M&P40 Wins Most Innovative Firearm of the Year

[strat81]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071106/latu121.html?.v=83

Press Release Source: Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation

Smith & Wesson M&P40 Wins Most Innovative Firearm of the Year
Tuesday November 6, 4:05 pm ET
Company Wins 2007 Innovation Award Presented at International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: SWHC - News), parent company of Smith & Wesson Corp., the legendary 155-year old company in the global business of safety, security, protection and sport, today announced that it has received the "Most Innovative Firearm of the Year" award for the company's M&P40 polymer pistol. The 2007 Innovation Awards were presented during the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference held October 14-16, 2007 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The 2007 Innovation Awards program is sponsored by Cygnus Business Media's Law Enforcement Group, which publishes Law Enforcement Technology and Law Enforcement Product News, sponsors The Enforcement Expo, and hosts the website http://www.officer.com. The Innovation Awards recognize companies whose products have best responded to the needs of law enforcement professionals by offering creative and forward-thinking features. Each firearm nominated was judged by a distinguished panel of law enforcement personnel on the product's overall contribution to the law enforcement industry, innovative features, ease of use, durability and maintainability.

"Since its launch, the M&P pistol series has been selected or approved for carry in over 247 law enforcement agencies, which represent more than 60,000 officers across the United States," said Leland Nichols, President and Chief Operating Officer of Smith & Wesson Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation. "The M&P Series, which offers ambidextrous features, enhanced ergonomics, and proven reliability, has also been selected by numerous law enforcement and security agencies outside of the United States as well. We are proud and honored to earn this recognition from the men and women serving in the line of duty."

The M&P40 pistol features a Zytel® polymer frame reinforced with a rigid stainless steel chassis and a through-hardened black Melonite(TM) finished stainless steel barrel and slide for durability; a passive trigger safety to prevent the pistol from firing if dropped; and a sear release lever that eliminates the need to press the trigger in order to disassemble the firearm. A loaded chamber indicator is located on top of the slide. The firearm also features an ambidextrous slide stop, three interchangeable grip sizes and a reversible magazine release, as well as an enlarged trigger guard designed to accommodate gloves. The M&P40 has a 15 + 1 capacity and the Smith & Wesson lifetime service policy is standard with each pistol. The M&P pistol series is available in 9mm, .40S&W, .357SIG, and .45ACP calibers. Compact versions of the M&P pistol are also available for concealed carry and back-up use.

About Smith & Wesson

Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation, a global leader in safety, security, protection and sport, is parent company to Smith & Wesson Corp., one of the world's largest manufacturers of quality firearms and firearm safety/security products and parent company to Thompson/Center Arms, Inc., a premier designer and manufacturer of premium hunting rifles, black powder rifles, interchangeable firearms systems and accessories under the Thompson/Center brand. Smith & Wesson licenses shooter protection, knives, apparel, and other accessory lines. Smith & Wesson is based in Springfield, Massachusetts with manufacturing facilities in Springfield, Houlton, Maine, and Rochester, New Hampshire. The Smith & Wesson Academy is America's longest running firearms training facility for law enforcement, military and security professionals. For more information on Smith & Wesson, call (800) 331-0852 or log on to http://www.smith-wesson.com. For more information on Thompson/Center Arms, log on to http://www.tcarms.com.

 

[Taurus44]

Must've been a slow year, then.

Seriously, though... What is so innovative about the M&P that hasn't been done already by Glock and, more recently, Springfield (HS)? I mean, other than the "drop-free-even-when-you-don't-want-them-to" mags and the rust-prone stainless steel.

Oh. I know. It must be the interchangable backstraps!

 

[alucard0822]

I just bought another m&p, this time a 9mm compact. I am mostly a 1911 fan, but for a light, rigid, polymer frame pistol to basically be a holster queen and beater, they are hard to beat for the price.

The M&P fits my hand fairly well, and feels more rigid than the glocks and XDs I have fired. They also seem to have less felt recoil than most other pistols in their class and price range,and point naturally for me.

As far as innovations, well its striker fired, well kinda like a glock, has a black matte coating on top of stainless, ehh kinda like a sig, interchangeable back straps, just like a P99. well? It must be the fish gill serrations, thats gotta be it.

 

[JBP55]

I have owned an M&P 9 for a year and just bought an M&P 45. I have also purchased four Glocks this year. I shoot the M&P slightly better and it has been totally reliable, not one malfunction ever.

 

[joffe]

Innovative? I'm sure it's a good gun, but innovative?

Glock
M&P
XD
SIG 250
HK P30
P99

All have plastic frames, all have tactical microwave attachment rails, all except Glock have adaptable grips, all except HK and SIG have striker pin firing mechanisms. The Glock is decades old. The SIG and HK are basic improvements of decades old design.

How is it innovative? What's so different about it compared to these pistols? Is it because it has the right roll mark on the slide so that LE agencies will be compelled to adopt it? I mean, that is the only thing that stands out that is being mentioned here.

 

[armed85]

It's not that hard to figure out.

When you think of a "cop gun" what comes to your mind? More than likely it's a Colt or Smith & Wesson revolver or a Glock.

Smith & Wesson now makes a handgun that has all the must-have attributes of the Glock with a grip that feels better in most people's hands.

Smith & Wesson have a long history of taking care of police agencies and officers. S&W is setting themselves up for supporting large contracts with LE to the scale that Glock now currently enjoys.

The HS2000 was largely unknown until the marketing machine that is Springfield Armory made it the "Xtreme Duty."

Glock wasn't the first to come out with a plastic gun. Glock wasn't the first to come out with a striker fired gun. Glock was the first that could effectively market such a gun to a very conservative marketplace.

The innovation is in the marketing and not the product. Support and customer service go a long way in reinforcing how "good" the marketing machine made the product sound.

Springfield Armory came close, but Smith & Wesson is the first to market their gun as well as Glock has in the past. That is innovative.