M&P for IDPA

[mark carr]

I was going to get a new M&P for shooting IDPA I was thinking about a 45 where I can shoot all 3 auto class's with the same gun anybody else tried an M&P 45. Mark,

[Steve Koski]

I haven't shot one in .45, but you could bounce between SSP, ESP, and CDP with it - provided you don't modify it too much.

[mark carr]

My thoughts exactly I have some 1911's but I have grip safety's deactivated and mag wells on them for USPSA and steel shooting It would be nice to have one gun for all the auto class's and shoot what ever class the most people showed up for that weekend.

[S391]

I know guys who do it with Glock 21's so I'm sure it would work just fine. Just remember to load to the correct division limit.

[mark carr]

Yep it will take a couple loads but I have a steel load from back in the days when we used to shoot 45 for every thing 3.8 gr red dot 200 hg68 if I remember correctly it was pretty soft shooting.

[Forrest Halley]

I know guys who do it with Glock 21's so I'm sure it would work just fine. Just remember to load to the correct division limit.

Yep it will take a couple loads but I have a steel load from back in the days when we used to shoot 45 for every thing 3.8 gr red dot 200 hg68 if I remember correctly it was pretty soft shooting.

Correct division limit and power factor. Remember CDP is 165 not 125.

[mark carr]

Yep I just thought I might shoot a lighter load for SSP that's the class I will be shooting most.

[Duane Thomas]

SSP that's the class I will be shooting most.

Division, not class. Division = gun type (SSP, CDP, etc.). Class = rank (Marksman, Sharpshooter, etc.).

[mark carr]

Ya I guess I better get my terminology right.

[jar]

If you're primarily shooting SSP, I'd go with the 5" 9mm Pro. I don't see much point to shooting all the divisions with one gun. Most of the matches I've attended, SSP is by far the biggest division.

[mark carr]

Ya that was my first choice but I have a goal for the summer is to get classified in all 5 divisions and I am trying to do it without buying 5 new guns.

[Duane Thomas]

I can see the attraction to one gun that could be fired in all three auto pistol divisions in that case.

[Jim Watson]

You might have to load heavier than the minimum power floor for SSP & ESP, Dan Burwell told me that a customer of his had little success with powderpuff loads in a Plastic M&P .45. Which discouraged me from buying one, so I got a local guy to build me an ersatz STI Eagle. That is a fun ESP with midrange .45s and I just shoot a 9mm for SSP.

[mark carr]

That's what I was wondering about I have a nice 45 I just didn't want to change it back n forth from USPSA to IDPA one thing is I always deactivated my grip safety I hold my hand extremely high and I just don't depress it the safety reliably.Lost a chance at a pair of colt series 80 5" for not being able to push the grip safeties in a shoot off the final two had to shoot off with a pair of new colts winner got to keep them long story short couldn't get it to fire no colts for me.

[Duane Thomas]

You might have to load heavier than the minimum power floor for SSP & ESP, Dan Burwell told me that a customer of his had little success with powderpuff loads in a Plastic M&P .45. Which discouraged me from buying one, so I got a local guy to build me an ersatz STI Eagle. That is a fun ESP with midrange .45s and I just shoot a 9mm for SSP.

Did he try respringing the gun, or just try to fire it with much lighter ammo and the stock spring?

[granderojo]

Off the subject a little, you can tune the grip saftey so it takes very little movment to disengage.

Shoot with a guy that shoots an Eagle 5.0 w/bushing in .45 for both CDP and ESP (a 125-45). He shoots 200 SWCs. At 125pf, it's like shooting a .22, no muzzle lift at all. Big mag opening, easy to hit.

Back on the subject, another in the group uses an M&P .45 for both CDP and ESP. I don't think he has tried SSP w/it yet. Works good for the other Divs though. Same bullet,200 SWCs for both pfs.

Hope this info is of some use.

[mark carr]

Thanks for the info I think I will start a new thread and see if I can get some of the gunsmiths to chime in never really thought about tuning it for less movement I have always just cut off the arm on the back of the grip safety and called it good. Mark,

[Duane Thomas]

Why not just do a forum-wide search on "desensitize grip safety"? This topic has been discussed extensively before. By me, among others.

[GOF]

I have a .45 M&P 4.5-inch gun. The factory trigger was 7 pounds+ (sucked)... a trigger job ( Dan Burwell) dropped it to a very crisp 3.5 pounds. Love it. With standard springs the gun will run (Clays powder) a 230 grain LRN at 680 (Minor, and very soft) or kick the powder charge up (Clays or HP-38) and it runs fine at 770 fps (comfortable chrono Major) with no significant POI shift with the 230 LRN... just a reduction in recoil with the minor load. The only problem running it in SSP/ESP is that the magazines S&W advertises as holding ten rounds don't always. Even if you have a thumb like Conan The Barbarian, getting 10 rounds in is tough on some mags. Great gun for CDP (8 rounds)... but not a bad gun for SSP/ESP if you can only shove 9 rounds into the mag and use a Barney mag to chamber. The math works pretty well if you think about it. The gun itself handles real well... shoots accurately enough... and is a joy to shoot once you get rid of the factory trigger, and maybe add something other than the factory three-dot sights (I don't like them). It's not a bad deal... and it also works fine for USPSA L10.

GOF

[Steve Koski]

GOF: If it is a 10 round mag, you don't have the option of downloading to 9+1. That'll get you a PE or FTDR. You are required to load to division capacity.

Page 19:

G. Be loaded to the division capacity of ten (10) rounds in the

magazine plus one (1) round in the chamber. Should division

capacity not be achievable because of lower magazine

capacity, load to maximum mechanical capacity of magazine

plus one (1) round in the chamber.

Koski

[atbarr]

GOF: If it is a 10 round mag, you don't have the option of downloading to 9+1. That'll get you a PE or FTDR. You are required to load to division capacity.

Page 19:

G. Be loaded to the division capacity of ten (10) rounds in the

magazine plus one (1) round in the chamber. Should division

capacity not be achievable because of lower magazine

capacity, load to maximum mechanical capacity of magazine

plus one (1) round in the chamber.

Koski

IDPA for sure, but USPSA also.

A.T.

[GOF]

Koski,

I understand exactly what you are saying about magazine/division capacity. But I have never had a problem with 9 rounds being a PE. It has come up and I just simply asked the SO if he could get the tenth tound into the magazine. When the SO couldn't (both times it came up) the gun fell under the "because of reduced magazine capacity" clause in the rule and I shot it at "maximum mechanical magazine capacity". This wasn't in a sanctioned match, but if ten rounds won't fit the magazine there is a provision in the rules to shoot the gun anyway. At least, that has been my personal experience.

GOF

[Duane Thomas]

Well, if you literally can't get ten rounds in the mag, you can't exactly force someone to fire the gun with ten rounds in the mag, now can you?

[Steve Koski]

I have zero experience with M&P mags, but ten round Glock 22/35 round mags (and the 9 round mags for my 27) are hard as hell to load the last round in, until they're broken in. Then they're only hard (not as hell any more) to fill up.

I guess it all depends on what you tell the SO, how educated they are, and (unfortunately) if they care. If the SO knows nobody has ever made a 9 round mag for the M&P .45, then they might help you load the 10th round into your mags, or let you borrow their UPLULA, or (god forbid) DQ you from a sanctioned match, or not give a damn so long as you always start with 9 rounds in each mag. Do you get a mag loading assist tool with the M&P .45?

The way I'd call it:

• If S&W calls it a 10 round mag, it's a 10 round mag even if the last round is difficult to load.
  
• If I can't load the 10th round even with a loading assist tool, then maybe it's not a 10 round mag.
  

[Jim Watson]

If I can't get the tenth in barehanded and the maker does not supply a tool, then it is a 9 round magazine in actual use, no matter what the catalog says. I have some nominal 12 round magazines that only hold 11, UpLula and all. That is ok for IDPA, though.

Now if you have one that you CAN get ten loaded, the usual policy is to require that all magazines be loaded to the same (lower) capacity. Early days, mixed lots of magazines were fairly common because of all the leftover 7 shot true 1911 magazines in with the then-new cram-in-an-extra designs. It cropped up again in the AWB era where a lot of 10 shot Klinton Klips would not take the tenth because the maker feared BATF reaction if a plus tolerance product happened to take eleven. (Which I have seen, though.)