M&P .45 First Impressions

[ikor]

Went to the range and fired around 400rd. through the new M&P .45f this morning. I shot a mix of old JHP carry ammo...Gold Dots, Hydra Shoks, Ranger T's and some really old LE SXT's (second generation Talons, really) plus about 250-300 or so rounds of American Eagle ball. All ammo was factory loaded 230gr...none was +P rated. Ranges were from about 5m to 20 or so meters. Weather clear with sunshine, dry and maybe 50-60F...no wind at all.

Trigger was not the best I ever saw by far on this gun but I will admit that I have seen worse. It was maybe 7lb and gritty with some creep when new. I stripped the pistol, cleaned it and relubed it using TW25 grease and a little Breakfree. All of my Glocks have had better triggers out of the box than this pistol, but as well see, it did improve after several hundred rounds were fired. It suffers from the 'mushy' reset of all standard and compact M&Ps but I will change that soon enough.

Accuracy: The gun was superbly accurate, and really 'wanted' to shoot, if you know what I mean, but the trigger was a major hindrance to good accuracy. In truth, my eyes are not what they used to be either, but after I blacked out those damned dots (NOT a big fan of dots!) it was easier to see the actual sights and again my accuracy with the pistol improved. Depending upon exactly where I placed the pad of my finger on the trigger, I got a little 'trigger sting' from time to time. Once I went to my 'glock finger placement' where I use more finger on the trigger that disappeared. I have shot .45s for decades and do not find any have what I would call 'heavy' recoil, but I will say the M&P has slightly less than the 1911s the other guys with me were using. It was not as 'soft' in recoil as I have heard I thought but certainly more than ma nagable.

With the old SXT loads this pistol would easily cut sub two inch groups at 15+ yards from offhand so long as I did my part and as the trigger got better, tighter groups became easier with the blacked out sights. One thing I did notice was the fact that as the magazine emptied I could really feel the balance of the gun change and by the last round or two it was noticably more muzzle heavy. This was interesting but not really objectionable nor did it effect my shooting to any real degree. Shooting it faster was also not a problem and the hits were right where I held.

All in all, I like the pistol and with some better sights and a better trigger it will no doubt improve. I did not have a single malfunction in at least 400rd.(maybe a few more) and I would have no compunction with cleaning it and carrying it for SD work if I thought I needed a full size .45 for that. I think I'll keep it. ;D

[Thorkind]

Which size backstrap did you use or did you try them all? How does recoil compare to the G21?

[ikor]

I used the small insert, which makes the grip close to that of the 9mm with the medium installed. the front to back reach is still a bit longer however. Recoil was similar to that of the G21 IIRC but I have not shot both side by side. The M&P however, fits me MUCH better than the large framed Glock, and feels much better to me than the G21SF, but it does give up 3 rounds as well.

[DS]

Ikor, I have the same setup on my M&P9 and M&P45.

After I did the trigger sear modifications on my 45 the trigger pull was 4lb10oz instead of higher in the 6lb range.

The 45 (and my 9) now has a distinct reset (definitely not mushy) although it is softer than my Glocks and actually more similar to my Wilson CQB in the feel of the reset (not the travel of the reset).

You can read my "Trigger Pull Measured, comparisons & observations" here http://www.gunsite.co.za/forum/index...sg7956#msg7956 and see the spreadsheet with that post.

I also find the ergonomics on the M&P45 vastly superior to a G21.

My M&P45 is noticeably very accurate.

Interesting information posted on another forum by David Bowie of Bowie Tactical

“All of my 45's are match grade accurate from the factory barrel”.

And

“The 45's lock up tighter so they are more accurate. Both of my 45's have shot side by side with high end 1911's.”

[ikor]

I can believe the 'match accurate' barrel results...mine, as noted, really 'wants' to shoot if you know what I mean...but that %$#@# trigger and the sights limit it out of the box. Those things are relatively easily fixed, however.

Few know that S&W made some 1911 match barrels many years back that were coveted by the old bullseye shooters as some of the best ever built, so for sure they know how to build an accurate .45 barrel. I really do not want to spend any money at the moment on the gun because so many other things that may soon be in short supply (just bought 500rd of HST for my 9mms as well as some PMags...I hope...they are backordered) are needed, and because I no longer compete, but I just may have to order a spare sear and try my own hand at a trigger job.