Smith & Wesson has been producing 9mm
semi-auto pistols for over fifty years now. I have always liked
their earliest effort, the Model 39, which was in production in
various forms for a long time. I never liked the feel of the
grip on their double-stack high capacity 59 series of pistols,
but they were (and still are) pretty popular with other
shooters.
With the introduction of plastic-framed auto
pistols about twenty-five years ago, the conventional auto
pistols have fallen aside in favor of these newer types, and the
market certainly has no shortage of the popular plastic framed,
high capacity pistols from which to choose.
I never really warmed up to Smith’s Sigma
series of pistols, although they evolved into some excellent,
reliable, and affordable weapons. They just never felt right in
my hand, leaving me more often than not reaching for my Glock when I needed that type of pistol.
I have been, and continue to be, impressed with
S&W’s M&P series of auto pistols. So much so, in
fact, that I recently sold my Glock Model 19 to a friend, as I
now prefer the M&P to all others of the type. To my
hand, nothing else currently made feels as good and points as
naturally for me as does the M&P. S&W is fully
committed to producing a full and varied line of M&P pistols
to suit just about any shooter. I recently shot a couple of
pre-production .45 ACP models, and they should be a great
success with shooters who love the big forty-five, and want a
full sized high capacity plastic-framed auto pistol that
actually fits a human hand.
The subject of this review, however, is not a
bigger M&P, but a smaller one. It is the new Compact Model,
and is chambered for the 9mm Luger cartridge. The operating
methods of the little pistol are the same as for the full sized
models, so I won’t try to re-plow the same ground here as
covered in my previous reviews of the M&P
full-sized 9mm and M&P .40
caliber version. Instead, I will focus on the compact
size of the weapon, and its accuracy and reliability as it
applies to a handy, concealable personal defense weapon, as that
is the function of such a pistol. The Compact M&P is made
for those who need a small, reliable pistol with enough power
and accuracy to resolve the gravest of social encounters. In
other words, it is a weapon whose purpose is to save your hide
from the worst in our society who would choose to do you harm.
No pistol is the ideal in a fight. If I know
that a fight is coming, and it can’t be avoided, I want a
rifle in my hands. In some situations, a shotgun would be
better, but a compact rifle comes closest to serving in all
situations. The handgun is a compromise when it comes to
defense. Its user must balance such features as power,
reliability, weight, and size, to select the best compromise to
meet his particular needs. Some folks can hide a full-sized
pistol with no problem, while others need a more compact
package. Many years ago in Miami, I carried a Smith & Wesson
Model 469 9mm pistol daily. It served me pretty well, but this
new M&P Compact has the 469 beat by a long shot. It is
smaller, lighter, and smoother than the old 469, and most
importantly, more reliable also.
The M&P Compact is smaller than I ever
expected it to be, but still holds thirteen rounds of 9mm ammo.
The M&P Compact is heavier, but about the same size as my lightweight
J-frame five shot S&W 342PD .38 Special, yet carries
eight more cartridges. The gun comes supplied with two
magazines, one with and one without a finger extension on the
bottom. It also functions with the magazines from the full sized
9mm M&P pistols. The M&P magazines are made of
steel, and drop freely from the pistol when released, whether
full or empty. The Compact, like its big brother, has an
ambidextrous slide release, and the magazine release is
reversible, to accommodate both right and left-handed shooters
equally. At the rear of the chamber atop the pistol is a
chamber-loaded witness hole. The gun comes supplied with three
grip backstraps of different sizes to fit most any hand very
well.
The M&P strips easily for cleaning. Smith
offers the M&P Compact in several variations, with the one
reviewed here having no magazine safety. It can be had either
with or without that safety, and also with or without a key lock
safety. The one reviewed here has no key lock safety.
The trigger pull measured a smooth 6 pounds five ounces,
and the trigger travel is just under one-third of an inch. The
pistol’s weight with an empty magazine is 24.6 ounces.
The little Smith carried on the hip well in a Barranti
Urban Companion holster that is made for the full sized M&P,
and also concealed very well in a front jeans pocket. However,
with a pistol of this type that has no manual safety, I do not
like pocket carry without a holster that covers the trigger
guard. The pistol has a short section of Picatinny
accessory rail underneath at the muzzle, for those who like to
attach things to the pistol such as flashlights, lasers,
particle beam annihilators, and such.
The M&P Compact has a very good set of Novak
style three-dot sights. I would prefer tritium night sights,
like the ones available on the larger M&P, and they will be
offered as an option later. The sights on the M&P are,
thankfully, made of genuine steel. I despise plastic sights on a
pistol, and am glad that S&W fits good steel sights to the
M&P. The slide and barrel of the M&P, along with some
other parts, are made of stainless steel that receives a black
Melonite finish.
Shooting the M&P Compact brought no
surprises. I expected it to function perfectly, and it did.
There were no failures to feed, fire, or eject with any
ammunition tested. I tested the pistol with several types
of good high performance ammunition from Cor-Bon and International
Cartridge Corporation. The Cor-Bon ammo consisted of
all Plus P loadings of their jacketed hollowpoint (JHP), DPX
hollowpoint, full metal jacket (FMJ), PowRBall,
and Glaser Safety Slug pre-fragmented ammo. The
International loading was their hollowpoint frangible ammo that
is made to penetrate and come apart in flesh, but break up into
small pieces if it hits sometime hard like concrete or steel,
preventing ricochets. The velocities from each load is
listed below. The ammo was fired over the eyes of my PACT
chronograph, at a distance of twelve feet, with an air
temperature of forty-three degrees Fahrenheit. Velocities
are listed in feet-per-second (fps). Bullet weight is listed in
grains.
| Ammunition |
Bullet Weight |
Velocity (fps) |
| Cor-Bon FMJ |
147 grains |
952.1 |
| Cor-Bon PowRBall |
100 grains |
1573 |
| Cor-Bon JHP |
115 grains |
1363 |
| Cor-Bon DPX |
115 grains |
1230 |
| Cor-Bon Glaser |
80 grains |
1706 |
| International |
100 grains |
1179 |
All ammo tested exhibited good accuracy. I did
no bench testing for groups, as this Compact M&P is not made
for nor marketed as a target gun, but for social work. I fired
the pistol offhand, standing on my hind legs as a primate
should, at distances from as close as seven yards out to
twenty-five yards. It was extremely easy to keep all shots upon
a full-sized human silhouette target torso at twenty-five yards,
shooting rapid fire as quickly as I could align the sights
between shots. At seven yards, keeping the shots on the
silhouette head was no task, again shooting as quickly as I
could align the sights between shots, emptying the magazine in
under six seconds. As can be seen in the picture, the
M&P shot slightly to the right for me, but that is easily
remedied, as the sights are adjustable for windage.
As with any double stack magazine, thumbing the
cartridges into the magazine can wear a sore spot on the
shooter’s thumb pretty quickly. However, a couple of weeks ago
at the 2007 SHOT Show, I
picked up a dandy little magazine loader marketed in the USA by Butler
Creek. It is called the UpLULA and is made in Israel
by the same folks that make the superb LULA
magazine loaders for rifles. The UpLULA works with any single or
double stack centerfire magazine, of any length, for any pistol
or submachine gun. It is very simple to use, and saves wear on
the feed lips and cartridge brass. I have tried it with
9mm and .45 ACP so far, but it should work as well with .40
S&W, 10mm, .45 GAP, .357 SIG, etc. Once I have used it, I
hope to never be without one again.
The S&W M&P Compact comes with a hard
case, instruction manual, and two twelve round or ten round
magazines.
The S&W M&P Compact is another fine
member of the newest line of Smith & Wesson auto loading
pistols. It is light, compact, reliable, and accurate. I highly
recommend it.
Look at the extensive line of Smith & Wesson
products online at: www.smith-wesson.com.
For prices and specs on the ammunition used
here, go to: www.cor-bon.com
and www.internationalcartridge.com.
To look at the line of gun leather from
Barranti, click on this link: http://hometown.aol.com/mb111263/BARRANTILEATHERCo.html.
To order the excellent UpLULA magazine loader,
go to: www.maglula.com
for a list of retailers of their products.
Jeff Quinn
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