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Well, I've had my Walther PPS in 9mm for 13 months now. Have been crazy about the pistol, and probably put 2,000 rounds through it. Have sung its praises hither & yon on the intarweb. So figure it's only fair to offer 'fair and balanced' coverage: Sucker failed on me yesterday @ the range.

Slide locked open after firing, on a non-empty magazine twice, then locked open & jammed - wouldn't release.

I asked one of the range employees to take a look at it. He fiddled a bit, then braced the slide release against the edge of the counter and pushed on the frame to release the slide. The slide release lever was no longer being pulled down away from the slide by spring pressure.

I took it home, cleaned it, and set it aside till today to disassemble.

What I found really surprised me - it wasn't a spring failure, and while the spring was no longer engaged w. the slide release lever, it was because - metal failure! There's a little 'hook' or extension of the lever that the spring engages with. That tiny metal hook had snapped off.



Here's someone else's shot, which shows how it's supposed to work:



I'll head off to S&W to see about a replacement lever. I have to wonder if the range employee delivered the final blow to the lever hook, in forcing the slide release lever down. OTOH, something was already out of sorts or the slide wouldn't have locked open on a non-empty magazine three times.

That is not good. Sorry that happened to you.

I've been reading about similar failures related to slide lock lever on http://ppstalk.com/forum/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Quite a few stories of problems with that part - usually related to spring popping loose and jamming inside the gun, thus your range guy may well have broken the piece off by using such force. Others, IIRC, have fiddled with the spring with a paper clip or something and unstuck it.

Methinks there is enough anecdotal evidence of this problem that Walther/S&W should seriously consider a recall.

Luckily my PPS 9mm has been problem free on every range trip since I picked it up in early September. Even the one problem I did send it back to S&W to repair - broken striker guide - didn't actually negatively effect the functioning of the pistol (go figure).

Methinks there is enough anecdotal evidence of this problem that Walther/S&W should seriously consider a recall.

And methinks there is enough evidence of problems with the PPS that I won't be buying one any time soon.

austinrealtor wrote:That is not good. Sorry that happened to you.

I've been reading about similar failures related to slide lock lever on http://ppstalk.com/forum/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Quite a few stories of problems with that part - usually related to spring popping loose and jamming inside the gun, thus your range guy may well have broken the piece off by using such force. Others, IIRC, have fiddled with the spring with a paper clip or something and unstuck it.

Methinks there is enough anecdotal evidence of this problem that Walther/S&W should seriously consider a recall.

Luckily my PPS 9mm has been problem free on every range trip since I picked it up in early September. Even the one problem I did send it back to S&W to repair - broken striker guide - didn't actually negatively effect the functioning of the pistol (go figure).

I doubt they do a recall unless it is an issue that could put them in serious hot legal water i.e. like the LCP being able to discharge when dropped. While any problem with a firearm is more than potentially dangerous, I highly doubt a recall for an issue like that. Its all about dollars and cents to them

Me no likey me wanted to buy a first gen

Any update on a fix?

I've put about 500 flawless rounds through my 9mm PPS. I think I worked the action enough after about 200 rounds or so that its nice and smooth.

I'm considering getting the stainless guide rod replacement I've seen for it on the Walther forums. Seems like it would smooth it out even more.

Waiting on its return from S&W. They sent me a prepaid FedEx label, and the pistol arrived in Springfield last Wednesday.

The pistol was waiting for me today when I returned from out of town. Pretty cursory letter included: 'repair slide lock spring' and 'replace slide lock lever'.

I'll head to the range soon to test it out. They test fire before returning pistols, as well.

I called S&W customer service to see if they could add anything to the letter's info. I was told: a) it's not a common problem they see, b) there's nothing I need to worry about doing differently to avoid the problem in the future. For what it's worth.

RNH

As a brand new M&P owner, I've been reading up on the pistol, and it seems that when the M&P 40 first came out, it had a history of similar problems, with the slide locking back on full magazines. Here is a link from 2 years ago on another forum about this problem: http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83347.

Walther is owned by S&W, so I wonder if there is some shared technology there. Fortunately, S&W seems to have fixed whatever early problems they had with the M&P design, but perhaps there is something incipient there in the Walther line that needs to be addressed.

Well for what it is worth. SRVA and I got two of the first M&P40s and they have been flawless. In fact I used mine to win my first IDPA TX trophy.

CompVest wrote:Well for what it is worth. SRVA and I got two of the first M&P40s and they have been flawless. In fact I used mine to win my first IDPA TX trophy.

Understood. And one of the respondents in that other thread I linked to had exactly the same experience as yours. I love my M&P and have no regrets about buying it. Apparently, only a few troubled ones got out like that.

The Annoyed Man wrote:As a brand new M&P owner, I've been reading up on the pistol, and it seems that when the M&P 40 first came out, it had a history of similar problems, with the slide locking back on full magazines. Here is a link from 2 years ago on another forum about this problem: http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83347.

Walther is owned by S&W, so I wonder if there is some shared technology there. Fortunately, S&W seems to have fixed whatever early problems they had with the M&P design, but perhaps there is something incipient there in the Walther line that needs to be addressed.

Interesting, thanks. Incidentally, my alternate carry pistol is an M&P .40 full sized. Haven't had any problems with it, though it hasn't seen as many rounds as the PPS.

Are you sure about S&W owning Walther? I know that they're the US *importer*, but I've never heard of an ownership relationship.

RHENRIKSEN wrote:Are you sure about S&W owning Walther? I know that they're the US *importer*, but I've never heard of an ownership relationship.

I could be wrong about that. I'm just repeating what I've heard. But when you look at both their websites, it is pretty obvious there is a business relationship there.