Smith & Wesson M&P

Smith & Wesson has obviously spent a lot of time in the design of this new pistol. It points very naturally, a characteristic that became quite obvious during the night-firing drills. And one of the reasons for this is that its grip-to-slide angle closely resembles that of the good 1911 pistol.

During the week, while firing several hundred rounds of Black Hills 9mm ammo, I purposely did not clean the pistol. At all. I mean, I didn't even put oil on the slide. I tried my best to provide the M&P pistol with every opportunity to malfunction. That it did not malfunction a single time is a credit to the serious thought that Smith & Wesson has put into the pistol's design.

The particular M&P carbine that we fired at Gunsite was the M&P15A. This carbine has a flat-topped receiver with an adjustable, folding battle sight on the rear. It features a 16-inch barrel and has a six-position telescoping buttstock. Upper and lower receivers are manufactured from 7075 T6 aluminum, and the barrel is crafted from 4140 steel. The carbine's overall length is 35 inches, and it weighs 6.5 pounds empty.

Shooting the 55-grain .223 Black Hills FMJ load, the M&P carbine did very well. It was a very handy gun for close, fast work, such as two shots in one second from the 25-yard line. But it also performed very well out to 200 yards, the maximum range at which we tested the carbines. Since I shoot from my left shoulder, I found the standard safety abit worrisome to engage; however, Smith & Wesson has designed the carbine so that a left-handed safety can be quickly installed. Even though I chose not to clean the M&P15A carbine, either, it functioned flawlessly throughout the week.

The latest addition to Smith & Wesson's M&P family is the Compact pistol. It will be available in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .357 SIG. The pistol that I examined was in 9mm, and it weighed 21.7 ounces and had a 3.5-inch barrel, a 10-shot magazine, and Novak LoMount Carry sights (tritium inserts are optional). The pistol will be shipped with two magazines; one fits flush with the bottom of the grip, and the other has an extension to accommodate the shooter's little finger. Once production guns become available, Shooting Times will conduct a thorough gun review and report the results.

After spending a week at Gunsite with the Smith & Wesson M&P pistol and carbine, it became apparent that these are well-designed guns. For my own use I would prefer the standard stock on the carbine instead of the telescoping stock so that I could get a better cheekweld. That can easily be fixed. And, as you might imagine, I pointed out to the Smith & Wesson folks that I would really like to see a version of the M&P pistol in .45 ACP. In the fullness of time, I expect that too will be fixed.

I compliment Smith & Wesson and Gunsite for putting together this week of shooting. It was informative to spend a whole week putting rounds downrange through the test guns. It was also informative to have interacted with other gun writers, sharing critiques and ideas on these particular products. This opportunity to share can only end up by putting better guns and equipment into the hands of shooters. And that should always be the primary goal.