Which M&P???

[Mr.Goodtimes]

Well, i got back from the gunshow and after handling all the M&P's side by side with several other handguns, ive changed my mind from glock to M&P for sure. Plus theres still some good deals to be had on them.

I think i have it narrowed down to either a .40 or a 9mm, mainly for cost reasons. however i was wondering what the durability of the .40 is like. is it going to hold up as well as the 9mm?

Cheers

Ryan

[ToddG]

I'd suggest you look at it from a different angle. Why would you choose a .40 over the 9mm?

[Mr.Goodtimes]

mainly because of its increased lethality over the 9mm. its going to be my everything gun till im outta college. so its gonna be a carry gun, a range/class gun, home defense gun, shtf gun.

[Marcus L.]

I'm partial to the M&P in .40. Most .40S&W pistols are 9mm pistols with a few upgrades to make them fire the larger caliber.......but they are often not very durable. That's why I won't use a Glock in anything other than 9mm. The M&P on the other hand was designed initially as a .40S&W pistol and the 9mm and .45acp versions were added later on. So, the whole concept of the M&P was designed around the .40S&W and there are a good number of them that are still going strong near the 100k round count.

The handling of the M&P .40 is very managable and rivals a lot of 9mm pistols. The advice I give most people when choosing a caliber is to first pick a reliable and durable platform. Then, pic the largest caliber that you shoot well in a timed, dynamic course of fire that meets your specific mission needs. For me, that hinges between the 9mm and .40S&W depending on the platform as I prefer a little more capacity and handling. In an M&P, the .40S&W is a very easy caliber to shoot and the benefits of the .40S&W are a larger unexpanded and expanded hole, better commonly encountered barrier penetration, and "generally" better magazine reliability with its straight walled cartridges.

[JohnN]

mainly because of its increased lethality over the 9mm. its going to be my everything gun till im outta college. so its gonna be a carry gun, a range/class gun, home defense gun, shtf gun.

I've run the gamut from .45 to 10mm to 9mm and in reality don't see a lot of difference in the lethality of them. Shot many animals with various pistol rounds and they all suck. Nine milimeter allows you to shoot the platform more frequently due to less ammo cost and just easier to shoot and control. If your interest is defensive shooting you will find the 9mm easier to control in rapid fire strings, carries more ammo and usually more available worldwide.

[John_Wayne777]

mainly because of its increased lethality over the 9mm. its going to be my everything gun till im outta college. so its gonna be a carry gun, a range/class gun, home defense gun, shtf gun.

It would be unwise to spend a lot more on ammunition to get a marginal improvement in terminal performance. .40 S&W is no more "lethal" than 9mm. Read this thread:

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19887

Pay particular attention to this graphic:

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/qq319/DocGKR/Handgun_gel_comparison.jpg

..and to these words of wisdom from M4C's own terminal ballistics guru:



-- Cultivate a warrior mindset
-- Invest in competent, thorough initial training and then maintain skills with regular ongoing practice
-- Acquire a reliable and durable weapon system
-- Purchase a consistent, robust performing duty/self-defense load in sufficient quantities (at least 1000 rounds) then STOP worrying about the nuances of handgun ammunition terminal performance.


For the inexperienced shooter training is many orders of magnitude more important than caliber selection. 9mm is the cheapest centerfire handgun chambering to feed, especially when you are doing a lot of shooting. 90+% of shooters out there would be better off with a 9mm and more time spent on the range than by buying a .40 that is more expensive to feed but that offers slightly improved terminal ballistics.

You would fall in that 90%.

9mm when loaded properly offers excellent terminal ballistics and it's usually got the cheapest and often most readily available supply of FMJ ammo for practice. My advice would be to stick to 9mm.

[RogerinTPA]

I have the M&Ps in 45, 40, 9 and 9c. The M&P 40 is my favorite, but because of cost and availability, the 9mm would be the way to go and what I shoot most these days. Also, it is a universal caliber, found everywhere, on every continent, easy to learn to shoot accurately and easily handled by all family members.

Today for the first time ever, my range was completely out of 9mm by 10am. The owner says there's just none to be found. Everyone's going to the 9mm for cost, which explains the shortage, even online, but they were stocked to the gills in .40 Cal. I buy in bulk so I take my own ammo, but normally buy a few extra boxes to shoot 200 to 250 rounds of 9mm in a session. I'll have to start taking my M&P40 just in case they run out again.;)

[Marcus L.]

Ryan,

I appologize for this thread turning into a caliber debate. In regard to your actual question regarding durability and reliability, the M&P is probably one of the top .40S&W pistols in these regards. We also know from our experiences on TF that your decision is a sound one. Good luck with your purchase.

[Mr.Goodtimes]

thanks for the help yall. based on the above balistics gel pic and the replys, im gonna go with 9mm. At 8 bucks a box of 50 at wallmart, i can afford to blow a couple hundred rounds a week!

Until looking at that graphic above i never really ralised just how small the difference was between all the different loads. 9mm really does seem like the way to go.

Thanks,

-Ryan

[021411]

Ryan,
From personal perceived recoil, I found the full size M&P 40 to be the softest shooting of all the 40 S&W guns I had. It wasn't a scientific test but I fired the G22, XD40, Sig P226, and M&P 40 almost back to back. I also kept switching back and forth. The M&P was the softest shooter as far as felt recoil.

I'm not going to get into the caliber wars but placement is everything.

[Mr.Goodtimes]

thanks dude. Im not a recoil panzy by any means, but, if i can get 17rds though instead of 15, and put those 17 on target even faster, then all the better. I think that after two in the chest and one i the head, the perp is gonna be just as dead weather it was 9mm or 44mag. If i had the money to shoot a .40 as much as id like to, then i would go with the .40 but, for me the marginal gain in performance is not worth the increased cost.

[John_Wayne777]

The M&P pistols in .40 have consistently been reported as having the most controllable recoil of any comparable weapon. The softest shooting .40 I ever tried was an all steel Sig P229 "sport" gun that also had an extended weighted barrel. The M&P isn't quite as nice in the recoil department as that boat anchor was, but in my limited time behind the trigger of one I found it to be much more controllable than a G22 or G23, or even a USP in .40.

[ToddG]

thanks for the help yall. based on the above balistics gel pic and the replys, im gonna go with 9mm.

Glad to see this thread had a happy ending. :cool:

[glazer1972]

I went with the M&P9C. I got some 17rd mags for the freebies and added some mag sleeves from Custom Carry Concepts.