About a week ago I started carrying the S&W M&P9 full time.

I think everything is about as dialed in as it can be, in terms of trigger, barrel, sights, and so on. I’m ringing small steel plates at 25+ yards with carry ammo (Gold Dot 124 grain +P) and with my handloads. I didn’t have a chance to see how things are behaving on paper in terms of exact POI vs. POA and grouping, since last Saturday at KRT was pretty rainy. But really, if I’m hitting that steel “hostage target” plate at 25+ yards, things are certainly good enough. I’m still hoping to get some patterning on paper tho, just to satisfy my geeky itch.

But the bigger thing is how it’s been on my hip for the past week.

I carry inside the waistband (IWB) in a Comp-Tac MTAC holster. It’s what I carried my XD-9 in for years, so I figured it was the easiest thing to get me started. I tried a friend’s Raven, and while I see the great benefits to the Raven, it just doesn’t work for my body. That said, the Raven is really cool for being an OWB holster that, as far as OWB holsters go, keeps it pretty tight to the body. That’s nice, and essential for concealed carry. So in this MTAC? Well, it’s the same MTAC as my XD was carried in (just a different kydex shell), and I am finding the M&P is carrying tighter to my body. That’s great for concealment, with the M&P concealing slightly better for me. But it’s a little more difficult on the draw, in terms of getting my thumb between the gun and my torso so I can get a grip to draw. I can do it, it’s just a bit of a tighter fit and I need to ensure a leftward lean to make space. No big deal, it’s what I do anyways, just have to continue to get used to the new feel.

Also, there was a burr on the M&P. On the polymer frame around the top of the beavertail area (and really, around the whole top of the frame but the beavertail was most noticeable) was a seam… a burr… something from where the mold parts probably came together during manufacturing. Well, while it was a tiny burr, against my side it was horrible. I wear up against my skin, so that constantly rubbing on me was going to rub me raw. I took a Scotch-Brite pad, because it was about the finest “sandpaper” I had on hand, and just spent a little time “polishing” up the top of the beavertail area, to smooth it out and remove the burr. Ah… much better.

All in all, it’s feeling fine. It actually feels a little nicer on my hip, I think due to how much closer it holds to my body. And while the beavertail makes a point that juts up, it doesn’t dig into me at all. Oh sure, it’s not 100% comfortable, but carry rarely is… as someone said, a gun is supposed to be comforting, not comfortable.

One thing I have noticed in shooting it… she seems to get a lot dirtier than my XD did. Same ammo, more crud to deal with. Not entirely sure why, or if I’m just having false perception here. But that’s how it seems.

When gripping the gun for one-handed shooting, my thumb wants to be right atop the magazine release. I’m not sure if this is going to be a problem, with an unwanted magazine release. So far it hasn’t happened, but my M&P experience is still young.

On reloading well… the giant “foot” of the magazine basepad is huge. I’m getting used to it, but it just feels so big, out there, and unnecessary. I’m used to my index finger resting up the front of the magazine when doing a reload; now it’s just a basepad in my palm and my finger tip touching the top of the magazine — the finger forming the hypotenuse with the magazine and the basepad. My understanding is the foot is there to help removing the magazine, but I haven’t seen nor felt it come into play. Maybe I just haven’t hit the right circumstance yet.

I do want to do more shooting with it. Hopefully one of these weekends at KRT I’ll have a little more free time and can run some drills.

But all in all, it’s carrying well, shooting well, and I’m adjusting to it just fine.

Just returned home from another day at KR Training. Today was a single class, Defensive Pistol Skills 1.

I want to start by giving a pat on the back to all the students for attending. Last night we had some wicked storms roll across Texas dumping 2-3″ or more of rain. Some minor flooding, many stock tanks are overflowing their banks. It makes it tough to drive, and a soggy situation for a class. But class was held despite all the rain and muddy conditions. Why? Because life isn’t always ideal. You can’t ask that mugger to come back when it’s 75° and sunny, so it’s good to practice in less than ideal conditions. So a big pat on the back for all the students for being troopers today…especially when the mud was flying as bullets impacted the muddy backstop. 🙂

Today’s class really demonstrated the value of dry fire. Because of the rainy conditions, we modified the class a bit to work on some skills dry in the classroom. This enabled students to focus on the fundamental skills and not get too caught up nor overwhelmed by a lot of other factors. Plus since there’s no BANG occurring, there’s no flinching, you can learn proper trigger press, you don’t have to reload and thus can work the trigger many many many more times. There’s no question the students all shot better and progressed faster because of the dry work.

Another reason to work dry? You can do things you can’t otherwise do. For example, the last “close quarters” drill we do? Good luck finding a range that will allow you to do that drill. But you can work on that skill dry at home. No, it’s not 100% the same, but it’s better than never practicing the skill at all. Everything we did in class today you can do dry to work on those skills: draw, present, trigger prep, follow through, trigger reset, clearing concealment garments, reloading, moving, one-handed shooting, running the 3 Seconds or Less drill. All can and should be done dry.

Besides… with the rains like it is, many ranges are going to be closed due to conditions (e.g. Austin Rifle Club will probably be flooded since it’s located in a floodplain). Dry work to the rescue!

Otherwise, the usual set of comments apply:

• Slow down. Yes speed matters, but only if you can accomplish what you’re trying to accomplish. No one cares about the first person to get a wrong answer. Spraying and praying, smoking and hoping? It’s only leads to unacceptable hits. Right now you are learning, so slow down. Do it correctly. Slow it down, do it right. The more you do it correctly, the better off you’ll be. Then as it becomes second nature, you will go faster, and be correct and faster. Slow down. Be correct.
• Don’t be married to your equipment. Gun, holster, magazine pouches, whatever. Your gear will affect your skill and abilities. Good gear will help you, bad gear will hinder you. I’m sure some of you in the class with less than optimum gear choices may have seen how, under these circumstances, that gear just isn’t going to fly. I also hope that you’ll be looking for better gear. Here’s the guide to gun selection. If you have other questions about gear, never hesitate to contact us.
• Small guns are hard to shoot. That’s the trade-off for getting a smaller size. However, most people don’t need guns as small as they think they do. Or at least look at it this way: small guns are advanced guns. You are better served by getting a full-sized gun and learning to shoot it well. Build up your skills, lay the solid foundation. When you’re really good with the big gun, then you can start to toy with the small gun. Or, you may find that you don’t really need a small gun. Most people who can conceal a Glock 26 can conceal a Glock 19 just as easily. Circumstances vary from person to person, of course, but most people can conceal a G19 fine and will shoot it a lot better than a G26.
• Complex guns are hard to shoot. Guns with decockers. Guns with double-action/single-action trigger pulls. Guns with all manners of switches and levers. One person had a gun with 3 very similar levers all in a row on the left-side of the gun (I think it was a Taurus): one for takedown, one for slide-lock, one for manual thumb safety… a maze of twisty little levers, all alike. I carried a Springfield XD for years, but I too am starting to agree that the grip safety is just unnecessary. Sure the 1911 design is one thing, but did the XD really need to engineer it in? One person with an XD today drew with a poor grip on his gun and the safety could have missed being depressed and then the gun no workie. Putting on my engineer hat, things should be as simple as they need to be, but no simpler. DA/SA trigger pulls? fails that test. Decocker? fails that test. Thumb safety on non-1911 style guns? fails that test. Why complicate things? You have enough to do already.
• And as I wrote above, dry practice is your friend!

Another good class. Another good group of students…. muddy students, but good students. 🙂

Updated: Tyler Kee was a student in this class and wrote up his experience.

I believe the last entry I made about my M&P was this one, talking about accuracy issues.

Actually no, it was this one. 🙂

But both are important, if you care about backstory.

I ended up ordering sights from Dawson Precision. The rear sight is a Charger fixed rear, black, 0.125″ notch, serrated, item #018-190. Dawson says to match it up with their 0.180″ tall front. But in discussing things with my fellow KR Training instructors, that didn’t seem to wash by experiences and calculations. I ended up getting a fiber optic inserted front sight, 0.170″ tall x 0.100″ wide, item #021-039. So, a hundredth of an inch shorter. May not seem like much, but it matters.

Took me a little while to get them, since the Charger was on backorder. Then it was a matter of getting somewhere to install them. In the end I just took it to McBride’s and had their gunsmiths install it. First time I used them for smith work, and it went OK.

Unfortunately I’ve had no time to take it to the range to see how things perform, until this past Saturday. Was teaching at KR Training, so I knew I could get in a little range time. Alas, because I was teaching, it was truly just a little time. I didn’t have time to sit down and methodically poke at things, set up targets, shoot from distances with different ammos, and see how things performed. But I did get to shoot some, and Karl shot it too.

I mostly shot Speer Gold Dot 9mm 124 grain +P. Shot shy of 100 rounds. Karl had his small steel range fully set up, so I just shot on that range. I had no problems hitting anything I aimed at, from 10 yards to 25+. There’s one “hostage target” that has a 6″ plate that flaps when you hit it, but it’s partially obscured so maybe 4″ or so is actually exposed. Backing up to 25 yards and even a little beyond? No problems hitting it over and over and over again. I switched to some of my practice ammo (my handloads) and there too had no problems hitting things.

At this point, I feel confident enough in the gun and the setup to begin carrying the gun, and so I did. All through classes that Saturday I carried it, and it stayed on my hip on the way home. The XD-9 Service is being put to rest — for now. But I’m still not 100% sold on the M&P.

First, I want to do some more methodical shooting with the gun on paper to see how the groups are behaving. How are things grouping? Where’s point of impact vs. point of aim? etc.

Second, I just need to keep shooting it to see how things go. Just need to collect more data over time in more shooting situations and contexts. Sure I’ve put what now? maybe 1000 rounds or so through the gun? That’s just not enough. It’s not so much confidence in the gun, but ensuring I can accept how the gun performs. If it’s grouping 3-4″ at 25 yards, is that acceptable enough for me, especially when my XD-9 with the factory barrel groups 2.5″ with my handloads? Just have to see how well I can live with the performance. And some may say why would I use the gun then? Well, there’s more to the M&P than just the accuracy. There’s some ergonomic issues that just aren’t as ideal with the XD as the M&P. There’s a lot of factors in play. Only time will tell for me.

But, at least I move along.