The one that finally made me a polymer believer: M&P 9mm

[BionicMan]

For years I’ve liked the lightweight appeal of polymer framed guns, but I honestly never found one that got me excited until I hit the range with my new M&P full size 9mm this past weekend. I’ve owned a few different polymer guns over the years, but never liked them enough to keep any for an extended period of time. The M&P, however, is a keeper. I found it to be much more comfortable, more accurate, far nicer looking, and just as reliable as the usual suspects. (Glock, XD, XDM) I did a good amount of research prior to this purchase and found countless threads regarding the M&P’s stock trigger, personally I find the complaints to be overblown. I’ve had plenty of trigger time on worked over 1911’s and DA revolvers, and I don’t find the M&P’s stock trigger to be that bad. Is there room for improvement? Sure, but there also is on pretty much every other bone stock pistol. After a few hundred rounds, I believe these to be the pros and cons of the M&P full size 9mm:

Pros:
+ Excellent ergonomics, nice weight (I have a larger hand but found the smallest back strap a perfect fit)
+ Offered with a manual thumb safety and no magazine disconnect (exactly what I was looking for)
+ Surprisingly good accuracy right out of the box
+ Recoil is very soft, even with defense loads
+ Flawless reliability (so far)
+ Excellent fit and finish for its price point
+ Very nice aesthetics for a polymer gun
+ Nice metal magazines that aren’t difficult to load a full 17rds into
+ Visible chamber loaded peep hole (I'm anal about physically checking the chamber)
+ Great value at under $500 brand new including shipping and transfer fee
+ Made in the USA, lifetime warranty


Cons:
- Slide release lever quite frankly sucks (the lever is too narrow and somewhat sharp)
- No tactile or audible trigger reset
- Wimpy extractor (issue resolved itself after 400rds)
- Frame bump out behind the magazine release occasionally gets in the way of depressing the release button
- Front sight post is a little too narrow for my liking

From what I read, most of the things I take issue with on the gun can be remedied with aftermarket parts. I imagine in the next few months I’ll add some Apex Tactical components and a set of TroGlo tritium/fiber optic sights. If anyone knows of an aftermarket extended slide release for the M&P I’M ALL EARS.

The new toy:






Very pleased with accuracy the first day out. (1 magazine into a 1 5/8” group at 25’ one handed and unsupported)

[Rainier42]

Nice and best of luck with it. That's some pretty fine shooting there!

[ChamberedRound]

All of the "pros" you listed are the reasons why the M&P9 was my first pistol. And, I also think it's the most attractive looking of all the polymer framed guns. Mine doesn't have the manual safety (it wasn't available at the time), but I actually prefer it that way.

As for some of your cons:

- Slide release lever quite frankly sucks (the lever is too narrow and somewhat sharp)

You can always rack the slide; that's a universal way on all semi-pistols to ready the pistol regardless of ergonomics.

- No tactile or audible trigger reset

This might vary form pistol to pistol, but I have found if you dry-fire the pistol, and then SLOWLY release the trigger, you will feel a a slight catch/click/whatever. The standard trigger does creep on the reset a fair amount, so it might not happen in the same spot every time, but there is something discernible there (at least on my gun). Try that, and once you know what you're looking for, it might be easier to detect when actually firing the pistol.

- Wimpy extractor (I like seeing brass thrown back and away from me, not falling around my feet)

I've never noticed one way or the other on mine, now I'm going to have to check.

In any event, congrats on the pistol, and lots of luck with it! Although it doesn't look like you need luck, as that's some fine shootin'!

[bigredxlt]

jeez that is some good one handed shooting.

[BionicMan]

You can always rack the slide; that's a universal way on all semi-pistols to ready the pistol regardless of ergonomics.

Unfortunately I can't. The bionic hand in my avatar is ACTUALLY my left hand, and it doesn't produce a sufficient grip force to pull the slide back.

jeez that is some good one handed shooting.

Thanks, with only one flesh and bone hand I get lots of practice.

[ChamberedRound]

Unfortunately I can't. The bionic hand in my avatar is ACTUALLY my left hand, and it doesn't produce a sufficient grip force to pull the slide back.

My apologies, I didn't realize. I can understand why this is a concern for you.

[LifeInPa]

Congrats, I love my M&P 9 too. The only thing I want to do is make the trigger a little lighter which can be done with a $20 part and a few minutes. Otherwise it's perfect as it is. Nice shooting btw, I cannot shoot that tight of a group with both hands. I see you have a tactical light, how is it? Do you have a laser on it too?

[bigredxlt]

Have you seen that attachement for the glock that is a handle that attaches to the back of the slide? Maybe something like that could help you rack the slide? Now I just need to see if I can dig up a link so you can see what I am talking about.

http://www.israeli-weapons.com/store...ssories/p9.htm

What do you think?

[BionicMan]

My apologies, I didn't realize. I can understand why this is a concern for you.

No worries, if you happen to hear of an aftermarket lever please shoot the info my way.

I see you have a tactical light, how is it? Do you have a laser on it too?

Nope, just a light. It's a Streamlight TLR-3, and I absolutely love it. I think the TLR-3 is an awesome bang for the buck and Streamlight's customer service is second to none. I would highly recommend any of their TLR products.

[BionicMan]

Have you seen that attachement for the glock that is a handle that attaches to the back of the slide? Maybe something like that could help you rack the slide? Now I just need to see if I can dig up a link so you can see what I am talking about.

http://www.israeli-weapons.com/store...ssories/p9.htm

What do you think?

Hmm, that's a pretty neat product. Do they make them for the M&P? It might be worth trying.