crmcdm

As others have said - highly variable. Vortex Venoms and a Viper are my experience. I ran a 6 MOA Venom about 12,000 rounds (about 10,000 on an M&P CORE, and the last 2,000 on a Q5 MATCH SF) before it had to go back. New one on for about 1,000 rounds - so far so good. I had a 3 MOA Venom on a milled M&P Pro that lasted only about 300 rounds - the milling? the dot? Not sure - haven't shot it at all since. Had a 6 MOA Viper go about 4,000 before it croaked - new one now on my PCC and not getting much work, or much recoil when it does. If I were starting over, and money was no object - I'd buy two 5 MOA SROs. If money is a medium object - two DPPs. If money is a real object, two 6 MOA Vortex Venoms. Also depends how much, and what kind of shooting you want to do. Good shooting to you!

Thanks for the link; I'll give it a try. Been having a few FTextract+eject issues too.

I have been shooting an M&P CORE for a couple years, first in Prod, now in CO, and recently upgraded to a Q5 Match SF. The CORE is Apexed out (trigger, barrel) and is very accurate, 2.5 lb trigger, but it is 20,000 rounds old, and is now the backup. Mags with TTI extensions held 23. Runs flawlessly. The Walther is awesome, with plates that fit the array of red dots. I'm running Vortex Venoms, which I like a lot ( but have had to send one back for replacement @ 500 rounds, the other has maybe 10,000 on it, ymmv, but should have two). The Q5 with TTI extensions only loads to 21, so a two round hit there, but not really a big deal...gonna reload once on long courses anyway. The other obvious downside is price, for sure, but it doesn't need to be Apexed, and it runs great, EXCEPT won't lock back on empty with my 135 PF loads...but I've already screwed up if I've gone to slide lock, right? Good luck!

If you have a little disposable income and want some GREAT, specific advice, check out the Practical Shooters Training Group https://www.practicalshootingtraininggroup.com/ . You will spend a few hours there and get more to think about and work with than you can imagine. Bottom line: time & effort. But this will make it smartly invested. And just to be clear I have no affiliation with the site - I'm just a slightly older version of you trying to get better.

May be no greater compliment under that kind of stress on the the course of fire than "Great muzzle discipline "--well done!

I was also struck by the toilet bowl Smith M&P CORE fell in into in Carry Optics. 2017:27%....2018: 5%. Comes with ignoring the competition sector while Sig and Walther do the opposite. Where are Julie Golob and Jerry Micelek when good old American S&W need them...or really, vice versa?

What others said about crimp. My go to load for titegroup & 147 gr coated bullets in a 5" m&p pro is 3.2 gr, 1.13oal, resulting PF 135-138, flawless running. I bump to 3.8 gr for 124/125 bullets, and coated gives about 3 to 5 better power factor compared to plated.

I load these to 1.135 (really ranges from about 1.128 to 1.14 with mixed brass). All shoot great out of m&p pro, shield, and my pcc. I get about 98% case guage in my Hundo, and the 2% still shoot.

Same. I would double check with USPSA.

Yeah. I shoot an M&P core in CO, 3 lb Apex trigger, Apex barrel, and I like it a lot. It is definately very accurate when I do my part (with noted investments). But P320s are a lot more common. The gun is NOT what is holding me back.

I shoot M&P CORE using a Vortex Venom 6MOA. It has worked very well, holds zero after thousands of rounds, and has a relatively low cost of entry, and a forever warranty. Others have praised the Delta Point Pro, the new SIG Romeo on the P320. I did initially use a Vortex Viper, which has a nice profile on the CORE, but set screws to hold elev and windage adjustment are a pain. That now sits on my PCC. Both the venom and the viper had to be replaced once due to different failures, but Vortex made it pretty painless.

Agreed the only way to know for your gun, your load etc., but my experience across an array of guns and loads is that I don't see much difference between 115s and 124s. "Discernable" might be better than I can shoot.

Check this place out - https://ncshooters.com/ If you want to learn more about the guy who started the company go here: https://triangletactical.net/ Listen to the most recent podcast (and others too) - it's pretty good.

I run a Vortex Viper on my PCC and Venom on CO- both 6 MOA, and both terrific. Did have a problem with the Viper holding zero, Vortex sent me a new one...awesome service.

Right...only changed the internals. Same (crappy) hinged original trigger.

I have both Vortex Viper & Venom in 6 MOA. I run the Viper on an M&P CORE, and the Venom on my PCC. I like both, and the dot is great for fast acquisition. The Viper sits relatively low, which I personally likke. Relatively low cost, and forever warranty were deal sealers.

I currently am using an M&P CORE with a Vortex Viper 6 MOA dot. I have a 6 MOA Venom on its way for my newly built PCC. The Viper is quite bright, even in full sunshine, and I have found that when I turn it down to the lowest visible setting, the dot appears a lot smaller, and is more precise for longer shots. There are of course as many opinions as dot sizes (well, more) but seems like a pretty good majority in the competition arena that 6 to 8 MOA is the way to go. I am sure Burris FF3, DPP, CMORE, etc. all good - but will a new Romeo fit the slide best? I think warranty is probably the most important thing to consider, because these devices do take a beating. Vortex and Burris are hard to beat in that area - and their price is darn good.

Been shooting CO a few months with an M&P CORE and Vortex Viper. I did an APEX competition trigger kit on it as well, and the combo shoots very well. The Viper failed to hold zero after about 1,000 rounds, and Vortex sent me a new one. I'm about 600 rounds into that one...so we'll see. Gotta love the Vortex warranty--they are great company! If I had it to do over starting now, I'd look pretty hard at a Sig P320 RX too.

So...it of course depends on your goals for shooting. Simply fun, get more comfortable with your gun, then shooting limited minor ($ issue GeneBray mentioned), stuff your mags & shoot away. Scoring point penalty shooting minor is big, but do you car at first? Production is fun...good challenge to figure out reloads, amd everyone is scored minor. And usually lower cost of entry...glock 34/M&P Pro/Walther PPQ etc. and gtg. Splurge for a CZ or a Tanfo if plastic isn't your flavor. Just shoot. Better Limited major shooters have pretty sweet 2011s...but what do you want? Enjoy.