S&W Models M&P9L & Pro

[Jay Cunningham]

Model M&P9 Pro (http://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/SmWesson/upload/other/ps/M&P9_ProSeries.pdf)

Model M&P9L (http://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/SmWesson/upload/other/ps/M&P9L_205301.pdf)

[ToddG]

Don't know what the difference in street price will be, but all you get with the Pro is:
FO front sight
"low-glare" rear sight
factory trigger job

Otherwise, the 9L and 9Pro are the same. I'd rather choose my own sights and have a trigger job done to my specs by a 'smith of my choice. The 9L just makes more sense for more people, I think.

[Jay Cunningham]

What is your opinion of the suitability of the 9L for use as a sidearm? Or is it strictly a gamer's gun?

[ToddG]

I've never shot one. The only time I've handled one is at SHOT, and briefly even then. All I can offer is speculation based on the assumption that the gun will run fine and shoot as well as a standard 4.25" gun.

The M&P9L is the same overall length as a 1911. The slide is thinned out substantially to reduce weight. Handling the empty demo gun at SHOT, it felt well balanced to me but again, my time with it in my hand was limited. The slide is reminiscent of a CZ, which is unsurprising because the product manager told me it was inspired by the BHP. But the base of the slide and the entire frame are identical in width to a standard M&P. Concealing it will be possible (especially IWB), but of course the question is whether it provides you with any benefit over a regular M&P.

The two advantages of the longer barrel, increased sight radius and increased bullet velocity, will be much more applicable to gun games than defensive use. Even there, the longer sight radius will probably be more of a psychological comfort than a real improvement in accuracy ... the vast majority of shooters simply don't have the skill level to wring significant extra performance out of the longer barrel. The problem is that 50% of all shooters think they're in the top 5%.

To be honest, again assuming the gun is up to snuff, I'd say it's immaterial. If one gun feels better to you or you think you'll shoot it better, carry it more easily, etc., that one is the best choice for you.

[YukonGlocker]

What is your opinion of the suitability of the 9L for use as a sidearm? Or is it strictly a gamer's gun?
The 9L will make a great sidearm.
Many LEO around here carry the G34/G35. This will be an excellent alternative.

[subzero]

From what I was told, the difference in MSRP for the 9L over the standard 9 was +30. The 9 Pro was more in the +50/+75 region.

I think the 9L is a better buy, because I don't want to pay extra for goofy sights and I can do my own triggers. The 9 Pro does offer a very nice trigger (~4-4.5 lbs) for the person who doesn't want to open their gun up or send it off for work.

I think Todd is right on the money in that the extra barrel length and sight radius doesn't do a whole lot in the real world....but I think it looks good. And since I'm buying for use in games, I'm not concerned with concealing it.

Between a 9L and a 45 midsize, I can see a couple new S&Ws in my future. Never thought I'd say that!

[SuicideHz]

They really need low glare rear sights. I could barely shoot at the indoor range today with my 45. The rear night sights have the silver ring and just caught the light like you wouldn't believe...

[YukonGlocker]

I don't care for the factory rear sights.
None of my M&Ps have factory rear sights.

[RAM Engineer]

They really need low glare rear sights. I could barely shoot at the indoor range today with my 45. The rear night sights have the silver ring and just caught the light like you wouldn't believe...

What is this "silver ring" you mention? :confused: Are these factory night sights you are talking about?

Me? I'm all about the 10-8 rear sight with a gold bead front. THAT would be a great factory option on the 9L Pro.:cool:

[SuicideHz]

Yes, factory night. I would have NEVER bought one with the rear white dots that are 1.5x as big as the front dot. ugh...

I started to try and darken the ring with sharpie but the lamp actually sticks out from the ring or is flush, not recessed like I thought for some reason. Needless to say I had to stop.

I had the 10-8 with gold bead front on a 1911. It was nice and fast for daytime daylight shooting but no good for night for me anyway.

[Robb Jensen]

.

The two advantages of the longer barrel, increased sight radius and increased bullet velocity, will be much more applicable to gun games than defensive use. Even there, the longer sight radius will probably be more of a psychological comfort than a real improvement in accuracy ... the vast majority of shooters simply don't have the skill level to wring significant extra performance out of the longer barrel. The problem is that 50% of all shooters think they're in the top 5%.



I agree about a lot of shooters skill (and how well they think they shoot) and that the 9L is probably better geared for gun games. Like the G34 is to the G17. If one is handloading for making the minimum power factor for Minor 125PF (for IDPA SSP/ESP and USPSA Production) in the G34 one can usually make it shoot softer and still make PF than the same loads in a G17 (really gaming it) due to the increased velocities of the longer barrel. So this would apply to the 9L as well. One could load a little softer for the M&P9L than a M&P9. I agree the additional sight radius helps a little, but not enough to really matter. For me it wouldn't matter much since I'm already using a .100" fiber Speed Shooters front sight and a Warren rear sight (wider notch than a stock rear sight). You've seen it, it has a ton of daylight on each side of the front sight. It's very fast this way but not quite as precise as stock sights but then I'm not shooting for 1/2" groups either. As long as it shoots minute-of-A zone out to about 40yds which it does then I'm happy. I'm shooting factory ammo so I probably won't benefit much from the 9L but I still want one to try out. After shooting the G17 and G34 a lot (thousands of rounds) I find that the G17 works better for me. I may discover the same thing with the M&P9 vs the M&P9L.

[RAM Engineer]

I had the 10-8 with gold bead front on a 1911. It was nice and fast for daytime daylight shooting but no good for night for me anyway.

I agree about the gold bead at night. However, with my eyes, tritium is not as good for me during the day. The white rings fade and black-on-black sights don't "pop" for me.

I had to pick my spectrum!:D (Bright to dim vs dim to dark). I can always add on a CTC for the dark side, If I have to.

Maybe one day I'll break down and add a Doctor or Jpoint to my guns for a true full spectrum sight.

[SuicideHz]

Yes, I forgot to mention the sights didn't work so well but the gun DID work well at night because of the X200! :D

[Trim2L]

All of my sights will be Warrens. I have two more on order and Scott is even making me one for my 1911.

http://i25.tinypic.com/dnot36.jpg

[Steelshooter]

I resemble that remark.

I like 5 inch pistol's for the longer sight radius and have carried both the 1911 and even Glock 35 in the past. But I finally figured out that a longer barreled pistol is unwieldy to pull and draw.


The problem is that 50% of all shooters think they're in the top 5%.

[_DR]

I like the 5" length because I use it primarily with a TLR-1, and that light does not extend as far past the muzzle on the 9L as with shorter pistols with 1913 rails.

I'll take any extra MV I can get as well. I have plently of subcompacts, this one is for nightime/darkness use, and it works well with a good sized tac light.

[VooDoo6Actual]

Nice looking Combat sight.

[Ed L.]

I know that this may have been covered elsewhere, but what is the pull weight on the performance center sear after S&W installs it?

thanks

[Robb Jensen]

I know that this may have been covered elsewhere, but what is the pull weight on the performance center sear after S&W installs it?

thanks

A standard Pro is about 4-4.5lbs. A Pro sear installed by S&W should be about the same if not better if they polish it up for smoothness.

[rathos]

I liked the pro better. I don't have anyone that does trigger work, and I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time without the pistol to ship it off to someone that does. I tried the trigger on the pro and found that it had virtually no slack, a clean break and no overtravel. It also had a very positive reset, which is different from every other M&P I have ever handled. Considering I would be changing out the sights anyway, I would go for the pro.

[Beat Trash]

I bought a M&P9L (LEO Package with NTS and the 3 mags). Our departmental armor has become proficient doing M&P trigger jobs on personally owned guns.

Great shooting gun. When compared to the Pro model (same armor bought a 9L when I got mine, he owns two pro's) there is also a difference between the slides.

The M&P9L 's slide is curved on the bottom of the front of the slide.

The M&P Pro's slide is squared off on the bottom of of the slide.

I can not understand why S&W did this. I would assume it'd be cheaper and more efficient for them to use the same slide for both guns.

After a good trigger job, I can not notice a difference between shooting the Pro and my 9L.

If I didn't have access to a smith to do a trigger job, I still don't know which I'd go with. If the gun would be just for games, and casual pinking, I'd most likely go with the Pro. The difference in price is probably less than what it would cost to pay a qualified and skilled gun smith to do a trigger job. The sights on the Pro could be nice for shooting various types of targets in broad daylight.

If I were using it for a duty weapon, then I'd go with the 9L, get the night sights, and shoot the piss out of it to smooth out any rough spots in the trigger.

Truth be told, after carrying an issued M&P 9mm (standard size) for about 3 years, with around 10k rounds down range between my issued gun and the original T&E guns, the standard size M&P feels better to me than the M&P9L.

I was tempted to sell off my 9L, and replace it with another standard size M&P 9mm, but the store I buy from in Columbus that can get me the LEO price is unable to tell when they will get restocked in the M&P 9mm's. (M&P 40's, they have out the wazzo).

I don't want to sell off my 9L until I can replace it. The panic buying going on has spread from the Glock 9mm's to almost all 9mm's in my area. Kind of like watching fat chicks at a doughnut convention.

Until then, my 9L has replaced my Glock 17 as my "bedroom" gun. I mounted an old M3 light on it, and installed a grip panel that I stippled.