Help me setup my new 40 pro

[Babaganoosh]

Yes, I know the 40 pro is not legal for Production at this time, however it will be soon enough so I want to set this thing up to make a nice limited/production/steel gun.

I think the major bottleneck would be keeping it legal for Production. Basically this is going to be my gaming gun. I believe it's 95% shooter and 5% gun so I don't need big time mods anyway. If I get a magwell, I'd like it to be one that can pop out pretty easily if I want to use it in Production. I live in NJ so I really can't be upping the magazine capacity beyond 15 rounds. So a +2 basepad is a no go for me.

I will probably get myself a bladetech DOH which I will use for everything. No need for a race holster. I will spend money to buy a bunch of mags though so if I need a basepad to use the magwell I won't have to be taking them on and off all the time.

I started shooting USPSA last year and am classified as a C class shooter, I reload, and again, this gun will never be a home defense or carry gun. Gun games/steel only. However the most important thing to me will be it going bang every time I pull the trigger, I don't want to use lightened springs if it might end up in light strikes. I know 100% reliability is impossible, but my Beretta ran at 99.999% so I want to match that.

So I ask you guys, what would you experts do to this gun if you wanted to meet my specifications above? I don't know much about the platform yet so I figure I will ask you guys. I won't say money is no object but I can spend a bit of dough if needed. I should be getting it in the next few days.

[JMIS]

Check the classifieds for mags.

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=145173

[Babaganoosh]

Well yeah, obviously mags. Not sure what else though. I don't know whether or not to send it out for a trigger job, or get some of the Production legal Apex parts. Overtravel stop would be nice but it's not Production legal so out the window that goes.

[HI5-O]

Take a look at XRe posts re: Apex Tactical parts.

It helped me in deciding which Apex parts to install in my 9Pro and 40Pro. I decided to do it myself and get the Apex parts instead of sending it out for a professional trigger job. My primary division I compete in is Open and have dabbled in Production the last few months. Thought Production was going to be "easy" but I found it challenging. Now I want to get better in Production and believe a better working trigger in my Pro's would help a lot.

Will still shoot mainly in Open and bounce to Production when not getting ready for a major match.

[J-Rob]

Burwell Trigger Job and 10-8 Sights. Talon Grip tape for extra traction

[Babaganoosh]

Speaking of sights, it comes with a fiber optic. Dawson sights are pretty much the go-to sights right?

[JMIS]

Well yeah, obviously mags. Not sure what else though. I don't know whether or not to send it out for a trigger job, or get some of the Production legal Apex parts. Overtravel stop would be nice but it's not Production legal so out the window that goes.

My post was ment to show you a deal on mags.

I have a 9pro that I shoot in production and a 40pro that I use for 3gun and limited. The limited gun is on the M&P forum.

[ryan45kim]

I’m doing the same thing that you want to do, setting up my 40 pro to be my do everything gun (for competition). Here is what my journey taught me.

Sights

Personal choice everyone has sights they like or don’t. Personally I love the Novak competition rear sight that comes on the pro so that’s what I run. Front sight I run a Dawson fiber optic again pick the width you like (I run a .115) and the height that fits your point of impact.

Trigger

You really have three choices in M&P triggers running it stock, installing Apex parts, or sending to a gunsmith for a trigger job. I always cleanup and polish the internals on my guns so I’m assuming you do the same with the above choices with the exception of sending it to a gunsmith because that’s what you’re paying him to do. Once you clean them up the stock parts aren’t bad but I wanted a better trigger. I’m currently running the Apex sear and striker block. With this setup my trigger is just over 3lbs (and that is with all factory springs) and I’m very happy with it. Now after saying that I’ve felt some of Dan Burwell’s trigger jobs and they are better. If I had it to do over knowing what I know now I would have Dan do my triggers especially since I shoot at the club he runs. I still don’t think my trigger is holding me back.

Limited and Limited 10

When shooting these divisions I add a Sharp Shooter Supply limited brass magwell (5oz) (these magwells are not being produced now) and there 5” tungsten guide rod (1oz over stock spring set). I’m still playing with these so I’m not sure what I will finally settle on. These are the only changes I make to the gun and they take about 5 minutes to convert.

Magazines

Go to 44 mags. M&P magazines are $24.99 each best deal I know of.

You will need base pads to run the magwell and get the rounds needed to compete in limited. The only choice right now in base pads (as far as I’m concerned) is Taylor Freelance. These give me 20 rounds in my magazines and all I do is cleanup the followers. I would love to see Dawson make there tool less basepads but after a year of asking still nothing. The TF pads are not bad they are just a pain to take apart and clean. When you’re shooting a match and drop then in sand, mud, ect you have to get out your Allen wrench and remove the screws to get them apart. This is not a deal breaker just a lot harder then the Dawson design (come on Dawson).

Barrels

Nothing run the stock one until someone comes out with a true gunsmith fit barrel. Drop in barrels are just as much of a crap shoot as the factory ones. Bar-Sto is supposed to be making one in conjunction with Apex but they are saying 6 months till Apex sees them. I’ve been pestering KKM for a year now and they are not even looking at them as of now (last email I was told later this year, same thing I was told last year).

Springs and other parts

I run grip tape on my guns and I’m considering applying permanent grit with epoxy. This again is personal choice. The stippling does not have enough grip for me but many other people like them.

I run all stock springs on my guns. I run a stock striker spring to keep ignition reliability plus I don’t need to lighten my trigger weight. Because of the stock striker spring I don’t want to run a light recoil spring because the gun might unlock or not go fully into battery. I started having issues when I tried a 13lb spring. The stock spring is 16lb so I figure my time is better spent practicing.

I think I covered most areas of concern but I’m sure I missed something so ask if you have any questions. I ran this gun in limited all of last year and will be using it in limited and production this year (if it ever makes the approved list).

Still the best piece of advice I’ve read hear is pick one and practice.

[Babaganoosh]

Thanks ryan, thats exactly the kind of post I was looking got. Not a huge fan of fiber optic sights, but ill give it a whirl for a little bit.

[twodelta]

If you can't add the extensions you could use the ESP magwell from Speedshooter Specialties with their ESP base pads. The Limited magwell is deeper and would need the extensions to allow you to seat the mags all the way in. It's easy to take on and off.

I used Apex parts, and cleaned up the sear myself. I haven't had any issues running a 13# recoil spring. The only other springs I change are the trigger return and the firing pin block plunger spring.

[Babaganoosh]

If you can't add the extensions you could use the ESP magwell from Speedshooter Specialties with their ESP base pads. The Limited magwell is deeper and would need the extensions to allow you to seat the mags all the way in. It's easy to take on and off.

I used Apex parts, and cleaned up the sear myself. I haven't had any issues running a 13# recoil spring. The only other springs I change are the trigger return and the firing pin block plunger spring.

What is the purpose of changing those springs?

[twodelta]

A lighter recoil spring helps with the recoil of the slide. The trigger return and FP plunger spring lighten the trigger pull.

[ryan45kim]

The biggest benefit of running a lighter spring is that when the gun returns to battery (the slide closes) the heavier the spring the harder the gun slams shut and pushes the nose of the gun down. When I ran 1911s I played with springs a lot. My favorite limited gun spring was a 9lb ISMI. I loved the way that spring felt but I could never get it to run reliably. Your recoil spring doesn’t just close the slide but it is responsible for feeding the next round into the gun. I found that the lightest spring I could run in my 1911s and still have good reliability was an ISMI 12.5lb spring. I admit the 9lb did feel better but if the gun was not perfectly clean or anything in it was just a little bit off it would jam and that was unacceptable to me. Now when we look at a striker fired gun we have an additional function that the recoil spring is responsible for and that is keeping the gun locked in battery (keeping the slide from opening when you pull the trigger). In a striker fired gun (M&P, Glock, XD, Ect) you have two springs working against each other. While the recoil spring is trying to keep the slide closed you have the striker spring pushing in the opposite direction trying to open the gun. This means that the recoil spring is responsible for closing the slide and keeping it closed, feeding the next round into the chamber, and overcoming the striker spring. I value reliability above just about anything else so I come down on the side of running a little heavier spring for the reasons I listed. If you are going to run a lighter spring you should really up your maintenance schedule because you are running on the edge of reliability. And if you are going to run a spring lighter then 13lb you really need to lighten your striker spring. Here lies the second problem for me. A striker fired gun totally relies on spring pressure to ignite the primer. There is no hammer momentum like you have in a 1911, CZ, Ect. This is why all the Glock guys say that if you run the reduced power striker spring you have to run Federal primers. This is because you have lowered your ignition reliably so they start using the softest/easiest to ignite primers. That alone should tell you how close to the edge you are concerning reliability. But in the end you have to decide what works best for you. While the lighter springs do feel better I do not believe the trade off in reliability is worth it. And even through they feel better my times were no different with light springs then they were with factory ones.