Wow ! I just spent a few magazines (10 rounders of course) with Plink's Smith & Wesson M&P in the 9mm format. I kept telling him that I was reluctant to test fire this pistol for the fear of wanting to buy ONE ! 
Handling:
First of all, I've got medium to smallish hands. However I do snowboard with a LARGE glove to have the extra warmth, but I ski race with Med sized ski gloves for the dexterity. The M&P allows for all to change the backstrap. A big plus over the Glock 17 (hey, I'm not bashing the G17, I have one here!!). Balance is great, beavertail is fabulous for protecting the web of the hand, just like my Wilson beavertail grip safety(ies) on my 2 1911 single stacks. Right there with my Glock beavertail contour. Very nice. The M&P points really nicely, just like my G17.
Trigger:
I'm coming from the Precision (read: sniper) end of shooting where I truly love the military (M1 & M14) 2 stage triggers. The M&P's takeup single stage is quite a long one, but the break (2nd stage) is oh so suh-weet. VERY easy to sweet spot and release the disconnector (cliking sound) and then squeeze the second one off.
I quite like the M&P (biased words warning) safe trigger because there is none of that little trigger release on the Glock's safe trigger to fzck with. You see, being of the long range shooting ilk, I like to release the trigger at the TIP of my finger and not around the 1st or 2nd finger joints for extra leverage. With my Glock17, when I use my little finger tip for precision shooting (read: tighter groups during slow fire stages), I can barely 'trip' that stupid 'safe trigger' lever and fzcks up my rapid fire shooting. Maybe I'm just a meatstick with the G17.
I just love the M&P trigger, and that's why I was scared to shoot this pistol. Frankly, I was scared that I might want to buy one. After shooting Plink's M&P, Now I must have one....
Sights:
Great 3 dot Novak sights. Mind you I've got the tritium night sights on the Glock17 and I'm happy with them too.
Magazines:
Both the G17 and the M&P have generous magazine wells with ample room for the magazines to slide in and out of. Mag changes were quick and without a hitch anywhere!! Magazine release was easy to trip. Now here's where the M&P beats the G17.... Plink set his pistol up for a LEFTY mag release. It works even better for us right handers with smaller hands since I did not have to switch grips (rotate the pistol grip in my right hand to easily hit the mag release). All I had to do was use my trigger finger to merely move rearwards and VOILA... the mag button was so easy to hit and swap mags. AND that's how I'm gonna set up my new M&P 9mm. Now I know why Skullboy bought one also. He's always one step ahead of me.....
Now if only I could set up my 1911 single stacks for a lefty mag release button...
Accuracy:
At 15 yards I was 'weeding' the back stop by shooting the bottoms of the weed clusters. Damn I'm a hero. This pistol and it's trigger is what's pulling me over in that direction. And yes in defense of the G17, I do have a 3.5 lb spring kit installed, but this M&P trigger just beats the G17 triggers. But then again I can't shoot my own G17 that well. You guys gotta buy what works for YOU, and not the popular opinion.
Conclusion:
BUY them BOTH !!
Plink: FZCK you for letting me try this !
YOU hooked me and you knew I was gonna get hooked, didn't you ?? I thought only I could be THIS sneaky.....
Handling:
First of all, I've got medium to smallish hands. However I do snowboard with a LARGE glove to have the extra warmth, but I ski race with Med sized ski gloves for the dexterity. The M&P allows for all to change the backstrap. A big plus over the Glock 17 (hey, I'm not bashing the G17, I have one here!!). Balance is great, beavertail is fabulous for protecting the web of the hand, just like my Wilson beavertail grip safety(ies) on my 2 1911 single stacks. Right there with my Glock beavertail contour. Very nice. The M&P points really nicely, just like my G17.
Trigger:
I'm coming from the Precision (read: sniper) end of shooting where I truly love the military (M1 & M14) 2 stage triggers. The M&P's takeup single stage is quite a long one, but the break (2nd stage) is oh so suh-weet. VERY easy to sweet spot and release the disconnector (cliking sound) and then squeeze the second one off.
I quite like the M&P (biased words warning
) safe trigger because there is none of that little trigger release on the Glock's safe trigger to fzck with. You see, being of the long range shooting ilk, I like to release the trigger at the TIP of my finger and not around the 1st or 2nd finger joints for extra leverage. With my Glock17, when I use my little finger tip for precision shooting (read: tighter groups during slow fire stages), I can barely 'trip' that stupid 'safe trigger' lever and fzcks up my rapid fire shooting. Maybe I'm just a meatstick with the G17. I just love the M&P trigger, and that's why I was scared to shoot this pistol. Frankly, I was scared that I might want to buy one. After shooting Plink's M&P, Now I must have one....
Sights:
Great 3 dot Novak sights. Mind you I've got the tritium night sights on the Glock17 and I'm happy with them too.
Magazines:
Both the G17 and the M&P have generous magazine wells with ample room for the magazines to slide in and out of. Mag changes were quick and without a hitch anywhere!! Magazine release was easy to trip. Now here's where the M&P beats the G17.... Plink set his pistol up for a LEFTY mag release. It works even better for us right handers with smaller hands since I did not have to switch grips (rotate the pistol grip in my right hand to easily hit the mag release). All I had to do was use my trigger finger to merely move rearwards and VOILA... the mag button was so easy to hit and swap mags. AND that's how I'm gonna set up my new M&P 9mm. Now I know why Skullboy bought one also. He's always one step ahead of me.....
Now if only I could set up my 1911 single stacks for a lefty mag release button...
Accuracy:
At 15 yards I was 'weeding' the back stop by shooting the bottoms of the weed clusters. Damn I'm a hero. This pistol and it's trigger is what's pulling me over in that direction. And yes in defense of the G17, I do have a 3.5 lb spring kit installed, but this M&P trigger just beats the G17 triggers. But then again I can't shoot my own G17 that well. You guys gotta buy what works for YOU, and not the popular opinion.
Conclusion:
BUY them BOTH !!
Plink: FZCK you for letting me try this !
YOU hooked me and you knew I was gonna get hooked, didn't you ?? I thought only I could be THIS sneaky.....
