Glock vs. M&P

[ctb1]

I have a Glock 19 gen. 3 that I like very much. I recently bought an M&P Shield and I love it. Because of the Shield, I'm getting interested in an M&P9 or 9c. I'd like to hear some serious comparisons between the 9mm Glocks and M&P's. I see the possibility of a manual safety as a positive for the M&P's, but I've heard the triggers may be a negative. What say you?

 

[indyjoe]

If you are going to shoot it suppressed, the early unlock of the M&P will constantly spit crap all over your face. I did not experience this with the Glock. (Both 9mm.)

I think the triggers are the only real negative with the M&P. Word is that eventually the improved Shield trigger will make its way into the normal M&P pistols.

Really a matter of what is comfortable to you and what you shoot well. Both are qualify firearms.

I don't personally see the manual safety as a positive. I see it as a negative. I would need to alter my muscle memory and training enough to make sure I disengaged it every time.

 

[SirRealism]

If you are going to shoot it suppressed, the early unlock of the M&P will constantly spit crap all over your face. I did not experience this with the Glock. (Both 9mm.)

What is "early unlock"?

 

[DustyDawg48]

I think the 'bad trigger' of the M&P is maybe a bit over-hyped. I actually like it over the triggers of the Glocks I own and owned. They are both durable, reliable, well constructed, inexpensive, easy to find holsters, magazines and other spare parts for although the Glock has the edge for all things aftermarket.

My Glock tally: G17, G19, G26, G22, G21, G35, G21
My M&P tally: M&P9 Pro Series, M&P9c, M&P45, M&P45

It all comes down to personal preference. I personally like the feel of the Smiths over the Glocks; my grip style gets my hands chewed by the Glock's slide and the tang on the M&P's frame prevents that from happening. I will always be a fan of Glock and can never see myself not owning them. I have my eye on a G30 for the collection but also on an M&P45c.

You need to shoot the M&P and give it an honest chance before going the Apex route; I have all stock M&Ps and cannot tell the difference between me shooting them versus other shooters using M&Ps with the Apex treatment. I've never noticed any of the early unlocking that some M&P9 shooters have talked about and I have thousands of rounds through my M&P9s...and even blew one up with a squib...and it held together like you would not believe. I'm a huge fan of the M&P and while it is not better than the Glock I think it finally gives people a decent alternative to the Glock if they are not your cup of tea.

 

[jgreiner]

I have a Glock 19 gen. 3 that I like very much. I recently bought an M&P Shield and I love it. Because of the Shield, I'm getting interested in an M&P9 or 9c. I'd like to hear some serious comparisons between the 9mm Glocks and M&P's. I see the possibility of a manual safety as a positive for the M&P's, but I've heard the triggers may be a negative. What say you?

I have the MP Pro 5"....and I absolutely love the Pro trigger.

If you want to shoot one, come on up to Lafayette...

 

[indyjoe]

What is "early unlock"?

The barrel will unlock from the breach earlier than it should. This is exacerbated with the increased duration of gas pressure with a suppressor mounted. It can cause changes in the barrel orientation when the bullet exits based on power of the round fired.

Some went with a heavier recoil spring to reduce this issue, as it impacted bullet accuracy in some early M&P Full Sized 9mm. I don't know if it is still a problem, but definitely was with the suppressed M&P I fired.

The trigger on M&P is fine with the exception of the trigger reset. If you train to use reset (which is easy to detect in both the Glock and AR-15) then a stock M&P trigger reset feels almost non-existent.

 

[NIFT]

My opinion:

Both Glocks and the Smith & Wesson M&P line are as good as it gets--especially for reliability. For my students looking for a recommendation, I suggest they look at those two options, and, if they find something they like, they are done.

There is no perfect machine, and both Glocks and M&Ps have their "quirks," but there are no more reliable handguns "out there." A few are at the same level of reliability but none superior.

 

[richardraw316]

I had an g22 with a trigger job, and i now have a m&p45 stock trigger.
the g22 had a great trigger for range day, too light for sd work.
M&P45 has a nice trigger too, a little heavy, but perfect for carrying.
I wanted the safety, but i did not have that option at the time.
M&P just fits my hand better. your results may differ.

 

[jayhawk]

The trigger on M&P is fine with the exception of the trigger reset. If you train to use reset (which is easy to detect in both the Glock and AR-15) then a stock M&P trigger reset feels almost non-existent.

Reset is fixed with a ~$20 part from Apex, and the trigger break is more tactile than on a Glock. Pretty much a wash, I'd say.

 

[indyjoe]

Reset is fixed with a ~$20 part from Apex, and the trigger break is more tactile than on a Glock. Pretty much a wash, I'd say.

I did not realize that the reset is a cheaper portion. All I knew of was the full priced APEX kit. Good to know.

 

[esrice]

Here is my take on the matter: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...rms_why_i_jumped_off_the_glock_bandwagon.html

 

[ctb1]

Very nice analysis esrice. I think I'm going to be looking at the M&P's at the 1500.

 

[WebSnyper]

I think the 'bad trigger' of the M&P is maybe a bit over-hyped. I actually like it over the triggers of the Glocks I own and owned. They are both durable, reliable, well constructed, inexpensive, easy to find holsters, magazines and other spare parts for although the Glock has the edge for all things aftermarket.

My Glock tally: G17, G19, G26, G22, G21, G35, G21
My M&P tally: M&P9 Pro Series, M&P9c, M&P45, M&P45

It all comes down to personal preference. I personally like the feel of the Smiths over the Glocks; my grip style gets my hands chewed by the Glock's slide and the tang on the M&P's frame prevents that from happening. I will always be a fan of Glock and can never see myself not owning them. I have my eye on a G30 for the collection but also on an M&P45c.

You need to shoot the M&P and give it an honest chance before going the Apex route; I have all stock M&Ps and cannot tell the difference between me shooting them versus other shooters using M&Ps with the Apex treatment. I've never noticed any of the early unlocking that some M&P9 shooters have talked about and I have thousands of rounds through my M&P9s...and even blew one up with a squib...and it held together like you would not believe. I'm a huge fan of the M&P and while it is not better than the Glock I think it finally gives people a decent alternative to the Glock if they are not your cup of tea.

I have several Glocks 30/23/27 & recently sold off a 21 that I had for 20 years. I also now have an M&P9C. The main trigger difference is the lack of tactile reset on the M&P. After shooting Glocks and learning to utilize the reset to my advantage, not having one on the M&P was a liability. I picked up the APEX RAM for less than $20 and it helped/provided some reset, but it is not quite as much of a tactile reset as the Glocks. I need to practice a bit more with the M&P to get more comfortable with it.

The trigger on M&P is fine with the exception of the trigger reset. If you train to use reset (which is easy to detect in both the Glock and AR-15) then a stock M&P trigger reset feels almost non-existent.

Agreed, as stated this was my main issue as well. I did only the RAM at this time and not the DCAEK, and it fixes the lack of reset to a large extent.

Reset is fixed with a ~$20 part from Apex, and the trigger break is more tactile than on a Glock. Pretty much a wash, I'd say.

Not sure I'd call it a wash. If someone was not familiar with the Glock trigger, then maybe so, but the APEX RAM does not produce quite the same reset in my experience, but it does improve the "problem".

 

[Eric05]

I have 2000 round through my M&P9 and the trigger feels much better than when I first got it. I do like the GLock triggers better but I shoot my M&P consistently better than my Glock. Both are great and cannot go wrong with either.

 

[jayhawk]

Not sure I'd call it a wash. If someone was not familiar with the Glock trigger, then maybe so, but the APEX RAM does not produce quite the same reset in my experience, but it does improve the "problem".

Different guns have different triggers. The M&P trigger will never be the Glock trigger and vice-versa. Both triggers have their pros and cons. If the "problem" is that the M&P trigger isn't Glock-like enough, then it's really a problem of perception. It's a wash in terms of overall functionality, but perhaps not in terms of personal preference.

 

[EdC]

Recently bought an M&P 9c, and for me, it's perfect.

Significantly smaller (IMO) that the G19 (I have one), and not much bigger than a G26. I could never get used to the Glock grips. The M&P feels wonderful in my hand.

I did install an Apex DCAEK kit, which eliminated (1) the awful grittiness the trigger had, (2) the overtravel and (3) the "phantom" or "ghost" reset.

Frankly, I could have lived with the M&P just fine without the trigger kit, but now I like it better.

 

[XDream9]

A friend of mine just bought a M&P9c and he loves it. He has alot of shooting experience and he just raves about it. I think I'm gonna have to go shoot it with him soon. Just to check it out for myself.

 

[WebSnyper]

Different guns have different triggers. The M&P trigger will never be the Glock trigger and vice-versa. Both triggers have their pros and cons. If the "problem" is that the M&P trigger isn't Glock-like enough, then it's really a problem of perception. It's a wash in terms of overall functionality, but perhaps not in terms of personal preference.

OP owns a Glock and a Shield, both of which have a different trigger feel than the other M&P's. I surrounded the word problem with quotes to make a similar point to what you did, but also to inform him of the difference.

 

[9mmfan]

Just keep both. Unless money is a problem, nothing wrong with adding another gun to the collection!

 

[ctb1]

I played with some M&P9's yesterday at the 1500. Without even pulling the trigger all the way to dry fire the guns, I could feel the grittiness. I'm hearing that S&W will be incorporating the trigger changes made for the Shield into the other M&P's at some point in the future. I really like the feel of the M&P9 with the smallest backstrap, but I think I may wait a while and see if they make some changes in the factory triggers. And whether I get the M&P or not, I'm not getting rid of my G19.