View Full Version : Got my M&P, any advice
Well I finally got to where I want to be. Started off with a Beretta PX4 model F. I liked it but got tired of the safety which was a PITA to use and the trigger travel was killing me. Then I got an XD(m) in .40 this summer. What can I say I got a case of the stupids. After the 4th FTF (which was averaging one ever 75 rounds or so), the fact that the magazine was nigh on impossible to release, and the fact that the pistol felt to me like it weighed a ton, I decided to get an M&P in .40. I will say that I am both favorably impressed and understand why so many on this board approve of this weapon.
Having said that, do you have any tips about the pistol? Trigger job, guide rod, striker, stipling of the grips, sights (red dot or night or just different irons). As always I look forward to being educated and finding out what I don't know.
Having said that, do you have any tips about the pistol? Trigger job, guide rod, striker, stipling of the grips, sights (red dot or night or just different irons). As always I look forward to being educated and finding out what I don't know.
Go shoot the piss out of the thing using the different backstraps and narrow down which one you shoot best with, not which one is the most comfortable. After that you should be able to narrow down what other things you mentioned quite easily. Stay safe.
Well I finally got to where I want to be. Started off with a Beretta PX4 model F. I liked it but got tired of the safety which was a PITA to use and the trigger travel was killing me. Then I got an XD(m) in .40 this summer. What can I say I got a case of the stupids. After the 4th FTF (which was averaging one ever 75 rounds or so), the fact that the magazine was nigh on impossible to release, and the fact that the pistol felt to me like it weighed a ton, I decided to get an M&P in .40. I will say that I am both favorably impressed and understand why so many on this board approve of this weapon.
Having said that, do you have any tips about the pistol? Trigger job, guide rod, striker, stipling of the grips, sights (red dot or night or just different irons). As always I look forward to being educated and finding out what I don't know.
I'll be down your way next week so have a case of ammo ready and I'll help you break it in and show you how to shoot the piss out of it! ;)
Having said that, do you have any tips about the pistol?
Point the end with the big round hole toward something that is designed to be shot by a bullet.
Pull on the little arched piece of plastic inside the square thing in the middle.
Repeat.
Go shoot the piss out of the thing using the different backstraps and narrow down which one you shoot best with, not which one is the most comfortable. After that you should be able to narrow down what other things you mentioned quite easily. Stay safe.
Congrats on the new purchase. I also got a new (to me) MP9c and I see this suggestion for shooting with the various back straps..... and it made me realize something that sucks for me. I got the crimson trace version, with the Crimson Trace you have only the one grip unless you want to give up the $250 option and use the standard grip things. Bummer for me. The good thing is that the CT grip does not seem overly large for my hand, but I suspect my wife will be happier with the small or medium non laser sight grip straps.
Congratulations! I have not yet shot the piss out of mine, so I'll race you to the first 100 rounds! You better be fast, I may go shoot the indoor range yet tonight!
Having said that, do you have any tips about the pistol? Trigger job, guide rod, striker, stipling of the grips, sights (red dot or night or just different irons). As always I look forward to being educated and finding out what I don't know.
In all seriousness dude, you're going to love your new M&P. My advice is to buy three extra magazines, a quality holster, ammo and practice. Don't worry about guide rods, trigger jobs, strikers, stipling, etc for now. Get a 1000 rounds or so through your gun, putting a drop of lube on the sear every now and then, and the trigger will smooth out nicely.
But my offer for next week still stands :D
Congrats on the new purchase. I also got a new (to me) MP9c and I see this suggestion for shooting with the various back straps..... and it made me realize something that sucks for me. I got the crimson trace version, with the Crimson Trace you have only the one grip unless you want to give up the $250 option and use the standard grip things. Bummer for me. The good thing is that the CT grip does not seem overly large for my hand, but I suspect my wife will be happier with the small or medium non laser sight grip straps.
Congratulations! I have not yet shot the piss out of mine, so I'll race you to the first 100 rounds! You better be fast, I may go shoot the indoor range yet tonight!
Larry, I'm not a big guy and at first I preferred the small backstrap but after running the CT and getting some trigger time with it I didn't have any issues with the size.
I have shot close to 1000(I know its a small number) through my MP9 and the trigger has smoother up nicely, I have heard it takes upwards of 2000 before the trigger really wears in nicely though and is then consistent. I am though contemplating a trigger and stipling job by Ben over at Boresight. I am going to grab one of these new Apex sears though when some more come available and see if that gets me where I want. The trigger to me is pretty good weight wise, I just wish it had a better reset(more distinct not necessarily shorter), which hopefully this sear will correct as well.
As far as anything else, night sights are the only thing I am looking at. I think I am going to get the Warren Tactical's after so many people on here have raved about them.
If you want some more mags I would suggest either GT Distributors or OMB. 25 bucks at both places and thats by far the cheapest I have seen them.
This is kinda OT, but being rjacobs kinda brings this up...
Almost every seems to say "The trigger becomes better at ______ rounds". Does anyone notice a difference in it being dry fire vs live?
+1 on the suggestions to just shoot the thing and break it in. As for a few possible follow-up improvements later:
* Trigger. I'd get at least 500 to 1K rounds thru it before considering a trigger job or a S&W Performance Center (PC) sear or an aftermarket sear like the new Apex. And before making any trigger upgrades, consider whether you're going to carry the gun, and what your trigger comfort zone is in a carry gun. The new sears alone, without adding a heavier trigger return spring like the MA trigger spring, make for a smooth and light trigger, but it may be a little TOO light on a carry gun that has no safety.
* Sights. A lot of folks on this forum go with some variation of Warren Tactical sights (single-dot rear, 2-dot, etc). Other are getting the 10-8 plain black wide-notch rear sight, with a single-dot tritium front sight. Another good option, which I just installed myself today, are the Ameriglo Operator 3-dot sights by David Bowie. You can get them with varied colors, for example with a smaller yellow or orange 2-dot rear sight, contrasted with a larger green front sight. For me the Ameriglo sights are fast to acquire, plus I can see the front sight really well for daytime shooting. This link (http://www.mp-store.com/index.php?cPath=31)at the M&P store shows most of these sight options.
In all seriousness dude, you're going to love your new M&P. My advice is to buy three extra magazines, a quality holster, ammo and practice. Don't worry about guide rods, trigger jobs, strikers, stipling, etc for now. Get a 1000 rounds or so through your gun, putting a drop of lube on the sear every now and then, and the trigger will smooth out nicely.
But my offer for next week still stands :D
Larry, I'm not a big guy and at first I preferred the small backstrap but after running the CT and getting some trigger time with it I didn't have any issues with the size.
Many thanks to all that have replied. I agree with the "shoot the hell out of it" school of thought. Right now I have three magazines and I carry it in a Comp-TAC Minotaur. Next weekend sounds good, however I have to check with the Warden* and see what we have on our schedule (it should be clear). The case of ammo, thats another issue. Right now I've got 200 rounds, but could probably get another 200 this weekend if things go right.
* the only problem I foresee is that if the Warden and I don't have anything planned is that she is gonna want to come and that means getting a sitter or using the kids to clean up the spent brass :D
RogerinTPA
12-29-09, 20:45
Congrats on your new M&P40. That weapon is my favorite to shoot out of the 4 M&Ps I own. By all means, lube it up, then shoot the crap out of it. Use Azoom snap caps for dry firing so you won't break the striker assembly, like someone I know...:eek:
Go shoot the hell out of it and get some good training.
The gun doesn't need a thing other than a little cleaning and oil.
I have to check with the Warden* and see what we have on our schedule (it should be clear).
* the only problem I foresee is that if the Warden and I don't have anything planned is that she is gonna want to come and that means getting a sitter or using the kids to clean up the spent brass :D
Warden?!?! You live in a prison?!?! I live in a castle and I'm the king!!! :D
firecop019
12-29-09, 23:29
Congrats on the new purchase. I also got a new (to me) MP9c and I see this suggestion for shooting with the various back straps..... and it made me realize something that sucks for me. I got the crimson trace version, with the Crimson Trace you have only the one grip unless you want to give up the $250 option and use the standard grip things. Bummer for me. The good thing is that the CT grip does not seem overly large for my hand, but I suspect my wife will be happier with the small or medium non laser sight grip straps.
Congratulations! I have not yet shot the piss out of mine, so I'll race you to the first 100 rounds! You better be fast, I may go shoot the indoor range yet tonight!
LaserMax came out with the perfect option this month. Check it out, looked to be running around $300.
But yeah shoot the hell out of it and then decide what you want. I absolutely love shooting mine. We all shot qualifications so well with our new guns this summer that we stepped out to the 75 yd line to add a degree of difficulty.
wicked_police
12-30-09, 14:45
Point the end with the big round hole toward something that is designed to be shot by a bullet.
Pull on the little arched piece of plastic inside the square thing in the middle.
Repeat.
THAT'S the step I keep forgetting...
Thanks Todd!
John_Wayne777
12-30-09, 15:12
Hes --
If you're going to do a lot of dryfire practice I would suggest using good snapcaps like the AZoom offerings.
I would also suggest taking the time to play with the different grip panels on the range. I used to use the large panel because I thought that's what I needed with big hands. I started tweaking my grip and found that I actually performed better with the medium backstrap installed. It feels "cramped"...but when adopting the right grip with the medium panel my ability to track my sights skyrocketted. With the large grip I had a small space between my hands which felt very comfortable, but made it hard to track the sights during recoil and made the front sight settle outside the rear notch. By putting the medium grip panel on and focusing on pressing my hands together I eliminated that space. It felt uncomfortable, but the front sight drops right back into the rear notch. I shot a one hole group at 12 yards just as fast as I could consciously pull the trigger using my revised grip.
Thanks for the advice about the grips. After my experience with the PX4 and XD(m) it never even entered my mind to do this with the M&P. But considering how easy it is to change out the back straps, you bet I will be doing this.
Go shoot the piss out of the thing using the different backstraps and narrow down which one you shoot best with, not which one is the most comfortable. After that you should be able to narrow down what other things you mentioned quite easily. Stay safe.
Read the bold print from the 2nd post in this thread.
Shoot the snot, or piss whichever you prefer, out of it and have fun! I shoot my 9mm in IDPA and Limited in USPSA and love it. Also, don't be surprised it it "auto forwards" when you do a mag change. Mine does about 99% of the time.
operator81
01-02-10, 14:56
I personally would like to see a rougher grip on the M&P. I had a heck of a time keeping a solid grip on mine when my hands got sweaty. Had I kept mine I would've sent it to Boresight Solutions for a grip stipple.
before you stipple it try some 3m floor tape from home depot you can make it into what ever you want I stippled 2 glocks I have and finally got what I wanted out of the tape. I should have taped first stippled later but you live and learn
But my offer for next week still stands :D
Please let me know when you get into the area next week. I went to the range tonight. I am a southpaw and I will normally / naturally hit low and to the left. Then I concentrate, work on better grip, stance, and sight alignment and I start hitting center mass.
But tonight I was off and hitting low and to the right! I was completely stumped. Was it the fact that the range was chilly? The fact that I was very hungry? Yeah I could whip excuses out of my butt till the cows came home but the short of the long is that I sucked like I never have tonight. No matter how freaking hard I tried I could only hit center mass about 20% of the time. I even got desperate and had the smith at the range/store shoot my pistol to confirm that it was operator error and not a mechanical problem. He confirmed that it was an id-1-ot issue. But for the life of me, after 150 rounds and swapping through all three grips, I could not figure what the hell I was doing wrong. So at that point I just gave up and concentrated on helping my son and daughter with their .22s. At least they could get good groups on target.
So if you are going to be in town and feel up to critiquing me, please do.
Please let me know when you get into the area next week.
PM sent.
But tonight I was off and hitting low and to the right!
That's actually the more common ailment for a lefty like you.
The traditional diagnosis would be simple trigger jerk. M&Ps can sometimes have rather significant overtravel in their triggers which exacerbates the problem.
However, I tend to follow the line of thinking that Rob Leatham discusses in his classes, which is that trigger control isn't quite as important as we normally think and rather it's anticipation that leads to a lot of the low, low-left, low-right stuff we see.
Given that you shoot low-left with some guns and low-right with others, I'd say the "low" part is primarily a function of anticipation. You can use the Ball & Dummy Drill (http://pistol-training.com/drills/ball-dummy-drill) to address that problem.
If you're using some part of your trigger finger other than the first segment (preferably nearer to the tip), try that, as well. It may help solve the horizontal offset.
RogerinTPA
01-03-10, 10:21
Please let me know when you get into the area next week. I went to the range tonight. I am a southpaw and I will normally / naturally hit low and to the left. Then I concentrate, work on better grip, stance, and sight alignment and I start hitting center mass.
But tonight I was off and hitting low and to the right! I was completely stumped. Was it the fact that the range was chilly? The fact that I was very hungry? Yeah I could whip excuses out of my butt till the cows came home but the short of the long is that I sucked like I never have tonight. No matter how freaking hard I tried I could only hit center mass about 20% of the time. I even got desperate and had the smith at the range/store shoot my pistol to confirm that it was operator error and not a mechanical problem. He confirmed that it was an id-1-ot issue. But for the life of me, after 150 rounds and swapping through all three grips, I could not figure what the hell I was doing wrong. So at that point I just gave up and concentrated on helping my son and daughter with their .22s. At least they could get good groups on target.
So if you are going to be in town and feel up to critiquing me, please do.
Post some pics of your target the next time you head to the range, but being a South Paw has nothing to do with shooting, since I practice strong and support side shooting with carbine and pistol. You solved the problem yourself in that portion in blue above. Do that until you are consistently hitting center mass, then move to smaller and smaller targets, then speed up your ability to engage smaller and smaller targets, as fast and as accurately as you can. Then increase the distance, then work on speed and accuracy again. You have to master the basics, to get consistent shot placement.
before you stipple it try some 3m floor tape from home depot you can make it into what ever you want I stippled 2 glocks I have and finally got what I wanted out of the tape. I should have taped first stippled later but you live and learn
I strongly disagree.
Spending the money on a PERMANENT, PROFESSIONAL modification like the jobs done by www.boresightsolutions.com is vastly superior to any kind of non permanent addition unless of course you're worried about resale value. Regardless, these days with the quality of work that certain smiths are putting out, stippling vastly increases the value of the firearm.
You can tailor the grip "tackiness" to exactly what you need and you will NOT tear apart clothing with a professional stipple job from Ben. The 3m tape wears out and has caused many a shirt of mine to pill.
In the end, its all about budget. If you can save up the cash for a stipple job, do it, you will NOT regret it.
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