Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm Review: Everything You Need To Know

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Take a line of handguns designed for dangerous situations, add a few decades of innovation and a heaping dose of customer feedback and what do you get? Today’s Smith & Wesson M&P 9, and the whole M&P (military & police) lineup.

M&P firearms (especially the handguns) have been Smith’s bread and butter for years, and more recently have taken the lead in innovation and responsiveness to customer and industry demands. Yes, the M&P lineup uses the same operating system as the Glock and other semi-auto 9mm pistols — but that’s a good thing. Striker-fired guns have evolved to be as reliable as any firearm, including revolvers (fight us).

There’s simply no downside to today’s semi-auto pistols, except they won’t help you keep your Boomer Card up to date. Let’s take a gander at the hardest-working pistol lineup made exclusively in the good ol’ US of A.

(Source: https://www.smith-wesson.com/product/m-p-9-m2.0)

Overview: The Smith & Wesson M&P 9

The Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm is a modern, striker-fired, semi-automatic pistol designed primarily for military and police use. It’s got a polymer frame, but the guts of the frame are all steel, which give it strength where it really counts. This design is decades old and has been proven on shady street corners and battlefields alike. The full-size M&P 9 holds 17 in the mag, while smaller versions carry fewer rounds, but are more easily concealed.

A polymer frame carries several advantages over steel: price, weight, shape variety, and adaptability. Plastic is lighter than steel (duh), and doesn’t require expensive CNC equipment to take shape. Injection molding is the way to go for handgun frames, and allows manufacturers to make much more intricate and “shapely” forms than steel does.

Adaptability comes in the form of replaceable backstraps, which are commonplace on most polymer pistols these days. Adjusting the gun’s grip is a boon to all shooters, giving the gun a more tailored and comfortable fit in the hand, which helps with accuracy and recoil control.

Today’s M&P lineup is the latest version of the company’s M&P roster that is pretty well seasoned and as modern as any other company’s offerings in this class. M&Ps started out as a series of revolvers designed for ( you guessed it) military and police forces. Now, the M&P lineup meets the needs of these same end users with a host of variants perfect for concealed carry.

Within the wildly oversaturated striker-fired, polymer-framed semi-automatic 9mm market, M&P guns have enjoyed a great deal of success. Glock still maintains its decades-long stranglehold on this market, but Smith & Wesson has steadily chipped away at the Austrian giant’s business with the ever-evolving M&P lineup that caters more to American shooters.

Smith & Wesson M&P 9 Specs

As we previously mentioned, the M&P 9, and all M&Ps, are striker-fired, semi-automatic pistols that are fed from detachable box magazines. The current crop of M&P guns are the 2.0 version. What’s different on the 2.0 versus older M&Ps? The 2.0 guns have an enhanced trigger (which is pretty dang good), updated slide serrations, enhanced grip texture, different beavertail, new cutouts in the frame’s dustover, along with a few other minor upgrades. It’s still got the same, proven operation, but with a host of tweaks that make it worthy of being called 2.0.

Briefly, “striker-fired” is how the gun goes boom (also called the action). The striker, which is like a firing pin, is held under minimal tension inside the slide, and is connected to the trigger via a series of bars. When the shooter presses the trigger, it loads the striker under building spring tension until the trigger travels far enough that it clears the sear. This releases the striker to whack the primer of the bullet in the chamber.

Striker-fired guns are nothing new, and the first ones (even a few today) had mushy trigger pulls. But over the years triggers (and every other part) have been refined and improved. The reworked trigger is the most noticeable improvement on the 2.0 guns versus the original crop. It’s much crisper, more predictable, and takes less pressure to press through.

There are tons of variants of the 9mm M&P, most varying in barrel length and grip size, but here are the specs on the three most popular.

These three variants are superb specimens of their respective categories (size classes). Smith & Wesson based the specifications of these models on a thorough analysis of the market — and most importantly: on what their customers demanded. The wealth of variants beyond this trio shows that they want to make pistols that shooters love.

What Are the Variants Good For?

With different sizes come different roles. Here’s a brief look at the best uses for each size, from largest to smallest, in order of competence.

• Full Size: Home defense, duty, competition, open carry
• Compact: Concealed carry, home defense
• Subcompact (Shield): Concealed carry

Again, these three aren’t the only M&P variants, but they're certainly the most popular. The array of different sizes means that shooters deal with fewer compromises than in the past. With the M&P 9, you can have your cake and eat it, too.

Shooting the Smith & Wesson M&P 9

Depending on the size of the model you’re shooting, trigger time with the M&P 9 can either be bliss or challenging.

Recoil and Noise

Typically, full-size guns are easier to shoot than compacts and subcompacts. Their larger size soaks up recoil better, and longer barrels are less “blasty” than shorter because more of the gunpowder burns as the bullet screams down the barrel. In other words, it’s not quite as piercingly loud.

At the same time, the recoil impulse will vary on the size of the gun and the load you're shooting. Again, smaller guns shooting more powerful loads will be more of a handful than larger guns.

Trigger Pull

That said, all M&Ps have an excellent trigger. No, they won’t pass muster by those used to shooting custom-tuned 1911s, but all things considered, they’re at the top of the heap for easy, smooth, trigger pulls.

In fact, we may even go as far as to say the M&P is more reliable than the average 1911. We look forward to your hateful emails.

Iron Sights

The iron sights on the M&P are excellent and proven three-dot models. Simply align the front (center) dot in between the two rear dots, cover your target, and pull the trigger. Easy peasy — at least with practice. Most of the M&P line come with optics-ready slides, so you can shake off Boomerism and use a mini red dot sight.

NOTE: In practice, red dots offer faster times on target than aligning dots. Simply raise the gun, find the dot, and squeeze.

Capacity

Most of all M&Ps (save the smallest) carry plenty of ammo in the magazine, so you won’t have to spend half your time at the range reloading. The rule of thumb these days for compact models is 15 rounds, while most full-size guns carry 17 or up to 20. The M&Ps of all sizes check these boxes.

Grip

The grip angle of the M&P 9 is modeled after the 1911, which many people believe points the most naturally. With practice, you can make almost anything work (like the steeper rake of the Glock), but the 1911/M&P is much easier and quicker for beginners to learn.

As we said, all M&Ps come with changeable backstraps (the rear of the grip that fills your palm). Changing the backstrap from smaller to larger means that it’ll “fit” more shooters better and adds a custom touch to the lineup.

(Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/guns/comments/12yb4tx/my_new_smith_wesson_mp_9_20_pistol_performance/)

Pros of the Smith & Wesson M&P 9

The Smith & Wesson M&P 9 delivers in the areas where it matters most for handguns; reliability, ample firepower, and ease of operation. These three combine to make the M&P 9 an effective, easy-shooting gun that won’t leave you hanging in the event you need more than a couple shots.

Here are some more highlights:

• History: With a proven heritage and decades of refinement and innovation, the M&P 9 is a highly vetted platform.
• Tons of variety: From frame colors and sizes, there’s bound to be an M&P that suits your tastes and fits your hand. Swappable backstrap grip panels let you tailor the grip to your hand size and shape.
• Ample aftermarket: There are a handful of companies offering aftermarket goodies for the M&P including triggers, sights, grips, magazine extensions, and holsters.
• Updated base model: Even if you stick with a plain Jane black frame base model, the current M&Ps have enhanced features not found on budget pistols.
• Rock-solid support: Smith & Wesson has been around since 1852 so rest assured, their customer service isn’t going anywhere.
• Peak reliability: If you hear knocks about the M&P, they’re usually about aesthetics or some other subjective complaint. No one can question the reliability of an M&P, which is the most important element of ANY handgun.

Cons of the Smith & Wesson M&P

There’s little to gripe about with these handguns. Sure, everyone has different tastes, but because no gun is perfect, there are two areas worth considering.

• Price: These aren’t budget-grade pistols, but that’s also a good thing because you don’t get crap when you buy an M&P.
• Up-and-coming aftermarket: Yes, aftermarket goodies are also a plus, but the bench for the M&P isn’t as deep as it is for, say, Glock.

Smith & Wesson M&P Alternatives

You won’t find a more crowded segment within guns than that of semi-auto striker-fired 9mms. For the most part they’re all pretty decent. Most are plenty reliable, have comparable magazine capacities, and work the same way. The biggest deviations are in price point and feature set, which are closely related.

However, wild cards in the segment have been some of the cheaper guns that benefit from lower overseas labor costs. Legacy manufacturers like Smith & Wesson are being forced to offer greater value in their guns because of these low-priced, decked-out imports from places like Turkey.

The competition is stacked, but the M&P consistently holds its own, especially with the engineering and innovation Smith & Wesson pack into each new gun. Here are just a few of the competitors:

• Glock 17, 19, 26, 48, 34
• Sig Sauer P320 series
• Ruger Security series
• Canik TP9 series (Turkish budget series)
• FN 509 lineup
• Springfield Armory Hellcat subcompact & Echelon full-size and compacts

Final Thoughts

The whole M&P lineup (including the M&P 9) has something for everyone. Smith & Wesson took the basic design of the most reliable and popular handgun ever (the Glock) and tweaked it to the American shooter’s liking. They added a new grip angle, changeable backstraps, loads of variants, and have kept up with today’s trends by offering enhanced triggers and optics-ready models.

Every M&P is a solid offering from one of the best-known and most highly regarded gun manufacturers around. You get a durable, reliable, blaster backed by excellent customer service and a respectable aftermarket for parts. Plus, every gun is made right here in America, so you’re supporting domestic manufacturing and a freedom-loving company.

That said, no article is going to tell you everything you need to know about a gun before you buy it. Some things you can only learn with experience. If you’re curious about the Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm, see if you can try it out or check it out in your local gun shop.

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