I took delivery of my new M&P 9 full size last week. Initial inspection of the pistol showed nothing amiss. The trigger (for a polymer pistol) broke crisply, but was gritty. I ordered this pistol with standard sights because I intend to replace them with Heinies. I cleaned off the factory preservatives and gunk, and lubed it up proper with Slip 2000.
I made it to the range this past Friday with 200 rounds of ammo (Winchester Ranger 124 grain FMJ and Bonded 147 grain HP; and Federal Hydra Shok 147). I experienced no erratic ejection, no malfunctions; and by the end of the session the gritty feeling in the trigger was gone.
Accuracy was decent. All shooting was done off-hand This pistol has the barrel with one dimple on the bottom side, for whatever that means in regard to upgrades or design changes.
The sights could probably stand to be adjusted as I was shooting slightly to the left at 15 and 25 yards, but I was also jerking the trigger more than I should have. Also, having Heinie sights on all my other semis, I found the three-dots to be a bit of a distraction. Still, I think the 25 yard group was decent; and the seven yard groups were pretty tight as long as I wasn’t jerking.
Overall, I’m not disappointed. This is my second M&P. I have owned and carried a 45 full size since 2009.
What was the production date on your m&p? They just released a newer version with a faster twist barrel and updated sear. The updated sear has completely transformed the trigger!
What are the production dates/serial numbers for the models with the new sear? Have you fired one of these and if so how do you feel that it compares to the apex kit?
I was with a friend yesterday who bought a mid-June 2013 production M&P 9 FS. It still had a very gritty trigger out of the box. The barrel also had only one dot on the underside as opposed to the two dots on the improved production models (Modern Service Weapons covered this a few weeks ago). It still seems like a crap shoot when you by an M&P. Another friend bought an M&P 40c a couple weeks ago. It came standard with gritty trigger and a two dot barrel.
I didn’t check lock up in the 9 but I did check the 40 a little and it seems reasonable.
Mine is a 12/30/2012 and has one dot under the barrel. 1:10 twist and the trigger was smooth out of the box. Even had the new slide stop which helped improve the reset.
It’s so strange for such a variation to be in the market place for the same item made at the same place. I want to like to M&P 9 so much but the inconsistency is amazing.
Mine has a test fire date of 4-18-13. It has the new sear and two dots on the barrel as well as the thicker roll pin through the extractor. The trigger on mine had a gritty take up then broke pretty nice. I polished up the firing pin block engagement hump on the trigger bar and now its a pretty nice trigger.
I don’t know what the build date was, but it was test fired June 24, 2013. Even if it was manufactured after the newer barrel upgrades, I would imagine sometimes the factories use up existing stocks before the new parts go in - unless there was a major problem.
I will work on switching out the sights as soon as I can, and them make sure they’re dialed in a little better. I will also test it and probably qualify on an outdoor range, and I think I shoot better outdoors. In the meantime I’ve got.to work on that trigger jerk issue.
Well I just looked at an M&P9 4.25"bbl at the LGS. It had a test fire date of 6/24/2013, but still had only a single bbl dot and gritty trigger too. Still had the flat (with 90 degree “corners”) striker block too.
Questions:
Why the “squared” striker blocks? I read a while back that S&W had switched to the rounded/domed striker blocks (like the Apex USB’s) long ago, but this clearly isn’t the case. This would solve the gritty trigger for the most part.
Does anyone know if the M&P45’s, with 4" bbl, are going to also get new bbl twist rates, or does this only apply to the 9mm guns?
I’m pretty sure the revamps were not for the M&P 45’s just the 9’s and 40s. The 45’s dont need any barrel change IMHO, they are well known for shooting fantastic outside the box and out of the glock, HK and M&P I’d say the M&P wins the stock accuracy war.
Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. “1 bbl dot and 1:10 twist”??? I thought this was contrary to what Hilton Yam and everyone else is saying? I thought TWO bbl dots denoted the new 1:10 bbl twist rate???
Barrel types previous to the 1:10 barrels have NO dimples at all on the underside.
AKA, the ones with dimples are the “…apparent third generation of barrels…” described in the linked article I fed (BY Hilton Yam) in post #6, in response to your question in post #5.
The time-frame of their appearance has been mentioned in other, existing M&P threads, since the end of 2012.
I’ll snap a pic for you later when I can. I have no way of actually measuring the exact twist but lined side-by-side with my glock, it looks identical.
Santoro, thx for clearing that up man. No need for pics, I have seen the bbl dots, but for some reason, I had thought that ONE bbl dot meant old bbl twist rate, and TWO bbl dots meant new bbl twist rate. However, as Santoro pointed out, it’s actually ONE BBL DOT = NEW bbl twist rate, and NO bbl dots = old bbl twist rate. Thx again guys.
P.S. I read that S&W has also gone to some sort of new style trigger bar. Anyone know what this is about? Is this new trigger bar possibly addressing reset, or something else? Just trying to determine if these new M&P’s still need an Apex RAM when new, out of the box or not???
I bought an M&P40 4.25 a couple months ago, and has a 3/13 build date. It has the updated sear and trigger, but I still thought they were crap. I’m used to Glock triggers, and like the crispness of a Glock and the tactile and audible reset. I ponied up for an Apex Polymer FSS kit, and love everything about this gun now. It always was accurate, but with the lighter and shorter trigger, it’s much nicer for run and gun matches. I also added the Taran Tactical Innovations +5 extended baseplates… Money well spent.