Smith & Wesson's M&P®40 M2.0™

I finally figured out how to get the snow plows to clear our frontage road. Day or night, clear or continuing storm, if I clear the driveway entrance, they will come… and form a towering snow wall across the driveway. What the plow drivers don’t know is that I like to clear those Himalayan like peaks, as it gives me an excuse to rip around on the tractor with the snow blower throwing ice and snow forty feet through the air; man against the elements, armed with horse power and fossil fuel. Good machines are to be appreciated and enjoyed so, when one comes around, you grab it and put it to work. Which takes us to the Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0.

Smith & Wesson’s M&P®40 M2.0
SKU	11595
Manufacturer	Smith and Wesson
Point of Origin	Springfield, MA
Type	Striker
Caliber	40 S&W
Magazine Capacity	15
Barrel	5.0″
Rifling	1:10″
Overall Length	8.3″
Overall Height	5.4″
Overall Width	1.20″
Weight	27.4 Oz.
Sight Radius	7.20″
Trigger Pull – Actual	6 Lbs. 2 Oz.
Rear Sight	Low Profile 2 White Dots
Front Sight	White Dot – Dovetail Mount
Barrel Material	SS – Armornite® Finish
Slide Material	Stainless Steel
Slide Finish	Armornite® Finish
Frame Material	Zytel Polymer
Grip	18° 4 Contours
Manual Safety	Thumb – Ambi
Magazine Disconnect	No
Loaded Chamber Indicator	Yes, Slide Top
MSRP	$599
Supplied with two magazines and hard case

The Smith & Wesson Military & Police product line was introduced in 2005, formally presented at Shot 2006. During its production run, the full size M&P has been chambered for the 9mm Luger, 357 SIG, 40 S&W, and 45 Auto. M&P 2.0 is new for 2017, initially available in 9mm Luger, 40 S&W and 45 Auto configured into nine different models.

Some components of the M&P 2.0 evolution: The 2.0 trigger is greatly improved, significantly lighter pull, more crisp, less creep and, riding the rest, active pull is approximately 1/8″. Reset is short with tactile and audible cues.

S&W states the M&P 2.0 has new aggressive grip texturing. That would be an understatement. It feels about like 60 grit sandpaper… but in a good way and it definitely adds to control, including under rapid fire when the keeping grip continuity is critical.

The 18° human engineered M&P grip is enhanced with four palmswell grip inserts: small, medium, medium large, and large to adapt to palm size and trigger reach. The steel magazine release is reversible to suit right or left hand shooters.

Visible even on the exterior surfaces above the under accessory rail, the M&P’s embedded stainless steel chassis has been extended in M&P 2.0 to reduce flex and the effects of torque when firing.

Sights are low profile, dovetail mounted so easily adjusted for windage and easy to change out for other sight sets. In place of the earlier barrel hood view port is a pop up indicator that offers visual and tactile cues for a loaded chamber. Some folks will whine about this through some contorted logic and highly imaginative criticism but, personally, I find this a useful feature.

Both slide and barrel are stainless steel with an Armornite® durable corrosion resistant finish. I am not usually a Flat Dark Earth (FTD) finish fan, primarily because I live in Maine and we have nothing that matches, but S&W has done a good job on the M&P. Armornite® appears to hold up well, resist scratching and wipes down cleanly. Armornite is a thermo chemical process, not a topically applied coating, that hardens, smoothes and predictably colors the substrate.

All hands are not the same… dramatic picture to follow

As an old guy, my norm was always to buy a firearm and learn to shoot it… adapt to its unique features, trigger pull and form geometry. Most of the time the adjustment worked out well, sometimes the effort was just plain ugly. Today, a more product competitive market place allows shooters to be more demanding and smart manufacturers like Smith and Wesson are more responsive to that demand. Like interchangeable backstraps.

The grips are easy to change. The magazine is removed, the frame tool handle is rotated 90° and pulled free, the backstrap is pulled out and off. While I tend to scoff at any idea implemented after 1960, I took the time to try the various contours and took a few measurements. The grips extend reach and palm swell to different degrees and they do make a different in comfort and control. I settled on the medium large insert and it was with this change I did my best shooting.

Field stripping made easy

The magazine comes out, the backstrap comes off, the slide is locked back, the frame tool is used to tip the sear deactivation lever down, the take down lever is rotated down, the slide is released and eased off the frame. The recoil spring is removed, the barrel is lifted out. A lot of words that interpret into 20 seconds of effort.

Cartridges and live fire. You can wake up now…

After lots of shooting into ballistic gel and hogs with the 9mm Luger, 40 S&W, 10mm Auto, and venerable 45 Auto, I see the 40 S&W as a standout. The 10mm is more powerful, the 45 Auto makes a bigger hole and carries more weight, the 9mm Luger offers higher capacity. Still, as a defensive round, the 40 S&W has more than enough power, certainly makes a big enough wound channel and penetrates well, and if a person needs more than 15+1 rounds and can’t reload the need may be for more training rather than more ammunition. Don’t agree? The M&P is available in 9mm Luger, 40 S&W and 45 Auto.

Range time in deep slow and low temperatures

After a mild winter, the tail end has brought nearly twice as much snow as we had all last winter, 63″ compared to 38″. So regardless the cold and wind, when an opportunity affords itself….

Neither the Ransom Rest or a sandbag rest were set up for testing. The groups were shot with the support of the top the generator’s enclosure, and down the path cleared through a snow field. The level of accuracy and ease of shooting left me with the impression the Smith and Wesson M&P 2.0 a good defensive pistol. It certainly liked the Barnes ammo, but it also performed well with both Hornady and Remington ammunition.

The M&P 2.0 is soft shooting; a combination of full size and controlling grip form and angle. The three dot sight system is easy to pick up, even when the targets are presented against a snow white background. The pistol shot with absolute reliability, without hesitation and without a failure to cycle or fire.

The rear fish scale gripping surface is appreciated, reducing the apparent effort required to overcome the recoil spring when manually chambering a round. The magazine release is positive and stands out just enough to allow thumb pad actuation without getting in the way. The slide is a low profile type, which keeps the bore centerline closer to the grip than many competing brands and subsequently reduces muzzle jump and shortens follow up shot recovery time. It strikes me that the Smith and Wesson 40 2.0 is a strong improvement on an already good firearm.