I just traded in my M&P9c for a full sized one.
I am trying to get this ready for serious use and curious as to any things I should look at doing to it?
I am talking along the lines of properly staking the gas key for the AR platform.
Any and all help is always welcome.
Verify the sights are centered in the dovetail. Many are askew from the factory.
Check the striker.
If it’s black I’d order a new one from Midway or Brownells.The jury may still out on the new ones…But they certainly appear to be more stout.
…Or possibly wait on the new Apex striker.
That’s the one item I’d personally be concerned with.
Hoping to get to the range next week to put some rounds through her and will certainly do that.
I am thinking of doing the Apex upgrade for the sear etc. Is that something worthwhile or don’t fix what aint broken?
And whats up with the old strikers?
I can’t speak for the Apex upgrade, not having been there done that myself.
But regarding the striker… they have a tendency to break under heavy dry fire. Using snap caps by and large mitigates the problem, however.
I am thinking of doing the Apex upgrade for the sear etc. Is that something worthwhile or don’t fix what aint broken?
And whats up with the old strikers?
They’re getting rave reviews from what I’ve seen.
I tried the sear alone and took it out.It erased what little felt reset there was to begin with and it was a little light for my taste.It did feel nice though.I’m thinking of giving the whole carry/duty kit a try now that it’s available(I tried the sear when it was first released on its own).
Well,I haven’t broken a striker.I had about 1000 rounds on one(maybe another 1000 dry fires with a snap cap)…About 4000 rounds on another(+alot of dry fire with and without a snap cap).
But I’ve seen enough of other peoples broken strikers that I considered it PM to recently change them out and keep the old as spares.
Mines been “bullet proof” from day one and i shot it for about 2K rounds before I did anything to it. Since then I
Did the Apex Sear and Stryker Stop. Just doing the sear alone make the trigger feel funny as you really notice the “squareness” of the stryker stop.
I did a 10-8 Rear serr. big U notch on both of mine as it allows for 1 handed failure drills due to the shape
I did a Dawson Fiber on the front in the small dot in Green since if it breaks I still have a black target style sight.
Lots of “grip tape” on the front of the slide for press checks and right in front of the rear sight to aid in charging. Summers are very hot and sweaty here in FL
Had the inset of the front grip and the small backstrap stippled along with having the bottom of the trigger guard smoothed to stop the wear and tear on my fingers.
Did a 4.95 Stormlake TB for my SWR Trident and waiting on a lighter recoil spring to help it cycle with the can.
Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot 
Get a good set of sights on there & shoot it. I have an Apex sear in mine & while it functions it feels kind of vague. I got to run a few rounds through Haley’s M&P w/ the S&W PC sear & liked it better but those things are not available as a stand alone item from S&W. It felt more “solid” when the takeup was done if that makes sense. It’s not bothering me enough to take it out but I’d call it different than stock, not necessarily better or worse.
I’ve had my FS 9mm for 10 days and i’ve already had it to Apex Tactical and back for the;
DCAEK: This upgrade is fantastic and turns the creepy trigger with a faint reset into a smooth one with less overtravel and a noticeable reset (Not Glock noticeable but much better than the factory).
Fail Resistant Extractor: This billet extractor is a monster and will probably outlast the gun.
Install and sight in my Heinie Ledge sights.
Fantastic Customer Service to go with outstanding parts will make me a repeat customer for my next M&P 
You should get the USB and Duty spring to go with it…
IMO, the Apex trigger kit and a good set of sights are a must. The factory Novak sights are not setup for one-handed gun work. My personal preference is the Bowie Tactical/Ameriglo Operators.
Also check your striker as everyone else mentioned.
Stippling the grip and rounding the trigger guard makes the M&P handle much better, but isn’t really a necessity and is a matter of personal preference.
All of my M&P’s have the silver striker. If they didn’t come with it, they were replaced with it.
By next week all of my M&P’s will have the Apex sear and striker block. This is an amazing upgrade for a reasonable cost.
On my non-Pro series and non-night sight guns I replace the rear sight with a 10-8.
Should I go for some Night Sights?
Again, I’m pretty new about this and would appreciate some suggestions. Was thinking of Warren sights. Should I get the set or just the front one?
You definitely cant go wrong with a pair of warrens. Me personally I cannot stand the factory sights, my eyes tend to focus on the big rear dots rather than the inside edges of the rear sights.
Here’s when i got it back from Apex:
Heinie Ledge sights w/ tritium front
Apex’s extractor upgrade
Polished feed ramp
Internals (No that’s not jizz)
Thanks for the replies, def. making a list of what to do.
Now, a question I have is about holsters. I am thinking of putting a light on the pistol. The question I have is can I grab the holster with the model light I’m getting and then add the light or will the fit of the gun be to loose and such?
All the holsters I have that are designed for lights especially my RC ones will not hold the gun secure without the light attached so you will need one with and one without.
First congrats on the new M&P! However I’m disappointed that you didn’t post any pictures. We love pictures.
G34 - Looks nice dude, real nice!
Clean it
Oil it
Shoot it
I have never shoot a gun with an Apex sear, so I can not comment. The reset is not as pronounced as my Glock 9mm’s. But I have spent enough time training and shooting the M&P that I am used to the factory sear, so I guess I am not trying to fix something that, for me, is not broken.
I have been carrying an issued M&P9 for over 4 years. This gun has around 10K through it. Nothing broken yet. My personally owned M&P9c has about 5K through it, still going strong.
We have around 1,150 M&P’s in the field. Extractors are not an issue (unlike the 5906/5946’s we replaced!). We encourage dry firing as part of regular training. So far to date we have replaced a total of one broken striker.
There was an issue with a few guns in which the sights would drift. Mark the dovetail of your gun with a pencil prior to shooting. look afterwards to see if there was any movement.
The only thing I am disappointed with the M&P is the texturing on the frame. It’s lame. I stippled the removable back strap, which helps. But I wish they would have made the texturing on the front of the grip more aggressive.
Just for you…
In the box when I got home (literally stepped in the door and snapped it)
My new baby girl in my hand…
I’ll update this thread next week when I hit the range.