[Jim Watson]

Front Sight - the USPSA publication - said S&W told them there would be a 5" adjustable sighted 9mm M&P meant for IPSC/USPSA Production Division. Ought to do fine in IDPA SSP, too.



I have never read about it anywhere else.

Is there anything known or reasonably suspected?



I guess the regular 4.25" bought without magazine disconnect and with trigger job and fibre optic sights added would do pretty well, but a purpose built gun would be nice.

 

[matt7184]

I have heard about it previously as well, but nothing recently. Im thinking we wont see one until after the compact, .45, and manual safety guns come out.

 

[raz-0]

yes there is supposed to be a 5" gun made. I suspect much like the 5" XD, the longer gun won't necessarily be better. I think it will have similar issues with added muzzle weight. Just not as severe.



Haven't seen any race holsters, so for IPSC production, it's kydex, and given that, shorter is better for the draw. For USPSA production, no race holsters period. So once again I'd say I don't want to clear an extra inch of muzzle.

 

[mcone]

yes there is supposed to be a 5" gun made. I suspect much like the 5" XD, the longer gun won't necessarily be better. I think it will have similar issues with added muzzle weight. Just not as severe.

Right - considering the M&P is already 1/2" longer than the XD Service, adding an extra half inch shouldn't be as much of difference. The change between the XD Service and the Tactical is a full inch.



-Mike

 

[raz-0]

Right - considering the M&P is already 1/2" longer than the XD Service, adding an extra half inch shouldn't be as much of difference. The change between the XD Service and the Tactical is a full inch.



-Mike

Actually the M&P barrel is 4.25" so that'd be 3/4" difference. Mostly i think it will be less severe because the front of the M&P slide is less beefy than the XD and the bore axis is lower.



We shall see.

 

[mcone]

You're right. Sorry about the wrong number.



XD Service:

Barrel Length: 4.05"

Overall Length: 7.2"

Site Radius: 6.05"



M&P:

Barrel Length: 4.25"

Overall Length: 7.5"

Site Radius: 6.4"



-Mike

 

[Jim Watson]

I yearn for the day when the time it takes me to get an extra 3/4" out of the holster makes a difference in my standings.

In the meanwhile I'd rather have the sight radius and muzzle weight.

 

[raz-0]

I yearn for the day when the time it takes me to get an extra 3/4" out of the holster makes a difference in my standings.

In the meanwhile I'd rather have the sight radius and muzzle weight.

That's not the issue. If you shoot a 4" XD and a 5" xd side by side, you realize that the slide is REALLY beefy on the 5" and a lot of that mass is up front and half of it is above the bore. It makes the gun feel REALLY flippy compared to a 4". It has nothing to do with the speed of the draw, but the extra time spent getting a good sight picture after every single shot.



a couple tenths on a draw is nothing. Adding a tenth to every split at a match makes a difference even to a B shooter.



The G34/G35 have a bit of that going on, but they have a nice low bore axis, a slide not nearly as beefy as the XD, and they cut a hughe chunk of the slide out of the top.



The M&P is somewhere between the glock and XD for weight of the slide. Given the performance of other similar extended barrel models of polymer guns, I wouldn't hold my breath for that extra inch of barrel.



The adjustable sights are the more desirable feature IMO.

 

[Jimbo]

With it's tall bore axis, both the 4" and 5" XD feel like a flopping wet noodle when shooting them.

The M&P feel's natural. Like a 1911.

I will not run out and buy a 5" version. The little bit of extra length, does not interest me. But then when I owned Glocks, I always prefered the G17 over the G34.

Adjustable sight's are not a feature I want, on a semi-auto pistol.

 

[Jim Watson]

I don't have an XD, I don't want an XD, I'm not going to buy an XD.



I think the 5" M&P Prod will offer advantages to me.

I am old fashioned (or just plain old) enough to see an advantage in 3/4" more sight radius, a couple ounces more out front, and sights I can make shoot where they look. I will hold my breath until I can at least see a 5" even though I might end up with the short gun.



No need to rush, this year's entertainment budget has already gone to put a P226 through the shop for trigger and sights. So tell me about a tall gun, eh?