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Anybody have any experience with the new Smith & Wesson M&P pistol? I just put one on layaway in .40 S&W. I liked it as soon as I saw it in the gun case at T's Guns and Ammo in Texas City. It's shorter than my 1911 and quite a bit lighter. I'll have to get used to the passive safety though. I don't know a whole lot about the .40 S&W cartridge.

It fit my hand VERY well, but I didn't get to shoot it. Didn't like the lawyer features either...

I have almost 4000 rounds through mine and my wife has over 4000 rounds. Not one problem and I have yet to find one thing I don't like about the pistol I have some great 40 S&W reloads that they both eat flawlessly.

Scroggwe wrote: I don't know a whole lot about the .40 S&W cartridge.

Very good cartridge, becoming very popular even in law inforcement! Think of it as bigger than a 9mm but faster than a .45

Diode wrote:

Scroggwe wrote: I don't know a whole lot about the .40 S&W cartridge.

Very good cartridge, becoming very popular even in law inforcement! Think of it as bigger than a 9mm but faster than a .45

Or smaller than a .45 and slower than a 9mm. It really is a compromise round that is pretty good at what it does. I see its biggest advantage in that it allows for a 9mm sized gun with a larger bullet. So the biggest advantage of it is actually ergonomics.

Kalrog wrote:

Diode wrote:

Scroggwe wrote: I don't know a whole lot about the .40 S&W cartridge.

Very good cartridge, becoming very popular even in law inforcement! Think of it as bigger than a 9mm but faster than a .45

So the biggest advantage of it is actually ergonomics.

True but it's design came about after the Dade conuty shoot out where the 9mm fell short. The .40S&W and the .357SIG both were to try and get a little more knock down power but keep the 9mm size frame. I really like the .40S&W I carry one but I also have a 9mm and a .45acp I can carry. I love them all!

Diode wrote:True but it's design came about after the Dade conuty shoot out where the 9mm fell short. The .40S&W and the .357SIG both were to try and get a little more knock down power but keep the 9mm size frame. I really like the .40S&W I carry one but I also have a 9mm and a .45acp I can carry. I love them all!

Actually, I think the design that came out of the Dade county thing was the 10mm - not the .40S&W. But the 10mm had too much recoil and was too large (ergonomics again) to be used by some members of the FBI and other agencies. So they down tuned the power and shortened the case (horrible abbreviation of how it happened) and ended up with the .40S&W.

Do I think the .40 is a bad round? NOT AT ALL!!! In fact, with modern ammo I feel totally comfortable with a 9mm, .38Spc, .40, .45, .357Mag, .44Mag, ... They all have their good points and their bad points.

Kalrog wrote: Actually, I think the design that came out of the Dade county thing was the 10mm - not the .40S&W. But the 10mm had too much recoil and was too large (ergonomics again) to be used by some members of the FBI and other agencies. So they down tuned the power and shortened the case (horrible abbreviation of how it happened) and ended up with the .40S&W.

That's pretty much how it happened, and why the .40 is sometimes called "10mm Short". Or, .40 S&W is "Forty Shorty & Wimpy", as a diehard 10mm fan called it.

I don't volunteer to be shot with a .40.

Kevin

KBCraig wrote:That's pretty much how it happened, and why the .40 is sometimes called "10mm Short". Or, .40 S&W is "Forty Shorty & Wimpy", as a diehard 10mm fan called it.

I don't volunteer to be shot with a .40.

I don't volunteer either. Although I call it the .40 Short and Weak instead of Wimpy.

Well, my wife got my S&W M&P out of layaway for me for my Father's Day present!! I took it to the Texas City Range Sunday and fired it. I really like it. The .40 S&W recoil was acceptable. I'm gonna have to get used to the long trigger pull of the double-action, though. I keep shooting low. The trigger feels a little gritty, but I am told it will smooth out with use. I like the way it feels in my hand with the medium size grips. It's a lot easier to remove the slide than the Glock 17 that I used to own. All in all, I am very happy with it. Now I need to find an affordable holster for it. Don't know what type I want yet (my CHL is still a couple of months away. I just sent it in a week ago.).

Regarding holsters for the M&P, Comp-Tac C-tac is extremely comfortable and doesn't get saturated with perspiration. Great holster that I use daily.

I find the M&P to be a superior pistol. Great ergonomics, good trigger pull, mine has been 100% reliable out of the box. Mine also doesn't have the lawyer features.

I find the .40 to be a fine cartridge, like thousands of law enforcement agencies have.

I love mine.
I've been accused on other boards of working for S&W because I love this pistol so much. About 500 rounds through mine.

Be careful what hollowpoints you feed it, though. Mine seems a bit hesitant to swallow Hydrashoks, as there seems to be a bit of hesitation with the slide when I manually feed it. I prefer corbons in this pistol. (NO FTF's with either ammo though, I'm just paranoid and a perfectionist)
If I take it in for a fluffandbuff it'd probaly cycle exactly to my liking with hydrashoks.

I carry mine with a gurkha, as I find it too big to carry tucked. I carry a XD Subcompact when I must carry tucked.

nitrogen,

I've used Winchester Ranger 155 grain JHPs, Remington Express 155 JHPs, Federal Classic 155 grain JHps, Speer Gold Dot 155 grain JHPs, and Winchester 165 grain FMJs in my M&P.

It feeds so reliably and shoots so easily that I recently chose it out of my 16 current pistols to re-qualify for my Texas CHL with. It just seems to do the right thing almost automagically.

When I slingshot my slides to chamber a round, and let them close with anything less that full force, sometimes I hear or feel that "hesitation" of the round going up the ramp. This is in many semi-autos.

I wonder if the HydraShoks have a different profile or ogive than the Federal Classic?

Kalrog wrote:It fit my hand VERY well, but I didn't get to shoot it. Didn't like the lawyer features either...

What "lawyer features" are you referring to? I know that you can also get them without the mag disconnect if thats what you mean.