S&W M&P 9c If you can only own one pistol

[Fast Eddie]

You could do worse. I hear a lot of folks online and IRL asking for recommendations for a first or only pistol.



My answer right now would be a subcompact M&P 9c. I liked it the first time I shot it, and bought it from a friend when he decided to sell it.

My sister liked it best out of all of my semi autos because it was easy to work the slide.

After carrying this little guy around for a while now, I really have grown to like the pistol. If you opted for the .40c or a G26 I wouldn't throw rocks at those choices. Point being these are versatile, user friendly guns.

This one came with night sites and is the first pistol I have carried without a safety besides my revolvers. The other first for me is cc'ing it OWB in a kydex holster. Uncle Yankee was right, It is a lot more comfortable than IWB.



I have it pictured with a compact striker fired FNS9. Which comes with 17rd magazines. I just bought a 17rd magazine with a Zgrip sleeve for this pistol and was pleasantly surprised at the result.



This gun will work as a carry gun or for home defense. Plenty of aftermarket accessories available on amazon or at most gun stores. It is a decent shooter at the range. If I had to pare down my collection to one handgun, it would be this budget friendly little subcompact.

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[ItsLunchBOX]

I've been eyeballing the M&P 2.0 Compact. Really tempted to pick one up.

 

[Quartermaster]

I've been eyeballing the M&P 2.0 Compact. Really tempted to pick one up.

Not at all similar to the original. The grip is longer, and the slide is as long as a Glock 17. Hardly "compact."

 

[Caveman Jim]

I've been eyeballing the M&P 2.0 Compact. Really tempted to pick one up.

The wife & I tried the whole gun cabinet at a gun range (during free rental night). Out of 12 different makes & 2 calibers (9mm & 40S&W) we narrowed it down to the M&P & the Springfield XDM. We both chose the XDM 40 3.8 because it felt & shot better for us than the 4.5 model
The M&P's are nice guns that will do the job though.

 

[ItsLunchBOX]

Not at all similar to the original. The grip is longer, and the slide is as long as a Glock 17. Hardly "compact."

Well, I already have a M&P shield so I don't really need another sub-compact. I have a couple other full size so I figure the 2.0 compact would be a nice in between size.

 

[B5Ben]

The M&P isn't a bad choice and neither is a glock. I have a G30S and 31 like them both. The G30S is my carry. If I were to "only" have one that I own, it would be my HK USP compact in 40. I do have a preference for a metal frame and the sig226 would be hard to pass up but I think the mag release and ergo's of The HK would win out by a nose.

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

If it's not too late; hold an FN9C before you buy...comes with 3 mags= 42 rounds on hand.

These pics came off the web..




A lot of people like the FN9C

 

[ItsLunchBOX]

The M&P isn't a bad choice and neither is a glock. I have a G30S and 31 like them both. The G30S is my carry. If I were to "only" have one that I own, it would be my HK USP compact in 40. I do have a preference for a metal frame and the sig226 would be hard to pass up but I think the mag release and ergo's of The HK would win out by a nose.

I do like the USP.

If it's not too late; hold an FN9C before you buy...comes with 3 mags= 42 rounds on hand.

A lot of people like the FN9C

I'll have to check out the FN9C.

 

[Fast Eddie]

If it's not too late; hold an FN9C before you buy...comes with 3 mags= 42 rounds on hand.

These pics came off the web..

View attachment 401591
View attachment 401592

A lot of people like the FN9C

I don't disagree, I love my FN pistols. I'd love to own one. But the ladies in my family who have handled both, like the smith, which surprised me. They all said the slide was easier to work.

I would have thought they all would have liked the FN better. It feels slimmer in your hand and is the IWB holster, it also has a better trigger. I'd pick it in the Pepsi challenge.

 

[etrain16]

M&P 9c has been my EDC for about 4 years now. Been through several defensive handgun classes with it. Probably 1,500+ rounds through it now and never a single failure. I even let it run dirty for a few months to really test it out, and still zero failures. Trigger started rough but eventually smoothed out.

My only complaint is the lack of a real audible/felt trigger reset, though it was never a deal breaker for me.

I haven't checked out the 2.0's yet, but I don't expect I'll make a change.

 

[L84Cabo]

Is the M&P 1.0 9c a different size Than the 2.0 9c? Is the 1.0 9c more of a sub compact? I'm very familiar with the dimensions of the 2.0 9c but not the original one.

 

[Fast Eddie]

The 1.0 is a subcompact by Glocks standards 12+1 with a 3.5" Barrel. Even though it hold 2 more rounds than a G26 it is virtually identical in spec.

The 2.0 are a little bigger 4" barrel and 15+1 in the compact category, it is virtually identical in spec to the Glock 19. Can you blame them for going after a piece if the best selling 9mm on the planet pie?

 

[ron]

I haven't checked out the 2.0's yet, but I don't expect I'll make a change.

Don't do it!I own several 1.0 M&Ps but now after taking a look at the new 2.0s
I have a two full size 2.0s a 9 mm and a 45 . I love the new 2.0 trigger and even better
ergonomics. My 1.0s have very much improved triggers with upgraded Apex sears. The
2.0 triggers I am going to leave stock. After shooting the 2.0s I find them to be more
accurate than the 1.0s. A buddy picked up a 2.0 Shield with the built in laser. Now
I want one.

 

[IronMonster]

Don't do it!I own several 1.0 M&Ps but now after taking a look at the new 2.0s
I have a two full size 2.0s a 9 mm and a 45 . I love the new 2.0 trigger and even better
ergonomics. My 1.0s have very much improved triggers with upgraded Apex sears. The
2.0 triggers I am going to leave stock. After shooting the 2.0s I find them to be more
accurate than the 1.0s. A buddy picked up a 2.0 Shield with the built in laser. Now
I want one.
View attachment 401772

A man after my own heart.... I like the M&P series. I have 7 Shields, two Bodyguards, 5 full size, two compacts and two .22's. I'll buy a 2.0 when they have a 5" CORE threaded barrel option

 

[etrain16]

Don't do it!I own several 1.0 M&Ps but now after taking a look at the new 2.0s
I have a two full size 2.0s a 9 mm and a 45 . I love the new 2.0 trigger and even better
ergonomics. My 1.0s have very much improved triggers with upgraded Apex sears. The
2.0 triggers I am going to leave stock. After shooting the 2.0s I find them to be more
accurate than the 1.0s. A buddy picked up a 2.0 Shield with the built in laser. Now
I want one.
View attachment 401772

I haven't bothered with the Apex sear for mine. I was told it would fix the reset issue, so that you could at least feel the trigger reset, possibly even hear the click. Is that true? If so, I may add it to my 9c and my full size 40, just to improve things.

So it appears the 2.0 9c is larger than the 1.0 - is it a big difference? Kind of hard to tell from the photos.

 

[etrain16]

A man after my own heart.... I like the M&P series. I have 7 Shields, two Bodyguards, 5 full size, two compacts and two .22's. I'll buy a 2.0 when they have a 5" CORE threaded barrel option

I've only got 3 But I do have a 9mm conversion barrel for my full size 40, does that kind of count as a 4th???

 

[IronMonster]

I've only got 3 But I do have a 9mm conversion barrel for my full size 40, does that kind of count as a 4th???

Hey, three is one more than you really need, although 15 is still several short of what I really want

 

[turbo_vanner]

A Walther PPS is currently my first/only handgun, does its job fantastically.

Next on the list is a M&P Pro CORE for some red dot and threaded barrel goodies.

 

[sed]

My answer right now would be a subcompact M&P 9c. I liked it the first time I shot it, and bought it from a friend when he decided to sell it.
....
It is a decent shooter at the range. If I had to pare down my collection to one handgun, it would be this budget friendly little subcompact.

If you did pare down to one gun (hopefully that never happens ), you can run full size mags in the M&Pc to give you the feel of a full size gun as well (still shorter slide obviously).
XGRIP sells a mag cover that goes over the full size mags and fills the void in the grip that would exist between the bottom of the sub-compact grip and the baseplate of a full size mag.
This will give you extra round capacity plus the feel of a full size grip pistol that can still be run as a sub-compact with a simple mag change.

For the ultimate jack of all trades, some purchase the M&P40c, XGRIP mag covers, a 9mm drop in barrel, plus 9mm sub-compact and full size mags. Some say don't do it (drop 9 barrel in 40 frame); others do it all day long with no issue.

Now you effectively have four guns in one - sub-compact in two calibers and full size grip in two calibers.

....

My only complaint is the lack of a real audible/felt trigger reset, though it was never a deal breaker for me.

As noted, the 1.0's can be light on the reset. The APEX RAM helps a lot to address this issue.

Once you get into M&P's (1.0's especially) APEX becomes your new best friend.
They know their way around an M&P and really know how to make it better.
If you've got a 1.0, check out what APEX has to offer. You won't be disappointed.

It's nice to see S&W address a lot of these finer details in the 2.0.

Enjoy your new purchase!!

 

[mkwerx]

Not at all similar to the original. The grip is longer, and the slide is as long as a Glock 17. Hardly "compact."

No its not. The 2.0 compact is dimensionally identical to a glock 19. The Colorado compliant full size is a standard frame gun with 15 round marked magazines.

The gen one "compacts" are closer to subcompact size. Without pinky extender baseplate its basically G26 size. The baseplate gives it the frontstrap length of the 2.0 without the added 3 rounds in the mag.