Hi Everyone,

I had my very first experience of using and shooting M&P 9mm, and it was great.

I was also surprised by the length/distance of M&P9 trigger pulls.

After I inserted its magazine (with ammo) and racked the slide to chambered the first round, I had to pull the trigger for some distance before the gun would fire.

However, after the slide was cycled, another ammo was chambered, and the gun was at battery (ready to fire),
I only had to pull the trigger just a little tiny bit, and the gun will fire.
I think that the trigger had to be pulled only for 1mm (or less) before the gun would fire.

The only time that the trigger had a long pull (and had some distance before it fired), it was after I inserted its magazine (with ammo) and racked the slide to chambered the first round.

My questions are:

1.
Is that normal for an M&P9 pistol to have a long initial trigger pull, and then followed by almost no-distance trigger pulls?

2.
Are all M&P pistols like that? Or, are only the California Compliant M&P pistols like that?

Thank you very much.

The short trigger pull is normal for a M&P.

The long trigger first pull/short second pull sounds like a third generation Smith and would not be normal in a new generation M&P.

It feels that way because of the initial take up not trigger pull. The take up is the travel until the trigger bar meets the sear. When you fire a round and release the trigger it is to the reset point. If you were to totally take your finger off the trigger it would feel the same as the first shot. All M&Ps are like that. An apex kit takes care of that though.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk

The trigger pull should, in a properly functioning M&P, be the exact same for each shot, PROVIDED you do not "short-stroke" the trigger by not letting it return fully forward. Some call this "shooting to re-set." Ken Hackathorn and Larry Vickers, two very prominent trainers with about 75 years of training experience between them, call "shooting to re-set" the biggest training scar they are now seeing. Shoot however you like, I suppose, but if you let the trigger return all the way forward after each shot, the trigger should feel exactly the same on each shot.

Thank you so very much everyone.
You guys are awesome. You all read my mind for the things that I forgot to mention :-)

You guys were right.
After the first shot, I did not let the trigger to return all the way forward. As soon as I felt the trigger reset, I held the trigger from moving any more forward, and then just pulled the trigger again.

I will let the trigger return fully forward next time, and see if the length of the trigger pull will be consistent.

Shawn McCarver, did they (Ken Hackathorn and Larry Vickers) say why "shooting to re-set the biggest training scar they are now seeing"?

Thank you so very much again, everyone.

Short stroking a trigger is when the operator fails to let the trigger travel far enough forward to reengage the sear. Short stroking a trigger will give a dead trigger: no shot.

Letting the trigger go far enough forward to engage the sear, usually felt with a click in the trigger and sometimes even audible on some triggers, but not all the way to the forward resting positioning, is the "reset method" of trigger manipulation.

Operators familiar with their two-stage combat trigger manipulation have no problem using the "reset" method. They avoid the unnecessary extra travel forward and back that letting the trigger go all the forward (first stage) produces. The reset method is faster and more accurate for shots subsequent to the first shot because there is less movement of the trigger finger and usually the hand on the grip, and therefore the gun in the hand.

Letting the trigger go all the way forward and then pulling it again through the long, light first stage of the two-stage trigger will decrease both speed and accuracy. It may produce the "same" trigger pull each time, but that is no advantage. The whole point of a two stage trigger is not to produce the same trigger pull each time; it is to produce a more deliberate first shot (in effect, a safety) and faster follow up shots if needed, using only the "second" stage of trigger manipulation for firing instead the first and second stages.

Using the second stage (reset method) only for firing shots subsequent to the first approximates the vaunted single stage trigger for speed and accuracy. The single stage trigger has no perceivable travel distance beyond the sear reset. Single stage triggers are great for accuracy and speed, but a little less safe for some operators in a combat setting.

If an experienced shooter short strokes a trigger, either with a single stage trigger or using the reset method on a two-stage trigger, one simply lets the trigger go forward to reset and fires. It only takes a fraction of a second to correct. I have not seen this to be a problem while shooting and observing others for literally hundreds of thousands of rounds.

The lack of a tactile feeling at sear reset was one of the complaints on the early M&P triggers. It made using the reset method difficult. Apex quickly corrected it with their aftermarket parts, and then S&W made similar changes to the factory trigger setups to give a better, more pronounced "feel" to the sear reset.

There are literally millions of shooters using the reset method to great advantage. I can't imagine there are many accomplished shooters who feel they must let a two stage trigger go all the way forward to the original beginning position for each shot in a fast string. The whole point of having a two stage trigger is to make the first shot slightly more deliberate with the long pull but make subsequent shots faster by only having to engage the second stage to fire the shot.

One practices by firing the first shot and holding the trigger to the rear. After the gun settles and the sights are realigned on the target, maybe one second, the operator slowly release the trigger pressure so the trigger travels forward. He will feel the sear engage, then he starts applying rearward pressure again without letting the trigger go any further forward. Shoot, hold back, release slowly, reset, stroke, repeat slowly. Speed comes gradually after a short time.

CB3, thank you very much for your detailed explanation.