Finally did it...M&P

[Bushido]

For months now I've been trying to decide what firearm to buy for CC. I ended up buying the M&P 40c. I took it to the range today and I fell in love. I am a novice shooter but after a few rounds I could feel a significant difference between the trigger on my SD40 and the M&P.

I wanted to make some upgrades and needed some help from the folks here based on their experience with this gun.

1. I was considering on upgrading the trigger with either the Apex DCAEK or sending it to Burwell Gunsmithing and having a trigger job done. Does anyone here have any experience with either one? I'm not sure which route to go and would like to hear what someone's personal experience has been with it.

2. I'm accustomed to the night sight on the SD40 and would like to have night sights installed on the M&P. I've done some research on the Web and there seems to be tons of options. I want to make sure that I purchase quality sights and need help with narrowing down some options. Any suggestions?

Lastly, if anyone has done any other upgrades to their M&P I would love to hear it.

Thanks for any help that can be provided.

[mikenac]

Congrats. I like the Meprolight sights. I have them on all my Glocks.

[Bushido]

Congrats. I like the Meprolight sights. I have them on all my Glocks.

Thanks for the suggestion. Looking them up now.

[DC2.2GSR]

Nice choice! I love my 40C. After trying different guns for carry and even just shooting at the range, I've come to the realization that the M&P was the best possible choice I could have made. I'll never get rid of it. I've posted it for sale before after getting the itch to make a change, but always ended up keeping it. I've had a few others, but I've never been able to shoot as comfortably or as accurately as I have with my 40C. It's truly that gun that just feels right every time I pick it up.

A word of advice - you should seriously consider stippling your gun. The upgrade is the best you could ever do in my opinion. After I stippled the grip and smoothed out the bottom of the trigger guard on mine, it felt complete. The M&Ps are very slippery from the factory. It changes the bar of soap into something that feels like you can get a real solid grip on, and without feeling like you're holding 36 grit sandpaper. lol. I was very pleasantly surprised at the feel of it. It's not nearly as rough as it looks, but it gives 10x the grip. I also did a bit of rough sanding on my mag release so that it would be a bit more flush with the frame. While in the holster it would press against the mag release and end up popping the mag out. Not good! lol. With my MTAC holster it doesn't have the problem though so I'll just end up ordering a new mag release eventually.

I was (and actually still am) considering the DCAEK for mine, but I think I'll hold off a while longer. No matter how many times I read that people hated the M&P triggers, I just couldn't wrap my brain around the idea. I think mine is great. Once it's broken in a bit, it gets very smooth. I'm sure doing all of the Apex upgrades would make it very enjoyable to shoot, but for right now I'm going with the "don't fix what ain't broken" method.

Here's mine:

[Bushido]

Nice choice! I love my 40C. After trying different guns for carry and even just shooting at the range, I've come to the realization that the M&P was the best possible choice I could have made. I'll never get rid of it. I've posted it for sale before after getting the itch to make a change, but always ended up keeping it. I've had a few others, but I've never been able to shoot as comfortably or as accurately as I have with my 40C. It's truly that gun that just feels right every time I pick it up.

A word of advice - you should seriously consider stippling your gun. The upgrade is the best you could ever do in my opinion. After I stippled the grip and smoothed out the bottom of the trigger guard on mine, it felt complete. The M&Ps are very slippery from the factory. It changes the bar of soap into something that feels like you can get a real solid grip on, and without feeling like you're holding 36 grit sandpaper. lol. I was very pleasantly surprised at the feel of it. It's not nearly as rough as it looks, but it gives 10x the grip. I also did a bit of rough sanding on my mag release so that it would be a bit more flush with the frame. While in the holster it would press against the mag release and end up popping the mag out. Not good! lol. With my MTAC holster it doesn't have the problem though so I'll just end up ordering a new mag release eventually.

I was (and actually still am) considering the DCAEK for mine, but I think I'll hold off a while longer. No matter how many times I read that people hated the M&P triggers, I just couldn't wrap my brain around the idea. I think mine is great. Once it's broken in a bit, it gets very smooth. I'm sure doing all of the Apex upgrades would make it very enjoyable to shoot, but for right now I'm going with the "don't fix what ain't broken" method.

Here's mine:

Did you do the stippling yourself or did you send it off? I seen some folks try it on there own and the end product didn't look so hot. I like the way your's looks, very clean and streamlined.

I also had the same problem with the mag releasing with my IWB holster. Right now I'm using an uncle mikes because I have two holsters on order for it, MTAC and a Safiraland ALS. I changed the position from 4 to 3 o'clock and it has stopped but I prefer the 4 o'clock position. Luckily this is just temporary until the others arrive.

[TheWolff]

Congrats Bushido, I'm a bit M&P fan, I'm sure you'll love it. I recently had Truglo tritium FO sights installed on mine and I think it's an incredible upgrade. In bright daylight, the FO makes them glow bright green. At night and low-light, the Tritium makes them glow bright green. I got them from Cabela's with some gift cards and I had King's in KOP install them for $35.

The trigger on M&Ps breaks in very well. I'd put 500 rounds through it before you decide to make get anything done, you might like it just fine. Some of the grittiness could be the trigger safety burr catching on the frame. A bit of filing will allow proper clearance without altering the safety functions it performs. I shot a buddy's who used JB Weld or something to essentially freeze the hinged trigger. I really liked the feel of that, but I'm hesitant to remove safety features from my carry weapon.

The M&P is great to carry and work with. If you haven't been over to http://mp-pistol.com/boards/ , you should check it out. You'll get all sorts of guides for mods.

Also, when I was shopping to get the sights installed, I spoke with Gordon's in Spring City. I told them I was looking at getting a trigger job done also. They recommended JB in Pottstown. I gave him a call and he said he'd to the trigger and sight install for $75, but it'd take him 4 weeks. I didn't end up going that route, but I think it's a fair price and he's pretty highly recommended on this site. I figure I might save you some shopping, and maybe some shipping fees if you can drop it off there. Here's his info:

JB Beard
(610) 705-4867

[9orangeletters]

Good choice! I myself am looking into moving from an SD to an M&P, just in the 9mm flavor.

I don't know if you noticed, but the sights on the SD are M&P sights on the back, and if I'm not mistaken, I do believe that the front sight will also fit an M&P pistol. I don't know know if you still have your SD40 or not, but it's food for thought. Personally, I would love to have the front green trijicon and two orange in the back. There's tons of manufacturers for that, although I hear the orange isn't quite as bright.

Anyway, I do see you went to the 40c, which is smaller than the SD40. Any reason for the compact instead of the regular M&P40? I'm on the fence about that myself, and I'm gathering opinions.

[TheWolff]

. Any reason for the compact instead of the regular M&P40? I'm on the fence about that myself, and I'm gathering opinions.

This is C&P from an earlier post I wrote in a thread on the topic: I have the FS and for a while, was looking to trade for a C. If I had known the compact can take the full size mags, I'd have done that. When carrying IWB in just jeans and a t-shirt, I have to be careful about the grip printing. I should have got the compact one, then put a full size mag in when I'm wearing cover garments or for OC/HD. I'm considering chopping my 40FS to compact size to do just that.

X-Grip makes a sleeve for the FS mag so it doesn't look dumb hanging out of the compact. Here it is:http://x-grips.com/products/sw.html

Also a consideration for IWB carry is the beavertail. The FS has it, the compact does not. Granted, it's easy to remove with a dremel, but if you're planning on carrying IWB, and have any "spare tire" to speak of, you may find it digging into your side. I removed mine, and it is more comfortable. Again, if I'd gotten the compact, I wouldn't have had to.

My buddy has the compact, and I'm just as accurate out to 20 yards with his as I am with mine (haven't gone farther). So IMO, the extra barrel doesn't make much difference inside that range. I guess what I'm saying is that IMO, short of competitive shooting, the C does everything the FS does, and it does some things better (namely, conceal). YMMV of course.

[Bushido]

Congrats Bushido, I'm a bit M&P fan, I'm sure you'll love it. I recently had Truglo tritium FO sights installed on mine and I think it's an incredible upgrade. In bright daylight, the FO makes them glow bright green. At night and low-light, the Tritium makes them glow bright green. I got them from Cabela's with some gift cards and I had King's in KOP install them for $35.

The trigger on M&Ps breaks in very well. I'd put 500 rounds through it before you decide to make get anything done, you might like it just fine. Some of the grittiness could be the trigger safety burr catching on the frame. A bit of filing will allow proper clearance without altering the safety functions it performs. I shot a buddy's who used JB Weld or something to essentially freeze the hinged trigger. I really liked the feel of that, but I'm hesitant to remove safety features from my carry weapon.

The M&P is great to carry and work with. If you haven't been over to http://mp-pistol.com/boards/ , you should check it out. You'll get all sorts of guides for mods.

Also, when I was shopping to get the sights installed, I spoke with Gordon's in Spring City. I told them I was looking at getting a trigger job done also. They recommended JB in Pottstown. I gave him a call and he said he'd to the trigger and sight install for $75, but it'd take him 4 weeks. I didn't end up going that route, but I think it's a fair price and he's pretty highly recommended on this site. I figure I might save you some shopping, and maybe some shipping fees if you can drop it off there. Here's his info:

JB Beard
(610) 705-4867

Thanks for the info. I've been reading more and more and I think I'm going to put a few hundred more rounds through before I commit to doing the trigger upgrade. I think I was so excited on how it felt in comparison to the SD that I wanted to make it even better. I'll take baby steps and try to smooth it out by having some fun with it at the range.

I did check out the M&P forum, briefly. I will do some more browsing around to see what good info I can gather.

[Bushido]

I don't know if you noticed, but the sights on the SD are M&P sights on the back, and if I'm not mistaken, I do believe that the front sight will also fit an M&P pistol. I don't know know if you still have your SD40 or not, but it's food for thought. Personally, I would love to have the front green trijicon and two orange in the back. There's tons of manufacturers for that, although I hear the orange isn't quite as bright.

Anyway, I do see you went to the 40c, which is smaller than the SD40. Any reason for the compact instead of the regular M&P40? I'm on the fence about that myself, and I'm gathering opinions.

I'm going to continue using my SD for Home Defense just not carry so I want to keep the sights on there, however I did have the same thought about swapping.

I went for the compact mainly because it conceals better for me. I could reasonably conceal the SD but I wanted something that felt better. I've been carrying the M&P daily and it just seems right for me.