Smith and Wesson M&P 40C
I know it has been awhile since my last blog, but work and family have kept me busy! Now that I have a bit of down time, I wanted to write about my latest carry pistol, the Smith and Wesson M&P 40C.
This is the compact version of the M&P 40 which has gained popularity in the last year as many large law enforcement agencies have ditch their Glocks in favor of the M&P.
I am not going to go in great detail about this gun since, for all practical purposes, it is identical in in function to its full sized big brother, which I wrote about in my last blog.
Like a majority of the Glock pistols in the same caliber, the compact version of the M&P will accept magazines from the full size gun, which was a key factor in the purchase. Just as with the full size model, the compact has the beaver-tail style grip that allows a secure and firm fit in my hand. Also, I love the way S&W has designed their different sized grips. Ironically, even though the grip diameter is the same as the full size, I ended up going to the large grip with the compact versus the medium grip that I have on my duty gun.
Originally, I almost skipped over this gun as I was looking at something more compact and was leaning towards the M&P single stack Shield, but the single stack mag that wouldn't interchange kept me from going that route (although I did purchase one for my wife).
I was a bit disappointed that S&W only offered two sizes of the M&P unlike its competitor that offers not only the full size, but a compact and a sub-compact as well. As I did some research and some literal side-by-side comparison, I found the M&P compact was actually in between Glock's compact and sub-compact models.
Since I purchased this pistol in early 2013 (in the height of the gun rush), it was back ordered 4-5 months before it was shipped to my FFL. Once I finally got the call, I rushed over to pick it up. When I opened the box, I was surprised to see that the gun was the model with the ambidextrous safety on it. I though about sending it back but decided on keeping it after I realized it would probably be another 5 months before I saw a the non-manual safety model.
After manipulating the pistol's safety, I realized that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Fact-of-the-matter is that the safety (which I think is very similar to the feel and operation of a 1911) was so easy to manipulate, it almost came second nature after a few repetitions.
On the range, the M&P 40c performed flawlessly. To-date, I probably have fired close to 400 rounds through the gun without any problems. When I first began shooting the pistol, all my shots were way to the left. As a firearms instructor I knew that there was a 99.9% chance it was not the gun, but something was going on with my hand placement.
After about 150 rounds or so, I realized that the shorter stock magazines allowed pinkie and ring finger to slide underneath the magazine and grip. As I pulled the trigger, the lack of support visibly caused the pistol to move slightly to the left. By quickly swapping out from the medium to large interchangeable grip, I was able to mitigate this problem as I now had more surface area to wrap around.
I have enjoyed shooting this pistol so much that it has now become my preferred off-duty carry weapon. Since my full size duty weapon is a .357 sig caliber, I purchased a .357 sig replacement barrel for my compact. The recoil difference between the .357 and 40 were not much different. The noise on the other hand, well, let's just say that if a .357 sig round doesn't disable your bad guy, the shock wave will! Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, enjoys standing next to me at the range when I shoot with this round!
Yes, the tide has turned from me, and the days of "I will never own a Smith and Wesson semi-auto!" have faded into the sunset! Smith finally got it right and is giving the other polymer pistol makers a run for their money!
This is the compact version of the M&P 40 which has gained popularity in the last year as many large law enforcement agencies have ditch their Glocks in favor of the M&P.
I am not going to go in great detail about this gun since, for all practical purposes, it is identical in in function to its full sized big brother, which I wrote about in my last blog.
Like a majority of the Glock pistols in the same caliber, the compact version of the M&P will accept magazines from the full size gun, which was a key factor in the purchase. Just as with the full size model, the compact has the beaver-tail style grip that allows a secure and firm fit in my hand. Also, I love the way S&W has designed their different sized grips. Ironically, even though the grip diameter is the same as the full size, I ended up going to the large grip with the compact versus the medium grip that I have on my duty gun.
Originally, I almost skipped over this gun as I was looking at something more compact and was leaning towards the M&P single stack Shield, but the single stack mag that wouldn't interchange kept me from going that route (although I did purchase one for my wife).
I was a bit disappointed that S&W only offered two sizes of the M&P unlike its competitor that offers not only the full size, but a compact and a sub-compact as well. As I did some research and some literal side-by-side comparison, I found the M&P compact was actually in between Glock's compact and sub-compact models.
Since I purchased this pistol in early 2013 (in the height of the gun rush), it was back ordered 4-5 months before it was shipped to my FFL. Once I finally got the call, I rushed over to pick it up. When I opened the box, I was surprised to see that the gun was the model with the ambidextrous safety on it. I though about sending it back but decided on keeping it after I realized it would probably be another 5 months before I saw a the non-manual safety model.
After manipulating the pistol's safety, I realized that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Fact-of-the-matter is that the safety (which I think is very similar to the feel and operation of a 1911) was so easy to manipulate, it almost came second nature after a few repetitions.
On the range, the M&P 40c performed flawlessly. To-date, I probably have fired close to 400 rounds through the gun without any problems. When I first began shooting the pistol, all my shots were way to the left. As a firearms instructor I knew that there was a 99.9% chance it was not the gun, but something was going on with my hand placement.
After about 150 rounds or so, I realized that the shorter stock magazines allowed pinkie and ring finger to slide underneath the magazine and grip. As I pulled the trigger, the lack of support visibly caused the pistol to move slightly to the left. By quickly swapping out from the medium to large interchangeable grip, I was able to mitigate this problem as I now had more surface area to wrap around.
I have enjoyed shooting this pistol so much that it has now become my preferred off-duty carry weapon. Since my full size duty weapon is a .357 sig caliber, I purchased a .357 sig replacement barrel for my compact. The recoil difference between the .357 and 40 were not much different. The noise on the other hand, well, let's just say that if a .357 sig round doesn't disable your bad guy, the shock wave will! Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, enjoys standing next to me at the range when I shoot with this round!
Yes, the tide has turned from me, and the days of "I will never own a Smith and Wesson semi-auto!" have faded into the sunset! Smith finally got it right and is giving the other polymer pistol makers a run for their money!
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