Ok so I fired both of these at the range a few weeks ago and was blown away at how much better these were than my XD 9mm. This weapon fits so beautifully in my hand and is really accurate in both 9 and .40 that I just can’t decide which to buy! Although I will say that when I bump up the bullet size on the .40 to 180gr my groups where not as tight and the time between shots was longer (but that is to be expected I would think). The planned uses for this pistol:
HD - I will be getting a light and it will be in the holster on the side of my bed for when things go bump in the night.
Range - target practice
I would like to get into shooting matches (IDPA and such) and take a few classes (wife permitting)
It would be my carry weapon if Illinois wasn’t so freakin stupid!!
Also from what I have read Safariland and Raven are the way to go for holsters?? Which would be best to use for competitions?
I am sitting in the same boat as you are my friend. I also just shot the m&p 2 weekends ago to test out how I liked it. I am going back Monday to rent and shoot it again. What light are you thinking? Raven is a great company for carry holsters. I had one for my g19 which I just sold the other day since I don’t have a Glock anymore. But my next purchase will involve a raven holster also.
Basically this. If you’re doing better with the 9mm and you already stock the caliber…why not keep your ammo needs consistent?
If I remember right, unless you have a need to be shooting through windshields, car bodies, or similarly difficult barriers, .40 S&W really offers almost no advantage over 9mm.
That assumes quality JHP ammo, of course (for example, the loads listed in DocGKR’s excellent recommendation thread)
are there any downsides to this? i’ve been wanting to sell one of my .40’s and just buy a 9mm for comp and cheaper ammo mainly. and even when i DID get the 9mm i was going to get an threaded barrel for a suppressor so this kills two birds with one stone?
if there are no reliability issues and i can just use 9mm mags/ammo than i will just go this route. or does a barrel change basically do all the work? i can imagine i would need to change the spring as well?
Possible FTE issues
Possible barrel lockup issues
Possible feed issues
Need new magazines
Extractor was designed for .40 S&W and may not like 9mm
No recoil spring change is required in the M&P. The stock RSA spring weight is 16 lbs. for both the 9mm and .40 S&W.
You may get one that works well, the above downsides are only possibilities, and fairly remote ones. You pays your monies and you takes your chances.
You might be better served buying reloading equipment though. A lightly loaded .40 S&W with 180 gr. bullets and a fast burning powder is the heat in competition, and one gun can shoot multiple divisions simply by changing your load. Reloading will save you more than just a switch to factory 9mm also.
If your going to shoot alot of competition with it and can ONLY buy one gun I’d go with the. 40. Knocking down steel with 9mm can be tedious at times. A 9mm conversion would be cool but with just one gun and it being used for competition, range time, & SD AND swapping out barrels between applications equals alot of rezeroing. The issue you have with shooting a .40 as far as groups go (assuming quality ammo was used) will be cleaned up w/trigger time & instruction.
The group size difference was from switching from 165gr to 180gr with the .40. I was just as accurate with the 165gr as I was with the 9mm. I kept the target for comparison I will take a picture of them tomorrow and post it so you can see what I mean.
As for the barrel conversion… Those things have always made me a little nervous. I don’t want to jack up my gun shooting it an unintended way. I know a few guys that had .22 conversions for 1911’s and m4s only to have it effect the weapon when they tried to use it in the normal configuration.
First 2 are the .40 last one was the 9mm(although I am sure you all could have figured that out on your own). These were shot from various distances of 20’ - 35’. Funny thing is all of these are better shot groups than what I get with either my XD9 or my bro-in-laws Glock 22
Looks like you shot best with the 165gr .40 load. I have the M&P .40 in medium and compact models and I love them. Both are very accurate, reliable, easy recoiling pistols with 180gr ammo which is a plentious and popular load for the .40 caliber. I dumped all my 9mm pistols and switched to .40 caliber. I like it better than 9mm, for personal reasons though.
I have the M&P45, 40, 9 (X2), & 9c. I thoroughly enjoy shooting all of them, but in today’s economy and shooting thousands of rounds a year like I do, the M&P9 is the ticket. Since I train a lot, I have two of the 9s, one strictly for training with about 15K+ rounds on, and one for the girlfriend or as a spare. The 40 & 45 get a few mags at each range session, but that’s it these days. If you have the means, get both, otherwise, get the 9mm. Like others have stated, it’s cheaper to operate.
I just ran into a friend of mine and it turns out he owns an m&p with an apex kit. Says it is simply to die for. And grant offers that package I believe.
i think i’m going to go ahead and get a 9mm and unload one of my .40’s
if anyone wants to buy my .40 w/ literally 50 rounds through it pm me… it has the thumb safety option . i’ll post an official “for sale” thread soon in the classifieds (haven’t reached the minimum post limit yet) but i plan on being alot more active on the forum now that i’m getting back into shooting alot again)
I also was interested in the reliability/accuracy of switching my barrels from .40 to 9mm but my gunsmith (who smiths for my dept. of 1600 LEO’s) assured me that the .40 can switch from .40 to 9mm barrels with no other modification without ill effects to the gun.
I purchased a “factory” S&W 9mm barrel and it seems to work fine through several hundred rounds thus far. No problems at this time, best of both worlds. Good Luck.
For practice I have 9mm conversion barrels for my 40 Glocks (22s & 27s) as well as my 40 M&Ps (4.25 " barrel & compact). They work fine for practice and cut down ammo costs. I would not use them for cc or duty. You do have to use 9mm magazines with them. The barrel and magazines are all you need for the conversion.
I have a 9mm 1911 for practice.
I do practice with my guns using 40 (S&W M&Ps and Glocks) and .45 (1911s) but get much more practice in, due to ammo costs, with the 9mms.
. i’ll post an official “for sale” thread soon in the classifieds (haven’t reached the minimum post limit yet) but i plan on being alot more active on the forum now that i’m getting back into shooting alot again)