[Steelshooter]

I'm thrilled with my full size .40 M&P. More impressed with it out of the box than any pistol I can remember in a long time. But I have been waiting on a .45 because it seemed like everyone I looked at had uneven and spotty finishes and terrible triggers, extractors sticking way out, large and ugly seams on mags. Which I have been vocal about. Anyway, just lately I'm seeing some pretty nice .45's with good finishes and trigger. We had a Crossroads of the West gun show here in Phoenix last weekend and I picked up a .45 M&P for $525 cash. Cleaned and lubed it well and will put at least a couple hundred rounds through it this weekend. Would have done it sooner but I'm out of the country until late tomorrow night. I think it took awhile for some of the local gun shops to turn over stock because people were reluctant to buy the .45s with obviously poor finishes. Anyway, anyone else notice the same thing? Better finishes and triggers?

 

[josh]

On all the M&P45's I've come across they've had good solid finishes. Triggers? Like trying to snap a steel rebar in half with your index finger. Mine was so hard to pull the gun would shake right before going off - causing my aim to be screwed up.



I put about 60rds through mine before I sent it to Mr. Burwell for a complete makeover. It was going to him anyways as all my M&P's have, and will, so I would've bought the ugliest one made if I had to. Bought mine sight unseen from Budsgunshop, though, as I do all my guns nowadays. I suggest anyone with an M&P to send it to Dan, or David, or another vendor on here. They can do wonders for the finish, triggers, etc.



I haven't been to a gunstore in months, and don't plan on going to one ever again so I won't get to see that many more runs of M&P's coming through the dealers. Online is much cheaper with 10x's less BS.

 

[thedude]

The only bad part of the finish on mine is the extractor, but I don't really care. The gun runs flawlessly and I don't care that it's not pretty. My trigger was a little bit stiff but after dry firing and running rounds through it it's getting better.

 

[Steelshooter]

I'm not concerned about pretty but I do expect an even and fully applied finish. The finish does serve a purpose after all. Of the .45's I saw seemed to have little to no finish on the extractor as will as uneven finishes in general. It was enough to make me wonder what else was missed. I agree with Josh on the triggers, I could see the barrel move to the right as I pulled through. The .45 I ended up buying is much better in both respects. Anyway I get back late tonight and am looking forward to putting a whole lot of rounds through it tomorrow.

 

[Steelshooter]

 

[bam-bam]

That looks much better than mine. I have one of those early crappy extractors.

 

[Grimwulff]

Yours is MPR8xxx?



Mine are MPR8xxx and MPR9xxx... the 9xxx is the broken one, and the 8xxx is the working one... both look a LOT worse then that... + they both have the problem with extra metal on the rear sight. Since I don't want to be left without a CCW that is easy to carry, i'm not going to worry about the rear sight on the working one.

 

[Steelshooter]

Yes, mine is MPR84XX. I'm shooting it for the first time tomorrow as I've been out of the country all week. I'll post a range report as I did with my M&P .40. I expect I'll put a couple hundred rounds though it. This one feels even better in my hand than the .40. The medium grips is fine whereas on the full size I'm using the large grip.

 

[snscott]

Last weekend at a gunshow in Fort Worth,TX , the three MP45's I saw still had pretty crappy finishes. However, at the Mesquite,TX gun show this weekend I found three MP45's, two of which had perfectly normal finishes, including the extractors. If I had not already had my sights and heart set on a Para Ordnance "NRA Gun Rights" 1911, I probably would have bought one those two that looked good.



So, finishes are improving. The one serial number I thought to look at was a MPS### series.

 

[Steelshooter]

I put 250 round through mine today and it went extremely well. I should be posting my range report sometime today.

 

[MTech]

Last weekend at a gunshow in Fort Worth,TX , the three MP45's I saw still had pretty crappy finishes. However, at the Mesquite,TX gun show this weekend I found three MP45's, two of which had perfectly normal finishes, including the extractors. If I had not already had my sights and heart set on a Para Ordnance "NRA Gun Rights" 1911, I probably would have bought one those two that looked good.



So, finishes are improving. The one serial number I thought to look at was a MPS### series.

you could always get the M&P and make a donation yourself..after all the M&P is several hundred less and Para only gives them $25... so you could donate more!

 

[snscott]

you could always get the M&P and make a donation yourself..after all the M&P is several hundred less and Para only gives them $25... so you could donate more!

Actually, the Para GR 1911 was only $669 (which is cheaper than advertised at Bud's), so it was less than a couple of hunded more than the MP45's at the same show. I've been wanting an all-stainless 1911 from one of the "big" 1911 makers and so this just seemed like a perfect match. All stainless steel and fiber front sight with interchangeable fiber tubes in green or red.



But really, my point was that the finishes appear to be getting significantly better on the MP45's, which is very good news.

 

[Steelshooter]

I came across this review of the Gun Rights 1911;

http://ezine.m1911.org/contents.htm

 

[Steelshooter]

And another review from handguns magazine.

http://www.handgunsmag.com/featured_handguns/para_090607/