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View Full Version : 2 new M&P 9's, range report w/pics & targets



ASH556
02-27-2012, 04:28 PM
I recently made the switch from my tried and true for 8 years Glock 19 to a pair of new M&P 9's that I got from Grant. One is to be my carry gun and the other is to be my dedicated HD gun with AAC Evo 9 silencer. I picked up the guns last Wednesday and shot them for the first time yesterday.

I fired a total of 200 rnds of 115gr S&B and 34 rnds of 147gr Gold Dot HP. I only put 3 mags through the suppressor host (2 with suppressor and 1with the non-threaded barrel swapped in). The suppressor host gun was flawless while I experience a failure to lock on last round with every mag of S&B through the carry gun (the first mag consisting of GDHP's did lock the slide.)

First target of the day, 7 yards, 17 rounds GDHP offhand:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7070/6787569680_78c90e79cc.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6787569680/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6787569680/) by stormtroopn (http://www.flickr.com/people/stormtroopn/), on Flickr

I'll be honest, I was pretty disappointed in the first group, but it got a little better. Here's the next group of 10 rds @ 7 yds with the S&B:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7184/6787570488_cf7001e4ee.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6787570488/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6787570488/) by stormtroopn (http://www.flickr.com/people/stormtroopn/), on Flickr

Then, I put a 17rd mag of GDHP through the other pistol with the silencer. I was very happy with the lack of POI shift and the size of the group (the two flier-looking rounds you see at the bottom actually belong to the group for the dot below. I stacked up a few 2" orange dots for POA):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7180/6933684185_7f16e3282c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6933684185/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6933684185/) by stormtroopn (http://www.flickr.com/people/stormtroopn/), on Flickr

I then tried the carry gun off-hand @ 25yds, the results were dismal. High and left. I always tended hight and left with my Glock at distance as well. I must have a form flaw:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7052/6933680189_84084cdec1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6933680189/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6933680189/) by stormtroopn (http://www.flickr.com/people/stormtroopn/), on Flickr

In an effort to elimnate myself as the variable, I benched the carry pistol and fired another 10 rounds @ 25 with not much better results:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7183/6787565906_1ff76f62a8.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6787565906/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6787565906/) by stormtroopn (http://www.flickr.com/people/stormtroopn/), on Flickr

All in all, I'm not unhappy with the results. I'm most excited about the silencer host and how well the can shoots on this gun. My Glock never shot nearly as well with the can on it. The triggers in both pistols are fine with me. I enjoy the grips and the sights. I feel I need to practice some more at distance before I make a final accuracy judgement. I plan to go to an indoor range with some rental guns so I can put the M&P up against something else to determine the accuracy differential, if any.

I'll leave you with a few pics of my ugly mug shooting the pistol and my buddy (karmapolice's) MK18:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7065/6787575574_99bea3d248.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6787575574/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6787575574/) by stormtroopn (http://www.flickr.com/people/stormtroopn/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7067/6933688177_ab3b78d91c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6933688177/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6933688177/) by stormtroopn (http://www.flickr.com/people/stormtroopn/), on Flickr

ASH556
02-27-2012, 04:30 PM
A follow-up question based on the "how good is good enough" thread:

I don't see a whole lot of difference between my "benched" group and my offhand group @ 25yds. I sat at the bench and rested my forearms on the bench while holding the pistol. Is there a different/better way to bench a pistol?

Lomshek
02-27-2012, 08:55 PM
I have that problem and am working on it too. My impression is that my bench form is not ideal and causes as many problems as it solves. I also tend to jerk the trigger and anticipate recoil when firing slow off a bench.

To address the form problem I make adjustments as needed to the bench, my seat and my arm support. It's a learning experience.

The trigger control and anticipation in slow fire is fixed by doing ball & dummy during the bench session. Lately I'll load 5 live rounds and 10 dummies per magazine as I fire for groups. The massive feedback does worlds of improvememt and keeps me honest about calling my shots and not screwing up the results.

I'm very comfortable in rapid fire and based on my competition shooting don't jerk the trigger much when firing fast. I think that having too much time to think about the coming shot encourages me to develop anticipation and jerk. Definitely a work in progress.

GJM
02-27-2012, 09:04 PM
You might peruse the Autoloader Forum section for multiple threads on M&P 9mm accuracy problems at 25 yards.

EVP
02-27-2012, 09:38 PM
I recently made the switch from my tried and true for 8 years Glock 19 to a pair of new M&P 9's

Why??

Your first statement is something that many people try to achieve with their guns. If you have had a G19 and it has proven itself to you for 8 years why the switch? I hope you still have it since it is a proven pistol.

ASH556
02-28-2012, 07:05 AM
Why??

Your first statement is something that many people try to achieve with their guns. If you have had a G19 and it has proven itself to you for 8 years why the switch? I hope you still have it since it is a proven pistol.

Because after 8years of shooting the 19 in gssf matches and otherwise, I reached the breaking point with ergonomics. It was doable but not enjoyable. No, I don't still have it. I dumped it along with the mags,threaded barrel and holster to finance the M&P's. I think 8 years is a fair amount of time to devote to a platform. If the M&P doesn't work out, they're only pistols, I can sell them and get something else. The point is, I faced the choices:
1. Continue to live with the Glock's crappy ergonomics
2. Pay another hundred or two for a custom grip mod and hope that fixes it
3. Try another pistol

I can't afford good 1911's or 45 ammo so I went with what I considered to be the next best choice from the Glock. The deal was sealed after I shot the M&P next to my Glock.

JV_
02-28-2012, 07:52 AM
I think 8 years is a fair amount of time to devote to a platform.Depending on your round count, I agree. I've learned a lot about my skills gap and flaws by forcing myself to learn a new gun. If I can find a gun that will give me a 5% performance increase once I'm up to speed, I'll gladly make the change. It's also like the challenge.

mongooseman
03-02-2012, 06:53 AM
Depending on your round count, I agree. I've learned a lot about my skills gap and flaws by forcing myself to learn a new gun. If I can find a gun that will give me a 5% performance increase once I'm up to speed, I'll gladly make the change. It's also like the challenge.

What he said! But I'm going the opposite direction; from M&P to G19's. I like the M&P a lot, but you pretty much know what you're getting with a Glock. I look at it as a software adjustment, and as JV put it, a challenge.

ASH556
03-23-2012, 08:21 AM
I went to the range last weekend but just got around to taking target pics last night.

I began by establishing a control group with a rental Glock 19 Gen3.
All ammo used was Atlanta Arms 115 gr reloads, as that's what the shop required I purchase for use in their rental gun:

10 rounds, 25yds, Glock 19 offhand:

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/ASH556/20120322_225207.jpg

10 rounds, 25 yds, M&P #1 offhand, factory 4.5" barrel:

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/ASH556/20120322_225129.jpg

10 rounds, 25 yds, M&P #2 offhand, factory 4.5" barrel:

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/ASH556/20120322_224209.jpg

10 rounds, 25yds, M&P #2 offhand, factory threaded 5.5" barrel:

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/ASH556/20120322_224106.jpg

I shot the tightest group with the Glock, but as per my usual after running a 19 for the last 8 years, the group at distance is high and left. I really believe there's some kind of grip issue between the Glock and I, which is why I changed to the M&P.

The tightest group with the M&P's was 8" with the factory threaded barrel, but that was also the last group I fired, so I may have just been getting more comfortable and it may have nothing to do with the barrel. Bottom line is that I need to practice more. I've decided that most if not all of my pistol shooting will now be at 25yds until I can keep all rounds in the black circle off-hand.

stevet1
03-31-2012, 12:19 PM
[QUOTE=ASH556;55571]I recently made the switch from my tried and true for 8 years Glock 19 to a pair of new M&P 9's that I got from Grant. One is to be my carry gun and the other is to be my dedicated HD gun with AAC Evo 9 silencer. I picked up the guns last Wednesday and shot them for the first time yesterday.

I fired a total of 200 rnds of 115gr S&B and 34 rnds of 147gr Gold Dot HP. I only put 3 mags through the suppressor host (2 with suppressor and 1with the non-threaded barrel swapped in). The suppressor host gun was flawless while I experience a failure to lock on last round with every mag of S&B through the carry gun (the first mag consisting of GDHP's did lock the slide.)

First target of the day, 7 yards, 17 rounds GDHP offhand:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7070/6787569680_78c90e79cc.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6787569680/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormtroopn/6787569680/) by stormtroopn (http://www.flickr.com/people/stormtroopn/), on Flickr

I'll be honest, I was pretty disappointed in the first group, but it got a little better. Here's the next group of 10 rds @ 7 yds with the S&B:

Give your new M&P a little time to break in. After a few hundred rounds as with all guns the parts will wear in with each other. You can also get aftermarket Apex parts or do a Dan Burwell trigger mod for free. It makes the trigger smoother if you have that need. The M&P9 is capable of very tight groups at 7 yds.

ASH556
01-28-2013, 09:55 AM
I haven't put as many rounds through the M&P's (I bought a pair from Grant) as I should have, but up until last Friday, I had still seen mixed results accuracy-wise and was not able to feel like I nailed it down to a gun issue or a shooter issue. Friday night I went to the local 25yd indoor range to put all that fear to bed once and for all and determine if I needed to spend the $200 on a custom-fitted barrel of if the pistol was good to go. Here are the results of that evening:

I ran the silhouette out to the 25 yd line and slow-fired (probably a round every 1-2 seconds, not extremely slow) a 10-shot group offhand. I started with the M&P and used the orange center as my point of aim. I had one flyer that opened the group to 8 inches, but without that flyer, the group was a solid 4 inches. I was pretty impressed!:eek:

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/ASH556/20130125_202318.jpg

Having done that, I wanted to establish a baseline for my shooting so I went and grabbed a Glock 17 out of the range's rental case. Again, I ran the target out to 25 yds and fired a 10-shot group using the head as a point of aim this time:

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/ASH556/20130125_202225.jpg

The Glock group also had one flier and was basically exactly the same size as the M&P group. The one disturbing thing about the Glock group is how it is left of point of aim. Being a rental gun, the sights might have been drifted to the side, but I doubt it. When I shot Glocks, I always struggled with my groups being high and left @ 25 yds. I attribute this to the hump at the base of the grip. That hump and the heel of my hand do not agree with one another and causes the pistol to cant slightly in my hand (at least, that's how it feels to me.) I'm always having to fight to keep the sights aligned with the Glock. The grip angle is the main reason I like the M&P over the Glock and why I switched.

In summary, I feel pretty encouraged about the accuracy exhibited by my M&P 9FS. I know that there are guys that can shoot a lot better than 4 inches @ 25 yds offhand, but there are also a lot of guys that cannot shoot that well. More importantly, the fact that the group sizes were consistent between the M&P and the Glock demonstrates to me that my M&P does not have accuracy issues (at least within my ability to drive it).

BTW: Both pistols are completely stock. Ammo used was 115gr S&B.

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/ASH556/20130125_202029.jpg

Noleshooter
01-28-2013, 05:35 PM
My M&Ps (4, all 9mm) tend to shoot tighter groups with 147gr bullets overall. My 5" shoots marginally tighter with ZERO JHP than 147gr Precision coated that shoot a little tighter than 147gr BBI coated bullets.

Morbidbattlecry
01-29-2013, 06:23 PM
If your shooting for groups i wouldn't do it offhand unless you are someone like Rob Leatham. If it was me i would at least try to use some sort of rest.