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 S&W M&P Slide...Cast or Forged?
RogerRoger  [Team Member]
3/20/2012 11:48:16 PM
Is the slide cast or Forged on these guns? Just bought the one in .45 with a thumb safety and love it.
Thanks.

Rog.

ETA:
JONNYROCKO  [Member]
3/21/2012 11:57:53 AM
I assume forged, but i am interested in the real answer as well
uberdog  [Member]
3/21/2012 12:05:32 PM
Forged.

ETA a little more detail:

Smith & Wesson runs their own forge in factory and famous for the quality of their steel. The M&P slide is forged & through-hardened, then add Melonite process for corrosion resistance and further increases hardness. This aside, there were some issues a few years back with M&P slides cracking, but I would assume they have this issues resolved. Talk at the time was the defect in the machining process.

Been wanting one of these for a long time. Your pic sparked that desire again.

Enjoy your new shooter.
sgtglock1  [Team Member]
3/22/2012 7:58:25 AM
One of the big wigs at S&W keeps a cup of coffee on his desk so he can see the impact tremmors and know that the forging machine is making money. S&W has one of the largest forgers in the country and does work for many other companies. If you ride a Harley Davidson (like you should), the transmission parts are made at S&W. If you go to the factory and go to the research side, it looks like a sanitized lab. If you go to the forging side it looks like something out of a Mad Max movie with big burley men in leather aprons walking around in a hot foundry room. Not that it helps answer the question but it is cool information. Bye the way, the exec doesn't even drink coffee.
America-first  [Team Member]
3/22/2012 12:31:05 PM
Forged and through hardened rather than only surface hardened.
us-kiwi  [Team Member]
3/22/2012 12:39:57 PM
I did a tour of the S&W facility recently.

IIRC the slide is machined from bar stock in a CNC machining center.

Actually, I saw a bunch of slides being machined.
Dont know if specifically the M&P slides were done this way,
but some slides were.
TheTacticalCoyote  [Team Member]
3/22/2012 12:59:52 PM
Just like everyone else said, stainless steel forged, through hardened, then machined and then Melonited to 68 hr on the Rockwell scale.

If you look inside of your M&P slide and see the different pattern of machined dimples, that tells you what machine made that slide for QC reasons.
Dog1  [Moderator]
3/22/2012 1:44:08 PM
Originally Posted By sgtglock1:
One of the big wigs at S&W keeps a cup of coffee on his desk so he can see the impact tremmors and know that the forging machine is making money. S&W has one of the largest forgers in the country and does work for many other companies. If you ride a Harley Davidson (like you should), the transmission parts are made at S&W. If you go to the factory and go to the research side, it looks like a sanitized lab. If you go to the forging side it looks like something out of a Mad Max movie with big burley men in leather aprons walking around in a hot foundry room. Not that it helps answer the question but it is cool information. Bye the way, the exec doesn't even drink coffee.


That makes sense. The only thing that does not leak and works on a HD is the transmission.

RogerRoger  [Team Member]
3/22/2012 4:42:59 PM
Thanks for all the answers! Love my Smith even more now. To bad the mags are kind of hard to find (in store that is).

Rog.
Dog1  [Moderator]
3/22/2012 5:22:44 PM
Originally Posted By RogerRoger:
Thanks for all the answers! Love my Smith even more now. To bad the mags are kind of hard to find (in store that is).

Rog.


Try Greg Cote LLC or 44mag.com.

Much better prices than a store.
RogerRoger  [Team Member]
3/22/2012 5:40:06 PM
Originally Posted By Dog1:
Originally Posted By RogerRoger:
Thanks for all the answers! Love my Smith even more now. To bad the mags are kind of hard to find (in store that is).

Rog.


Try Greg Cote LLC or 44mag.com.

Much better prices than a store.


Thanks for the advise, big difference in prices.

Any must have upgrades y'all know of?

Thanks,
Rog.

Observer  [Team Member]
3/22/2012 5:50:04 PM
I was pretty sure they outsourced the machining of their m&p slides, I met a guy who used to work at the place that did it in Ohio.
This was a year or two ago so I'm not sure if they still do it or not.
j_dock2  [Member]
3/22/2012 6:07:32 PM

Originally Posted By RogerRoger:
Originally Posted By Dog1:
Originally Posted By RogerRoger:
Thanks for all the answers! Love my Smith even more now. To bad the mags are kind of hard to find (in store that is).

Rog.


Try Greg Cote LLC or 44mag.com.

Much better prices than a store.


Thanks for the advise, big difference in prices.

Any must have upgrades y'all know of?

Thanks,
Rog.


Apex Tactical has goodies for you, oh yes. Unfortunately they seem to have fewer goodies for .45s though. I love my RAM (cheap, easy install, works.)

Speed Shooter Specialties is also a name you'll want to know.
ALPHAGHOST  [Team Member]
3/22/2012 6:39:06 PM
idk...i managed to peel off the rail side of the metal w/ a sight pusher though
dirksterG30  [Team Member]
3/23/2012 12:23:00 PM

Originally Posted By RogerRoger:
Originally Posted By Dog1:
Originally Posted By RogerRoger:
Thanks for all the answers! Love my Smith even more now. To bad the mags are kind of hard to find (in store that is).

Rog.


Try Greg Cote LLC or 44mag.com.

Much better prices than a store.


Thanks for the advise, big difference in prices.

Any must have upgrades y'all know of?

Thanks,
Rog.


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