As a further safety feature, the M&P's slide must be locked open and a sear deactivation lever rotated before it can be disassembled.

The M&P proved to be an accurate pistol from the benchrest. Its groups were well under four inches at 25 yards.

The M&P's magazine is a completely new design intended to further enhance functional reliability. Produced by Mec-Gar, the world's most respected manufacturer of firearm magazines, it is distinctive in that while the bottom section is your typical double-column, high-capacity magazine, the upper section narrows so that the top two rounds are fed from what is in effect a single-column magazine. This means that when the top round is chambered by the slide it does not hit the feedramp at an angle but goes straight into the chamber, providing smoother functioning and enhanced reliability, especially with hollowpoint bullets.

Today it has become all but mandatory to be able to fit lights and/or laser sights to service-type pistols. To satisfy this requirement, the M&P has a Picatinny rail on the bottom of the dustcover; it accepts all standard tactical lights and laser sights.

The M&P On The Shooting Range
After I returned home from the seminar, I was able to obtain the same .40-caliber M&P I had fired at the S&W Academy for a thorough review at my home range. Friend Rusty Rawsen performed the requisite accuracy testing on a series of targets at 25 yards, and he fired three five-shot groups with each brand of ammunition. His results can be seen in the accompanying chart. Considering the wide range of bullet weights used, the M&P's performance and consistency was impressive.

The M&P feratures interchangeable palmswells so that the pistol can be fitted to the individual shooter's hand.

Using a mixture of the remaining ammo, we each ran the M&P through the following drills on a pair of USPSA targets. At five yards we drew the pistol and fired five rounds on each target (one-hand hold). We performed a combat reload and repeated the firing. At seven yards we drew the pistol and double-tapped each target, rapid fire, with a supported grip. We then holstered the pistol and repeated the drill two more times. We repeated that sequence on targets placed at 10 yards. At 15 yards we drew the pistol and fired six rounds on each target, slow, aimed fire.

We had no trouble putting the rounds where we wanted them to go. We took the M&P to the range the following week and ran a number of other drills with it. After each of us had launched 400+ .40 bullets, again of widely varying styles and weights, I can state categorically that it proved 100-percent reliable. In addition I have been carrying the M&P on a daily basis, and despite it being a full-size pistol it is comfortable and convenient in the CCW role. And with an Insight Technology M3 Tactical light mounted on the Picatinny rail, the M&P does double duty as my "nightstand" gun and will serve as a very comforting companion if something goes "bump in the night."

I make it a point to always mention any negative aspects of the firearms I test. After all, nothing is perfect. In the case of the M&P, I can voice but a single criticism: the magazine. Loading it to capacity is a bit of a struggle after round 11 or 12, and I believe that it would behoove S&W to include a magazine loading tool with the pistol. Aside from that one caveat, I think Smith & Wesson's new M&P pistol lives up to its legacy!