What rock have you been living under. S&W cut ties a long time ago with Walther. Umerex is the German company that makes .22 pistols for many brands, but not S&W anymore. Pot metal is zinc, not many guns made from zinc in the past 40ish years. Aluminum on the other hand, has been used a lot since the 60s.
Future of the new Metal series?
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What rock have you been living under. S&W cut ties a long time ago with Walther. Umerex is the German company that makes .22 pistols for many brands, but not S&W anymore. Pot metal is zinc, not many guns made from zinc in the past 40ish years. Aluminum on the other hand, has been used a lot since the 60s.
Kind of depends. To me, plastic is just a throw away. And it looks cheap. And there's no soul. I own a few but I don't think of them as "heirloom quality firearms". And manufacturers charge way entirely too much for a piece of injection molded plastic.
So, give me a similar metal vs plastic pistol in somewhere near the same price range and the question is "why wouldn't I prefer metal"?
To each their own.
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I agree, there is nothing wrong with plastic. When I hear about frames developing stress cracks, stretching or some other problem it usually involves some sort of aluminum alloy. I prefer steel if weight is not an issue and plastic if it is.
Nothing wrong with aluminum in a properly designed gun but I only own two with aluminum components, a 22 compact with an aluminum slide and an AR.
If someone likes the way metal looks and feels that is 100% subjective and there is no wrong answer. Personally, I think wooden grips look out of place and ugly on stainless steel revolvers and despite people trying to convince me I am wrong nobody has ever succeeded. It's nice S&W provides options.
I have no ill will toward "Plastic." I used to use the M&P Full and compact 40 for duty. Just like your children, you love them all but, maybe one a little more than the other.
The Metal is really not that much more weight to worry about and I believe in the end metal is more durable than plastic. Also, what is not to love about a Metal 45 and a FPC or Response. 
STORMINORMAN
Member
Well, hopefully the metal series won't be going down the road of the Walther versions...
As in a cool $1,599.99 (!) for the PDP Compact with a metal frame...
Cheers!
P.S. There were NEW CZ-75Bs available earlier this week for $499.99!
As in a cool $1,599.99 (!) for the PDP Compact with a metal frame...
Cheers!
P.S. There were NEW CZ-75Bs available earlier this week for $499.99!
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LVSteve
Member
I'm guessing you would like it released as the "4th Gen" pistol.
I'm left shaking my head at the number of people who still grumble about alloy in firearms. Metallurgy is an ever evolving art, and it has come a long way in the last 40 years or so.
There is another factor when it comes to metal versus polymer. I'm pretty sure it easier to make ergonomic grip frames using polymer than metal. Saying "make the Model ABC123 in metal and I'll buy it" may not be achievable at a reasonable manufacturing cost.
Boogsawaste
Member
I own several plastic guns which I have no problems with however after having a 6906 frame crack and S&w giving some extremely low round count for them to be “good” for it has soured me with their aluminum guns. I may not fit the majority, and that’s ok, but I prefer steel. The weight doesn’t bother me and it’s not a recoil issue, but just that 6906 and response from S&w. If I can find the old email response from them I’ll post it but I don’t know if I called them or emailed at that time.
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I feel that way about all semi-autos with aluminum frames, not just S&W. I will still consider an aluminum frame revolver even though I do not currently own one. And I do own a S&W 22 compact which has an aluminum slide on a polymer frame. But its not just S&W that has had issues with aluminum frames, I have heard the same about Sigs too.
If S&W made a steel frame metal version of the M&P compact I would likely buy it as a range and home defense gun. It would be too heavy to carry but the extra weight and lack of flex in the frame would make it easy to shoot well. But I have no interest in the current metal model.
I may be the minority on this, but where is the 40 metal? They can use the same size frame as the 9 and wont really have to change much. It would be the easiest caliber to add to the line up, and I would buy the first one that I saw. 45 and 10mm would be great too and I would definitely buy them if they were available, but those would be more r&d for smith than the 40 would.
Echo40
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The trick with .40 S&W is that as long as there continue to be cheap police trade-ins on the market, nobody is going to buy a new gun chambered in the round.
Seriously, the majority of people — including those who insist that they'd buy it at any cost — are going to change their mind really fast when they see that they can buy a couple SIG P226s, Beretta 96s, CZ-75s, or even an old S&W 3rd Gen for the price of a new M&P40 Metal Frame.
Seriously, the majority of people — including those who insist that they'd buy it at any cost — are going to change their mind really fast when they see that they can buy a couple SIG P226s, Beretta 96s, CZ-75s, or even an old S&W 3rd Gen for the price of a new M&P40 Metal Frame.
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I disagree, I think there are plenty of people that will buy the metal in 40, 45, or 10. I don't think that the price will be too crazy and people will eat it up. Not that I have a viral dislike for any of the others out there, I just really like S&W. As I have stated here, if they had a combo of FPC or Response and a metal in 45 I would be in for both. Would I pay over $3000+, probably not. I don't think that it would be that much without being PC or something like that but, in the 2300-2600 range, yes. I might pay more for a SPEC series combo for that but, it would have to be nice.
Resurrecting an old thread, I'm trying to work out the justification of a Metal M&P for competition use. I've been competing in the last five years with longslide polymer M2.0s and haven't been able to work out whether an aluminum framed gun weighing almost exactly the same would provide any competitive benefit.
If you went with the Spec you may notice a difference, but I would guess the standard Metal wouldn't do much for your split times.
And the Competitor? (I compete with an unported 5" polymer M&P with optics)
Hey hey!!
I just wanted to jump in this thread to agree with all of you… I
my M&P 2.0 in Metal!!! It is just beautiful, shoots great, low recoil, nice texturing and trigger! For its premium price, kinda disappointing that it wasn’t equipped with night sights. Suggestions for night sights on Metal 2.0? Think Dawson was mentioned, i’m not familiar with the company…any other ideas?Are you planning on mounting an optic? If you want to mount an optic besides the direct mount Holosun SCS, you'll want taller sights. Ameriglo has options, as do Night Fision and Trijicon. Height of the factory optics ready/CORE sights is .311" front, .402" rear. Those are currently made by Truglo, but I don't think that they're available in the aftermarket.Hey hey!!
I just wanted to jump in this thread to agree with all of you… I
Dawson Precision and XS Sights have standard height sights that support the CORE rear sight location. More might have come out that I'm not aware of.
