The Smith & Wesson M&P was introduced in 2005 as the company’s push into the blossoming world of polymer handguns. It’s a short, recoil-operated, semi-auto using a Browning-type locking system. It features a unique take-down method that doesn’t require a dry-fire pull of the trigger, for added safety.
Intended for the law enforcement market, (and where such Duty Pistols always wind up in the Action games) it featured three interchangeable back strap inserts to allow the shooter to achieve a proper trigger reach for their hand size; a new concept at the time. It provided a light gun weight, high capacity magazine, with a crisp and relatively short, trigger pull. I received one of the first writer’s test models and (in the interest of full disclosure) I instantly fell in love with the gun! To throw a few over-used cliches into the mix—“It fit my hand like a comfortable old glove and was as smooth to handle as a well-used bar of soap.”
The M&P M2.0 dropped at 2017 SHOT Show in Vegas, boasting a host of small refinements that added up to a seriously improved version of the original. Your faithful scribe got her hands on a basic black M&P M2.0 in 9 mm to test. Since I carried an original M&P 9 mm for many years, I was curious to see what changes Smith & Wesson made to the platform.