I’ve been going on about German firearms for a while now, so it’s only fair that I do a review of an American product – and there are few American manufacturers with as storied a name as Smith and Wesson.
Yes, yes, when it comes to revolvers, I prefer Colt, but over the past few years S&W have made a determined push into the value-priced autoloader market.
Perhaps their most prominent product at the moment is the M&P (or “Military and Police”), which is now in its second iteration.
Aesthetically, I don’t like it. One of the odd features of the design is that it is possible to see through the gap between the slide and the frame. It’s unnerving, and makes the weapon look cheap and unfinished. Every time I’ve been tempted to buy one, I couldn’t get past that sense of flimsiness.
The grips are also a problem. It has nothing to do with the fit, mind you. Indeed, as is becoming common, there are multiple modular back straps available to fit your hand.
No, the problem is the texture, which is like sandpaper. I don’t mind a pebbled surface, but I prefer one that uses softer material. These things are pretty hard. The S&W web site calls it “aggressive,” but I find it merely irritating. Still, once you start shooting, it isn’t as noticeable.
As it the rage these days, the M&P 2.0 is striker-fired, so there’s no need to worry about a hammer getting caught on anything. It is single-action only, so the slide has to racked in order for it to be cocked.
It doesn’t have one of those fiddly trigger-safety bits, which is nice, and it lacks all the levers and gadgets that clutter some of the other designs.
Despite the appearance of being flimsy, the weight and feel is decent. It has a polymer frame and this does cause it to jump more than an all-steel weapon, but it recovers quickly.
Like the Walther PPQ, the trigger has a nice, crisp, consistent break. I quickly found myself settling into a pattern and my aesthetic concerns disappeared as my round struck the target. For all of my above complaints, it’s quite accurate, though it was not up the superlative standard of my German-built SIG-Sauer P226.
That is of course a high standard to meet, and for its price, I think the M&P does quite well. It isn’t designed for precision shooting but for self-defense and I think it does its job well. For people who don’t mind the aesthetics or the hardness of the grips (or who are unwilling to pay more to get rid of those quibbles), it’s an excellent choice.
I will add that one area my reviews often overlook is the price of ownership in terms of accessories. Smith and Wesson is on the lower end of the scale as far as extra magazines and other add-ons.
The higher-end manufacturers charge a premium for that stuff and after-market alternatives aren’t always available. It’s quite easy to spend $700 for the firearm and another $100 for extra magazines. That’s less of an issue with Smith and Wesson.
I can’t see myself buying one, but I can understand people who do and I certainly wouldn’t refuse an opportunity to shoot one again.
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