rear of the sear (the part that contacts releases the striker). Many videos and documents talk about humps, positive and negative angles, compare the original to the Performance Center, Apex sears but it’s not fully clear to me where exactly to make the modifications. Since that is probably the most “dangerous” modification, I have decided to just polish the sear (which is what you did), also because it does not appear the it would provide a major improvement to the trigger pull. It seems that I could get the most improvement by just carefully adjusting the curvature of the striker safety plunger as shown in your video. But I would just love to see your video and hear your explanation on how to modify the back of the sear. Good luck with your life!!

[@kmfw1160]

Outstanding video brother!

[@Coachgun67]

As previous mentioned:Well done and thanks for sharing...mine is a M&P45, but suffers the same issues,which i'm attending right now. Cheers from Sask.

[@BattleBeaver]

+Coachgun67 Thanks! Good luck with your trigger job!

[@Coachgun67]

That went well...except I lost the sear spring. S&W won't sell one,they want the gun for repair,Brownells sold out as usual...so I butchered a BIC lighter,and cut its flint spring to same length. With all the polishing and detailing, my trigger went from gritty 7lbs to butter smooth 3.9lbs...making the M&P my new favorite semi auto. Thanks for posting that,it really helped.

[@BattleBeaver]

+Coachgun67 Wow, sorry to hear your lost your sear spring, that sucks! And good idea to salvage the spring out of a BIC lighter! Hope it keeps working until you get your "real" spring.

[@Coachgun67]

+Battle Beaver ...and 5000 rds later,she still runs on the BIC spring. I guess,I'll leave it in there. ;o))

[@BattleBeaver]

+Coachgun67 Ha! That's unreal! Well done! I'll have let some of my shooter friends know about this. :)

[@bakdraft6578]

Best video I've seen on this subject. Thank You!

[@BattleBeaver]

+Bak Draft Thank you!

[@bakdraft6578]

+Battle Beaver , I attempted this with my 9mm, took a bit longer than you did, but it turned out great!. Real Smooth trigger pull and to me more accurate. Thanks again. GO Blackhawks! LOL

[@BattleBeaver]

+Bak Draft Excellent! Glad it made your trigger better. Also, for the sake of time, I edited out a lot from my video, the entire job took longer than the length of the video. :)

[@bakdraft6578]

Me, took about 3 hours...But I made sure I did it right the first time.... Thanks again.

[@YNVNEone]

Thank you a million times for this video.

[@BattleBeaver]

Thanks again, much appreciated!

[@phetlucky9175]

I use your video to polish my m&p40c trigger and put apex trigger in great video thankQ

[@BattleBeaver]

Thanks for that!

[@joedeluca8964]

Damn, great tutorial vid!

[@BattleBeaver]

Thank you!

[@speedmaster001]

Very well done and very informative. I think a trigger kit is a must for all M&P. The stock trigger is just plain hideous.

[@BattleBeaver]

Thank you!

[@scotmckay977]

Great video,well done

[@BattleBeaver]

Thanks!

[@kwade942]

Wow, great video and detail.

[@BattleBeaver]

Keith Wade Thanks! Glad you liked it. And thanks for subscribing, I really appreciate it!

[@AlwaysEvilGaming]

Great Video! Just waiting for my m&p in the mail...then I will be carrying out your tutorial. Keep em coming

[@BattleBeaver]

Awesome, glad you liked the video! As I make clear in the video, just make sure you don't take any material off the top of the plunger, just the corners to round it out. If you take material off the top of the plunger, you risk having the plunger not engaging enough when the trigger bar pushes it up, and your gun may not fire. Be patient and careful, and what I show in the video will smooth out the trigger.

[@mattburgess2]

Great video!! I just picked up a m&p 9 compact and the internals are the same as the full size 9. It does have a gritty trigger brand new, and I think I will be doing this job soon. I just need to get the punches and other tools you have in this video.

[@BattleBeaver]

Thanks for watching and subscribing! When you get the tools, take your time on the trigger job, it's not a race. :)

[@traviscroft91]

This video is top notch

[@BattleBeaver]

Thanks!

[@theChestnutMtnTinman]

Red lock is designed to be heated to break it loose. Strong possibility of stripping the screw head if u don't apply heat to the screw.

[@BattleBeaver]

+Ron Bridgefarmer Yes, that is correct. Better suggestion might be to use Blue Loctite. Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching!

[@macnorman]

Well done. Thanks for sharing this.

[@BattleBeaver]

+Marc Norman Thank you! And thanks for subscribing!

[@mike-yp1uk]

Great video.

[@BattleBeaver]

Thank you!

[@tonydtom536]

Excellent! TY.

[@benbbuxton]

Great video! Do you have any info on taking material off of the sear to lighten the trigger pull? I've heard of folks filing or machine certain areas of the sear beyond just polishing it to lighten up the trigger pull. I have two MA compliant M&P's and am trying to get the trigger pull weight down. So far I've been able to get the weight down to 7.5lbs and 9.5lbs on each, but that's still too heavy (started at 10 and 12.5lbs), but haven't touch the sear yet.

[@BattleBeaver]

Sorry, I don't. I typically don't screw around with the sear, it's delicate job. I purchased a drop-in trigger from ApexTactical (www.apextactical.com/smith-wesson/pistols/triggers-trigger-kits) for my M&P 2.0.

[@gregsmith3302]

Outstanding sir! Do you happen to know how much difference there is relevant to this operation between the og M&P and the 2.0 internals?

[@BattleBeaver]

I have both an original and 2.0. Very minor differences in the internals as far as I can see.

[@michaelogden4035]

Outstanding! I think I would have stoned some of the other surfaces while I had it detail stripped, but that's just me. 😉

[@BattleBeaver]

+Michael Ogden Thanks! You're right, if I were to do it again I probably would. But I've since replaced the trigger with the APEX Forward Set trigger kit, which is excellent.

[@italoberneti5943]

Great video will you be doing one on the S&W 9 mm ez?

[@PRACERZ]

Dam sweet vid, thanks !!

[@BattleBeaver]

Thanks, glad you liked it!

[@YNVNEone]

You can polish the trigger bar without removing it.

[@Ottienger]

This made me do this instead of spending the money on the apex stuff. I still need to do the rest of the trigger bar and sear. Question if you can answer. ever have the reset feel like there is two notches? The actual reset happens on second notch and the I think the first is the trigger bar coming off the plunger. Dont know if you have come across this or if all the m&p are like this.

[@BattleBeaver]

Firstly, thanks for watching! I've never experienced what you're describing with the M&P, so I can't comment on what the cause may be, sorry!

[@Ottienger]

@@BattleBeaver okay. It only does it when the slide is on. When I remove the slide and pull the trigger back and move it over as if it fired and start to let go when only one notch/click. Some further investigation might be needed. Still feels good, just dont like the extra notch feeling.

[@Malystryx997]

My experience with red loctite is that it requires heat to break free, you sure you didn't mean blue?

[@BattleBeaver]

+Malystryx997 Good point. I still prefer RED loctite myself, as I'm unlikely (rarely) to be removing that screw. If I do, I use a heat gun, it doesn't take much heat. However, as you said, BLUE loctite should do nicely. Thanks for watching, and thank you for the comment!

[@stevejackley]

Great video. I have a newer model M&P 9c, do you think it would be the same? Thanks

[@BattleBeaver]

+Steve Jackley I don't have access to the 9c, but I'm pretty sure all the internal parts are very similar.

[@BoostedOne1320]

Do the newer manufactured M&Ps still have the grainy trigger issue, or was it sorted out? Want to get one within a week, but have been reading about the trigger issues.

[@BattleBeaver]

+Dee bee I've heard that the new ones from the factory have a better trigger, but I've never seen/tried one, so I don't know for sure.

[@BoostedOne1320]

I'll find out in a few days. Thanks for the quick response!

[@BoostedOne1320]

+Battle Beaver I just picked up the gun a few days ago and was working on polishing some of the contact points. I am unable to get any polishing done. I have tried two different compounds and different speeds. Do you have any idea why it seems to take me almost an hour of polishing one spot to get any results?

[@BattleBeaver]

+Dee bee I should point out that my video above was edited. It took me some time to do the actual polishing, didn't show all of it on the video (edited for time). I can tell you what I used, BlueMagic Metal Polish Cream, 7oz bottle. www.amazon.com/BlueMagic-400-Metal-Polish-Cream/dp/B000BO8Z9I

[@BoostedOne1320]

Thank you. I ordered an Apex sear. Ill give it all another go once I get it in the mail.

[@boharris8179]

All that polishing makes for a nice creepy trigger. Any finishing done to a sear and hammer/striker should be done with stones designed for trigger work. The surfaces need certain amount of texture to break cleanly. Shiny polished surfaces simply have no grip and cause creep. Yes there are places a nice polishing helps like the feed ramp and safety plunger the trigger bar loop and the top of the sear where the striker slides over it during cycling. Do yourself a favor n get a Apex sear. If you can afford it one of their triggers as well

[@lawndartmike7099]

Did you ever do the apex trigger install?

[@BattleBeaver]

+Lawndart Mike I did! It's an excellent trigger. But I didn't do a video. It's a bit of a tricky install, getting the pin in especially. I may un-install it (back to factory), and do a video of the install.

[@tonydtom536]

@@BattleBeaver I would love to see that video of doing the Apex. I will likely be doing the change on mine this coming month.

[@BattleBeaver]

@@tonydtom536 Unfortunately that probably won't happen. I haven't posted a video here in over 2 years, just haven't had the time or desire. Reason is youtube's decision awhile ago to "de-monetize" firearms related channels, and that my "real life" has been very busy lately. But thank you for the kind words and for watching!

[@wrr2112]

The first thing that should have been done was a safety check.

[@BattleBeaver]

So I guess you missed the message on the intro to ALL my videos: FIREARMS USED ARE PROVED SAFE AND CLEAR OFF CAMERA

[@svernwarunos546]

I don't feel comfortable watching this, Canadians are not supposed to know such things.

[@thisismecantuseeitsacz5823]

Before I got buy all them tools I will pay to have it done professionally

[@BattleBeaver]

Will cost you more to get it done professionally than it would cost you for the basic tools.

[@thisismecantuseeitsacz5823]

The second problem for me is I'm scared to do it .I would have my gun jacked up 🤣

[@filoIII]

Mine has no reset. I hate the M&P trigger. Just horrawful.

[@BattleBeaver]

Not sure what you mean by it having "no reset". But as for the stock trigger, I agree, it's not the best. I recently installed the APEX Forward Set trigger kit on mine, and it improves it immensely! I'll be doing a video of the install early in the new year.

[@filoIII]

Battle Beaver No audible/tactile reset. You never know when it's ready to fire again. I can't believe first, that S&W would make a trigger like that, and second, that I bought it w/ that awful trigger.

[@mattburgess2]

My new m&p 9 compact has a very nice audible reset that you can feel and hear. It is the same as the shields trigger. I love it.. I believe all the new m&p's are going to get these triggers.

[@BattleBeaver]

MATT BURGESS Late response, but I hear the newly manufactured M&P 9mm has a newer "nicer" trigger. I'll see if I can get my hands on one to try it out and compare it to the stock trigger, and to the APEX trigger.