M&P 9mm compact report

Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm compact range report







I was able to make it out to the range this afternoon for a shooting session. I had on hand the 9 compact and 350 rounds of mixed Blazer and WWB from Wal-Mart. I also had some Speer Gold Dots 124gr., Remington Golden Sabre's 124 and 147 grain, and some Winchester SXT 127gr. +P+.



First of all let me say that there were no failures of any kind period. I tried everything, upside down pulling trigger with my pinky, loose grip limp wristing, shot several mags as fast as I could pull the trigger, loaded the mags to capacity, chambered a round then topped of the mag for a full 12 plus 1. Shot several mags worth from the fullsize M&P. Loaded up a mag with all sorts of different rounds that I had on hand and nothing happened but bang bang bang.



The gun shot EXACTLY to point of aim. I must say that I was a little hesitant to pay the premium for the night sights (its like 100+ dollars when I am used to paying $65 for meps on my glocks) but they are really nice sights. The dots are very crisp in the dark, and at the same time make really good daytime sights thanks to the bright white ring around the tritium inserts.



I shot for accuracy at 7 yards and was able to keep mag after mag in a quarter sized hole. Even rapid fire, groups were baseball sized. Speaking of accuracy, I tried all three grip inserts and was most accurate (better trigger control) with the large insert. I have the medium one on my fullsize so don't assume that you will shoot best with what is on your full-size, give them all a try.



Now for the best part in my opinion and what really sets this gun apart from the other striker fired offerings is the feel of the gun when firing. Recoil is so very manageable in the 9mm and I attribute this to the solid feel you get from the grip. It is a straight back push with virtually no muzzle rise thanks to the low bore axis. I grip the gun with both thumbs pointing at the target and apply most of my grip pressure with my support hand. Doing this I never lost a sight picture. I expect the .40 and .45 (someday) versions to be very easy to shoot.



I can't really say enough good things about this gun. Like my full-size I think they are the best striker fired guns on the market right now. Obviously they are brand new and have no track record for reliability and durability compared to Glock, but there is no doubt that if I was a competitor I would be taking a long hard look at how I could improve my product.



Now for some random comments and observations:



1. The end of the guide rod on my compact is hex shaped like a bolt. My full-size is round.



2. The followers for the compact are light grey in color and have a slightly different profile to them, although the full-size mags ran fine in the compact gun.



3. The only rounds that I chronographed were 5 rounds of the Winchester SXT 127gr. +P+ and the average was 1253 fps. That is almost identical to the Glock 26 which was an even 1250 last time I did the same with it.



4. After field stripping and cleaning the gun, I inspected it for abnormal wear and found none.



5. No pins moved from the 375 plus rounds that I fired.



6. There is a noticeable difference in the trigger pull now. I would say it is somewhat lighter and much smoother.



7. The magazines easily took the advertised 12 rounds.



8. I was not crazy about the flush mag just because it feels weird to me to have my pinky hanging, however it did not affect accuracy or shootabilty.



9. Trigger feels identical to my full-size.



10. The compact will not accept the Surefire X200 or the Insight M3 out of the box. Insight does make a mini light that fits the XD, and I would assume it also works on this gun.



11. If anyone is familiar with the "glock bump" the knot you get on the inside of your trigger hand middle finger from shooting compact Glocks.....you will be happy to know that this gun doesn't do it.





I have purchased guns in the past that after shooting at the range I wish I had not. I can say without reservation that I personally made a good purchase for me. The gun has a certain coolness to it and I can't really decide what that is. Perhaps it is a combination of looks, feel, and cutting edge design. Whatever it is, the bar has definitely been raised with regard to striker fired pistols.