Not too long ago I invested in an M&P Compact in 40 caliber. I actually like it and find it to be very manageable compared to the Glock 23 Gen4 I have. There are other things besides recoil characteristics that I like about it, but that is not the focus of this article. What I want to talk about is a recent development that is making me kind of have buyers remorse.
Many people are aware that the original M&P line has a smooth grip, which has often taken heat for being too slick. The 2.0 version certainly fixed this issue for consumers and seems to be driving people in that direction for an out of the box grip that won't slip on them. I am currently having repetitive strain injury issues, so I am having issues with holding a gun with a full crush grip during shooting. It causes pain and discomfort. I have to use a crush grip particularly when shooting with the flush fitting base plate. I notice that I can control the gun if I do my job, but the grip is so slick when my hands get even a little sweaty. That is not all that fun. i figured i could grip it hard enough to deal with it, but nope.
The next issue is really kind of a deal breaker for me. When I reload a new magazine, I am apologetically forceful. It is common with these older models to send the slide home automatically when this happens. It had never caused an issue in the past, but this time it caused odd feeding resulting in a jammed and stuck slide. I had to smash the gun on a tire to get the round out. This is new to me, but I don't trust that it won't happen again.
CONCLUSION
In the end, both of these things are kind of deal breakers for me. The second part about the slide going forward on it's own is not usually an issue, but with this kind of thing, i can't just trust it not to happen when the chips are down and I need my reload. The grip could easily be augmented through a custom stipple job or grip tape. However, these two issues together are easily fixed by conducting a lateral move to the 2.0 Subcompact. On top of everything, they have an enhanced trigger and rails which is nice I guess. Regardless, I guess I need to move forward with this change soon before I put too many rounds through my M&P Compact. It is back to the callus punishing Glock 23 Gen4 until then.
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