[jbeltz7]

I have been looking at these for months and finally found one for <$500. This is my first DAO auto and after reading the manual I still have a couple concerns.

How safe is this thing with a loaded chamber? With no external safety and a light trigger pull (compared to a revolver) I would be uncomfortable throwing this in the glove box with a round in the tube. I'm hoping I'm missing something.

Can I dry fire without damaging the firing pin?

Did an abbreviated search with no luck.

TIA

[Technosavant]

1) It's no less safe than any Glock. This may not fill you with warm fuzzies, but keep it mind that it will not fire unless the trigger is pulled. Keep it in a quality holster and keep your booger hook off the bang switch, and you're good. I'd have no problems at all carrying one, and eventually I plan to acquire one.

2) I think it is OK to dry fire it, but I am not 100% certain. You can always contact S&W if you want it straight from the source. There is also a M&P forum somewhere on the net, but I do not have the URL.

[raz-0]

don't pull the trigger, and it won't go boom. This means be careful holstering the pistol, and I'd probably think twice about chuking a naked gun in the junk drawer while loaded.

As for dry firing, according to the FAQ on S&W's website, it says you can dry fire anything but their rimfire guns.

Myself, i ahve an M&P and I dry fired the heck out of it, and broke a striker after about 2500 "rounds."

I got the striker replaced, and I've got about 1000 "rounds" on it so far in dryfire. So the jury is still out. There were only a couple other folks with my problem, so it might have been a few bum pieces with a metqallurgical flaw of some sort.

[psyopspec]

I wouldn't throw it in the glove compartment loaded unless it was in a holster that completely covered the trigger guard.

[mete]

Keep it in a holster !...In the fine old Alec Guiness movie "Our Man in Havana" , he asks the police chief [Ernie Kovacs] if he carries his gun loaded.Kovacs replies " The kind of enemies I have don't permit me the time to load !! " The gun is a 1911 with ivory grips with the Cuban flag engraved.

[The Lone Haranguer]

It has an internal firing pin lock safety, which will prevent it from firing if struck, dropped, thrown, etc. And the hinged trigger also functions as a safety, helping to ensure that nothing but your finger fully wrapped around it and exerting deliberate pressure should be able to fire it.

The latter is really the key to this whole thing. ;)

[JesterXD40]

take a look at http://www.budsgunshop.com they have them for cheap.

[jbeltz7]

Thanks for all the responses.

Just got back from the range and the M&P is a blast to shoot. Recoil is not a factor. I shot 50 target 165 grain loads and 15 165 grain Federal Personal Defense Hydro-Shock loads and noticed no difference. I'm shooting 4" low and not sure if it is the factory sights or me not controlling the double-action pull, my guess is the later but will need to sandbag to be sure.

Range guy said the same as you, needs to be holstered for truly safe carry. Just a habit I'll need to developed.

If faced with a bad guy, based on the perceived power, I would still prefer my Colt 1911 or .357 mag. hopefully I'll never have to test that theory. Mute point anyway because as soon as my wife shoots the M&P it will no longer be my pistol.

Based on research I've kept the Federal Hydro loaded in all our Personal Defense handguns for the last 15 years. Any reason I should reconsider with the .40 cal??

[raz-0]

If you have good sized hands and you are consistantly low, try the large grip insert.

[psyopspec]

Based on research I've kept the Federal Hydro loaded in all our Personal Defense handguns for the last 15 years. Any reason I should reconsider with the .40 cal??

Nope. Federal makes quality defense ammo and is one of many good choices out there today. Just a side note, have you had the same ammo in the guns since 1991? If so it might not be a bad idea to rotate it out.

[SouthpawShootr]

Just a side note, have you had the same ammo in the guns since 1991? If so it might not be a bad idea to rotate it out.

A very good point. I shoot off my carry ammo once a year or as close to that as possible. Same SOP as with several of our local PDs. Good enough for cops, good enough for me. Realistically, once every 2 years should be ok.

I bought an M&P a few months ago. I really need to get out to the range with it. It's not my carry gun yet, but who knows.

[Coronach]

One thing you might want to consider, if you have an M&P in .40 S&W...

Rotating out carry ammo can help prevent bullet setback, which is due to constantly chambering and unchambering the top two rounds in your magazine. Bullet setback can lead to increased pressures, which can, in turn, lead to kaBOOMs. .40S&W is thought to be a very pressure sensitive round. You do the math.

I'm no expert in reloading or in analyzing the catastrophic spontaneous disassembly of handguns, but I fully plan to rotate out my duty ammo monthly, if not weekly, when I get issued my M&P40.

Of course, this is due less to concerns about kBs than it is about getting a read on reliability with my duty ammo. It's also worth mentioning that I don't actually have to pay for my duty ammo. :cool:

Mike