Smith & Wesson M&P9mm
Product: M&P 9MM 1.0 Performance Center
Manufacturer: Smith & Wesson
MSRP: Roughly $700 (depending on model)
*Capacity: 17+1:
*extendable to 25+1 w/ Taran Tactical Base plate
Pistol Category: Polymer Semi-Auto
Website (link)
Telephone Number: 1-800-331-0852 (Mon-Fri) 8am-8pm
Find a Dealer (link)
Gallery
Summary
Pros:
- Accuracy
Ported barrel and slide from the factory (lighter slide).
- Red dot site ready.
- OEM ported barrel reduces muzzle flip from the factory.
- Price is fairly reasonable for a competition ready gun.
- Versatile pistol for carry/competition/training/
Cons:
- The OEM trigger has a lot of play to it and is quite awkward at the break.
- Suppressor sights will dig into your belly if you carry appendix.
- No ambidextrous magazine release (it can be swapped for left and right hand dominate shooters).
- Grip change can dig into your fingers when removing the pin.
Gun As Pictured:
Apex Trigger, AAC Barrel, AAC Spring kit, Surefire X300, Taran Tactical Ti base-plates
Intro Blabbering
All the rage about the Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm being a great pistol is quite accurate. It's available in 9mm, .40 S&W , .45 Auto, and .380 Auto, and .22 LR; I'm sure all of the calibers follow similar recoil trends. Notably most of the rage is not around the full-sized pistol, but it's more concealable counterpart the "Shield." I am a huge proponent of carrying full-sized pistols so I went with the 4.25" barreled "Performance Center" version. For better concealment the shield version may be best for you. When I purchased my pistol there weren't many choices available on the market and I'm glad, because I just spent 45 minutes browsing their inventory and now have gun A.D.D. I will say that I don't think you can go wrong with any of the Performance Center versions. I have shot the gun many times without all of the modifications, so most of my review will be geared towards that.
Trigger & Accuracy
Speaking of staying relevant, lets get into the meat and potatoes of my favorite thing about this pistol, the accuracy. Out of the box this pistol is accurate as f*ck. Somewhere lurking around the range is a Glock guy broadcasting how great his OEM trigger break or reliable the gun is; but then they fire an M&P9...and silence happens. The trigger on the Glock is better, but the M&P9 is a laser, even for new and sloppy shooters. I mean you can't go jerking the trigger and expect to hit bulls-eye, but the gun is pretty forgiving to minor shooting tactic offenses. My friend Lorrie took it out for the first time and while she hated the trigger all around, she was hitting her target, this is not something that could be said for her Glock. Accuracy is where I think the gun shines, the rest is just like any other polymer pistol and of course frowning emoji's fall from the sky when you even begin to think about the trigger.
Recoil with and without the flashlight was very manageable for the weight of the gun. The addition of the light helped muzzle flip, but the gun is definitely still a champion without it. Smith and Wesson teamed up with Magellan and together they created magic in terms of hitting your intended target.
So now that you know how much I despise the trigger now and there's really not much else for me to say about it other than you should visit the guys at Apex Tactical and resolve this problem. Trust me if you own an M&P anything this will be the best money that you spend on the gun other than buying ammo to train with it.
OEM Ported Barrel and Apex Tactical trigger swapped in after 6 months with the gun. Birdman said it best "That stock sh*t stank"
Concealed Carry Gripes & Pistol Grips
The gun is not the most comfortable to conceal, especially with a light hanging off of it. To be honest though that's to be expected given that it's a full sized handgun. I chose to purchase a G-code holster with attached magazine caddy and regretted going with that setup due to my lack of girth. The main problem with the holster is the tab that sticks out for the mag caddy. It tends to dig into my thigh if I push it too far to the left, but the M&P9 is chock full of holster options for all body types from a variety of companies.
The suppressor sights tend to dig into your abdomen and aren't very forgiving. Neither is the size of the pistol for those with smaller statures; the full-size carry gun of the year champ still remains the Glock 19 for it's compact size and capacity. It is a big gun. S&W decided to make a Performance Center Shield (link) for more comfortable carry so that is an option on the table. With that said I still choose to carry the M&P9 over my Glock 23 because if ever the time came to use it, I would be able to hit my target and that's my philosophy for carrying.
You can change the back straps on the gun. The tool is located on the handle of the gun and there is a trick to getting it out. While the manual says you need to turn it at a 45 degree angle, that is not true. What I would do is turn the tool so that it is perpendicular to the brim of the handle and then use a table to apply force into the top exposed surface of the tool and have it ride out. This will prevent the narrow tool from digging into either your hand or fingers. I've provided a picture below of the tool and holster.
Recommended Improvements
I highly recommend purchasing the performance version of this gun. It will save you money in the long run when it comes to paying a gunsmith to add a red dot or cut vents into the slide. Another benefit of having the gun red dot ready is that it makes installing the APEX trigger kit a breeze when you have to remove the firing pin's drop safety insert. If you're one of those guys who plan to send your gun to Salient or any other custom shop then this is certainly not a concern to you. In my opinion though, for those who want a budget everything gun the Performance Center version is worth the extra $200. The one thing that I wish Smith and Wesson would've added to it were cocking serrations at the front of the slide. They did resolve this for the MP 2.0, but to my recollection there's no Performance Center version just yet.
Conclusions
If I had to suggest a first pistol, I wouldn't make a suggestion at all because that's up to your comfort likes. I would say throw the M&P9 into your mix of pistols to test. For those who are experienced shooters, I'd find a friend or a range and take one of the performance models for a test drive. Smith and Wesson has done wonderful things with this gun and I think it competes up there with even the Salients in terms of price per performance. No, I'm not saying it is as good as a Tier 1, because that gun has mastered raciness and concealment; as it should for $2500. What I am saying is that the M&P9 is ready to go out of the box with most of the normal modifications that most of us gun owners lust for. It's a good pistol, I'd add one to your collection if your wife/girlfriend/mistress was okay with it.
For the #EDCThread #CCW and #nerd lols. Why the hell do you have a mouse in your EDC? Do you even Tech Bro?