S&W M&P

[EricW]

More M&P scoop:

S&W is working on getting a version of the M&P for sale without the magazine disconnector for sale to the general public. They realize that this is an issue for them sales-wise and are actively working toward a solution, so that people do not have to remove the disconnector themselves.

If you have an M&P with the mag disconnect and wish to remove it, you will have to order a new spring from S&W to do this. The existing spring will not work with the magazine disconnector removed. You *should* be able to do this with no problem, or at least minimal problems. I wish I had an exact part number or description, but I was driving when I had the conversation.

S&W wants to sell the M&P to everyone who wants one and they are determined not to allow this configuration issue to get in the way of that. FWIW, it's not a political problem, it's an inventory management problem where they're going to end up with basically 4 part #'s for the same pistol in various configurations. The market has spoken and it's just going to take some time for them to react, but you WILL be able to get exactly what you want if the M&P looks like a viable platform for you.

Hope the helps quell any concerns or assists someone in making an informed decision.

E

[rubberneck]

It is nice to hear that S&W is willing to listen to their customers. Mag disconnects are a no go for me personally.

[John Thompson]

I put 950 rounds of five different kinds of factory ammo last week and the only malfunction I had was a failure to extract. The gun shot fantastic. The sights are a bit thick but I'm using nightsights and I'm not ready to file on the front sight yet as this a primarily training pistol not a comp one. All thing sonsidered I was able to do a Bill drill with 12 rounds in about 4 seconds.

One big problem I had though was that the take down tool was installed in the grip frame wrong and would fall out of the gun while I was shootng if I didn't push it back in every couple of magazines.

Smith is sending me a prepaid agress label so repair will be totally free on my part. I also want to get the extended slide stop and mag disconnect disconnected. The trigger on mine is smooth as silk(relatively) so I hope that if they have to replace my grip frame the new one will be just as smooth.

Edited March 18, 2006 by John Thompson

[usmc1974]

a nice piece like but I like my Beretta

[Joe D]

Are they going to offer a 5" model?

[Jim Watson]

The article in Front Sight said they were.

A 5" adjustable 9mm and some time/spoiled parts for tinkerers to figure out where to grind will produce a fine Production/SSP gun.

[Joe D]

My Foredom is quivering with anticipation.

[Middle Man]

Just got a memo from S&W and they will be offering M&P's sans magazine disconnect in all calibers. So that makes it 30 SKU's in the standard sized (4.25 bbl) models alone.

As EricW stated above, customers expressed a desire for guns without mag disconnects and now we will be able to have them as soon as their inventory management system can catch up. Here is a list of eight of the ten variations in each caliber.

Internal Lock

No Lock

Mag Disconnect

No Mag Disconnect

Night Sights

No Night Sights

10 round only magazines

Standard capacity magazines

Edited March 20, 2006 by Middle Man

[Derek45]

I looked at one at the local gunshop.

I've always respected Glocks for there design, but hated the way they pointed.

The M&P points a lot like my beloved 1911/2011 guns.

I like it.

[the duck of death]

Just got my hands on the M&P. Felt good & pointed OK, hated the mag disc. Now the trigger---anyone who thinks the M&P will run with a well tuned Glock, I wish them luck.

[Crusher]

anyone who thinks the M&P will run with a well tuned Glock, I wish them luck.

I hear Canyon Creek is "fixing" some up.

I have felt a "few" kitchen table jobs that are nice with some polishing here and a spring snip there. When the "tuners" get their hands on some spare parts to play with, I'll bet the triggers come out just as good as any tuned trigger.

How much of "Glocks share" in the market the M&P eats is not going to be determined by how trick the triggers can be made.

[Zerwas]

I'd bet some folks are going to be fairly surprized with the number of M&P's that will be used in competition. Maybe not this year, but in the next few years to come.

[DougCarden]

I handled one at a Gun show last night. Grip was perfect for me, and it pointed dead on. Magwell was good enough, and mags flew in/ out of the gun. I couldnt snap the trigger but just pulling on it was 200% better than the used "Stigma" that was near it. I will own one of the 5" 9x19s when they come out.......

DougC

[Kevin Kline]

The trigger is not that bad. With it tuned, I bet you will see a lot of people shooting them. Cant be that bad, Ernest already shot one in IDPA and came in second. Plus, he was shooting the .40 in 4".

[the duck of death]

Here's a couple of things. As to the pointing, I hear a lot of comments about a Glock. When I moved to a G from a 1911 the G pointed high now the 1911 points low and the G is right on. It's all a matter of getting used to the platform.

Now the trigger, it's too bad that folks can't try a Glock tuned by someone who knows what their doing. Vanek, Joe D and the RS trigger from what I understand are excellent. I did my own and it better than most 1911s you run into. At 2# it has almost no take up, is crisp and creep free AND it's cheap and easy if you know what your doing.

Those that shoot and win with poor triggers do so because they are fine shooters. For the rest of us we need a good trigger to compete. And even the excellent shooters will shoot better with a good trigger.

I would imagine that the M&P trigger will be improved but I'll also bet after trying it that it will NEVER feel like my Glock trigger.

If it does great, I understand the M&P barrels are fine. Glocks on the other hand have unsupported chamber problems that I won't tolerate and require a after market barrel. Some Glock calibers are fine others scare the#%# out of me.

[Behr]

I have no doubt once the tuners figure these out, the triggers will be sweet. I suppose "better" will be up to the individual but I'm already gettting faster splits (couple hundreths) with the M&P than my Glock and recoil is pretty much the same. Although I've always struggled with the Glock when it comes to the hosing with it, probably too much time on the 1911 platform.

[chp5]

I think I got one of the earlier production models because I have no internal lock on my M&P. Good!

[Chuck Anderson]

According to the most recent article I read in Police Marksman, the internal lock, and this I don't get at all, is an LE only option.

The malfunctions that I had initially have all sorted themselves out. No malfunctions in the last 300 rounds and the hitch in the slide travel is gone. Must have been an internal burr that just needed to be smoothed out.

[CDavies]

I have called S&W twice trying to find out what parts I need and the part # to take the mag disconnect out. Both times I called they didn't seem to know what I was talking about. So I did what every other tinkerer would do and took it apart. I took out the original spring and mag disconnect part and replaced both with a cut down spring to hold the sear disconnect in place. Seems to work great. Going to the range in the next few days to try it. The spring I used was out of a ball point pen (it was handy at the time) Will probably find a better suited spring in the future.

[jripper]

Got one just last friday. I have been a long time 1911 shooter, and a Glock shooter for several years now. I tried the XD, and did not really care for it. I like the Glocks, and do have a 34 with a super tuned Vaneck-ish trigger, and it is really nice, but...

I picked up the M&P, put two magazines through it, and fell in love...

For me, mine shoots right over the front sight at 20 yards, and my first 6 shots off hand were in approx. 3 1/2 ". I proceeded to shoot 20 yards head shot groups, at a decent pace, and was quite pleased with the results. This is about as good as I can shoot with anything.

The cool thing about this is it was right out of the box!!! I just lubed the gun, and took it outside with factory ammo.

The XD I had shot way off point of aim, and with my Glocks, right out of the box, the triggers were a little to heavy for me, and sights were too darned wide. Ditto for some of my 1911's.

The sights on the M&P, altough they have those goofey 3 white dots, are useable. The front is narrower than a glock, and the rear notch is large enough to allow sufficient light around the front.

I have previously owned a Glock 22, and always found it fairly violent in recoil, the slide came back rather sharply, and sights were hard to track.

My perception is that the M&P recoils maybe 1/4 to 1/3 less, and the sights are much easier to track.

I took it to a local club match on Sunday, and let 8 other shooters try it out after the match.

These shooters ranged from one new shooter, to a good Master shooter, and everything in between.

Some of the comments, both positive and negative, were:

Points better than glock, like the trigger, the trigger is useable right out of the box.

One Glock shooter stated he thought the take up was long, and creepy, but also said that he did not think that mattered.

A couple thought the front of the grip was too slick (my fix, grip tape!!)

A couple others thought the grip was fine. One shooter, who does not like glocks, liked this gun, but still thought it pointed a little high.

All felt that the recoil, with factory 180's, was not too bad, and the sight tracked well.

During the first 200 rounds or so, we had 1 failure to feed, with Winchester white box, and one misfire. However, the misfire was with winchester winclean lead free ammo, and I have seen many misfires with this ammo. A second hit on the primer still did not set it off.

One shooter was bumping the slide lock up with his thumb, causing it to lock open.

We also tried about 50 rounds of 180 minor,which all thought tracked very well, and was extremely mild. It all cycled just fine, and empties went

One of our shooters, a good PPC shooter, shot a 8 round group at 15 yards off hand, and put 7 of them into one large clover leaf looking hole, with the last shot about 1 1/2 inches away from the main group.

One common complaint was the slide lock (myself included).

It is virtually impossible to drop the slide with the slide lock with your strong hand, and near impossible if using your week hand. Hopefully, this can be modified.

No one really cared for the mag disconnect, altough no one really thought the trigger suffered from it either.

Several (myself included) thought the reset is quicker than the Glock's (unmodified that is).

Overall, many positive comments, and a couple of, "I think I know what I'm buying next."

I have never been a great Smith Auto fan, but I think they may have a winner here.

Now, can anyone tell me how to get the slide apart so I can start fiddling with the striker and so forth.

And, where can I get a holster for it!!!

[Caspian_45]

Hey I know you jripper.

Let me be the first to welcome you.

I really like the M&P 40.

[DMH]

And, where can I get a holster for it!!!

Got a LO (dropped offset) on the way from talon tactical, pouches coming from Uncle Mike's, and extra mags coming from S&W. Should be ready to rock in a few weeks.

I've never shot production before but when I played with this gun I was pleasantly surprised and decided to switch for a while...

[chp5]

I've put about 400 rounds more through my M&P. I haven't had any more light strikes and the gun has been 100% with no cleaning or lubing.

My trigger is OK and shootable out of the box, but it's begging to be lightened and an overtravel stop installed. RIID - you out there!!

It seems to be a good gun that has potential.

Edited April 6, 2006 by chp5

[jripper]

I agree with the fact that this trigger looks like it could be tuned very nicely. As soon as I can get extra parts, and figure out how to take the darn thing apart, I will be polishing, sniping springs, grinding, filing and so forth.

Note, the slide lock does seem to be getting a little easier to use. I can actually activate with my strong thumb.

Or maybe my thumb is getting stronger from trying to activate that really hard slide lock.

Thanks for the tips on the holster, also.

[PistolPete]

I live in the People Republic of Massachusetts so we can't buy the M&P yet. Our version will have a 10lb. trigger pull which helps with accuracy. HAHA So today I went to New Hampshire to see an M&P. This gun really seems to be all it is cracked up to be. The sights seemed pretty good, the grip angle was perfect, it felt well balanced, and the trigger wasn't too bad. It feels a little weird at first but I think it would be easy to get use to. One will def. be in my future if it ever becomes legal for sale in this horrible state.

Pete