M&P .45 First impressions

nelly

nelly

CGN frequent flyer
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So, I was lucky enough to have a spare hour to zip up to the range yesterday, and put a few rounds through my newly acquired S&W M&P .45.

The weather, of course, decided to dump gallons of water on me about two minutes after I got my targets stapled up, but that is typical of Burke Mountain...

Using Remington UMC 230gr hardball, I put 110 rounds through "Smurfette" (as I call the pistol) before some wankers with some competition booked chased me off "their" range, 45 minutes after I arrived.

On with the impressions:

Ergonomics! Nicest plastic gun I have felt, in 25 years of shooting. I started with the middle sized backstrap, then swapped it for the big one, which ended up pointing better for me. Although I was a bit surprised initially by the felt recoil, I did remind myself that I have only been feeling 9mm through a 12 pound 5946 for a while now, and sucked it up pretty fast. With wet / cool hands, I did find the grip got fairly slippery, so I may look at some grip tape options. Strangely, even though I found the trigger nowhere near as gritty as some claim the M&Ps to be, I did end up with a sore spot on the ulnar surface of my trigger finger even with just the quick session shooting. I guess gloves would help both slipperiness, and tender skin irritation... Or I could toughen up(!).

I guess I could get used to it, but it was a bit disconcerting to have the slide close by itself approximately 7/10 times, when loaded mag was inserted positively.

Accuracy: I was just horsing around, but all projectiles were going where I wanted them to, at distances out to 15m - I shoot this pistol at least as well as my previously owned Sig P220. I was using RCMP green man targets, and four of my rounds ended up in the three point ring, all others in the 5 point - My one head shot is eerily dead centre - I mean DEAD CENTRE. On a better weather day I'll see how it does with more deliberate accuracy work.

Zero malfunctions. Man those new mags are a ##### to load with slippery fingers!

I can't wait to get my press out of storage, and start cooking up some of my own ammunition for this pistol.

In short: I had more fun with this pistol on a quickie visit, than I ever had with the P220! In fact, this may be the best pistol I have ever owned / operated, but it is a bit early to make that declaration at this point - Maybe 5000 rounds from now I can say that!

I look forward to seeing how she breaks in.

:cheers:
 
Nice to hear ! i had some fun with my .40 last weekend , and hopefully tomorrow .

I keep all 3 of my magazines fully loaded for about 2 and 1/2 weeks before i got to go to the range and found that i was able to load them much easier than initially . I also use the big grip but i wish they sold a hogue overmould grip for it that replaced the whole backstrap version that comes with the gun , i find gloves DO make a big difference for me as well . my gloves have the index and middle finger tipless which gives good trigger control .

I really want to get the .357 sig barrel for mine though , i hear its suppose to be as fun as .45.
 
Great report! I agree with you -- I think the M&Ps are maybe the best polymer-framed pistol around. I certainly prefer them to Glocks. And as you say the trigger on them is much better than you hear -- I'm not sure what's bothering people about the trigger pull. The very first stage when it's disengaging the firing pin safety can feel a little creepy but you don't let the trigger go all the way forward after firing -- just to the reset. I much prefer it to the standard or 3.5 lb Glock triggers.
 
Great Review

Ive had an M&P 9mm for a few months now and have about 1000 rnds out of it without a single issue. The trigger was pretty good right out of the box but somewhere around 3-4 hundred rounds it smoothed right out along with the barrel.This thing is extremely accurate for a pistol with a 4.25 inch barrel, ergonomics are awesome and it seems to point itself. Only problem is now I need one in 40 and 45....and don't forget the pro series...:cheers:
 
Yah - S&W really did get it right, with this pistol, IMHO. (Regardless of cartridge - I just went with .45 because I reload for it). I have shot one in .40, and it was a pussy cat! Glockenspiels be damned!

:rockOn::stirthepot2:
 
I love my M&P 45. The way she feels, shoots, looks..... :rockOn:. I actually like that the slide lock trips when I insert a mag. Did you get the one with no mag safety? Gawd, that'd drive me nuts.
The only thing I hate is finding mags for her. Everywhere I've tried, they have mags for the 9's and 40's, but not the 45's. :(
Might have to suck it up and order them outta the states.

(E) :cool:
 
Thats odd , with my M&p.40 when i shoot to lock back and put another magazine in , my slide stays back , it does not shut on its own . i have to actually actuate the slide release which is very stiff on mine i have to use some pressure but its working its way in slowly.

My front sights were off slightly when i got it they had to be drifted right by about .15" , used a micrometer and its bang on now . I also cannot shoot my firearm with the magazine removed and i hate that stupid thing i have to move forward to take the slide off those are the only downers but their easy to ignore.

tough part im having now is finding someone local with a holster designed for an M&p. and the crimson trace grips are very expensive which is also a bummer.
 
Yeah, mags are a bit scarce. I had originally ordered the pistol with an extra two mags, but the distributer forgot to include them when they finally shipped my pistol to the store. I found none in Canada, Brownell's was out, and the M&P online store was also out. I ordered direct from S&W (which still ended up being cheaper than CDN retail, even with the horrible shipping rate to Canada).... THAT was three and a half weeks ago, and Smurf and Wesson's international sales lady emailed me direct to say that the mags are just coming out of the production facility, should be mailed in a couple of weeks. I guess there was a dearth of them North America wide!
 
If you like an all steel, single action, hammer fired beast like a 1911, then the M&P ain't for you. If you have fired other plastic framed guns and liked the idea, but felt that the technology wasn't quite "there" yet... I personally feel that it has arrived with the M&P.

Again, with strong caveat: I am only 100-odd rounds into this odyssey, but I really like it so far!

(Previous handgun experience serving as my basis for comparison includes only: Military BHPs, CZ75, Ruger mark II (6 7/8" bull) and III (4.5"), S&W 686 4", Colt Anaconda, Luger, Glocks 17 19 35, XD 9, Ruger P85, Sig P220 .45, a couple of Norc 1911A1s (one good, with $500 of after market parts, one BARF!), S&W 5946, Enfield .38 revolver... I think that's all I've killed paper with over the past 20 odd years of shooting?)
 
I have about 1000 rounds of AE ball and another couple hundred rounds of +P reloads through mine without any sort of malfunction.

It is the softest shooting 45 ACP I've shot.
 
The M&P 45 is a great pistol - totally underrated in my opinion. Most folks that I've talked to that have spent time shooting them agree that they're close to match accurate, and totally reliable. The trigger (when new) is no fun at all though, you might want to order the Apex sear and USB- it makes a huge difference. With mine the trigger breaks right at 4 lbs, and resets cleanly. I used the stock springs with the Apex parts (I don't like reducing spring tension). The slide dropping on mag insertion is a bit odd (to me) neither my 9 nor my 45 do this, even if I try to do it.
 
enefgee said:
The slide dropping on mag insertion is a bit odd (to me) neither my 9 nor my 45 do this, even if I try to do it.
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You can get it to do it repeatably by tilting the gun up at about a 45 degree angle and slamming a mag in. Works every time. I had no idea about this but I let another CGNer shoot my M&P9 once and he showed me the "trick." Sure did surprise me, though it's not a problem because my normal mag loads don't ever drop the slide unintentionally.
 
Hokus Grey said:
I've been considering one myself. Thanks for the review!

BTW, my M&P9 snaps the slide shut when I slap a mag in too. 90% of the time. I think it's supposed to do that, strangely enough.
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If it was supposed to do that shouldnt it happen 100 percent of the time? Either way this and the issues with mags dropping free when a shots fired = Fail!
 
Having fired what is now well over 13,000 rounds through 3 M&P's (2x9mm and 1x 45) both early and late, and having never seen either of these issues, I'm always puzzled by these reports. Personally I feel the dropping mag issue is user error, unless the gun is very early production.
 
Personally I feel the dropping mag issue is user error, unless the gun is very early production.[/QUOTE]

Ive seen this on 2 different guns myself and heard of numerous others. 1 was a cop who carries the same gun fo his duty pistol the other was someone I know for a fact was very proficient with a handgun. Both guns were shot by several people just to be sure it was not user error. Lets face facts her the QC at Smith and Wesson is just not up to par with issues like this. I really like the gun and it is comfortable no doubt but after seeing these issues and reading of the slide releasing problems I bought a Glock. And Im no fan boy az I just sold it but I would still choose a Glock or a Sig 2022 anyday over the M&P.
 
mlehtovaara said:
If it was supposed to do that shouldnt it happen 100 percent of the time? Either way this and the issues with mags dropping free when a shots fired = Fail!
Click to expand...

Never had an issue with my M&P dropping mags. Like I said, over 3000+ rounds since the spring and no failures whatsoever. Oh, and I never clean it. Probably cleaned it 4 times.
 
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