San Antonio Police Converts to M and P Pistols

General Firearms Handguns - Semi Auto
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May 2, 2013 |
San Antonio Police Department Converts to Smith & Wesson® M&P® Pistols

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: SWHC), a leader in firearm manufacturing and design, today announced that it has been awarded a firearms contract from the San Antonio Police Department for duty side arms from the company’s M&P Pistol Series. The San Antonio Police Department has selected the M&P40 as its new service firearm and has begun to convert officers to the new handgun platform.

As one of the state’s largest police forces with over 2,100 sworn officers, San Antonio joins the ranks of agencies that have converted to the Smith & Wesson M&P pistol. The full-department conversion calls for 2,600 M&P40 pistols chambered in .40 S&W to be delivered to the department. The recent order represents Smith & Wesson’s largest contract to date to an agency in the state of Texas.

The M&P40 pistol was selected by the San Antonio Police Department after an extensive testing and evaluation period, which included comparisons with numerous firearms from various competitors. After thoroughly examining each submission, the department chose the Smith & Wesson M&P pistol based on its high level of quality and dependability. Throughout the assessment process, the M&P pistol was commended for its professional-grade features and performance during live-fire exercises.

James Debney, President and CEO of Smith & Wesson, said, “We are honored that our M&P pistols have been selected by the San Antonio Police Department. Our nation’s first responders are extremely important to us, and they have always been so. These men and women work tirelessly and dedicate their lives to helping keep our communities safe and we are proud to support them with firearms designed to meet their high standards for performance and reliability.”

In addition to supplying the department with new duty sidearms, Smith & Wesson will support the agency with a variety of additional services including armorers’ classes and transitional training for officers. The M&P40 pistols supplied to the San Antonio Police Department include standard features such as customizable grip inserts, ambidextrous operating features and the ability to disassemble the firearm without pulling the trigger.

“Smith & Wesson is proud to support the San Antonio Police Department and its long-standing history of dedicated service to the citizens of Texas,” said Mike Brown, Vice President of U.S. Sales for Smith & Wesson. "From its historic roots, which can be traced back to its foundation in the Texas Rangers, to the department’s highly decorated SWAT team, the San Antonio Police Department has amassed a commendable legacy of active service. Smith & Wesson is committed to providing the most reliable and dependable firearms to law enforcement professionals. As an American owned and operated supplier of law enforcement duty pistols, we look forward to a long and prosperous relationship with the San Antonio Police Department.

For more information on the robust line of M&P Pistols, please visit www.smith-wesson.com.

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I am honestly surprised more departments have not went to the M&P line thus far.

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What did they switch from?

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Looks like they are following the example of their sister city, Austin. Austin went to the M&P .40 about 5 years ago and have been using full power 165gr Gold Dots(1150fps). It has been working out very well for them.

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Well, they did better than my local SD who have after a number of secret squirrel meetings decided to the department’s new duty weapon would be stainless sig 220s.

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Glock 22.

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There are to many really good double stack duty guns for a PD to run a single stack pistol.

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I bought one with the Thumb safety over the weekend, was hooked after renting it. Will compliment my 45 M&P’s nicely

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Oh your not kidding. But this is the same department whose road sergeant wont let the road deputies (or any deputy for that matter) carry a BUG because of the possibility of flagging someone who isn’t a bad guy with it when drawing. Pesky unconventional positions and all when your in the fight for your life… :rolleyes:

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I am a glock guy, but the Mp40 fullsize is a great gun. If you’ve got to have a .40 Cal. I think its the way to go. Though the gen 4 glocks are supposedly great guns in 40. For me itd be a glock in 9mm or an M&P in .40.

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The Connecticut State Police just recently switched from Sig P229s to 220s. The stated reason, according to one trooper I spoke with, was compatibility with the SWAT team, which carries 1911s, as well as the increased “stopping power” (his words, not mine). The thing is, they supposedly tested the 220s along side M&P45s, Glock 21s, and a few others, AND of course the P227 was released this year, so for the life of me, I can’t figure out why they chose the 220. The M&Ps or Glocks, I would imagine, would be quite a bit less per unit, they carry more rounds, and they haven’t been plagued with the same problems Sig has over the past few years. If they really wanted to stick with Sig, I can’t figure out why they didn’t just wait a few months for the 227 and take the pistol that carried two more rounds.

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What are you talking about? This is not a SO. It is a PD. Where do deputies come in to play in a PD?? BTW, they have had BUGs for awhile.

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??? Did you see my earlier post? I was referencing the actions of my local Sheriffs office who is in the process of changing duty weapons, not the OPs police department.

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I haven’t handled a P227 yet, but I am worried that they may have pushed the P226 sized grip a little too thin. I have many years of experience using and working on the P229 .40, and the thin alloy part of the grip needs to be of excellent quality aluminum alloy in order to resist stripping out grip screws. We’ve had a lot of newer P229s(2005-2010) strip out frame threads during armorer detail strips. We rarely stripped out threads on pre 2005 P229s. For this reason, along with what appears to be accelerated frame rail wear, I suspect that Sig has been using a cheaper quality aluminum alloy in their modern frames. Sig has often said that the weak point of the design has been grip screws…okay, sure it is if you don’t use quality frame alloy. Now days they slap a flimsy E2 on their guns, and call that problem solved. Many of us still prefer the screw-on grip panels.

Other than the grip, the rest of the P227 appears to have some potential. It makes up for some of the P220s design shortcomings…such as the external extractor, the modern ejector, the controlled fall decocker, the single unit slide release lever, and the modern hammer stop.

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I know plenty of officers in that dept I work with that don’t like them. A lot of QC issues initially…and the disliked trigger.

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Yep, my bother is on APD. You can never please all of your officers. Some want Glocks…H&Ks…Sigs… In fact, prior to the M&P adoption, APD allowed several different makes and calibers that kept more officers happy. However, with a single pistol make and caliber, their overall department shooting scores have improved quite a bit. Shared knowledge and experience with equipment helps everyone.

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I shot my friends M&P 40. It was alright, however, I prefer my Gen 3 G22. Our local police (about 480) have M&P 45’s.

NYH1.

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S&W is still offering the sweet deals to agencies…

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Yep, I know officers and detectives that used Glock 22s before the Chief standardized the M&P. Many people are ok with the current M&P, but the biggest gripe is the trigger. As for back-up guns, they’re still allowed to pick from an approved list, and some of them still go with Glocks.
In my buddy’s academy class of ~60 ppl or so, they had 7 M&Ps that had to go back to S&W for front sights falling off, broken trigger springs, and a broken firing pin. That said, this was a couple years ago when APD just adopted the M&P as the main gun, and at least S&W made it right.

But for the guys that has had their weapon go down like that, the confidence in it is shaky. While the latest guns haven’t had as much issues, I agree that the triggers could be better (ie: Apex).

I for one like the ergonomics on the M&P a lot more so than my own personal Glocks.