Hey all, looking to purchase my first pistol. A local gun shop has a few on the M&P 9 range kits in stock. I have done a fair bit of reading about the pistol. Most reports are coming back very positive with regards to the ergonomics and reliability. The only part I am unsure about is the accuracy. From what I can gather, somewhere along the way S&W changed the twist rates in the barrels. Also some are saying there are other differences/tighter tolerances in newer production guns that are a better fit thus leading to greater accuracy. I have done a search, and searched online but given the pistol has been out for a few years now, it's near impossible to find out what particular production run/generation are being reviewed. Are the newer ones proving to be accurate pistols? How can I tell the production date from the serial number on the M&P? I have read somewhere that earlier models had "stainless" on the slide, opposite the ejection port on the other side, not sure how much water that story holds. I have shot one at the local range, but just a few rounds from a guys pistol to try it out, probably should have shot a few more. I really liked the feel of it, and the recoil was quite mild. Comparing the M&P to the Glock 17, I prefer the way the M&P feels in my hands. I just don't want to buy a pistol that is inaccurate. After all, only accurate guns are interesting. Thanks in advance.
S&w m&p 9
- Thread starter 1ShotKing
- Start date
Chuckbuster
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Well, I can't help you with the serial number thing, but I can tell you that my M&P9 surprised me recently in terms of accuracy. I'm still wringing my hands over the fact that I cannot find any more of the bullets that gave me the fist sized (smallish in my case) magazine full of holes on an IPSC target at 25 yards. So, the point is that an M&P can be very accurate indeed.
I think within 25m you'd be hard pressed to find a non-accurate modern day handgun. I have a number of pistols and they all shoot similar groups.
That said the M&P has been a good gun to me, I got the first production ones and had issues with the extractor, it's close to 8 years old and still running fine on occasional shoots as I've switched to Sigs as my main target pistol
That said the M&P has been a good gun to me, I got the first production ones and had issues with the extractor, it's close to 8 years old and still running fine on occasional shoots as I've switched to Sigs as my main target pistol
As a first pistol, I believe any modern pistol is more accurate than you can shoot. I got M&P 9mm as my first firearm two month ago and after seeing some people shooting my gun. I can definitely say I still have a long way to go to be as accurate as the M&P 9mm.
Mine is at least 5 yrs old - it has all of the parts that are supposed to make it both unreliable, and inaccurate. It's also rapidly approaching 40,000 rounds. I have had no issues that weren't related directly to bad ammo, normally reloads. I've run it with everything from 1960's CF surplus and Euro spec ball, to minimum charge reloads and it hasn't choked. As far as accuracy goes, good shooters have shot groups that make me feel totally inadequate with it, on a good day I can manage to hold everything on a 3x5 card at 20 yards. I'm going to be changing out the sights, as my eyes are starting to really affect my ability to get decent groups.
The newest M&P9s have a reworked trigger group as well, that might be the easiest way to tell: If it has a distinctive reset (as opposed to a "subtle" reset) I think it's a newer model. I think it's been a long time since they were marked "stainless" on the slide. The really early ones had a different shaped locking surface on the barrel. There was a comparison that I saw on Modern Service Weapons.
I haven't seen any reports of the same sort of accuracy issues with the newest production runs, but it might still be a little early to be able to tell if S&W really solved the problem. I will tell you that mine (newest production) required a much longer break-in period than I would have liked, and I made some modifications to it to hasten break-in.
All gun designs have accuracy that vary somewhat from gun to gun due to manufacturing tolerances. To a certain extent, you just have to take your chances. But if your newly-purchased M&P doesn't have acceptable accuracy, S&W will warranty it. I can't remember what their standard is, but they are famously pretty good with warranty.
The other option is to buy used from someone who can confirm the accuracy of the particular pistol...
I haven't seen any reports of the same sort of accuracy issues with the newest production runs, but it might still be a little early to be able to tell if S&W really solved the problem. I will tell you that mine (newest production) required a much longer break-in period than I would have liked, and I made some modifications to it to hasten break-in.
All gun designs have accuracy that vary somewhat from gun to gun due to manufacturing tolerances. To a certain extent, you just have to take your chances. But if your newly-purchased M&P doesn't have acceptable accuracy, S&W will warranty it. I can't remember what their standard is, but they are famously pretty good with warranty.
The other option is to buy used from someone who can confirm the accuracy of the particular pistol...
Thanks for all the replies. Alpining, I have read on the S&W forums that S&W's acceptable accuracy for the M&P is a 3" group at 25 yards. I know that being newer to pistols I would not be the candidate to evaluate the 3" group at 25 yards, but I'm sure a 10" group at 25 yards, which I have read about would be more of the firearms fault than my own. I am not new to firearms, growing up I have shot many many rounds (pellets) through air pistols, air rifles and in the last 7 years or so centerfire and rimfire. I know its not an apples to apples comparison but sight picture and steadiness would be fairly similar. On another note, does anyone recall if their pistols here in Canada came with a spent casing? Some states require that. I believe there will be a test date attached to the envelope with the spent casing. That might be the best way to find out when it was produced. Thanks again.
abbynormal
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- West Coast
Buy the M&P - they work well for the price point.
Accuracy? - well that's up to you (reference Hickock45 hinting anything with anything) - just gotta know where to aim.
Accuracy? - well that's up to you (reference Hickock45 hinting anything with anything) - just gotta know where to aim.
Tactical Trunk Monkey
Regular
- Location
- Deep South
The gun is only as accurate as the shooter!
After a little more poking, I found a way to identify when the pistols were manufactured. There is a four digit code on the packaging for example 3077, as one YouTuber has shown. The 3 is for which year is was made, and the last 3 numbers are the day of the dear. So 3077 is the 77th day of 2013. Does this sound legitimate? Also I've read that the medium backstrap is the default that comes installed, is this the case? It fits fine, but I think the small would be even better.
Still not sure what to do. My dealer has the M&P 40 in stock, sold the last 9 a few days before I got there. I am somewhat tempted to get the 40 just because it doesn't appear to have the known accuracy issues that the 9 has. From what I've read the 40 is quite manageable in the M&P. Looking for more opinions.
Moparman1303
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Ontario, Canada
Here is a question for everyone. If a new guy was given a Glock and a SW MP 9mm which you think would be easier to shoot. Got a friend who is starting a armed service. NOt trying to hijack the thread. We have been on debate about Gen 4 17,34vs MP 9mm or Pro or CORE.
M&P for a couple of reasons - 1) the interchangeable grips on the M&P fit a wider variety of hand sizes than the back straps on the Glock Gen4. 2) M&P sights work great from the factory and don't erode with holster/unholster 3) not asked, but consider this too - the M&P is the only gun I'm aware of that has replaceable slide rails and locking surfaces - not that you'll need them in the short term, but in the long term a gun that is fully rebuildable is always cheaper than one that isn't especially in commercial use.
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Wow, I'm really sick of hearing about the "known accuracy issues" with the M&P - pretty much the same way I'm kind of done with hearing that every Gen 4 Glock won't eject. If your M&P shoots low and left, it's not the gun. If you buy a new production M&P - not one from 18 months - 2 years ago, it won't have any accuracy issues, because they actually changed the barrel design to improve accuracy with heavier bullets - specifically 147 grain. The first barrels were designed and set up to shoot 115 and 124 grain bullets, when used with 147 grain bullets there were timing issues (unlocking of the barrel) and stability issues. With my old style (defective?) worn out (?) barrel I can put a full mag into a 3x5 card at 15 yards, standing unsupported. If you buy a new M&P9 the worst "issue" you will run into is the mag follower getting stuck, the easy way to avoid that is to place each mag in your pistol (before buying it) with the slide forward, lock the slide back and push the mag release. If all mags drop freely, you're golden. Incidentally, 40 S&W isn't an inherently accurate cartridge - that's why there are no bulls eye guns in 40 (true story, has to do with diameter vs length and stabilization). Of course I've never met anyone who could shoot well enough to be able to say that 40 is inherently inaccurate, and I've met Rob Leatham and Jerry Barnhart.
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Thanks for your input.
