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.
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.
M&P 9 FS, TS, stock sights and trigger. Both groups were 3.5 inches or better.
M&P 9 FS, TS, stock sights and trigger. Both groups were 3.5 inches or better.
M&P Pro. Both groups were larger than 6 inches.
M&P Pro. Both groups were 3.5 inches or better.
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.
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.
I have become much more fond of my 45 Midsize and Compact over my 9MM Fullsize and Compact due to their accuracy.
After taking all four to the range today and yesterday, I may pick up a H&K P30 9MM to tide me over until the Bar-Sto barrels are ready.
That, or, just shoot the 45s for awhile.
I knew prior to purchasing my M&Ps that by not waiting until Smith gets the bugs out of these guns, I would have to pony-up a bunch of extra cash to get them the way that I want them. I’m guess 1911s have made me immune to crying about dumping money into guns…
This whole phenomenon has really bugged me lately. I sold off most of my random handguns with the goal of standardizing on one 9mm platform.
It came down between S&W M&P, Glock 3rd Gen, and Hk’s P30 line. After owning and shooting all of these at one point or another…I decided the M&P would suite me best because of it’s features and low cost.
Well now it looks like the M&P’s will end up costing the same as the damn Hk’s. Looks like it’s gonna be between the Hk and Glock again.
I’m in the same boat as you except that I plan to keep some .45s.
I was avoiding the high cost of H&Ks plus their magazines by going with the M&Ps but it is a wash now. The good thing is that the Bar-Sto barrel should make the M&P 9MM a great gun and I know that H&Ks work well for me. It’s long road, isn’t it?
Yeah, it’s proving to be a difficult decision! Over the Hk, I like that the M&P has the Crimson Trace laser grip option, better parts availability, threaded barrel options, and a sub-compact version that can use the same holster as the full-size.
I could just take the chance with S&W, and if it shoots well, then awesome…and if it doesn’t, I could get the Apex barrel and get great accuracy…but the whole thing is just leaving a bad taste in my mouth and makes me concerned about Smith & Wesson’s quality control in general. I feel like I would have trouble trusting the gun over the long haul.
The same thing kinda goes for Glock at the moment…even though I would get a Gen 3 over the Gen 4…I’m a bit put-off by their recent ability to take one of the most highly trusted designs in the handgun world and make it suck ass.
I realize nothing man-made is infallible, and every manufacturer slips up and lets some turds fly…but I won’t purchase their stuff if they don’t seem to care about cleaning up their mess.
As you’re sending four guns back to Smith & Wesson, I’d be very interested in what becomes of this. Especially if they do any work to the guns and you repeat the same test with the same guns after they are returned.
Please keep us updated on the results of your four guns.
GJM, thank you very much for posting this information. I look forward to your results with other ammunition and most of all, the results after S&W returns the pistols to you.
I really hope the 4 pistols are returned to you with acceptable accuracy. I’ve been planning to standardize on one 9mm platform for a while and want it to be the M&P. The results of S&W’s warranty work here will greatly influence my decision.
I decided to try to troubleshoot three of the M&P pistols that were not shooting yesterday, and in response to several suggestions, wanted to test them with different ammo. I picked Federal HST 124 +P and Federal AE 147 grain ball as the additional loads, since they seemed to span the range of 9mm loadings.
M&P Pro, (was shooting 6-8 inches yesterday with WWB). First shot the AE 147 and got a nice 3.5 inch, or smaller, group. Repeated with the 124 +P HST and got an equally nice group. Repeated with WWB, to make sure it wasn’t me, and got an 8 inch group.
M&P 9 FS, no TS (was shooting 8 inches yesterday with WWB). Neither the 147 AE or HST shot much better than the WWB.
M&P 9, no TS with HD sights and DCAEK (was shooting 8 inches yesterday). The HST shot closer to 5 inches, and the AE ball was just as bad as the WWB. I then grabbed a barrel out of a full size 9 that was shooting about 3.5 inches or better yesterday, and repeated the tests. The pistol still shot lousy, even with the “good” barrel.
" I then grabbed a barrel out of a full size 9 that was shooting about 3.5 inches or better yesterday, and repeated the tests. The pistol still shot lousy, even with the “good” barrel. "
I guess I got lucky with mine. I can shoot silver dollar groups at 15 yards all day. I did have to send the thing back when I first got it because the front sights were overmilled and they drifted when firing.
My bodyguard 380 is at s&w for the third time rigjt now for consistant light strikes. I have asked for a refund or replacement.
I won’t be buying smiths anymore since everything I buy has to go back…
