I am still confused as to what these “new” base pads are supposed to do, other than help finically support Hilton Yam.
Yes I understand that they may be more durable than the factory base pads. I also understand the cutouts are to assist with clearing a stuck magazine.
In my mind, these are answers to problems that are non-issues.
My agency has had approximately 1,200 of the M&P 9mm’s in the field for going on four years. I personally have around 9K rounds through my issued M&P in various training and practice sessions. (This does not count several thousand rounds through my personally owned M&P’s).
While there have been some minor issues appear, breaking base pads is not one of them. Magazine base plates, on very rare occasions, can come off, if the detent pin is not properly seated, and if the magazine hits at a certain angle.
Solution to this is to ensure the detent pin is fully seated, (look in the hole in the bottom of the base plate). I would also offer if you do a magazine change where you discard you empty magazine, while involved in a gun fight, do you really care about that magazine?
My issued magazines have base pads that have the edges very scratched up due to all the dropping on concrete during magazine changing drills over the past 4 years. They show no sighs of cracking though. I have never seen, nor has the training staff at our range seen a base plate break due to a magazine hitting the ground.
As to removing stuck magazines, once again, I fail to see the need for the 10-8 base plate. The factory magazine drops free quit well. When experiencing a failure to extract, in which an empty case and a live round want to share the same space, sometimes the magazine will not drop free after locking the slide back. a swipe down the front strap of the pistol, catching that large base plate (that apparently is not in vogue) has always caused the magazine to come out.
If an individual wants to spend $69 plus shipping, have at it. If you like the looks, and can afford the price tag, go for it. But if the argument is going to be made that these baseplates are needed to enhance the survivability of an Officer issued an M&P, well I would have to disagree.
After spending the last 4 years getting to know the M&P 9mm, there are a few minor things I would change (more aggressive stippling on the grip inserts being top of the list), the magazine base plates is not one of them.
