Show me your M&P Mods!

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Outback2970

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Hi guys...1st new thread and new to the forum. Been reading and learning plenty. I have decided on an M&P 40 range kit and M&P 22 for my wife (who is also new to the sport) She doesn't have her courses yet but loves the M&P replica air pistol we have. I sent in my RPAL paperwork first of Dec and hope to have things back sometime in FEB. Fingers crossed. I would really love to see and hear about the things folks are doing to improve/customize their M&Ps. Particularly owner performed stippling techniques and locations on the firearm that get stippled. Also slide machine work and refinishing in Canada. I'm in NS and really looking forward to being an active member here. Thanks.
 
Unless you have access to a vast amount of cheap .40, get a 9mm. 9mm has less recoil and is less expensive. Easier to shoot, and to shoot more.
Spend a lot of time with the .22.
If possible, get instruction/coaching from someone who knows what he is doing.
No reason to stipple. No reason to do any slide machining.
There are trigger packs that make a difference. Research APEX.
Adjustable sights are very useful. When installing the rear, be really careful. There is a little steel disc that fits between the firing pin lock plunger spring and the bottom of the slide. You must use a tool to remove the rear sight, which keeps the disc and spring trapped, then use the replacement sight to push the tool out of the dovetail. Or use the new sight to push out the old one.
For adjustable sights, Williams and Dawson Precision. DP is particularly good, because they offer choices for both front and rear sights.

I have three M&Ps. A M&P9 that I bought used, and a Pro9. Have shot these a LOT. Just bought a CORE9 and Leupold DeltaPoint to try using optics. Have a Crimson Tracer laser grip; remarkable in low light, and an outstanding training aid.
 
Thanks. I'm well aware of the trigger issues and will likely try to remedy that with polishing/re-shaping. I'm getting the .40 with plans on a stormlake 9mm barrel and mags. Currently .40cal here can be had for about $21/50 rnds. But it will be nice to have both. .357 sig will be an option also. As far as the slide, I love the vents and maybe straightening up the fish scale serrations plus an off color slide looks fantastic IMHO. I will look into the sights you mentioned for sure. More concerned with the .22 rear sight. it has no dots or contrast markings and I don't know if we will have trouble with that or not.
 
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The slides are hard. Machining vents changes the weight of the slide, don't know if this is a good idea.
9mm factory can be had for 2/3 the price of that .40. If you are going to handload, 9mm is cheaper.
Don't start polishing/reshaping until you have extra parts on hand.
 
Extra parts are hard to come by from what I understand so that is good advice. I'm only looking to smooth out a gritty feel if I end up with a firearm that has that issue. Polishing the trigger bar and removing burrs and rough edges only. I'm not looking for lighter pull or anything competition ready...yet. ;) Not worried about ammo cost as much as being able to fire whatever is more readily available as time goes on. The 9mm doesn't allow going bigger and is almost $100 more , for the range kit anyway. So that money will go toward the 9mm barrel and mags.
 
I have a couple of Storm Lake barrels, one for the Pro, one for the M&P. Extended, with comp slots. Reduced flip helps, they are accurate. My factory Pro barrel has a tighter chamber than the M&P; Storm Lake chambers are also tighter than the factory M&P. If you use handloads, make sure they fit, before a match. Remove the barrel, and drop each round into the chamber to gauge them. I generally use factory ball for competition, handloads for practice. Don't want an ammunition related stoppage when the stopwatch is running.
Sight options are personal. You want a clear definition, and a combination that you can pick up quickly.
SL barrel is going to scare $300, if you can get mags for under $40 apiece, you are doing well. For the matches I shoot 6 mags are a minimum.
 
tiriaq said:
Unless you have access to a vast amount of cheap .40, get a 9mm. 9mm has less recoil and is less expensive. Easier to shoot, and to shoot more.
Spend a lot of time with the .22.
If possible, get instruction/coaching from someone who knows what he is doing.
No reason to stipple. No reason to do any slide machining.
There are trigger packs that make a difference. Research APEX.
Adjustable sights are very useful. When installing the rear, be really careful. There is a little steel disc that fits between the firing pin lock plunger spring and the bottom of the slide. You must use a tool to remove the rear sight, which keeps the disc and spring trapped, then use the replacement sight to push the tool out of the dovetail. Or use the new sight to push out the old one.
For adjustable sights, Williams and Dawson Precision. DP is particularly good, because they offer choices for both front and rear sights.

I have three M&Ps. A M&P9 that I bought used, and a Pro9. Have shot these a LOT. Just bought a CORE9 and Leupold DeltaPoint to try using optics. Have a Crimson Tracer laser grip; remarkable in low light, and an outstanding training aid.
Click to expand...

:agree:
The M&P`s are pretty good out of the box; buy one (and I would in 9mm if it was my only pistol) shoot it/practice and dont go all crazy modifying the pistol.
sm
 
tiriaq said:
I have a couple of Storm Lake barrels, one for the Pro, one for the M&P. Extended, with comp slots. Reduced flip helps, they are accurate. My factory Pro barrel has a tighter chamber than the M&P; Storm Lake chambers are also tighter than the factory M&P. If you use handloads, make sure they fit, before a match. Remove the barrel, and drop each round into the chamber to gauge them. I generally use factory ball for competition, handloads for practice. Don't want an ammunition related stoppage when the stopwatch is running.
Sight options are personal. You want a clear definition, and a combination that you can pick up quickly.
SL barrel is going to scare $300, if you can get mags for under $40 apiece, you are doing well. For the matches I shoot 6 mags are a minimum.
Click to expand...

No plans for competing yet, just range fun. Don't even know what we have here for competition in NS yet. I would definitely wait for a deal on the 9mm conversion barrel. They can be had more affordably with some patience. Thanks for the chamber fit advice.
 
Not sure what IPSC allows in Production but for IDPA the only part of the pistol you can stipple on the M&P is the removable back strap to remain in SSP Division if you are planning to shoot IDPA. Perhaps somebody from IPSC can chime in on the potential rules on stippling and how they might affect Production Division.

Stippling of the removable backstrap is easy to do with a small tipped solder gun. The effect is immediate and allows for a solid grip on the gun.
The trigger pull on the M&P can be improved significantly by the use of the APEX striker block. Replacing the trigger return spring is an easy way to reduce trigger pull. Both parts are reasonably inexpensive. Alternatively you can buy either the Competition or Duty Kit from Apex and replace those parts plus the sear. I installed the Competition Kit in my PRO and am happy with the results. IMHO the RAM Apex sells is a waste of money for the little it does. I installed it in my PRO and it made little difference to the feel of the reset. Others experience may be different. The APEX parts are legal replacements for IDPA SSP/ESP Divisions not sure about IPSC. If you opt for the FSS Apex trigger than you would move to ESP Division in IDPA as it would represent an external modification.

As mentioned above go with the 9MM over the 40cal for the reasons stated IF you don't reload. If you do reload the cost difference to do so is about the same. The 40 cal downloaded to 130 PF is very soft shooting using 180 gr bullets. Commercial loading's for the 40 cal are quite snappy.

The M&P comes with decent sights. Personally I think adjustable sights on the M&P would be a waste of money. The gun is not a target pistol and fixed sights are far more practicable.

MY response is predicated on you eventually seeking out either IPSC or IDPA as a fun activity for you and your wife. The M&P will serve the purpose for both activities as well as a platform for plinking.

The regular 4.25" FS M&P is a great buy and will serve you well. The PRO version might be of interest if yo intend to get more involved in the shooting sports but for most any gain is margin-able. Some might find some benefit. To be honest I don't see much difference but then I am not involved with marketing the PRO either.
I do have them both.

Lastly with the removable back straps the M&P will accomodate very small to very large hands. Nice if you plan on sharing the pistol with "she who knows best".

I hope some of this helps.

Happy New Year

Bob
 
I'm surprised more isn't being said about the factory trigger pull. It's terrible!
10 lbs is a little much for any volume shooting.
Got mine down to approx 5.5 with some gentle massage.*
Added Williams sites and now it's my main short shooter.

*Maybe I'll motivate my fat a** to work the trigger down another lb,...someday.
 
Thanks for the great info canuck44. No plans now or near future to reload. but one never knows. Really not concerned with the .40 recoil for afternoons at the range. I've got hard hands and broad shoulders.:) Been practicing form, grip and trigger control etc. extensively with the M&P replica air pistol and friends of mine who shoot say the .40 will be fine for me, but a 9mm will be an option before the year is over. My wife is tiny and will not shoot .40 and says she doesn't even want to try 9mm at this time but we'll see after she shoots some. She still needs both courses so it will be the summer some time for her.
 
Hoakster said:
I'm surprised more isn't being said about the factory trigger pull. It's terrible!
10 lbs is a little much for any volume shooting.
Got mine down to approx 5.5 with some gentle massage.*
Added Williams sites and now it's my main short shooter.

*Maybe I'll motivate my fat a** to work the trigger down another lb,...someday.
Click to expand...

I've heard the newer M&Ps trigger has been improved somewhat. the great thing is the apex or polish options. I love learning and performing improvement type mods and do it yourself fixes. The price on this gun makes it well worth a little tweaking IMHO.
 
Don't worry about the lack of rear sight dots, if your like me you'll end up painting the front a bright color and blacking out the rear dots on the 9 or .40 version you buy. I prefer a blacked out rear sight, makes concentrating on the front sight that much easier. That's the only mod I've felt like I needed to do to my M&P.
 
Hoakster said:
I'm surprised more isn't being said about the factory trigger pull. It's terrible!
10 lbs is a little much for any volume shooting.
Got mine down to approx 5.5 with some gentle massage.*
Added Williams sites and now it's my main short shooter.

*Maybe I'll motivate my fat a** to work the trigger down another lb,...someday.
Click to expand...

Not all are 10lbs. My two FS were about 7lbs. Replaced the trigger return spring one one to get to just over 5lbs. Replace the USB, which is easy enogh and you will have a very smooth trigger.

Happy New Years

Bob
 
Outback2970 said:
My wife is tiny and will not shoot .40 and says she doesn't even want to try 9mm at this time but we'll see after she shoots some. She still needs both courses so it will be the summer some time for her.
Click to expand...
My 12 and 13 year old daughters are barely over 100lbs and they regularly shoot my steel frame Jericho 9mm. They also shoot a .22 ISSC Pistol but always end up back on the Jericho. They have tried an H&K and an M&P and like them just fine. Your wife will want to try the 9mm. Trust me.
 
Bloedman said:
My 12 and 13 year old daughters are barely over 100lbs and they regularly shoot my steel frame Jericho 9mm. They also shoot a .22 ISSC Pistol but always end up back on the Jericho. They have tried an H&K and an M&P and like them just fine. Your wife will want to try the 9mm. Trust me.
Click to expand...

I'm confident she will...she just doesn't know it yet. ;)
 
I find .40 very pleasant to shoot in the M&P, significantly more so than a Glock 22. I've left mine nearly stock—the grip texture provides enough grip for me. The only change I've made is to paint the sights on mine green and orange to make the front sight stand out a bit more. I think I'm the only member here that likes the factory trigger too :)

RG7dcqf.jpg
 
Tuned by myself.

5lbs trigger.
Apex RAM
Apex duty kit
Polymer trigger ( this trigger by APEX also reduced dramatically the take off and over travel. )
Set the reset and over travel perfectly for me. Awesome trigger now.
5.7" SL stainless match barrel. Threaded.
Stippled ( homemade )
Mag follower mod. ( older gen mags / fits 10 rounds close slide perfectly. )

M&P9L:

Trigger action:
 
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Now that's what I'm talking about! Sights look great but I'm going to try mine stock for a bit then go from there. Great looking and functioning job Cpt.Flan. Very impressive!
 
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