Any thoughts on the M&P40?

[Bob]

I am looking to add a .40 S&W pistol to the collection. Something in the mid-to-full size range. I'm not a huge .40 fan, but I wouldn't mind having something in each service caliber, and a little variety can't hurt. Being a Glock fan, a G23 or G22 are high on the list. I like the USP (in 9mm), so the .40 flavor is on the list as well.

So how about the M&P40? How are they handling high round counts? I've read more than a few positive reviews of the 9mm and .45 variants (along with some of the growing pains of the M&Ps), but not much that I've seen on the .40 variants.

I'm trying to narrow down my selection to two pistols for when I go rent them to try them out. The rental fees, combined with the need to buy ammo from the range, adds up fast...

[ToddG]

DM -- Thanks! To be honest, my personal experience with the M&P40 is fairly limited. They are very low recoil/flip compared to just about any other .40 I've tried.

The M&P line of pistols was built around the M&P40 first, and in fact the first prototypes were all in .40 as were the first production guns. Quite a few LE agencies are happy with theirs, and some of them performed fairly serious testing before choosing the Smith.

But at least right now, I'm not familiar with too many individual guns that have gone 20k+ rounds in .40-cal yet. So while I'm certainly confident the M&P40 will prove to be durable and reliable over the long haul, it's not something I know first hand yet.

[HK45]

I've shot a pretty fair amount of .40 and never enjoyed it much due to the snappy recoil. I like 9mm and .45 but not .40. But the M&P .40 is the easiest recoiling .40 I have ever shot. Plus even the regular size M&P is quite compact. I would easily recommend the M&P .40 over either the Glock 23 or 22 for ergos and recoil control.

[spamsammich]

Having handled two M&P 40s and a Steyr M40-A1, I think the Steyr is a touch easier shooting than the M&P. One of the M&Ps I shot was clearly rode hard and put away wet too often as even from bench rest, it shot 3-4 inches low. I think somebody beat up on the rear site or something as it was a range rental.

I did like the ergonomics of the M&P, the trigger wasn't quite to my liking, but I'm sure that can be improved. I'd like to do a head to head with the FNP-40 at some point as I was considering one of those along with my M40-A1. I'm extremely happy with my Steyr despite the dearth of aftermarket support, one of the best bargains I've ever found in pistols, ~340 plus 10 shipping from CDNN. They've since raised their shipping to 20 bucks flat.

But back on topic, I find the muzzle flip and trigger reset to be slightly less desirable than the Steyr, it has better ergonomics, and lots of aftermarket support. Being a small guy, shooting 40 was a real struggle until I tried these guns. Now I actually look forward to punching paper with 40 cal. In fact I was supposed to go tonight, but I'm stuck at work running experiments

[ToddG]

DM -- PM sent.