M&P 45 Super*

A fellow named Alton LeFebvre emailed me and asked if a Smith &Wesson M&P 45 could be converted for 45 super.

I told him I didn't know.  I said it should be fine, but to proceed at his own risk.  The question nagged at me.  Finally I broke down and ordered a police trade in M&P 45 sent to my local FFL.  I ordered it from Sportsman's Outdoor Superstore.  Never dealt with them before, but they were first rate.



I took it to the range.  I put a couple of magazines of  ball 45acp through it to test for function.  Then (!!Don't try this!!)) I loaded a single round of some old Triton factory .450smc.  I fired it, then picked up the brass and examined it.  There were no signs of overpressure, no primer smearing, and except for a ding where the ejector hit the headstamp at way too high a speed, everything looked good.    I did  four more single round tests, and  did a detailed examination of the pistol to make sure  it wasn't taking any damage where the slide was slamming into the frame.  It looked pristine, so I decided to proceed.  I ordered a 24 pound recoil spring and guide from Wolff.  Took it back to the range, and had a great time with several more boxes of that old .450smc.  (I bought a bunch of boxes when it was on closeout at Sportsman's Guide right after Triton went out of business.)  It worked just fine.  It was a great pistol, but I wanted to do something more with it.  I ordered a factory M&P 45 threaded barrel from Bullseye indoor range and gun shop.



Contrary to this image from the website, it does not come with a thread protector.  That was fine with me, because I was ordering a muzzle brake from Rex Silentium.





This makes it really comfortable shooting 45super.  Amazingly it will still cycle (barely) with ball 45acp.  It's the softest shooting 45 I've ever experienced.  I intend to try it with some light semi-wadcutter factory loads, but I'm betting it won't cycle.  Fun project.