Long time glock fan (first pistol I picked all by myself was a G23 back in 1992), decided to try something new since the Gen5 offered nothing new/old I really wanted.
I liked the M&P 2.0 more than anything else I played with at the NRA show so with the compact out I decided to check them out again.
The compact is not G19 sized exactly, the G19 fits in the S&W holster but the reverse is not true so clearly the glock is dimensionaly smaller, and I felt that if I wanted to carry a G19 sized gun... I would just go with the proven G19. It's less busy than the S&W too, I like the clean look on a carry gun.
Since I might want to run it in a few matches, the larger guns appealed. The extra large M&P only comes in poop brown with an external safety. With my 1911 background the safety wasn't that big of a deal, but no way did I want a huge brown pistol. Not my thing.
So....
I grabbed a few extra mags and a holster and took it to the range. Fired slow fire, ran a few plate racks, and did drills of two shots against IDPA targets from the holster back to back with my trusty G34. It was kinda cool that with the M&P holster on would fit either gun (with the G34 rattling around a little) so I could swap between pistols every few shots and still be able to draw for each string of fire.
Put 200 rounds of the finest 115gr Wolf, Tula and Barnaul steel through it with no issues. It shoots a lot softer than the G34, but the glock has 8k+ rounds on the spring and is due for a change here in the next few thousand. Didn't notice any strange ejection or anything, it threw brass, err steel, just the same as the G34.
The trigger is really nice, not 1911 nice or even Walther nice, but nice. It's better than the stock G34 trigger I run by far, and I'll be leaving it alone. I didn't notice the dingus or whatever people call the pivot in the middle.
The reset is way shorter though, I had a few times on the plate rack where I sent a round between plates because I was too rough on the trigger trying to find the reset takeup like the G34. I guess those are technically ADs since I wasn't expecting the pistol to fire at that time.
The whole grip angle thing doesn't bother me, took nothing to switch back and forth between the G34 and this guy between strings of fire, even when those strings were only 2-3 rounds. I tended to hold the M&P higher because I was trying to make it's front sight seem as large as the Trijicon HD on the G34, but that's not possible since it's about 1/2 the height. When it was visually equal, the gun was aimed way too high. I've got Trijicon HDs on all my other guns basically so a small front sight looks weird to me now.
My thumb hanging on the slide release is always a problem, but not too bad on the M&P because the slide stop is recessed and stiff. I liked the CZ 10 thingy, but the slide release is huge and runs right into my thumb. I don't use the release during reloads very often (prefer overhand) so not being able to activate it with my firing hand is a good thing in my book.
I tried all the grip panels, and kept the medium on there. The small feels too small to me, and the larger ones with the backstraps have that ugly gap between the beavertail and the frame. I found that on the draw I could actually snag the web of my hand on that gap if I wasn't perfectly 'down' on the gun during the draw. That's about the only thing negative I've found so far.
So there you go, long winded way of saying, I like it.
Almost forgot, the mags are already showing signs of wear. I've done a bunch of dry mag change drills at home and the live fire at the range and the finish is already scratching off. Not a big deal, but kinda surprised it happened so quickly on brand new mags.
I liked the M&P 2.0 more than anything else I played with at the NRA show so with the compact out I decided to check them out again.
The compact is not G19 sized exactly, the G19 fits in the S&W holster but the reverse is not true so clearly the glock is dimensionaly smaller, and I felt that if I wanted to carry a G19 sized gun... I would just go with the proven G19. It's less busy than the S&W too, I like the clean look on a carry gun.
Since I might want to run it in a few matches, the larger guns appealed. The extra large M&P only comes in poop brown with an external safety. With my 1911 background the safety wasn't that big of a deal, but no way did I want a huge brown pistol. Not my thing.
So....
I grabbed a few extra mags and a holster and took it to the range. Fired slow fire, ran a few plate racks, and did drills of two shots against IDPA targets from the holster back to back with my trusty G34. It was kinda cool that with the M&P holster on would fit either gun (with the G34 rattling around a little) so I could swap between pistols every few shots and still be able to draw for each string of fire.
Put 200 rounds of the finest 115gr Wolf, Tula and Barnaul steel through it with no issues. It shoots a lot softer than the G34, but the glock has 8k+ rounds on the spring and is due for a change here in the next few thousand. Didn't notice any strange ejection or anything, it threw brass, err steel, just the same as the G34.
The trigger is really nice, not 1911 nice or even Walther nice, but nice. It's better than the stock G34 trigger I run by far, and I'll be leaving it alone. I didn't notice the dingus or whatever people call the pivot in the middle.
The reset is way shorter though, I had a few times on the plate rack where I sent a round between plates because I was too rough on the trigger trying to find the reset takeup like the G34. I guess those are technically ADs since I wasn't expecting the pistol to fire at that time.
The whole grip angle thing doesn't bother me, took nothing to switch back and forth between the G34 and this guy between strings of fire, even when those strings were only 2-3 rounds. I tended to hold the M&P higher because I was trying to make it's front sight seem as large as the Trijicon HD on the G34, but that's not possible since it's about 1/2 the height. When it was visually equal, the gun was aimed way too high. I've got Trijicon HDs on all my other guns basically so a small front sight looks weird to me now.
My thumb hanging on the slide release is always a problem, but not too bad on the M&P because the slide stop is recessed and stiff. I liked the CZ 10 thingy, but the slide release is huge and runs right into my thumb. I don't use the release during reloads very often (prefer overhand) so not being able to activate it with my firing hand is a good thing in my book.
I tried all the grip panels, and kept the medium on there. The small feels too small to me, and the larger ones with the backstraps have that ugly gap between the beavertail and the frame. I found that on the draw I could actually snag the web of my hand on that gap if I wasn't perfectly 'down' on the gun during the draw. That's about the only thing negative I've found so far.
So there you go, long winded way of saying, I like it.
Almost forgot, the mags are already showing signs of wear. I've done a bunch of dry mag change drills at home and the live fire at the range and the finish is already scratching off. Not a big deal, but kinda surprised it happened so quickly on brand new mags.
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