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Smith & Wesson M&P .40

Grim_Night

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2012
Messages
776
Location
Pierce County, Washington
Greetings. I'm new to these forums but I've been reading for a few days. I've been researching alot of different guns lately and I think I've decided on what my first one will be... a Smith & Wesson M&P .40. It's made for LEOs and military personel, easy maintainance, durable, and reliable.
 

Wolfstanus

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2012
Messages
126
Location
Colorado springs
It's a good firearm I had one. A bit of warning I have is that a .40 is a snappy round. And that's it other than you may enjoy this firearm a lot.
 

SovereignAxe

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2011
Messages
791
Location
Elizabethton, TN
Personally, I have a huge bias against .40. It's a needlessly snappy round whose power increase over 9mm doesn't offset its lack of a controllability or increase in price.

The M&P is a solid choice, but I'd get it in 9mm. .45 if you really want more power.
 

Grim_Night

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2012
Messages
776
Location
Pierce County, Washington
One of my friends recommended the 9mm but I really don't want to be like everybody else... I thought about a 10mm but then he suggested a .40 because finding ammo is almost as easy as finding 9mm ammo. And with the Smith and Wesson, if I ever decide that I want a 9mm, I can easily buy a new barrel and swap it out of the existing gun since Smith and Wesson made that gun capable of being modified in such an easy manner.
 

Fallschirjmäger

Active member
Joined
Aug 4, 2007
Messages
3,823
Location
Cumming, Georgia, USA
My daily carry is a M&P .40, I found the grip more comfortable than that of a Glock-23.
If your hands are comfortable with it, I found that the large grip insert reduces the felt recoil of the .40 down to just above that of a 9mm (subjectively, of course.)
 

11B2O

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2012
Messages
94
Location
High Point, NC
I used to carry a Glock 23 in .40, but now I carry a M&P9. I have moved away from .40 as it is unnecessarily more snappy and I stick to 9mm and .45 these days. I own the M&P9, but have fired about 100 rounds through the m&p45 as well and I forgot at the time that it was a .45 and thought it was more like firing 9mm+p. It just be my next purchase.

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Steeler-gal

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2011
Messages
560
Location
Fairfax County, VA
I have the S&W M&P 9mm and love it. Very smooth shooting. Kinda wish I had gone with the 40 though. My XDm is a 40 and I really like it.


==========================================
NRA Certified Instructor & Range Safety Officer
Teaching classes in Lorton VA & Springfield VA
PM me if you need a class, RSO or safety briefing
 

Phoenix David

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
605
Location
Glendale, Arizona, USA
One of my friends recommended the 9mm but I really don't want to be like everybody else... I thought about a 10mm but then he suggested a .40 because finding ammo is almost as easy as finding 9mm ammo. And with the Smith and Wesson, if I ever decide that I want a 9mm, I can easily buy a new barrel and swap it out of the existing gun since Smith and Wesson made that gun capable of being modified in such an easy manner.


Well if you want to be different get a .454 Casull.

Rent/borrow one and shoot it before you decide. The .40 is a snappy round coming out a polymer framed pistol. Out of my Sig P226 it's not snappy at all but it's that's a metal gun and there is significantly less felt recoil.

Don't get sucked into the .38 vs 9mm vs .40 vs .45 vs .357SIG vs .45 LC debate. Bullet placement is king, penetration is queen and caliber is playing xBox in the other room
 

Lasjayhawk

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2012
Messages
289
Location
Las Vegas
I "just" got a M&P 40, but haven't put a round through it yet. I wouldn't worry to much about the recoil, you can get very effective .40S&W JHP's anywhere from 135-180 grains.

You will like the adjustable backstraps. It comes with small, medium, and large. Takes about 20 seconds to change them. The slide lock for breaking the gun down is a nice feature, since you don't have to pull the trigger to remove the slide. It shouldn't make a difference, but the number of people who have shot themselves removing a slide boggles the mind! :uhoh:

But I can tell you this, get a cleaning kit and clean the gun before you fire it, S&W oiled the living bejesus out of the one I bought. And the manual says to clean before firing.
 

Lasjayhawk

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2012
Messages
289
Location
Las Vegas
Bullet placement is king, penetration is queen and caliber is playing xBox in the other room

I would respectfully disagree. Penetration is king, placement is queen. The FBI learned this the hard way in 1986 in Miami.

A good read (make sure you read both pages, and the hyperlinks to the reports are hard to find, but they are there):

http://www.thegunzone.com/11april86.html
 

11B2O

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2012
Messages
94
Location
High Point, NC
I would respectfully disagree. Penetration is king, placement is queen. The FBI learned this the hard way in 1986 in Miami.

A good read (make sure you read both pages, and the hyperlinks to the reports are hard to find, but they are there):

http://www.thegunzone.com/11april86.html

I understand where your coming from, but whats the point of having penetration if your shots aren't in vital areas?

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Lasjayhawk

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2012
Messages
289
Location
Las Vegas
11B20 There is a lot of very interesting stuff on that gun battle on the web, you can find many hours of interesting reads,

But in a nutshell, the 2 BG's got shot early on. One in the head, where it bruised his brain and for the most part took him out of the action. The 2nd BG took one through the arm and into the chest, but the bullet stopped 1" from his heart. The wound was fatal but he was able to fight on and kill 2 or 3 FBI good guys in the next 4 min. of the battle. A little more pop and he would have had a hole in his heart.

The shots were kill shots, but the ammunition didn't have the penetration needed. That's when the FBI went to the 10mm, but the recoil was to much for some, so they wanted to go to the lighter load (FBI 10mm). S&W wanted to get rid of the empty space in that load and went to Winchester to make a new cartridge, and that's how the .40 S&W was born.

I guess the upshot is you need both.
 

11B2O

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2012
Messages
94
Location
High Point, NC
Yea bro, thats what I was getting at. You need both. A lack of either one of the two means you might as well be throwing rocks :D

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09jisaac

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2011
Messages
1,692
Location
Louisa, Kentucky
Placement is definitely King. It does not matter if the round only penetrates 5 inches if you put the round in their eye. It also does no good if your round can penetrate two BGs if you send it through an area that is not vital to their survival.

Like what was said, placement is king, penetration is queen.


To OP, I support many reasons to choose a particular round over the other but just to be different is a poor reason. If you want to be so un-conforming, why are you going to such a popular round? If you wanted the .40 because after doing any research you think it is a better round or a round you are willing to trust your life to (it is a good round and I would trust my life to it), I would be like "Go get that .40". Since your reasoning is "I don't want to be like everyone like everyone else", I think you are a complete fool.

Lastly, the M&P is a great firearm. I would recommend one to anyone who feels that they can handle it properly.
 

Grim_Night

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2012
Messages
776
Location
Pierce County, Washington
09jisaac: as I said before, I was originally wanting a 10mm to be different... because I'm tired of everybody I know of that carries that says 9mm is great... honestly, I wanted a .50cal for the hands down penetration power but I've seen vids of people firing desert eagles and that just looks like a royal pain in the wrists lol and I just can't justify paying $1500-1800+ for a self defence weapon... so I decided to be realistic and start asking around of the local LEOs to see what they carry as their standard service weapon. Most carry glock 22 or somethng similar. But since that is a german made weapon and I wanted something american made, I found the smith and wesson M&P.
 

09jisaac

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2011
Messages
1,692
Location
Louisa, Kentucky
So I decided to be realistic and start asking around of the local LEOs to see what they carry as their standard service weapon. Most carry glock 22 or somethng similar. But since that is a german made weapon and I wanted something american made, I found the smith and wesson M&P.

These are two reasons I can stand behind. Asking advice from people that may know something is always a good idea. Also, I support people wanting to buy american made. Most reasons to choose something over something else I find acceptable.
 

11B2O

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2012
Messages
94
Location
High Point, NC
09jisaac: as I said before, I was originally wanting a 10mm to be different... because I'm tired of everybody I know of that carries that says 9mm is great... honestly, I wanted a .50cal for the hands down penetration power but I've seen vids of people firing desert eagles and that just looks like a royal pain in the wrists lol and I just can't justify paying $1500-1800+ for a self defence weapon... so I decided to be realistic and start asking around of the local LEOs to see what they carry as their standard service weapon. Most carry glock 22 or somethng similar. But since that is a german made weapon and I wanted something american made, I found the smith and wesson M&P.

Again if you wanted a particular caliber just to be different, you should probably re-look at the whole reason your carrying.

Also Glocks are made in Austria, not Germany. However, they have a manufacturing plant in GA and Glock is producing more and more here in the US every year.

The m&p is still a great gun though. At least its not a springfield xd :D

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Grim_Night

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2012
Messages
776
Location
Pierce County, Washington
11B2O: I wanted a desert eagle for sure power and penetration value... after seeing so.mebody actually fire one of those things, I decided I didn't need to torture myself like that. I then decided that I don't need to have the biggest baddest thing out there availible as a "handgun" in order to have a decent self defence weapon. A couple of my friends carry 9mm. All you ever hear about on TV or whatever is the 9mm... A police officer I know carries a glock 23 which is a .40... I like the look of the glock and if a police officer is gonna carry one as his service weapon, there has to be something to it. But then I decided that I wanted american made. So I looked up Smith and Wesson. Found out they have nice weapons for what I want them to do. I'm not looking for a toy or a show piece or hunting weapon. I want a reliable, durable, easy to maintain self defence weapon. 9mm seems to be the most commonly availible ammo on the market today. .40cal is very close to that. And if police officers are going to use that, why shouldn't I?

as a side note, I talked to an officer friend today and he highly recommended the S&W M&P .40 so I now know for sure that that is what I am going to get.
 

sudden valley gunner

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Messages
16,674
Location
Whatcom County
11B2O: I wanted a desert eagle for sure power and penetration value... after seeing so.mebody actually fire one of those things, I decided I didn't need to torture myself like that. I then decided that I don't need to have the biggest baddest thing out there availible as a "handgun" in order to have a decent self defence weapon. A couple of my friends carry 9mm. All you ever hear about on TV or whatever is the 9mm... A police officer I know carries a glock 23 which is a .40... I like the look of the glock and if a police officer is gonna carry one as his service weapon, there has to be something to it. But then I decided that I wanted american made. So I looked up Smith and Wesson. Found out they have nice weapons for what I want them to do. I'm not looking for a toy or a show piece or hunting weapon. I want a reliable, durable, easy to maintain self defence weapon. 9mm seems to be the most commonly availible ammo on the market today. .40cal is very close to that. And if police officers are going to use that, why shouldn't I?

as a side note, I talked to an officer friend today and he highly recommended the S&W M&P .40 so I now know for sure that that is what I am going to get.

I recommend you try before you buy. My friend carries .40 and he recommends to any one who asks go 9.

If you want come up to Bellingham we have great places to shoot and if I am not available I am fairly certain my buddy would love someone to shoot with.
 

11B2O

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2012
Messages
94
Location
High Point, NC
Definitely try before you buy. Could save you alot of money and heartache. Just because someone at the pd decided to buy the whole department one particular carry gun, doesnt mean you will like it. Hell, I'm sure there might be some officers who don't like it. Our local pd here carries the m&p .40 and some like it and other don't. Bottom line, save yourself some money and heartache by trying several handguns of various calibers out first.

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