Gen 1 M&P’s any good?

[user]

Was digging through a safe and came across a new M&P 9mm Gen 1 that I forgot I had. I won it at the world speed shooting championships years ago.

I seem to remember that back in the day these guns had accuracy issues and trigger problems.

Is that the case? Are these good shooters? Or can they be made to shoot well and be reliable ?

Thanks

[Wake27]

Seemed to be hit or miss. Many had the issues you mention but not all. If you already own the thing, I'd try it out. Apex parts will definitely make it a good shooter if it turns out to be garbage. I doubt you'd get much selling it between the reputation and the 2.0s being out for a little while.

[opngrnd]

I owned four of them, and two of them were consistent. Had Apex had their barrels out at the time I would have just sent them in my slides and been a happy guy. But even after Apexing everything but the barrel, a stock Gen 4 G19 shot better, so I switched over. Apex rolled out their barrels 3 months later...
If I found one in the safe right now I would Apex it up and have a blast. I like the trigger and ergonomics more than the Glock.

[Wake27]

Something else to consider is that S&W has their M&P Performance center kits available now that include a CORE slide and ported barrel, along with more aggressive backstraps. Hopefully those would be more accurate than a problematic original M&P since they are newer and S&W seems to have fixed the issue in later models.

[MegademiC]

Was digging through a safe and came across a new M&P 9mm Gen 1 that I forgot I had. I won it at the world speed shooting championships years ago.

I seem to remember that back in the day these guns had accuracy issues and trigger problems.

Is that the case? Are these good shooters? Or can they be made to shoot well and be reliable ?

Thanks

The only way to know is to shoot it. They never had reliability issues that I was aware of. I have the 40 and it’s been accurate and reliable enough for self defense. Best I could get it to group was 4”@25yd. The storm lake conversion barrel is LESS accurate somehow. I’ve moved to glock, but wouldn’t hesitate to carry mine.

If you can shoot 2-3” groups with most pistols and get 6” groups or random fliers, your gun may have an issue. My experience suggest the trigger issues are subjective and more of a “want better trigger” than a real issue.

Edit: fwiw, the only malfunctiou mine has had was a ruptured case(ammo). I’ve shot several thousand rounds, and at least 1k suppressed.

[C4IGrant]

Need a fitted barrel and some internal upgrades to be worth anything.


C4

[Dionysusigma]

Had one and really didn't like it. With the slide off and guide rod and spring removed, the barrel would rattle around in the slide, resulting in 15" groups at 10yd. Seems the price of upgrading parts wouldn't be worth it... but since you won it, it might be a fun winter project.

[5.56 Bonded SP]

Had one when I first got into the pistol shooting world.

Pros
- Reliable, thousands of trouble free rounds
- Feels nice in your hand
- Easy to field strip

Cons
- No Trigger reset to notice, I would often go to squeeze the trigger and nothing would happen, I would have to consciously completely lift my finger from the trigger and let it reset.
- I don't know if it was because I was a novice, but I did not shoot very accurate with it when I owned it.
- Actually taking the gun apart is a PITA in my opinion, and it no where near as simple as a glock.


In the end, I've shot basically every big brand name of pistol out there, and owned many... I just own Glocks and a Sig currently
Would I own another M&P Pistol, No simply from my experience owning the gun. And a HELL NO based on a customer service experience I had with one of their AR's, their ''gunsmiths'' are horrible, but I will save that experience for another thread.

It will be a reliable gun, and I think they would be decent for a novice.

Now the Shields, I have watched those things stovepipe like there is no tomorrow.

I can't in good conscience suggest S&W for anything other than wheel guns.

[RWH24]

I have 2 M&P 1.0 with APEX Duty Carry Kit. Very Nice Trigger.

M&P 2.0 Compact is a game changer. 5lb 5oz to 5lb 13oz out of the box with a audible/tactile reset.

Not even going to worry about APEX sear, Just the Poly trigger and USB at first.

[ralph]

Had one when I first got into the pistol shooting world.

Pros
- Reliable, thousands of trouble free rounds
- Feels nice in your hand
- Easy to field strip

Cons
- No Trigger reset to notice, I would often go to squeeze the trigger and nothing would happen, I would have to consciously completely lift my finger from the trigger and let it reset.
- I don't know if it was because I was a novice, but I did not shoot very accurate with it when I owned it.
- Actually taking the gun apart is a PITA in my opinion, and it no where near as simple as a glock.


In the end, I've shot basically every big brand name of pistol out there, and owned many... I just own Glocks and a Sig currently
Would I own another M&P Pistol, No simply from my experience owning the gun. And a HELL NO based on a customer service experience I had with one of their AR's, their ''gunsmiths'' are horrible, but I will save that experience for another thread.

It will be a reliable gun, and I think they would be decent for a novice.

Now the Shields, I have watched those things stovepipe like there is no tomorrow.

I can't in good conscience suggest S&W for anything other than wheel guns.

The wheel guns can be pretty iffy too, not to mention most of the wheel guns come with the"hillary hole" already installed, and these locks have been known to be problematic...

[mikem]

Some of whether or not it is good depends on when it was produced, as there were several in-line upgrades to the M&P prior to the introduction of the M2.0. The really early ones had a terrible trigger re-set. That can be corrected with a new slide release (yes slide release). The slide release was upgraded by adding a thick pad that put pressure on the trigger bar and gave a nice audible and tactile reset. The original trigger was no where near as smooth as the M2.0 but they are very workable.

The barrel was hit or miss but it is pretty easy to check. If you field strip the gun but keep the barrel and slide mated up. Take a feeler gauge and check the gap between the front of the ejection port and the barrel hood. If it is .004" or tighter it will probably shoot OK. If it is larger it might not. I have had them up to .01" and those were really bad for accuracy. I have had factory guns with .001-003" that have shot wonderfully. Not as well as my Apex barrel but still able to score 98-100 on a B8 from 25 yards with a 10 shot group. They can be picky on bullet weight but I have had good luck with 124 grain on a large number of Gen 1 M&P's.

I have 2 Gen 1 guns. One I have an Apex Duty carry trigger, an Apex barrel and a Trijicon RMR. The other is bone stock. I mean nothing changed. I use that one when instructing to show people that you don't need tricked out gear to shoot well. I can hit B/C sized steel from 100 yards with the stock gun all day long with good 124 grain ammo.

[user]

Some of whether or not it is good depends on when it was produced, as there were several in-line upgrades to the M&P prior to the introduction of the M2.0. The really early ones had a terrible trigger re-set. That can be corrected with a new slide release (yes slide release). The slide release was upgraded by adding a thick pad that put pressure on the trigger bar and gave a nice audible and tactile reset. The original trigger was no where near as smooth as the M2.0 but they are very workable.

The barrel was hit or miss but it is pretty easy to check. If you field strip the gun but keep the barrel and slide mated up. Take a feeler gauge and check the gap between the front of the ejection port and the barrel hood. If it is .004" or tighter it will probably shoot OK. If it is larger it might not. I have had them up to .01" and those were really bad for accuracy. I have had factory guns with .001-003" that have shot wonderfully. Not as well as my Apex barrel but still able to score 98-100 on a B8 from 25 yards with a 10 shot group. They can be picky on bullet weight but I have had good luck with 124 grain on a large number of Gen 1 M&P's.

I have 2 Gen 1 guns. One I have an Apex Duty carry trigger, an Apex barrel and a Trijicon RMR. The other is bone stock. I mean nothing changed. I use that one when instructing to show people that you don't need tricked out gear to shoot well. I can hit B/C sized steel from 100 yards with the stock gun all day long with good 124 grain ammo.

Great info, thank you. I’m going to shoot the damn thing and see how it does. Will also measure that hood to ejection port gap.

Thanks

[rodinal220]

I have a M&P FS 9mm Gen 1.0. Mine was one of the ones that had terrible accuracy, the FS 9mm seems to be the worst offender,45 being the most accurate. The gun has been very reliable before and after APEX and some factory parts upgrades. The stock trigger was ok, but usable, a simple polish job on some key areas smoothed out the "grittiness".

I took a lot of flak on various forums about the accuracy issue with these pistols, Grant was one of the few that acknowledged an issue with the full size 9mm guns. I dead lined the gun for a few years and eventually threw in the towel and fitted an APEX GSF(gunsmith fit) barrel. The gun is very accurate, like a SIG or H&K, maybe more.

My favorite thing about the rebuilt gun is the look on peoples faces when they tell me the APEX barrel isn't needed and "its the archer and not the arrow" or "you know it isn't a target gun", I keep the factory barrel in the case and replace it and have them shoot the gun, PRICELESS!! When they can't hit anything I give them the look and swap the APEX barrel back in and let them try again, PRICELESS!! "you were saying??"

This is a gun I want to like. I really like the ergonomics and how it points for me, the factory fixed sights are fine for me. I don't care for the take down procedure. Wish they just used the SIG system, no need for the little lever you must push down from inside the ejection port. I did add an APEX sear and this further helped the trigger feel, its not a tuned 1911 but pretty good for a Service Pistol.

I did handle and shoot the new Gen 2.0 and the triggers are a vast improvement over the earlier pistols. I did not care for the increased palm swell and the newer gun did not fit my hand well,YMMV. If I buy another S&W M&P it will be a used police trade in ( read that cheap) Gen 1.0 and it will get the APEX/factory upgrades.

[JC5188]

Enough rounds through mine, both live and dry fire that I recently had to replace the striker assembly. Only malfs that have ever occurred were with range reloads. Gun is as accurate as I am.

Ymmv