Lem had a question in a comment about the S&W M&P, and I had to take a short ride to see if my response was correct. Well, I needed an excuse to go talk about and play with guns, but a local yokel did have an M&P without the Hillary Hole, and we broke it and a civilian one down to trifle with the innards.What struck me, once again I might add, is how overall clunky the gun felt when compared to the Glock-21 I was balancing it against. Why the 21? Because ounce for ounce the "big" .45 caliber Glock approximated the weight of the M&P 9 mm, and I was interested in an apples to apples comparison regarding heft, ease of draw from concealment, and presentability.
Now, not for nothing but I can crack a walnut by making a fist around one, but manuevering the M&P's takedown lever was something of a chore. The G-21 or any Glock for that matter strips down as easy as a snap of one's finger in comparison, and there are no tools necessary as is the case with the Smith.
Spare magazines will set you back between $30-40 for the M&P, and largely because there are so many Glock parts on the market you can obtain pretty much any one of their mags for under $20, so that's a consideration as well. The M&P is available in .40, .357 Sig, and 9 mm variations, and we're talking $700 NIB out the door unless you can finagle a law enforcement discount.
Yes, the interchangeable grip pads are cool but not a one of them worked all that well for me. Shooting both guns resulted in groups approximating one another, but the Glocks bore axis and reset gave it an edge with regards to rate of fire, and here I'm once again comparing a .45 to a 9 mm. Sure, decades of cranking rounds has given me something of a feel for recoil but I can definitively aver that a G-21 is a little faster, and a G-19 (9 mm Glock) a helluva lot quicker than an M&P but YOUR mileage may vary.
Bottom Line: Law enforcement, at least in these parts, gets a different gun than the civvies. It isn't a bad or even mediocre weapon, but pricey for what you do get and there are "better" weapons to be found for hundreds less.
Post Shot: The G-21 was of the 2nd generation varietal. I do prefer them over the finger-groove 3rds, but to each their own. One of the terrific things about purchasing a true combat pistol from Glock is the fact that you can buy any of their weapons used, beat to all hells, and Glock will refurbish the important parts for free. So except for owning new just because it's new, there really isn't a valid reason to NOT buy secondhand Glocks.
Gaston wants your business and the folks in Smyrna, Georgia give the best customer service I've ever experienced.
Post Shot X 2: A friend tells me that my comments to him concerning the M&P's trigger were somewhat founded in reality as he just tested the pull on his gun and it averaged 11 pounds. And mushy. Along with a dead-ass slowwwww reset, this gun needs serious work so I may have to reevaluate my review and call it a mediocre effort. The last thing needed is yet another fussy "combat" sidearm that needs work to bring it up to snuff. Not when you can walk out the gunshop door with a new in box Glock or Springfield that's good to go from the get-go.
No comments:
Post a Comment