Smith and Wesson’s Performance Center’s M&P40 Shield… Part 2

There was nothing exceptional in the reloading process. No real compressed loads, all bullets received a tapered crimp to accommodate headspacing on the 40 S&W case mouth. Shooting was uneventful other than Blue Dot’s heavy residue production. Ambient outdoors was 9°F, but both chronograph and ammunition were kept inside at 68°F and shot in small batches. Targets were set at 50 feet. I did not shoot 200, five shot groups of each load to please junior engineers with a statistical fixation. I shot three rounds of each to validate chronograph readings and and five shots from a rest for each round to establish a sense of load accuracy. My advice is that if you can’t derive a sense of a combination’s accuracy with a five shot group, it might be time to find another pastime.

The Smith and Wesson Performance Center M&P40 Shield… 2.0, is a highly controllable compact pistol; due to a combination of porting and grip size and contour. The extended magazine, pictured, is a significant help, but the short magazine is not bad either. Porting? Didn’t really notice other than minimal muzzle jumps and a little dragon smoke with a particularly dirty powder…. like Blue Dot. The sights are terrific; fast, bright and high contrast. Very nice 40 S&W and a cut above most others.