For whoever cares. I'm not an expert, but I'm forever in search of the perfect do it all gun.
Picked up a new M&P 9L a few days ago and brought along my Walther p99 AS in .40 (a relatively new acquisition I have not shot much) to see how they would compare at the range. Both guns were cleaned before the range trip, and both were shot using FMJ from Walmart with brass cases (Federal and Winchester). Put about 200 rounds through each. Observations:
M&P had 4 FTE at various times using the 2 mags supplied with gun.The p99 was perfect using 5 different mags (4 from S&W and 1 from Walther). Win for the p99.
Ejection from p99 was consistent and strong, but not too strong--about 4 ft every time. Ejection from M&P was very weak--brass would typically only go about 1 ft., and sometimes straight back and hit my eye, or sometimes would just fall out of the gun (barely). Win for the p99.
M&P trigger was heavy/gritty--pull weight about 9-10 lbs before breaking. Reset was shorter and more positive than I'd been led to expect but not as short/positive as p99 or glock. P99 trigger is about perfect for me out of the box. Break from either the long or short single action mode is about 5 lbs., and reset is incredibly short and positive. Some people don't understand the p99 manual of arms (you can carry the AS version of the gun in 3 modes: long pull single action, short pull single action, or decocked for double action trigger pull on first shot). I think its a great solution, as different circumstances call for different carry modes. Win for the p99.
M&P was not particularly accurate for me at 25 yards offhand. 5-7" in groups. p99was consistently better by about 1/3. Win for the p99.
Recoil from the 5" barrel was not .22 like as some have suggested, but the gun was pretty easy to hang onto during recoil (but not noticeably better than other full size 9mms I've used, such as glock, CZ, p99, etc). Recoil from p99 in .40 was snappy--much more so than I recall the p99 I have in 9mm being (not a big surprise considering the more powerful cartridge). It was definitely much harder to shoot the p99 faster due to the somewhat slippery grip and snappy recoil. I will stick with my p99 in 9mm for defense purposes. I would say this is a draw between the 2 pistols in 9mm, but a win for the M&P if you have to use the p99 in .40.
I have a large palm size but short fingers. Neither the M&P small nor the medium backstrap felt perfect--the small felt better though. Using the small backstrap, it was hard for me to get a significant amount of my palm from the weak hand on the grip to better control recoil. The p99 felt better using the small size backstrap, and I can get more of my weak side hand on the grip. However, the M&P grip was "stickier", and thus somewhat easier to hold onto than the p99 during recoil. This was a tie for me.
Other observations: The p99 is of a higher level of fit and finish than the M&P, but then again it usually goes for about $200 more. Both guns are thicker than they need to be. The rear sights are weak points on both guns (the p99 has a very poor design, as it's too easy to get the sight off, and I don't trust a set screw holding the rear sight on the M&P). Neither gun has a .22 conversion kit, which is just stupid marketing on the part of both companies, especially in this day of ammo shortages. The M&P has a too long and thus ugly beavertail--at least it seems easy to file off. The M&P plastic seems "grippier" than the p99 plastic, which can be slippery. I've heard the M&P trigger can be made much better for not a lot of money, but no need for any trigger work on the p99.
I was hoping the M&P would be a replacement for my p99, as I'm uncomfortable about the lack of spare parts available for it (its hard to even get a recoil spring for crying out loud, and genuine mags in 9mm cost almost 3 times as much as the M&P mags in 9mm). However, it does not appear to be in the cards. I guess I'll have to get 2 more P99s in 9mm in case one goes down, so I can canabalize parts.
I will send the M&P back to S&W to see what they can do about the FTEs, but it will be very hard to trust this gun going forward, since even if they do fix it in the short run I've read about too many people who have M&Ps run fine for a few thousand shots and then suddenly start having FTEs. I didn't want to believe this, but now I feel I've been warned by experience it would be dumb for me to ignore that.
S&W almost got it right with the M&P, but almost doesn't cut it for me. YMMV
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