M&P40 - Impressive

[LockedBreech]

We just took my friend's new Smith & Wesson M&P40 out for a maiden voyage. Very impressive gun. Here are my impressions after an hour with the gun:

1.) I'm sorry, but the trigger is not nearly as bad as folks say. It has some mush and the reset is hard to detect, but our example had no crunchiness and broke relatively cleanly.

2.) Those fish scale slide serrations are very, very grippy. Easy to rack it.

3.) Magazines and slide lock/release were stiff, but normally so for a new gun. With a bit of thumb effort or easily for my UpLula we got the magazines loaded to their full capacity of 15.

4.) Boy does it handle .40 well. The rotating barrel on my PX4 makes it a bit softer still, but this is a remarkably gentle .40 for a traditional Browning tilt barrel system. My friend's only experience was with his 9mm Stoeger Cougar and he loved the M&P. He said it was no harder to control and he kept his fast follow-ups with solid accuracy.

5.) I like the stainless guide rod on a polymer gun. Didn't think that'd matter to me but it really gives the package a solid feel. Considering ordering a Steve Bedair for my PX4.

6.) The stock Novak sights are real easy to work with. They have nice aftermarkets available for night sights but the stock sights are nice enough that you don't immediately have to replace them like a Glock's nasty plastic post & bowl sights.

7.) Easy magazine release. Hadn't thought of this until now, but that's the point, isn't it? Not stiff, not loose, easy to reach, magazines dropped free.

8.) I would not have gotten the manual safety model, but my friend wanted it. To my surprise, this somewhat ungainly-looking safety is excellent! Operates just like a 1911's frame-mounted one, very easy to activate and deactivate without moving your hands or sight picture. Hell will freeze over before I buy a Taurus, but I understand the appeal of the PT92 frame safety much better now.

9.) Pretty nice case it came in. Better then most manufacturers. Roomy plastic and foam number that can stand up on its side.

10.) Nice magazines. They don't feel quite as solid to me as Beretta or Glock magazines, but feel substantially better than Springfield XD magazines.

11.) Reliable! We took it from the box to the range, no cleaning or oil or TLC, just a fast Q-tip swab of CLP on the rails. It fired:

50x HSM 155-grain (never heard of these - orange box, looks like Berry's plated bullets)

100x Winchester White Box 165-grain

100x Federal Champion 180-grain

Zero issues, from two much-disparaged plinking ammo brands and an unknown.

Overall a beautiful 'lil gun. I see the appeal.ImageUploadedByTapatalk1348879222.704181.jpg

[janieoakley]

My Hubby has the same gun. It is a Fantastic Gun. He has .357 & 9mm Barrels for it. after 1000s of rds has never had any type of malfunction. I like it so much I'm considering the 9c model for myself. I like it more than my G26...

[915A]

This is on my list to consider

[LockedBreech]

Oh, and for what it's worth the gun was test fired by C.S., and born on 7-10-2012

[Water-Man]

That gun probably has the 'new' M&P trigger.

[checkmyswag]

^is the new trigger a reality yet?^

[Theohazard]

He said the reset is hard to detect, so it sounds like it still has the "old" trigger. That's my only problem with the M&P: it can make rapid-fire strings difficult for people who are used to riding the reset. Luckily, that problem is pretty easily fixed and supposedly soon the stock guns will come with a normal reset like the Shield has. The gun shop where I work still hasn't seen any M&Ps with the new trigger, so I'm guessing it's not quite out yet.

[insomni]

really glad you are enjoying your pistol so much!
Just got blessed off by the Household Budgetary Committee to put in an order for a new one.


Also, remember if things DO go wrong, S&W has excellent[!] customer service