The S+W M+P full size 9mm

[Brownie]

I had the opportunity to use/fire the M+P full size 9mm in the LE class I put on in Florida a few months ago.

The weapon was a "natural" instinct pointer in my hand from the first shots at EU/ED and zipper. The grip is very ergonomic and comfortable. Holding 17 rds, it gives up nothing in rds on tap vs. the G17 I normally use in classes.

When I returned from Fla, I started researching these guns for others first hand impressions and discovered most everyone has had good results where reliability is concerned. Several state and local depts across the US have adopted the M+P as their duty sidearm after testing as well.

I found a full size 9mm similiar to the one I was loaned on one of the boards with night sights and 3 extra mags for sale recently as a decent price [ cheaper than I can get one from the shop actually ], so I scooped it.

It's at S+W right now having the ejector worked on/adjusted as it was throwing brass back into the owners forehead regularly. When he gets it back, he'll ship it to the shop. Should be about 3 weeks before I see it delivered here.

[DocH]

There was a young man at the range a month or so ago who had a brand new one and a brand new G17.He asked if he could try my S&W 1911,which I allowed him to do.He was impressed with it and insisted that I shoot his pistols in return. I declined on the G17,nothing new there,but did shoot the M&P Smith.
It did have a good feel in the hand and was very accurate.The trigger was a somwhat weird departure to me,but then so was the Glock when I first started using them. There are probaly going to be some minor bugs and issues with these guns for a short time ( such as the extraction issue you mention,Brownie)but I think in the long run these may be the pistols that get Smith & Wesson back into the game.
I doubt I'll buy one,but then,I said that about Glocks too,and I stumble over them walking through the house now.:D

[Brownie]

They've reported on several boards that the first ones out of S+W had mag release issues where it would release the mag inadvertantly, but that has been corrected now for some time.

I have one in the shop thats a 45acp full size without the 1911 thumb safety, the one with the safety sold in days. I understand the 9mm will be issued eventually with the same option, though I purposely wanted the full size 9mm without the thumb safety from the start so no need to wait on Smith releasing one with it.

My thoughts in that direction run along the lines of my glocks. Keep your digits out of the trigger guard until you want it to go bang, no need for a thumb safety on a gun like this.

I'll keep everyone posted on this ones progress as it gets a few thousand through it in the coming months. I've heard the triggers can take some getting used to, but I didn't know any of that when I shot the loaner in Fla and I didn't notice any problems in that area myself.

Just point and pull like the glocks and it was good to go on the range.

[chief]

I was putting my wife through the qualification course for security officers, I thought I had provided a first class pistol for her, Kahr T-9, but she shot someone else's S&W and she fell in love. Needless to say I had to buy her one. She seems to really like hers and has "bonded" with it.

[Brownie]

Welcome to the forum chief.

I went through the same thing with my wife in a way a few years ago. As long as she'll carry it, she can have anything she wants where firearms are concerned.

She rides her horse into the desert out here 4 days a week where she could run into about anything while very close to being "remote" miles from the nearest help. Now that she has what she wants/likes/shoots well, she'll forget her phone before she forgets her gun when leaving the house .

I'm very happy with that.

[Brownie]

Put the M+P through some paces this morning to determine a few things.

I had put the smaller of the three backstraps on the gun when I got it. Seemed better to me. That wasn't the case though when in fire mode. I shoot the medium backstrap better, it fits my hand better, and also seemed to be more of a natural pointer for me with the medium backstrap. Not sure what the grip angle is on this gun, but as I had experienced in Fla when loaned one for a class, it shoots where I want it to without conscious thought about it, and thats the type of gun I want.

Gun points and shoots great. No FTF or FTE's in a quick 350 rd outing, rapid fire seemed to be no issue staying on threats, recoil being very mild and "unnoticeable" to me.

Slow fire for groups showed it's a combat arm, holding a half dollar group at 15 feet slow fire off hand using the trijicon night sights. The rear was regulated and did not need to be adjusted for point of impact.

Overall, I like this gun. Holds 17+1 147 WinRanger 147 T's plus one in the pipe. Seems a little less bulky on the belt, hides a little better over the G17 but not enough to make a real difference in the real world.

If it holds up to continued use without malfs, it may replace the g17 for awhile. I say for awhile as my glocks just continue to impress the hell out of me for reliability, both my own personal guns and the trainers/loaners people use whule out here with me in a class setting. I doubt there's a gun out there that can dethrone my G17/G19's for long. I could be wrong, but it's going to take some real impressing to get me to change that opinion.

It seems now that if there is one gun that might do that, it's this S+W M+P fullsize 9mm. Further time will tell, but if this one works out as well as I suspect, I may trade my SA XD 45 for one of the M+P 45's, especially now that S+W has announced they will release 14 rd 45 mags for that model this month. The M+P's feel better in my hand than my XD 45.

[DocH]

Good report on the M&P,B. Glad to know it's a shooter. I liked the one I was loaned at the range a month or two ago. Very accurate in deliberate fire.
Thes are growing on me and the more I handle and look at them,the more I like them. The .45 M&P has impressed me more than any other .45 that's come on the market in the last few years.
I love the Glock 30,but the 21 is just too danged big for me. The XD feels wrong for me,although I know it's a good pistol.There'll always be a good 1911 around,I can't seem to let it go,but if these M&P's keep going the way they are they will probably be "the" .45 caliber pistol to beat as time goes on.
We have so many 9's,I think the .45 caliber version would be my cup of tea if I decide on one in the future.The ammo concern is the only problem with that,the cost being what it is. Jerry has been out of RA45T for quite awhile now,as well as MAH supplies.
The only redeeming thing for me is I have a very close friend who is a Captain with the county PD here who I helped get into LE years ago.He has an FBI buddy who lets him into the trunk of his car pretty regularly.That always nets me a couple of hundred rounds of 230 gr. Golden Sabres,and ypu can't beat free.:D

Good to hear you like your M&P. I think you're a reasonable judge of firearms.;) This is good news.Keep us posted on how it continues to run.It's an interesting piece of new equipment.

[Brownie]

I plan on shooting this 9mm a lot, and loaning it to students for them to shoot while out here. It should get some good workouts in in thre future.

I'm probably going to end up with the M+P 45 as well Doc, and though I have the XD and lots of mags for it, I, like you, I get this "feel" that it is just not right for me. I can't place my finger on why, but that feeling is there, and it does not get to go to the range often. I can trade the XD45 for the M+P and have enough room left to grab some spare mags for it at the same time.

Speaking of mags, S+W has a promo going right now till the end of the year on mags. Buy an M+P, send in proof of purchase and the serial number, you'll be sent two free mags of your choice.

I'll keep everyone up to speed on it's durability and any issues that crop up from time to time.

[DocH]

I got an email from S&W the other day about the mag promo. I almost...almost sprang for a .45 M&P last week,but the "cash for guns" is low right now,and the only one they had was one with the thuimb safety,which I definetely don't want on this particular pistol.
Got to get the funds built back up some.At least that's what the boss says.:o

[Rob Pincus]

Great guns. We've been using them as the primary range gun at Valhalla for almost 18 months now.
I took a 2 day basic pistol couse with one last month with no problems.

I've also been using them extensively on the Personal Defense Video Series.

Thumbs Up!

[Brownie]

Three weeks ago, I had a student in from the Philly area [ his thoughts on the training here: http://www.threatfocused.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1644

While I loaned the student the trainer G17 1st gen for a few days, I thought I'd shoot the M+P 9mm and give it some work.

He fired 2K in two days, the M+P put 500+ downrange in the same time. That makes 850+ through it with NO malfs.

I'm not cleaning it, I'm going to keep track of rds till it fails some way just to see how far this one can run with the glock. My glock trainer can go 6K before it sees a bore brush or any maintenance pretty regularly.

Just an update for the members following this one

[Brownie]

Here's some pics of the Smith and Wesson M+P 9mm full size pistol.

[JMusic]

Just got one myself:D I've not put many rounds thru it yet, seems to shoot low at 20 yards with 115's. I carry 147's so that will raise it some. I like the ergonomics alot and like B use the mid size grip. I'm gonna run it thru the paces this weekend and see how it does. Let y'all know how it did.

I almost bought the 45 but I like my Kimber better. Plus the cost of 45's is quite a bit more for a range gun.


Jim

[Brownie]

The low at 20yds doesn't seem right, I haven't see that brought up on the M+P forum at all that I recall.

The link to that forum for anyone who wants to take the time to research the threads on these guns is:

http://mp-pistol.com/boards/

Burwell Gunsmithing at 2249 Sugar Run Road, Duncansville, PA 16635 (814) 932-4792. Dans the man on these M+P's as you'll see if you look around the forum much. Quick turnaround and here's his website, might take a look at some of the work he's done on these here:

http://www.burwellgunsmithing.com/

Good luck with the new piece Jim, keep us up to speed on what your thoughts are with this one.

[JMusic]

Could be me, I haven't been shootin worth a damn lately. Shot some off a rest though and still shot low. I'm pushin to the right sometimes also. Maybe I need to go back to shotguns.:D


Jim

[RAM]

Stopped by a local shop today and got to play with the M&P 9mm. Perhaps you guys can tell me if this was an isolated problem with this gun but the trigger was rather gritty feeling. It was worse than any Glock trigger I have ever pressed. They only had one so I dunno!

On the bright side the gun feels real nice in the hand. So nice that if I find one with a trigger to my liking I probably would bite the bullet. :D


Oh crap did I say that! :eek:

[Brownie]

Their triggers get better with shooting them, but Burwell does them right.

[JMusic]

I break in triggers this way. Be sure to start with unloaded gun. "PC couldn't help it":p Pull the trigger to unload, push the trigger to the side applying heavy force with your finger and work the trigger back and forth several times. Switch hands and do the same with your opposite hand. I do this switching back and forth for a couple days with my idle time. You will find that technique is worth a couple thousand rounds as far as break in.


What causes the gritty feeling is the burrs on the trigger and sear. By loading the trigger hard to each side you work against the burrs with alot more force. Try this on any new or slightly used weapnon and see if this doesn't help. I've found this technique doesn't work you need to take it to a Smitty.

Jim

[Kilroy]

They tune up pretty well. Oddly, you'd think a semi-auto single action pistol would start with a better trigger. The XD paved a new path for single action pistols, showing that they could be accepted by the gun owning public. S&W followed suit, but was first to offer a manual safety, followed by the XD version. Fortunately, both clean up pretty well.

[Brownie]

Kilroy,

Welcome to the forum sir.

[JMusic]

Just spent some time with the Smith. Running through close drills was OK. Grips fee great, gun is well balanced. At 30 ft in I'm usually on target about as fast as you can draw. The M & P was spot on for me at this distance. Past this distance I started shooting left. Some times I could shoot on, but just when I think I'm cured I shoot left again. Never fully got over that.

Ive shot about a thousand rounds through it with out a jamb. Half of the shooting was with one hand. I'ts a good pistol and would fill home defense or LE. It's Not a Glock though. The more I shoot the more I'm impressed with GP's, 1911's, K frame Smiths, and Glocks. :cool:



Jim

[DocH]

The more I see them and handle them,the more impresed I am. I'm more fond of the compacts than any of the others for my own use. I just heard that S&W has started shipping the .45 M&P compacts. That;s the one I've kind of been waiting for.
We'll see. I just don't know if I can justify buying another handgun to myself,tho. It's really hard for me to find anything that would work better for me than my 2nd Gen. G19.

I did spring for a M&P15 with the rebate to keep the Colt 6920 company and with that expenditure along with the 1911 I bought in Feb. '07 I'm pushing my luck.:eek: I do hear an M&P compact calling me tho.

[Brownie]

It's Not a Glock though.

I've seen you shoot both, hence the above quote

:D :D ;)

Shooting just to have fun, goofing on the plates, etc is something I don't do often enough in the last few years. Shooting for the hell of it harkens back memories to the days when I'd burn ammo just to burn it up, pushing the guns hard just to see if they'd stand up to it. Back then, it was nothing to burn through 5K of 45acp a month [ I loaded my own ] for the summer.

[JMusic]

My 17 for some reason allows me to do pretty much what I want. Its not the purtteist, its not the best feelin but it shure is the best hittin gun I have except the ones mentioned above. All have allowed me to shoot up to my potential. There will be certain firearms in your life that seem to just shoot. I realized after selling a few and buying back that these arms are special. This will vary from person to person but the names remain the same, Sig, Beretta, S&W, 1911's, Glock ect...

For the last couple years Brownie and I have gotten together to shoot. During this we each have a chance to wring out a firearm or two. Thus the appraisal of the M & P.


Jim