Just to give this a bit of an update, 6 months later:Well, I've been a through-through John Moses Browning guy for a while. The 5" has been my daily companion (concealed and occasionally openly shown), range trainer for new shooters, and my competition pistol. .20-.22 splits without trying, dead accurate, holds a 9" group at 50 yards standing shooting with both hands. Steel frame, great ergonomics, good sights, great trigger....we stayed together through thick and thin, and looking back on the guns that I've bought and sold, I've always reached back to the 5" 1911. Something about a steel gun with soul :whistle: - makes me drool :w00t:
Not any more. See, my thing is for efficient tools, even if I don't really like them. Glocks, Kahrs, KelTec's, Brownings, 1911's, XD's, etc. - I've done most of the more common pistols, and always found something I liked, but never one that I could run faster/more accurate than my tried/trued .45ACP 1911.
Then I got a chance to try a .40S&W MP compact. I like the .40 cartridge for it's power, but loathe it's snap and slow second shots for me. I ran the little polymer S&W MP .40 as fast as my full size steel 1911. :huh: Shorter sight radius, less mass, longer trigger travel, and a snappier cartridge. I chalked it up for a platform to remember, and said "it was probably those guy's reloads that made it so."
I then foolishly rented a full size MP 9mm, coughed over the cash for their rental, $25 for a box of 9mm :ouch: , and went to the firing line with about 200 rounds of my own 9mm that I wouldn't ever dream of shooting through their rental gun, since they said I couldn't. Well, we all know what happens when you tell kids they shouldn't do something
My initial impressions were "wow." The gun was as accurate as my 1911, the felt recoil was more or less the same between all rounds, which ranged from Wolf that barely cycled the slide to +p+ 9mm that chucked brass over 40 feet. Split times I thought were very close to the 1911 at the end of the range session, shooting them back to back and guesstimating.
A few weeks later I went to a gunshow with my buddy - he teaches for the Appleseed Project, and I teach him how to shoot pistols. It was his birthday, which he wanted to spend at a gun show, that restaurant with pretty waitresses dressed in white shirts and orange daisy dukes, the casino, and later on to pay for his fair share of some pretty women's college tuition. After scouring for any decent deals on 9mm MP's, I had given up. I went to get a Coke, and there it was at the end table - a fiber optic front sight on a MP. :geek:
I negotiated a deal after verifying that I had available cash, telling myself I can sell my Kahr T40 and it's goodies to pay for the MP. I also now keep a 5" MP9 Pro on my side, not a 1911.
To those wanting cliffnotes, you don't get any - why write a note when you can write a novel? Reading's good for ya anyway
Well, I've been pushing my M&P 9Pro (5" with Apex Tactical Sear, home brew striker block) and trying to get it to fail. I've been doing this by shooting a LOT of 9mm lead reloads over the past couple months, and not cleaning the pistol at all. I have lubricated the barrel, but that's it - nothing on the rails, striker/sear, etc. The only modifications that I have made in addition to the sear and striker block is a complete stippling job of the grip on the frame, trigger guard, and where my thumb rests on the frame when shooting with a thumbs forward grip.
It hasn't malfunctioned on me yet, and cycles great, even though I can see a ring of lead building at the end of the chamber (which is why it's getting cleaned today). There's also a bunch of build up under the barrel hood, perfectly taking up the space between where the cartridge sits in batter and the barrel itself, and the same thick layer of gook on the feed ramp.
Keep in mind that this is my carry pistol - and feel free to cringe if that's your natural reaction.
Still runs like a champ. I'm sold
