When the 5″ barreled S&W M&P (semi-auto variety…I wasn’t around for the K-Frame intro) first came out, I was excited. A plastic gun with a traditional grip angle was my hope for the future as I knew that my transition away from 1911s was imminent.
I was sorely disappointed. I blamed the unfamiliar trigger and blocky sights for the 5-inch groups, for a while. Those 5″ groups were with the better of my two guns. The gun that shot 8 inch groups, I knew was a problem. Finally, I figured out that the 9mm guns just were not very accurate, on average. Some guns, of course, were great. S&W affirmed that 5″ groups were accurate enough in their mind, so I sent those guns down the road.
Later, I was told the 2 dimple barrel guns were better and I should try those. They weren’t. The 2.0 came out and I tried the 4.25″ barrel variety of those. The ones I tested were better but only to the tune of 3.5″ groups. I do know of people who have very tight shooting M&P 2.0s. Most seem to be in the 2.5-3.5″ range in stock form.
I decided to try a compact version of the 2.0 gun to see if I could get a good one that would replace a Glock 19. It has the 4″ barrel and the magical 5″ in height with a 15 round magazine.
I bought a gun with the manual safety, which I like. I love the grip texture and the size package of the gun. The trigger is fine, even the older style hinged one that I have on my sample. I like the replaceable back straps and the way they implemented the design. They are easy to change with no tools. I like the disassembly procedure option of using the sear deactivation lever, rather than pulling the trigger and I like that when you insert a magazine, it pushes the lever up so there is no chance of loading a dead gun.
My first testing was with the Aimpoint ACRO and I was not successful, so I shelved it. There is a reason several police departments mandated a 2.0 milled from the factory for the ACRO. For whatever reason, the Aimpoint plates do not seem to stay attached on the M&P.
I found the courage to try again, so I put a Trijicon Type 2 RMR RM 07 on my copy. It is not my favorite optic, due to the need for removal to change the battery and the emitter housing occluding a significant amount of the bottom of the window. It is, however, very reliable and they seem to work fine with the plastic shims that comprise the M&P CORE optic system.
This group of over 4″ was exactly the kind of accuracy that I have gotten from most of my personally owned M&P pistols. I did remember that they often preferred heavier bullets. For a while, one of the theories about their poor accuracy was because of the twist rate. It is the barrel lockup but we did not know that initially.
I grabbed 4 loose rounds of 147gr Winchester Ranger T-Series and 5 dummy rounds. I loaded the magazine without looking as I walked out to 15 yards. I shot at a 1″ dot and could see impacts pretty easily at that distance in the lighting conditions on that day. The dry shots were all pretty good and the grouping, while very unimpressive, was good enough to encourage me to try some other heavy bullet loads.
Having figured out that I was not inducing huge errors into the gun, I decided to start fresh on a new day. I cleaned the gun, being sure to completely dry the barrel of any solvent or oil, and let it sit overnight.
The next day, I put everything back together and found some 3″ circles that, for me, perfectly balance the 6.5moa dot on the RM07 RMR. I manually adjusted the dot to give me perfect brightness as the clouds lightened and darkened the range. I took considerable time to shoot the groups, walking down to mark each first, hand chambered round.
The smallest group fired was 3.44″ and that is only if you discount the cold, clean bore round that went 3″ high out of the group. When I saw that round up there, I immediately unloaded the gun and tossed the round that had been chambered into a bucket for later use. I loaded with 5 fresh rounds and shot the group on the top center dot. The hand chambered round was then off to the left.
It is interesting how the hand chambered round is inconsistent in where it lands. Sometimes, it is the best shot in the group! It is not the sole cause of the large groups but I wanted to mark it for reference.
The Speer G2 147 gr Gold Dot load shot 4″ high, so I fired some old technology Federal 147gr Hydra Shok at the same dot that I had used to aim at with the G2. Both groups were sub 4 inches.
Speer 147gr legacy Gold Dot, without the epoxy filler in the hollow point shot the worst group of the heavy bullet loads. It is a known good performer in many other guns, for me.
I fired another group of the 115gr Atlanta Arms to demonstrate how the lighter bullets vertically string out of this M&P to a greater degree than the other loads. The heavier loads just have loose groupings, minus that first wild clean bore shot.
We are spoiled these days with micro 9mms like the P365 that will shoot sub 3″ groups at 25 yards. Thirty years ago, many guns shot 3.5″ groups at 25 yards and were considered good. Often, ammunition was actually the limiting factor. These days, most top tier carry loads are capable of sub 2 inch groups at 25. Gen 5 Glocks, HKs of most varieties, most Sigs, and many others are capable of shooting into 2.5″ at 25 yards. The M&P cannot seem to do it consistently.
For me, a 25 yard group under 3 inches gives me the confidence that I can sink a headshot on an attacker who may have ducked behind cover and is displaying only enough of themselves to shoot at me. That gives me a margin of error of a couple of inches in any direction and the rounds that are dispersed to the outside of the grouping will still be within the target zone. A 5″ group would require a perfect shot. We have all made those but I do not want to be forced to rely on that in the moment.
“But 25 yards is so far…” At larger gas stations it is from the doors to the pumps where the attacker is pointing a gun at your spouse still seated in the car. It is 10 parking spaces away in the Wal-Mart parking lot where the active killer has set up and is shooting at your car where you have your children hiding. It is not that far away. Neither, for that matter, is 100 yards, which is halfway across most Wal-Mart parking lots and across the playground at a park.
I know that Tom Givens has reported that his M&P metal frame guns are shooting well. I know that others have tested samples that shoot well. I may just be very unlucky.
I know there are people who are putting Apex gunsmith fit barrels into their guns and getting 1.5″ groups at 25. I thought about it. I would rather spend the money on a Hi Power or 1911, rather than tart up another plastic fantastic.
However, the M&P 2.0 is reliable and shootable. Agencies who have adopted them are not complaining about the minutia of 25 yard accuracy. Most shooters cannot shoot 5 inch groups at 25 yards so it does not adversely affect them. Most police qualification targets are so large that you could qualify with smoothbore flintlock pistols if you could load them fast enough.
If you don’t mind a project and want to take a chance, I think it could be worth it. There are bound to be more good ones than bad ones. If it is not to your liking, there are a lot of options to improve it. Maybe you aren’t worried about that level of accuracy, anyway. In those cases the M&P should be a fine gun.