Questions about the M&P9

XRCD011

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I am thinking about buying a used M&P9 range kit. The gun looks like it is an "older/earlier" made gun as it lacks the dovetailed knock outs on the frame for mounting an after market thumb safety, and if it lacks that then no doubt it has the wrong (early) sear block. Myself, I like the idea of a thumb safety (just call me a safety fudd, its OK) and am wondering if anyone has bothered mounting one and if so their feelings about it. In a perfect world I would find a newer production, low round count, M&P range kit in the $550-600 range with the knock outs and later sear block so I could mod at my leisure down the road.
 
You can get a new 9mm range kit for $660. A little more than your price range but you'd be getting a virgin gun that you know nobody's messed with, might be worth the $100ish more (taxes etc)
 
Mp is garbage, mid quality out the mill that is hit and miss. You might get one that shoots ok, or one that shoots great, or one that shoots like ####, specially in the old models.
Being in Canada, you have access to made in Europe guns, specially those made in Germany (WINK WINK) lol. Why buying North American garbage?

I have had an mp, and after comparing to other polymer guns, I was absolutely dissapointed.
First and foremost, trigger, I didn't care about it but lot of people do. I was able to shot it right, but lots of people buy aftermarket sears and this and that to make it crisp, after you are done with that, you spent approx $200 more on the gun. That takes you to approximately $860 plus tax.
With that money you can buy a much better polymer gun (used) like a P30L from HK, or Walther, or even a GLOCK!. I don't shoot the Glock byt I will take one any day, all day, instead of the piece of #### MP.

And the RANGE KIT, I don't really see the value in it. There are people who love them, in most cases, they do not know better.
When I am shooting at the range, or competitions or anthing, I have people staring at my gun (P30L) and they ask me, what the hell is that? they have no clue. Most people think MP are great value or good because everybody bought one, or has one, or whatever, truth to be told: poorly manufactured, low quality workmanship. There are LOTS of better options out there, specially those made not in North America.

I am giving my opinion, and after this I will get 100 people beating me to death because of bashing the mp. There are better guns out there, if you don't know about them is because you have not seen them. Good guns cost more money, don't belive the internet hype, try it yourself and once you compared you will see the difference. Not a kool-aid drinker here, just sharing my experience. I have had many handguns and the mp was the worst quality one, I shot it great though, but it's a low quality piece compared to other makes.

The one I got, had a terrible bore. One way or the other, you will be disappointed with American made guns, quality is not what it was, specially when compared to gun made elsewhere.

I will never buy another SW product.

Now, gotta go and hide behind a rock. Cheers.
 
Thanks guys for the insight and any advice is always well received here. As pointed out I am leery of ANY manufactures "early" production guns. I just cannot shake that feeling that early anything contains hidden and unseen issues that get "corrected" in later guns. Lastly has anyone a later production M&P9 that fitted a thumb safety out there?
 
I've had mine for about 6 months and the quality of the build is just fine. For the money the range kit is a good value, the holster and mag pouch are basic but function fine for the range and the third mag and uplula loader are handy for sure.

Out of the box the trigger was pretty gritty, instead of upgrading the sear I just shot it a whole bunch and that was not only effective for smoothing the trigger out but was more fun as well. Are there better polymer guns out there? Possibly, I don't own any others so I can't say for sure, but I have priced out HK and they will be a lot more expensive. The only thing I didn't care for on the smith was the slippery nature of the grips which I cured with skateboard tape/ talon grips.

Recommend, however I agree with the previous poster on price, I got mine from Prarie Gun for about $650, gst only and free shipping. Don't pay $600 for a used one.
 
If you are having second thoughts, shell out the cash and get a brand new one WITH the thumb safety already installed. It may cost more, but it will give you peace of mind.
 
^ I could do my own install as there does not seem to be all that much to it, just curious if anyones done it and if its even worth doing in the first place. Used anything is always a crap shoot that could work out well or be a source of unending problems, even more so if the guns been effed about with.
 
I have a really old M&P, it has a lot of rounds through it (42K ish), most people who've seen me shoot it don't think I'm having any accuracy issues. It's never had reliability issues - let me be clear about that - it's never had a single reliability issue that wasn't related to out-of spec ammo. If you want a thumb safety M&P, buy one new - I haven't seen all of the parts necessary for the conversion for sale at one time in one place. You may as well get a new gun, given the low cost/high value proposition that the M&P represents - it's not some over priced piece of Euro-trash that you have to plan a year ahead for your parts needs, and where the manufacturer is going to charge you $10 for a small flat spring (AKA small piece of flat metal) that you need to replace every 2K rounds.
 
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I've read numerous reviews on M&P and I've heard mostly good things about them comparable to other quality polymer guns. I don't find anything wrong about made in America guns in general. HK makes good guns but they're not worth the much higher premium over the M&P for me and I don't feel I would be giving up anything with M&P vs HK.

Mp is garbage, mid quality out the mill that is hit and miss. You might get one that shoots ok, or one that shoots great, or one that shoots like ####, specially in the old models.
Being in Canada, you have access to made in Europe guns, specially those made in Germany (WINK WINK) lol. Why buying North American garbage?

I have had an mp, and after comparing to other polymer guns, I was absolutely dissapointed.
First and foremost, trigger, I didn't care about it but lot of people do. I was able to shot it right, but lots of people buy aftermarket sears and this and that to make it crisp, after you are done with that, you spent approx $200 more on the gun. That takes you to approximately $860 plus tax.
With that money you can buy a much better polymer gun (used) like a P30L from HK, or Walther, or even a GLOCK!. I don't shoot the Glock byt I will take one any day, all day, instead of the piece of #### MP.

And the RANGE KIT, I don't really see the value in it. There are people who love them, in most cases, they do not know better.
When I am shooting at the range, or competitions or anthing, I have people staring at my gun (P30L) and they ask me, what the hell is that? they have no clue. Most people think MP are great value or good because everybody bought one, or has one, or whatever, truth to be told: poorly manufactured, low quality workmanship. There are LOTS of better options out there, specially those made not in North America.

I am giving my opinion, and after this I will get 100 people beating me to death because of bashing the mp. There are better guns out there, if you don't know about them is because you have not seen them. Good guns cost more money, don't belive the internet hype, try it yourself and once you compared you will see the difference. Not a kool-aid drinker here, just sharing my experience. I have had many handguns and the mp was the worst quality one, I shot it great though, but it's a low quality piece compared to other makes.

The one I got, had a terrible bore. One way or the other, you will be disappointed with American made guns, quality is not what it was, specially when compared to gun made elsewhere.

I will never buy another SW product.

Now, gotta go and hide behind a rock. Cheers.
 
Well.... I think you are giving up all this:

-Interchangeable side AND back straps. Not only back straps like Mp.
- From Factory stippled grip. MP does not have stippling and it is rather slippery.
- Iron glow in the dark sights. MP front sight is known for loosing its white dot over time = garbage.
- Completely ambidextrous without moving or switching parts around like the mag release on the MP. MP has to be moved either to the right or left, so it is not completely ambi so it is either or.
- Paddle release instead of button release.
- Proven reliability with a torture test 90k rounds (pistol-training dot com)
- Good trigger out the box (lem)
- Excellent workmanship, machining and barrel fit.
- Test fired gun that comes with a test target from factory at 15 meters, signed by tester.
- German quality.

This is not a VS thread, so I am stopping here.




I've read numerous reviews on M&P and I've heard mostly good things about them comparable to other quality polymer guns. I don't find anything wrong about made in America guns in general. HK makes good guns but they're not worth the much higher premium over the M&P for me and I don't feel I would be giving up anything with M&P vs HK.
 
Absolutely. I have no idea what buddy is on about. Not knocking the following "European" guns but applying the logic that has been put down in this thread, Let's see comparisons:

Hk p30L - expensive, NO warranty support in Canada, parts are nowhere to be found. Costs $1200 which is ridiculous for a gun made of plastic. Pistol training.com pistol training.com pistol training.com, all I ever hear from these hk guys. That all you have to base everything on?? A test that ONE guy did with ONE pistol and now All HK pistols are the second coming of Christ?? Give me a break.

Glocks- polygonal rifled barrels that are not good with lead bullets, making you spend more on expensive ammo. A piece of tree bark is more comfy to hold onto than these guns. "Stone dead reliable" right like the numerous problems with recoil springs despite even replacing them, still problems. Hucking brass at your face "quality" craftsman design. And the "it goes bank everytime I pull the trigger" crap... No pistol can claim this, everything mechanical has a failure rate. Glocks are not exempt.

Steyr m/L a1- another "quality" Austrian gun design that stovepipes literally 3 times every mag, has a huge gap between the slide and frame you can practically see through, letting all kinds of foreign debris into making it prone to all types of wear and failure if it were used as a duty weapon. Add to that, no customization possibilities with regards to internals and horrible warranty support. It's a sure winner

You can have your "European supremacy" pistols, I'm just fine with "North American garbage"
 
this thread is derailing.... this is not a vs thread.

I was answering the OP question, that is all. The mp and SW quality and workmanship is SH!T.

I am out.


Absolutely. I have no idea what buddy is on about. Not knocking the following "European" guns but applying the logic that has been put down in this thread, Let's see comparisons:

Hk p30L - expensive, NO warranty support in Canada, parts are nowhere to be found. Costs $1200 which is ridiculous for a gun made of plastic. Pistol training.com pistol training.com pistol training.com, all I ever hear from these hk guys. That all you have to base everything on?? A test that ONE guy did with ONE pistol and now All HK pistols are the second coming of Christ?? Give me a break.

Glocks- polygonal rifled barrels that are not good with lead bullets, making you spend more on expensive ammo. A piece of tree bark is more comfy to hold onto than these guns. "Stone dead reliable" right like the numerous problems with recoil springs despite even replacing them, still problems. Hucking brass at your face "quality" craftsman design. And the "it goes bank everytime I pull the trigger" crap... No pistol can claim this, everything mechanical has a failure rate. Glocks are not exempt.

Steyr m/L a1- another "quality" Austrian gun design that stovepipes literally 3 times every mag, has a huge gap between the slide and frame you can practically see through, letting all kinds of foreign debris into making it prone to all types of wear and failure if it were used as a duty weapon. Add to that, no customization possibilities with regards to internals and horrible warranty support. It's a sure winner

You can have your "European supremacy" pistols, I'm just fine with "North American garbage"
 
Hey all, thanks once more for all the advice and insight, seems the more I learn, the less I know. I appreciate the candor and suspect that those shooting the M&P9 are just going with them largely straight out of the box and not bothering doing much more then shooting and enjoying. I will hold out till I find a later built, low round gun (may even break down and buy new) that can accommodate the after market thumb safety.
 
I have an M&P 9 range kit. Paid $650 for it this summer. Quality? I've pumped a few thousand rounds through it and it is fantastic ( new to reloading too! ). I use it for ODPL and paper killing, it is plenty accurate. Do I love this gun? Inititally I appreciated that it was great value. Having used it for several months now I really appreciate it as a great side arm. I have a Kimber 45 that is definitely high quality and I love the idea and performance of the 1911 platform. I would hate to have to choose between these two side arms. Different, effective and appreciated.

Issues with my M&P? It makes me me spend a lot on ammo. Get one new and enjoy it.
 
Ya my advice would be if you can get a used range kit for 5-600 totally worth it, saves you on tax and it's going to be like a new one if round count isn't too crazy. You can pimp it out later too if you see fit and want to get competitive, but it's just fine bone stock.
 
.... I want to get the Apex trigger kit and some night sights for mine (probably both the 9mm and 45acp) but I'm kinda lazy and don't know how to do the work myself..... now if someone locally were to volunteer to tune that b!tch for me, I'd be all like Yah! Tune that b!tch up! ...... but I'm really lazy......
 
Your first 5 points are nice features to have but not a must in what I look for/need in a gun. Surely not worth $600 more in my case. Would I love to have a HK sure I do. Would I pay $600 more? Hell no.

That being said, I respect your opinion you feel it's worth paying more for a European(German) made gun. My only point is that you saying that M&P/S&W is sh1t and all American made is garbage shows strong bias.

I'm pretty sure my American made S&W 686 and Ruger Mk3 aren't garbage or I'm a proud of owner of garbage :)

Well.... I think you are giving up all this:

-Interchangeable side AND back straps. Not only back straps like Mp.
- From Factory stippled grip. MP does not have stippling and it is rather slippery.
- Iron glow in the dark sights. MP front sight is known for loosing its white dot over time = garbage.
- Completely ambidextrous without moving or switching parts around like the mag release on the MP. MP has to be moved either to the right or left, so it is not completely ambi so it is either or.
- Paddle release instead of button release.
- Proven reliability with a torture test 90k rounds (pistol-training dot com)
- Good trigger out the box (lem)
- Excellent workmanship, machining and barrel fit.
- Test fired gun that comes with a test target from factory at 15 meters, signed by tester.
- German quality.

This is not a VS thread, so I am stopping here.
 
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