Due to some unusual circumstances, I ended up doing a first firing of seven recent manufacture M&P 9mm pistols today. They were 2 Pro's, 2 FS with TS, 2 FS w/out FS, and 1 compact with TS. Given reports of inconsistent accuracy with the 9 mm M&P's, I decided to shoot groups with each pistol at 25 yards on a PistolTraining.com target, as it is conducive to shooting groups. My position was sitting, which is stable for me, and I shot two five round groups with each pistol using WWB ammo. For a control, I shot a known accurate M&P 9 FS, and some other pistols.

1) M&P 9 FS, no TS, DCAEK trigger, HD sights. 8 inch group, as well centered as an 8 inch group can be, repeated twice. At that point, I started doubting my trigger control this morning, and shot a Glock 19 with HD sights I had with me. Shot two sub 3 inch groups with the 19 and HD sights. Followed up with old M&P 9 and shot two sub 3.5 inch groups.

2) M&P 9 FS, TS, stock sights and trigger. Both groups were 3.5 inches or better.

3) M&P 9 FS, TS, stock sights and trigger. Both groups were 3.5 inches or better.

4) M&P Pro. Both groups were larger than 6 inches.

5) M&P Pro. Both groups were 3.5 inches or better.

6) M&P 9 C, TS, stock sights and trigger. Group was 6 inches or larger. Elevation was good, dispersion was all in windage. Took another 9C upper I had, put it on the lower, and shot two groups 3.5 inches or smaller.

7) M&P 9 FS, no TS. Both groups were about six inches.

For control, I shot some other pistols and to verify some sights. G17 w/RMR 5 shot group well inside two inch PT dot. M&P 45 mid-size w/RMR, 230 HST, group right around 2.5 inches. G34 FO sights, 2 inch group. G26 group smaller than 3.5 inches.

Amazingly, the G26 with HD sights shot as well as the best new M&P pistol. While undoubtedly, my sitting groups were larger than shot from a bench, 4 out of 7 new M&P 9mm pistols were flat out unusable by my accuracy standards. Not sure what S&W will do when I box the four pistols up and send them back, but they need to be a lot more accurate or go away.