Taran Tactical basepads in SJC magwell

So ive been shooting limited for a few months in local matches and have made some changes to my M&P40 Pro series. At first it was just springs and a tungsten guide rod, then a set of Taran Tactical base pads (which i love by the way. No screws or sharp edges!). I finally broke down this week and added an SJC magwell to the mix, which led me to a discovery.

The TT basepads dont fall free.

The rounded lip on the back of the pad fits so tightly it has to be removed with the weak hand.

Yes i know SJC recommends Areddondo base pads in this magwell. Im not made of money, and so i needed to make it work with what i have. Fortunately i have no compulsion about taking a file to... well, just about anything.

Filed down the rounded edge and everything works fine. Take just a hair extra to leave room for refinishing, but don't cut all the way through. Take a little at a time and recheck the fit and function

Been a while

So obviously this hasnt been updated in a bit. New house new job new state, long story short guns have not been the forefront of my mind until now. That being said, looking like its time to start sorting out some 9mm major loads, in addition to a foray into limited (work and $$$ permitting).

Taylor Freelance Relief Cuts

Okay, so an update relating to my SJC M&P magwell. If you are using Taylor Freelance expansion baseplates, it may behoove you to add some relief cuts on the magwell to accommodate the base plates' assembly screws. It may just be that I get a little over zealous with my reloads, but I have a problem with the screws hitting the magwell before bottoming out in the magwell. The impact is also enough to knock loose the loctite in the screw threads; not a hard fix, but it gets tiring.

Anyway, pictures show the cuts prior to refinishing to make it easier to see.

SJC Magwell and Slide Racker

As always, exceptional customer service from SJC. I won't go too into details, but they have won my business (Well, maybe not for gun smithing. That I like to do myself. Sorry guys).

The Magwell is about the easiest I have ever installed, whether it be on a glock, a smith and Wesson, a 1911 or an AR. Pop the big grip pin out, slap the Magwell on and tighten the included screw. Tape off the Magwell (so you don't scratch it) and grab a file to blend the polymer lip of the pistol with edges of the Magwell. Please note that if you are using Taylor freelance magazine extensions the screws on the extension retainer plate will leave superficial marks on the rear of the Magwell.

The slide Racker takes a little patience to get fitted, but no more than about 10 minutes of actual work. Once in place, I went the extra step of popping out the retaining screw and drilling a small dimple into the top of the slide so that the retaining screw would have something to grip, rather than impacting strait into the flat base of the dovetail.

All in all, great additions!

Slide Lightening

Okay, so this was in the works for a while and it finally got done. I ended up going a little conservative for now since it is a standard length slide and I don't want to take off too much material and weaken it.

No videos from the range, but it definitely eliminates a noticeable amount of recoil. The muzzle rise is about the same thanks to the compensator, but the physical force of the recoil is definitely lessened.

Might go a bit further on the sides depending how things go.

SJC Micro Dot Mount

This will be a little more in depth than my usual stuff, purely because of the amount of information and effort required to get this little gadget up and running. Long story short, the other mount options were not working out and it was becoming apparent to me that options were running thin, so rather than drop a couple hundred bucks to get the slide milled to accept an STS, I opted for the SJC micro mount. They were having some production hardships at the time I ordered, but they notified me early on of the delay (thumbs up for good customer service) and I got the mount with a few weeks. Make sure you specify what optic you will be using so that you get the right top plate.

Good Stuff: This is a very slick mount. It sit low, to the point that you have to remove front and back sights to get the slide back on the frame. Because it mounts to the frame, it is much more stable and more reliable (since adding weight to the slide forces you to re-tune the slide and recoil spring to account for the altered cycling attributes). Fit and finish was perfect (though to be fair, for the price I would accept nothing less).

Bad Stuff: If you are not a proficient machinist or craftsman, DO NOT INSTALL THIS YOURSELF! I have spent my entire life doing various metal and wood work, and this mount nearly pushed me beyond my own skill set. You will need to drill the frame and fit the mounting plates inside, just to the rear of the accessory rail. I was able to accomplish this with a dremel and a nearly superhuman amount of patience, but if you are anything short of a seasoned craftsman, I highly recommend you send off for SJC and have them do it. There are a dozen and a half ways in which you can ruin your pistol frame if you make a mistake, so there's no sense risking that.

Once you have the mount fitted and the pistol functions properly, it may be worth it to run a thin bead of super glue or epoxy to seal up any spaces between the the front fittings and the frame so that the front mounts don't pop out if you have to remove the mount itself. That, and if one of the screws happens to come loose, you dont want one of the little mount fixtures getting loose in your recoil springs and/or trigger group. Bad juju.

Obviously this wont fit in a standard M&P holster. If you needed to be told that, then you really have no business building something like this in the first place. My preference is the CR Speed world shoot holster (Speed Shooter Specialties sells a model adapted for use with the M&P for ~$150) but any race style holster that fits the trigger guard will do the trick.

Overall: Great mount. Price was what I expected for the amount of machining and development that has clearly gone into this mount. Updates to follow when I get a chance to go to the range, but thus far it appears to be rock solid.

Decided to go ahead and bite the bullet on a SJC micro dot mount. After some work on my 9mm loads, the slide mount is working okay, but not to the degree that i want it to.

I have not received the mount yet (just ordered it actually), but wanted to throw this out there; SJC has some seriously on the ball customer service. They had some issues with their latest batch of mounts that will extend the delivery time, and they notified everyone on the list immediately to let them know. I haven't had any dealings with them in the past, but I'd say that's a good sign!

Will have pics and thoughts up when I get it installed. Oughta be an interesting couple of weeks!