"Why I Shoot an M&P"

[WillBrink]

Hilton Yam via 10-8...

"Glock vs. M&P...or why I shoot an M&P"

Readers of this blog and the 10-8 Performance Facebook page are no strangers to my affection for the M&P. I was one of the earliest adopters of the platform, and was hooked ever since I fired one of the prototypes in the basement of the S&W factory back in 2005 or so. I have also been shooting Glocks since the 90's, and have a number of them in the pile as well, so I can speak with experience on both. With so many compelling empirical arguments in favor of the Glock 17, why am I shooting a M&P 9mm?

For purposes of discussion below, I will be comparing the Glock 17 vs. the M&P 9mm full sized model. If we were comparing the Glock 21 to the M&P 45, then let's just stop here and declare the M&P .45 the winner and move on. Superior ergonomics by far, good accuracy, and availability of thumb safety to help transition 1911 shooters make the M&P 45 the clear winner in my opinion. Add a viable and reliable factory 14 round magazine, and you pretty much have the whole package wrapped up with a bow. Same with .40 - the M&P was designed for the .40, with steel chassis for increased rigidity and none of the durability or function issues of the Glock 22. Oddly, the 9mm was shoehorned into the M&P platform rather than the reverse which is true for Glock, and it is therefore the weakest model of the M&P. So why do I shoot one all the time?

Cont:

http://10-8performance.blogspot.com/...09869336279096

[F-Trooper05]

All fair points. For me the big hit against the M&P (and one that i rarely see mentioned) is how easily they auto-forward during reloads. I know a lot of guys can work around it, but it would still drive me nuts.

[Sry0fcr]

I can't shoot worth a damn at 25+ yards and I gave up complaining about triggers in favor of learning to master trigger manipulation so the common gripes are moot to me. But I'm with Hilton, the M&P series has the potential to bigger problem for Glock than it is now but it needs some refinement in the accuracy and trigger departments to qwell the whining.

[WillBrink]

All fair points. For me the big hit against the M&P (and one that i rarely see mentioned) is how easily they auto-forward during reloads. I know a lot of guys can work around it, but it would still drive me nuts.

Glock's are the king of the auto forward.

[Bigkrackers]

I just got back from the range trying out the G19 gen3 .vs M&P 9. After one magazine through the M&P I was a bit confused as to why my group was so far right until I looked at the front site - it was slowly sliding out of the dove tail. I got a replacement with a straight front site and continued my evaluation.

The trigger on the Glock is lightyears better than the one on the M&P. It's all in the reset. The Glock has nice felt and audible reset. The M&P has no noticeable sound to the reset and there is two felt bumps before the actual reset; the first bump is bigger and then a very tiny one for the reset. It simply sucks.

I liked the grip (not sure which backstrap was on it) and overall feel of the M&P over the Glock.
There was no difference for me which sight picture was better, I was able to use both well.

I shot the Glock better than the M&P by a small margin and I have no doubt that either gun would serve me well in the accuracy department.

If the M&P didn't have such an F'd up trigger I would not hesitate to buy one over a Glock because the ergonomics are fantastic and I can shoot it. However, I would need an Apex trigger right off the bat. That said, everyone says you need to change out the plastic sights on the Glock so, price wise for upgrades, it's a wash.

The front sight drifting of the M&P is bothersome to me as I have read about this compliant before - people losing their front sights. Thought this was just a Trijicon thing as some of their vials have been falling out on some M&P's but in this case the stock sight was almost off.

As I'm in the market for a new 9mm I have narrowed it down to these two guns and right now I give a slight edge to the Glock as I have not shot a M&P with a trigger job.

[cheapsandwich]

It's nice that we have choices between for great pistol platforms.

[JHC]

Glock's are the king of the auto forward.

??? I've only had it a happen rarely across 20 Glocks but most of the time with the Pro 9 I owned for a spell (2400 rounds). I didn't know it was commonplace in Glocks.

If my Pro 9 had delivered 25 yd groups like Hilton's (instead of 5+") and didn't have failures to reset, I'd still be rocking it now. I'd live with the autoforwards. Even w/o them, it was a blindingly fast gun to reload.

His article is a good read.

[Dos Cylindros]

I have been a full time LEO for 13 years now, and 12 of those years have seen me carry the G22 as my primary handgun. I recently moved to a new department that issues the M&P 40, and for me all of the issues I had with the G22 are solved with the M&P 40. I'm not saying I had problems with the G22, but it never quite fit my hands right. When I started using the M&P 40 I was totally converted. The M&P fits my hand like it was custom made for me, I find the M&P more controllable to shoot as for me it has less muzzle flip and feels like it has less recoil. My issue M&P has about 1500 rounds through it now and it has never malfunctioned. My G22 had a few malfuctions, but in all honestly that was in what I would guess to be at least 10,000 rounds over the course of 12 years.

The Glock is an excellent platform, it's just that I have found the M&P to be far superior for me. Your experience may be different, that's why we have choices. As far as the 9mm copies of the M&P, I have no experience with them but I know Hilton knows what he is talking about so I will trust his judgement. I love my M&P so much, I went out and got a full size M&P 45 to make my HD gun.

[WillBrink]

I didn't know it was commonplace in Glocks.

I don't think "commonplace" would be correct term, but Glock's well known for their tendency for auto forward.

However, I don't know of any objective data/test on it either comparing the tendency of one platform vs another to auto forward, in this case Glock vs. M&P

[Littlelebowski]

Glock's are the king of the auto forward.

It's my experience that M&Ps auto forward more frequently and with greater ease than Glocks. I've seen this born out in both my personal and other shooter's M&Ps.