Sold the XD's, bought an M&P40 and a couple of ?'s

[rauchman]

Greetings,

I picked up a used M&P40 w/ factory nighsights and mag disconnect safety after selling an XD9 Tactical w/ night sights. The day I picked it up, I brought it to the in-house range and put 100 rounds of American Eagle 155gr, listed as 1150fps on the box. To say I was impressed w/ the how the gun handled (outside of the trigger) would be an understatement. It did not recoil like other .40's I was used to. It tracked exceptionally well during recoil and it felt like I was shooting a 9mm. I was happily surprised at the recoil signature difference as compared to a G22 I used to own. Please don't think I don't like Glocks. I have 2 G19's and a G17 and LOVE them!!! the G22 just never worked for me that well. I digress.....

Last Jan, I had picked up an XD45 Tactical and XD9 Tactical. At the time, the mad frenzy was going on, I had just gotten my NJ Purchaser's Permits that I had been waiting on for 6 months, and I had an itch for something different. Already having a smattering of quality pistols, such as a W German P226, HK USP45F, Beretta 92FS, SA 1911, etc, I wanted something modern but not too expensive. I drank deeply from the XD cool-aid and bought the 2 XD's. Please keep in mind, I don't carry a gun for a living, I don't even carry since I live in NJ (have to move out of this state soon!!!). But, I've had a lifelong obsession w/ firearms and am on the constant quest of finding the ultimate firearms for me. After 3 firing sessions and lots of dry fire practice, I realized I wasn't liking the XD's. The pistols felt very top heavy. They did not track well during recoil. The bore height was waaaaaayyyyyyy up there and I do believe this contributes to the negative recoil characteristic perceptions that I have. The XD45T had a better trigger than it's 9mm counterpart. However, for me, I just couldn't get a comfortable grip on the gun. I had a lot of high hopes on this gun, 13 rounds of .45, long sight radius and a 5" barrel. The XD9's grip reminded me of a BHP I used to own. I couldn't get used to the trigger on this gun for anything though. It felt mushy w/ an indistinct break and a nonperceptable reset. The pistol felt nice in the hand, but the best groups I could get were about 3.5" for 5 rounds at 15 yards, with an average of 5" or so. Comparatively, I have a G17 w/ a worked trigger that I can get a 1" group for 5 rounds at 15 yards w/ an average of 2.25" shooting Blazer. Also, I'm sure some will think I'm crazy, but I noticed when dry firing with a slooooowwwwww deliberate pull, the back end of the XD9 would lift up a smidge, probably 1mm or so. The XD45 did not display this characteristic.

After doing some research on this site and others, I wanted to give the M&P a chance. The pistol was constantly reviewed as very good to excellent in all categories....except the trigger. I would have loved to have gotten an M&P9 fullsize of some type, but it's a hard pill for me to swallow to have a normally 17rnd mag for a gun, reduced to 10 rounds. I already have a G17 w/ this problem. I went to the store in search of a M&P9C w/ thumb safety and came home w/ a barely used M&P40 w/ night sights & mag safety for $550. I'm going to the range again this coming weekend and I'm going to experiment w/ the backstraps as they all feel good in a way, and yet none of them are perfect. I think shooting w/ the different backstraps will give a true assessment of which will work, vs. the comfort of the grip.

sorry about the long post, but a couple of quesitons.

Where can I get an M&P sight pusher?

Can a thumb safety be installed?

Thanks,
Ken

[John_Wayne777]

It did not recoil like other .40's I was used to. It tracked exceptionally well during recoil and it felt like I was shooting a 9mm. I was happily surprised at the recoil signature difference as compared to a G22 I used to own.


The M&P .40 has the reputation of being the most controllable handgun in .40 currently on the market. Even in 9mm I can feel a pronounced difference in the recoil between a G17 and an M&P 9.



After doing some research on this site and others, I wanted to give the M&P a chance. The pistol was constantly reviewed as very good to excellent in all categories....except the trigger.


The trigger breaks in with wear to become quite manageable. The trigger can often have a very "gritty" feel at first until the internal components smooth out a bit with wear. After the trigger is broken in it will yield a decent pull that breaks relatively cleanly, although with a bit of a long and somewhat indistinct reset. You can modify the feel of the trigger with a good gunsmith's attention, or with the new Apex Tactical drop in sear and possibly a new firing pin safety plunger they've mentioned.

Still, having owned custom and stock M&P's I don't think it's in any way necessary to rework the trigger. Every M&P I've fired is FAR more accurate than I am, and I'm halfway decent in the accuracy department.


I think shooting w/ the different backstraps will give a true assessment of which will work, vs. the comfort of the grip.


Indeed. Give the different grip panels a good try and play with your grip. When you hit upon the right one it will boost your speed considerably. I began seriously reworking my grip several months ago and that's involved multiple range sessions where I spent 200-300 rounds just playing with the different grip panels to find the one I performed best with...and then more range sessions tweaking minor aspects of my grip until I hit upon my current grip which gives me better speed and accuracy than I thought myself capable of.



Where can I get an M&P sight pusher?


I bought mine from G&R Tactical. I don't know if they have any in stock currently or not.



Can a thumb safety be installed?


Theoretically, yes...but last I knew S&W wasn't letting the safeties go as spare or add-on parts. Todd may be able to shed more light on that.

[MichaelD]

Regarding the addition of a thumb safety, the last post I saw from Dan Burwell on the subject over at MP-Pistol.com said that installing a safety in a no-manual-safety M&P wasn't possible due to some distinct differences in the frames of the two models.

[Beat Trash]

Regarding the addition of a thumb safety, the last post I saw from Dan Burwell on the subject over at MP-Pistol.com said that installing a safety in a no-manual-safety M&P wasn't possible due to some distinct differences in the frames of the two models.

This is the same thing being told at their armors school. Two different frames.

[rauchman]

Thanks for everyone's comments. I did order a sight tool from S&W today, so that takes care of that problem. Also, of note to NJ residents, as mentioned in the original post, I would have loved to get an M&P9 fullsize but as far as I knew, only 10 rounders were available. In talking w/ Paul, a very helpful and good natured CS rep for S&W, he informed me that S&W now has 15 rounders available for the M&P9, and that newer M&P9's will be shipping to NJ w/ 15 round mags.

I see one in my possession fairly soon.

[rauchman]

Figured I'd update this.

I received the sight pusher from S&W last Friday. Was able to take out the FPP (Firing Pin Plunger). Went to Sears Saturday morning and got a few different type sanding/polishing wheels and rounded off/polished the FPP. While I was in there, I took the sear out, filed a little more off the sear trigger bar contact area and polished it up a bit more.

The FPP was definitely the culprit in the grittyness in the trigger. I don't have something to measure the trigger weight, but it's definitely a little lighter than stock, but more importantly, the grittyness is ALL GONE.

Went to the range later that Saturday and shot 150 rounds of Blaser 165gr and about 75 rounds of WWB 165. Functionally, the gun shot fine and the trigger was considerably improved. The sweep of the trigger to the sear release is now free of anything. Of course a slight spring resistance, but nothing gritty and it doesn't catch anywhere. I may go back to the sear and play w/ the sear/trigger bar engagement area. The reset is better than it was, but it's not as short, or as defined, as I was hoping it would be. Have to say, I'm pretty impressed with how the trigger came out though. Have to give a big thanks to Dave Burwell and his trigger job tutorial!!!

Having said that, I'm now on the hunt for an M&P9 w/ thumb safety and the newly released 15 rnd NJ legal mags. S&W literally just came out w/ this a couple of weeks ago, so the guns haven't hit the stores yet. I've come to the conclusion that the M&P is the best feeling/shooting .40 I've fired out of a polymer gun, ....... but I still don't like the .40. I definitely like shooting 9mm and .45 more. The American Eagle I fired in my test run w/ this pistol must be a little anemic as far as .40's go.

As a side note, I did order an Apex Tactical Hardened Sear for the M&P. Curious to see how their sear differs from the one I worked on.

And lastly, does anyone know if there are aftermarket backstraps available? I can say with certainty that none of the 3 supplied backstraps fit great for me. They all feel like a compromise in some way. Strange for a pistol w/ multiple backstraps to not have an option that "works" for me. I picked up my G19 and it feels so much more natural. So many people complain about the blockyness of the Glock frame, yet that blockyness allows for a very solid grip for me. I can really anchor my hand around the more squarish corners of the Glock. For me, I feel like I'm fighting the M&P more to get a solid grip.

[RogerinTPA]

Congrats on your new purchase. The M&P40 is my favorite of the line, but since ammo has gone up and due to my shooting/training regiment, I have been shooting the M&P9 and 9c more. The .40 is like black licorice, either you like it or you don't. I don't get why people prefer the .45 over the .40, but some claim the .40 has more of a pronounced snap to it's recoil. I have ran a couple of 500 round classes with my M&P45 and M&P40, burning through that in just a few hours. I guess I just never noticed and felt the same to me.:confused: Anyway, enjoy your new M&P.:cool: