Skeptic's Review of M&P 40c

[Laneman]

A buddy of mine just bought an M&P 40c for Christmas and wanted to bring it over to try out. Being a Glock man and having handled a few S&W Sigmas, I was not impressed upon first hearing his choice. When he arrived and took it out of the case my first thought was it's very small, it's going to kick like a mule. I held my thoughts though, didn't want to spoil the mood. He began firing it without even cleaning it, which I thought would surely lead to a jam. To my surprise it functioned flawlessly. He asked if I wanted to try it and I reluctantly agreed. I normally shoot and carry a 9mm Glock 19, so 40 cals always feel snappy to me. My first impression was how perfectly it fit my hand and how natural it felt. I threw it up on target and instantly had a great sight picture. As I began the trigger squeeze I waited for the punishing snap of recoil from the small 40. The trigger squeeze reminded me of my Glock, but was different, I think longer and a little more firm. To my delight I didn't notice any snap, and the first shot was dead center on the X. I emptied another 9 rounds, all hitting very close to center. We went through 100 rounds with a brand new uncleaned gun and it was letter perfect, very accurate and no malfunctions at all with basic Federal target ammo. I have to say that I am very impressed with this gun. My wife is thinking of getting her CHL and I think i will recommend she try the M&P 9c as a carry choice.

[OldCannon]

If you do, there's a lady in League City that makes custom backstraps for M&Ps, they're pretty awesome.

http://www.brilliantbackstraps.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[johncanfield]

.. My first impression was how perfectly it fit my hand and how natural it felt. ....

Yup! That's why I own one.

[Teamless]

I recently traded my XD9sc for an M&P9c, it fit my hand nicely, and I shoot the M&P9c so much more consistent than I did the XD9sc.
I did love the XD9sc, don't get me wrong.

Saturday, I love the M&P9c so much, I bought an M&P9 full size (4.5") Shot it yesterday, and was amazed at how well it shot, ok, not amazed, as I knew the 9c, but still loved it!

[ryouiki]

I have no experience with any of the M&P line, but I've seen comments that the M&P 40/45 could be considered "the best service pistols on the market"... that said if you are looking at the M&P 9, you may want to read through this thread:

http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php? ... 9-accuracy

May or may not be an issue any longer, I have no ideal... but ran across this while I was researching something else.

[Maxwell]

A 40c is my EDC. Enough said.

Those Backstraps are really nice!



Max

[The Annoyed Man]

Got to talking at the dog park one day with another guy who is a CHL and ex-LEO (and really young to be an "ex" LEO, it seemed to me, but given his lack of tact, I'm not surprised), and we were talking about different carry guns. He asked me what I carry, and I said that I had several different carry guns, but that day I happened to be carrying a full-sized M&P45. He then said, and I quote, "I hate to tell you man but your carry gun is crap. M&Ps are all junk. I won't carry anything but a Glock....yada yada Glock this yada yada Glock that blather spout......"

I let him go on making a fool of himself. Better to be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt. Nothing wrong with a Glock. One of my wife's carry guns is a Glock 19, and (sshhhh, don't tell anybody) I've actually carried it a few times. But they aren't for everybody, and then aren't perfect. I have experienced jams with my wife's Glock, and you can just google "Glock Kaboom" for pictures of Glock ugliness of the detonation variety. They are great guns, but they are NOT infallible. Until I bought my XDm-45 Compact 3.8, that M&P45 was the softest shooting .45 I owned, including a couple of nice 1911s and a Kahr CW45. And the M&P is also pretty accurate. Some people are just pimply headed idiots. We should strive not to be like that.

My personal issues with the Glock platform are:

1. The grip angle just doesn't work for me. I don't know what Gaston Glock was thinking, but it does not feel anywhere near the same angle as any of my other polymer-framed pistols.
2. Not enough beavertail overhang from the factory, and I have fleshy hands, so I get bit a lot when shooting a Glock.
3. Grip circumference too big, although I understand that the Gen 4 guns now incorporate (finally) an adjustable insert (like the M&P and XDm lines have been doing for a while) to fix that problem.
4. In the .45 caliber double stack guns (which excludes the G36), the slide is just TOO wide. It doesn't have to be that wide to accomplish anything. The M&P and XD/XDm .45s aren't that wide, and narrowing the slide, at least at the top of it, makes it a more concealable pistol......and isn't that why we're all here?

But, none of my criticisms mean that the Glocks are bad guns. They are very good guns. It's just that the competitors are also very good guns, and what works for a lot of people may not work for all people. Guns are not a "one size fits all" thing. So whenever I hear somebody say "MY insert object name here is Number One!! All others are Number Two or lower!!!!," I'm reminded that people are often idiots, and I try not to sound like one of them.

[punkndisorderly]

Were it not for the amount of money (guns, holster, magazines, etc.) And raining time I have tied up in Glocks, I'd switch over to the S&W. M&P 9L for home and 9c or Shield for carry. As is, nothing "wrong" with the Glocks. Not enough to be wothe the $500+ to trade in my Glocks buy a dozen or so magazine, and get a couple good holaters.

[johncanfield]

I have no experience with any of the M&P line, but I've seen comments that the M&P 40/45 could be considered "the best service pistols on the market"... that said if you are looking at the M&P 9, you may want to read through this thread:

http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php? ... 9-accuracy

May or may not be an issue any longer, I have no ideal... but ran across this while I was researching something else.

I read through 32 of the 36 page thread (kind of a slow day here ) and the focus of the thread is that some of the 9mm versions of the M&P have accuracy issues while generally speaking the 40/45 calibers don't. Speer Lawmen 147 grain seems to consistently meet S&W's accuracy test while other loads provide a greater spread.

Maybe I should buy a Ransom and test mine, but for a guy that isn't a competition shooter, I can put a full magazine into center of mass consistently on a B27 target and I'm usually 99-100% hits in the head area of the B27 at seven yards. So for me, the gun meets my expectations.

It was an interesting thread though.

Nothing against Glock, but it only took about ten seconds of handling one to determine I don't want one. Early on in handgun shopping I think I was handling an H&K (don't remember the model) and was amazed at how good that felt in my hands but the price was a turn off - bought a Ruger SR40 instead (which is fun to shoot and has been 100% reliable after break-in - it's wife's favorite handgun to shoot.)

Oh - no reports of accuracy issues with the Shield, at least in that cited thread

[bnc]

I've been thinking about a subcompact .40, will have to check out te M&P. A friend of mind rented a full size .40 a while back, while I only took a few shots on it the recoil didn't catch much of my attention.