S&W M&P

[CaseyJ]

Any word on a 5" model? I talked to a local S&W Sponsore shooter and he assures me that there is one coming out soon. a month ago he said March but like most great gunsmiths, he didnt say what year! LOL

[sgtlt]

Smith is telling us that the 5" should be out first of June, but we all know factories dont ship when they say they will the first time around.

[ysued]

The 45 was supposed to be out in Feb, then March, I'm still waiting

I would like to test the Pro Model before I cough up the cash, I'm not 100% sure that the loger gun is what I want. I liked the G17 over the G34, but this might be different, I still want to play with it.

Please let us know when you know for sure.

Smith is telling us that the 5" should be out first of June, but we all know factories dont ship when they say they will the first time around.

[shred]

The S&W rep at the US Steel nationals said the 5" was "coming soon"..

[Middle Man]

The 45 was supposed to be out in Feb, then March, I'm still waiting

M&P 45's are available...if you can find one. First shipments from S&W were about April 12.

[dcarter]

Ok, the 45 is out. Anyone know anything about the 5". When is it due out? I've asked around and the response I get from most of my local dealers is "I haven't heard about a 5"."

[ysued]

The 45 was supposed to be out in Feb, then March, I'm still waiting

M&P 45's are available...if you can find one. First shipments from S&W were about April 12.

There you go, and I do work for S&W and I can't find one!!

Y

Ok, the 45 is out. Anyone know anything about the 5". When is it due out? I've asked around and the response I get from most of my local dealers is "I haven't heard about a 5"."

Maybe because it's called the "PRO" and it's not going to be 5". I

The last I heard was 4.5"

But the one I saw at SHOT was only a rough prototype, not a production model.

Y

[Middle Man]

There you go, and I do work for S&W and I can't find one!!

Y

Smith didn't ship lot's and lot's of .45's. Best I can tell, they shipped 30 or so units to 8 or 10 wholesalers. When those hit retail shelves, they were sold immediately (the ones I shipped my dealers last mere minutes after the FEDEX delivery).

The PRO guns are said to be shipping in May.

[ysued]

There you go, and I do work for S&W and I can't find one!!

Y

Smith didn't ship lot's and lot's of .45's. Best I can tell, they shipped 30 or so units to 8 or 10 wholesalers. When those hit retail shelves, they were sold immediately (the ones I shipped my dealers last mere minutes after the FEDEX delivery).

The PRO guns are said to be shipping in May.

I must send a reminder E-mail to the Marketing Dept then, I want one.

Y

[dcarter]

So, maybe I missed it but does anyone have the info (and maybe pictures) of the "PRO"? I hate rumors so if anyone "knows" please chime in here. I love my duty M&P9 but I can't do a lot of work on it since it is department issue. I want one of my own.

[ysued]

So, maybe I missed it but does anyone have the info (and maybe pictures) of the "PRO"? I hate rumors so if anyone "knows" please chime in here. I love my duty M&P9 but I can't do a lot of work on it since it is department issue. I want one of my own.

I posted Pics of the Prototype from the SHOT Show, but the Production PRO will look nothing like the Prototype.

So, we eill all have to wait.

Y

[shootingchef]

I saw two of the 45's yesterday at my local gun store. I think they were asking 529.00. I wished it were payday!

http://www.bullettrapinc.com/

[SAW45]

Played with both a M&P Compact 40 and the M&P 45. I will be shooting both on this coming Monday. The trigger felt much better on the compact for some reason. Glocks seem to feel better in my hand. Can anyone tell me what the "PRO" model differences will be?

Thanks!

[Middle Man]

M&P 45's with the ambi thumb safety should be on your favorite dealers shelves today. We have lots and lots at the wholesale level...

[dcarter]

Has anyone heard of Trugrip coming out with a version for the M&P? If not will one of the Glock versions work? I would like to "get a grip" on this question.

[ysued]

Has anyone heard of Trugrip coming out with a version for the M&P? If not will one of the Glock versions work? I would like to "get a grip" on this question.

Eric?????

I have a family Size can of PuertoRican Whoop-A$$ ready, I'm still wating for my Grip Tape!!

Y

[Nemo]

So .. Does anyone make 140mm extentions for this puppy yet? I wonder how many rounds you could stuff in those mags.

Speed Shooter Speicalties will have one shortly.

[dcarter]

Ok, No idea when the GripTape is going to be made for the M&P so I ordered the set for the Glock. I'll just have to cut it to fit. I let you know how it turned out when I get it. I'm holding off on picking up my "personal" M&P9 until June 1st so I can get those 2 free mags from Smith. The tape and the new Dawson front sight should be here before I pick it up. A little work on the trigger, grip tape and a new front sight. Along with a lot of practice I should be ready for Indiana just in time. Got a note from S&W rep the other day. The M&P Pro 5" is coming but no date has been set and he didn't give me any details yet either. But when it does come in, mark my words, I will be in line at the gunshop!

[ChrisStock]

I did it. I bought it. Damn that new HSBC platinum card with the mega limit on it made me do it. I bought a 2007 M&P in .40, full size. After an hour and a half tonight of familiarzation/breakdown/reassembly, I'll be taking her to the range tomorrow a.m. The large backstrap kind of reminded me of the feel of a Sig P229, which is not a bad thing at all, especially with big old paws like mine that tend to swallow smaller pistols. There is nothing like +P+ loads actually scorching your left thumb when shooting a pistol too small with big hands. Been there, and it sucked.Hellaciously. With more of my grip taken up by the backstrap, this is less of an issue, if one at all.

After a lot of talk with another local gunsmith I know, he explained some of the differences between early production of this and the newer ones rolling out today. That, along with the fact that he is a S&W certified smith put me at ease enough to just do it.

Initial thoughts are as follows: I like de-cockers. I like them a lot. I will miss that luxury with this. With my FNP I have one chambered at all times when carrying, and salvation is just 9 lbs. of pull away...no safeties in the way, I've got one of those between my ears, thank you. With the M&P, the safety trigger is it. Kinda heavy for even me to try and conceal, but that isn't what I bought it for anyway I bought it to beat the living *&it out of some steel.

I have never fired a DAO pistol, so it should be interesting. The trigger is gritty as hell right now, even audibly so, but after a liberal application of Slide Glide,(Thanks, BE!), and a few hundred rounds, it should hopefully smooth out. If not, back to the smith it goes.

I sincerely appreciate the fact that it doesn't have the no-magazine safety installed. They really didn't have to stamp it on the side of the pistol, but I'll take what I have and keep it for now.

For any S&W lovers that I have offended in posts past, please excuse me if I went too far. I'm going to give it a run tomorrow, and see how she performs. Thanks for all of the input here on this pistol in the BEnosverse, and now I'm off to dry fire practice in the garage.

[dcarter]

Installed the Dawson front sight and Grip Tape on mine last week. For those of you wondering about the Grip Tape, the one for the Glock works fine with a couple of minor adjustments. The front sight was the hard part. The Dawson sight needed to be trimmed a lot before it would fit in the dove tail but it looks good. A little bit of easy trigger work was completed bringing the pull down to around 3 1/2 pounds and smooth as any trigger I've felt. I'm looking forward to seeing how it does in Indiana. I don't have any spare parts so if it does break I'm screwed! But I take heart in the fact that our deptartment has over 1 thousand being used at this time with only 4 strikers broke.

Edited June 13, 2007 by dcarter

[ChrisStock]

dcarter, did you do the trigger work yourself, or have it done by someone else? After putting 200 rds through mine last week, the trigger smoothed out a ton, and the audible gritty sound and feel is gone. I would like it lightened a bit, and if you know how, I'd love some info. Thanks!

[ysued]

dcarter, did you do the trigger work yourself, or have it done by someone else? After putting 200 rds through mine last week, the trigger smoothed out a ton, and the audible gritty sound and feel is gone. I would like it lightened a bit, and if you know how, I'd love some info. Thanks!

There's instructions on how to do your own trigger Job, but I sent mine to Dan Burwell, he's done tons of them and he's very familiar with the M&P Trigger and custom work!! He also makes an awesome rear sight for the M&P.

Y

[Stan]

Installed the Dawson front sight and Grip Tape on mine last week. For those of you wondering about the Grip Tape, the one for the Glock works fine with a couple of minor adjustments. The front sight was the hard part. The Dawson sight needed to be trimmed a lot before it would fit in the dove tail but it looks good. A little bit of easy trigger work was completed bringing the pull down to around 3 1/2 pounds and smooth as any trigger I've felt. I'm looking forward to seeing how it does in Indiana. I don't have any spare parts so if it does break I'm screwed! But I take heart in the fact that our deptartment has over 1 thousand being used at this time with only 4 strikers broke.

I hope that they used a different striker in the M&P than the one they used in the SW99. I have had 3 strikers break in the same SW99 pistol. I hope the M&P is more reliable than that.

Stan

[dcarter]

dcarter, did you do the trigger work yourself, or have it done by someone else? After putting 200 rds through mine last week, the trigger smoothed out a ton, and the audible gritty sound and feel is gone. I would like it lightened a bit, and if you know how, I'd love some info. Thanks!

I did the work myself and it was easy to do. I found the instructions on this thread (somewhere). With a file, stone and a punch set you can do the work on it, no problem. Make sure you test fit the sear as you go along so you don't take too much off, smooth it with a fine stone then smooth out the trigger bar. The hard part was the disconnect in the slide. You have to remove the rear sight to get to it. I didn't have a polishing wheel so I took that part to my department range. One of the guys there did a good job smoothing that out for me. The whole thing, including the drive to my range, took just a few hours. Let me know if you have any questions. Honestly, if you have any mechanical abilities at all, you should have no problems doing this yourself. I haven't tested my pull yet, but if I had to guess, I would put it at around 3 lbs.

[Xfactor]

I just picked up my M&P 9 a couple of weeks ago, and I am pretty pleased with it so far. Here are my initial impressions:

Reliability: Flawless* About five hundred rounds of various ammos, and the not a single glitch. [* After several hundred rounds, I did have a couple of FTEs, but I quickly realized that these were due to a FILTHY extractor claw... so I guess I can't hold this against the pistol. Once cleaned, all was right again]

Ergonomics: Excellent. I like the ergonomics of this pistol as much on the range as I did in the store. This is a big part of why I went M&P over the competition (I was also considering the Glock 17 and the Springfield XD). I have big hands, and I could probably make due with the large backstrap, but I think I'm most comfortable with the medium. The grip angle is intuitive for me, coming from SIGs and 1911s.

Sights were pretty good as well, although I swapped out the rear for a Warren Tactical, and Kenny at Speed Shooter Specialties is cutting me a custom-sized red F/O front sight (.192"h x .125"w) which should bring my POI to zero at 25yds with my preferred ammo... It would be nice if someone would come out with a good adjustable rear sight for the M&P sometime soon!

While I'm not a huge fan of some of S&W's safety features (e.g. manually lowering the sear deactivation lever to field strip, magazine safety) these are minor gripes. And at least the magazine safety is pretty easy to remove!

Handling: Very good overall. Recoil control is pretty good for a light pistol, and it seemed to snap back into sight alignment very nicely for me on quick follow-up shots. Adding a tungsten guide rod and a 13# ISMI recoil spring made it even smoother.

The trigger is relatively good for a stock service pistol. I like the overall function of the trigger, but for me, 6.5 # is just WAY too heavy. After about 200 rounds, some of the roughness wore off, but from what I hear, a Dan Burwell trigger job makes it one of the most sweet, crisp striker-fired triggers to be found.

Mag drops and reloads were great... no need for a big flared magwell on the M&P!

Fit & Finish: Good, if not great. Most parts of the M&P are solid and tight-fitting, but I did find a few minor issues. One in particular was the grip tool; it was hopelessly stuck upon my first attempt at removal. I got it out with the help of my vise, and working it back and forth eased the fit up to the point where I can now get it out by hand.

Being more accustomed to SIGs and 1911s, I'm used to pretty solid, heavy duty inner workings... the M&P is much lighter. I guess this isn't a detraction, as I'm sure it's all part of S&W's grand design. But only time will tell if the M&P stands up to thousands and thousands of rounds of punishment the way other great pistols do.

Accuracy: Very good. Definitely happy with the results here. Despite the challenging stock trigger, I still tore up the center of my paper targets pretty effectively. [i've heard that even though the barrel is only 4.25", the sight radius on the M&P is almost identical to a 1911... Makes me wonder how much better the "Sport" model will be - if it's actually released by year-end, as promised!]

I had some fliers, but I think a good trigger will really help me dial-in the consistency... Here's my target with a few dozen rounds off hand from about 30-35 ft:

Overall, I can say that I'm pleased with my choice to go with the M&P. Being that my intentions with it are for Production USPSA, I already sent it off to Dan Burwell for the trigger job, F/O front sight install, mag disconnect removal, grip stippling (a.k.a. "Shark" treatment), etc... I think I'll be very happy with this pistol for a long time.

Edited June 21, 2007 by Xfactor