Glocks vs. M&P

CB3

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For a long time I exercised my freedom of choice to hate Glocks for the common reasons, despite knowing they are perfectly fine handguns. I love my two full sized 9mm M&P's and two 9mm Shields, and I carry one size or the other exclusively AIWB.

I bought my son a G19 as a gift about five years ago because he wanted it. I borrowed it about two years ago and shot about 100 rounds at the range.

Well, Stupid, I shot it just fine and kind of even liked it. My mini-prejudices were pretty much unfounded.

I went out and bought a tricked out G19-4 with an RMR mounted. I've shot it well, but I've had some intermittent problems with the trigger. I also bought a used G17 and mounted an RMR. No problems with that one.

So, my last three range trips involved shooting the two Glocks. I replaced all the trigger components in the G19 with standard stuff and tested it. Worked fine. I shot the G17 afterward, putting a total between the two of about 200 rounds accurately onto targets at 7 and 10 yards.

Then I shot my full size RMR M&P 9mm for the first time in a few weeks--having only shot the Glocks for the last 500 or so rounds.

What a PLEASURE! I noticed a significant difference in the feel of the gun, the trigger, recoil and accuracy. It didn't hurt that I accidentally loaded my carry magazine of 17 Barnes TAC-XPD 115 grn hollow points and shot them instead of cheap 115 grn FMJ range ammo.

At seven yards shooting two handed, slow fire, I put five rounds into a little line less than 1/2” long (center to center), and when I moved to 10 yards I put 10 rounds into just over 1”.

I love my M&P!

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Now if I can just stop dropping one shot every time in Rastoff's Challenge I will feel like an accomplished shooter.
 
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I like them both but I do really like the trigger on my performance center shield 40 but I like the gen 4 glock 19


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I've been waiting on the M2.0 CORE or some form of RDS cut and hoping S&W would read the writing on the wall and make one in 10mm. I've had two G41's with RDS on them. They shot fine, but didn't measure up to what I'm seeing in the M2.0 M&P's.
 
OK, but how does a Glock M40 10mm long slide MOS compare to S&W's..... well, nothing.

Yes S&W, I'm TALKING TO YOU!

I can't say for sure why Glock comes out with other models with very, very low popularity and sales when other manufacturers will not. I suspect it is a profit based decision.

S&W is a publicly traded company that is responsible to its shareholders for making profits. Given the ups and downs of guns sales, S&W cannot really count on good times continuing. Investing in an unprofitable line of low volume handguns does not make business sense. The design and development, tooling investment, parts stocking, marketing and packaging expenses make launching a new pistol a volume-based decision. Re-tooling machines that are volume profitable to make a few hundred different pistols every once in a while adds great expense because there is also the lost opportunity of not making the profitable guns.

OTOH, Glock is a privately held company and can play with its profits as it sees fit. It is doing fine, consistently, with its core products. This gives it more flexibility.
 
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I too know Glocks are good guns.

Two of my friends suggested that I buy a G36 .45 auto and I did. I wanted a small carry .45 auto.

I never got through a box of 50 rounds without it jamming 3-4 times.
Both of my friends who are experienced gun people tore it apart, cleaned and lubed it and told me it was perfect. It still jammed so I gave it to a friend.

I now have a M&P .45 auto, its never been cleaned since it left the factory and has had 100s of rounds fired through it and it has yet even have a minor hick up.

I know Glocks are great guns and will fire millions of rounds without ever jamming but one was enough for me.
 
I’m not anti Glock or any brand; but with my only handgun experience being the past 7 years and all MP’s (not counting my 22’s) the SW feels best in my hand. Thats what i am used to.
So last year at a Sheriff citizen academy when I had the chance to use their Glocks it gave me a brief idea on them. Didnt feel bad, yet I could tell it wasnt what I was used to so didnt shoot it near as well as my own full size MP.
I am sure if i spent time with one I could adapt; I just haven't had any reason Not to buy SW’s.
 
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I too know Glocks are good guns.

Two of my friends suggested that I buy a G36 .45 auto and I did. I wanted a small carry .45 auto.

I never got through a box of 50 rounds without it jamming 3-4 times.
Both of my friends who are experienced gun people tore it apart, cleaned and lubed it and told me it was perfect. It still jammed so I gave it to a friend.

I now have a M&P .45 auto, its never been cleaned since it left the factory and has had 100s of rounds fired through it and it has yet even have a minor hick up.

I know Glocks are great guns and will fire millions of rounds without ever jamming but one was enough for me.

Over the years, I've owned a couple of G36's. I can't say I ever had a problem with either of them, but I didn't feel there was sufficient magazine capacity without a magazine extension, which made the pistol too long in the grip for me to feel comfortable concealing. Others I've known had several problems with them.

I bought the 8 shot M&P 45C (M1.0) and was quite pleased with it; both in the way it shot and concealment. However, once the Shield .45 became available, I got one and have found my perfect concealed carry .45; right size, decent capacity even with the extended 7-shot magazine, good accuracy and ergonomics. It complements my full-size M&P 4.5" .45.
 
+10 on APEX Upgrades

Very similar to the OP, I have the full-size 4.25" MP9 M2.0 with both the complete flat-faced trigger upgrade and the upgraded APEX barrel. WOW! What a difference! Nothing actually bad with these OEM parts, though I do have to say that fitting the APEX barrel is light-years ahead of the OEM.

That said, I did have to return my barrel to get the throat properly adjusted 1.142" for 147XTP bullets, the longest round that I planned on using. APEX was more than happy to re-bore the throat as long as I sent in a dummy round. All said and done... PERFECT!

The last image shows the barrel fit BEFORE the throat adjustment, compared with the OEM barrel. What should be noted here is the actual fit of the OEM barrel hood and APEX barrel. The OEM barrel hood-fit is angled and poorly fit IMO.

And as far as accuracy, it is more consistently accurate than I am... ;) Oh, and did I mention the ~2lb trigger pull and short reset?! Wow, just wow!
 

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My problem with Glocks begins and ends with the "Luger Grip Angle" Gaston Glock chose to copy. Sure, I can tilt the barrel down and aim with the Glock sights fine, but when point shooting (which I use a lot) it is just another thing to slow me down. And when I get in a hurry, I shoot the Glocks high compared to any of the other popular pistols, including M&Ps.
If only someone had started Gaston out on the Browning HP...…….
 
I carried a 1911 for probably 26 of my 36+ yrs as a cop. Since retiring I have a Shield 9, a custom Browning Hi Power, 3 CZ's and a Gen 4 Glock 19. I train quite a bit with a couple of cops and for the last 4 years I was teaching at a high end resort in CO where we put hundreds of guests through our shoots. I carry my shield quite a lot but find that I shoot my Glock 19 more than almost anything else. I put an Overwatch flat faced trigger in it, Vickers sights and a (Grip Force Adapter) which changes the grip angle to make it point more like a 1911. It just runs and is totally reliable. I have shot thousands of rounds through it with no issues. I sort of have a love hate relationship with it. I hate the finger groves. I need to try an M&P 2.0 I guess.
 
Ever since I bought my very first M&P around 2006, Glock has not even existed to me. The M&Ps are so far superior to them that I sold all the Glocks I had at the time and have never even considered looking back. I know have about a dozen M&Ps and will never get rid of them. Team M&P all the way for me!
 
Glocks vs. M&P

This year I shot quals with Shield9(23) then borrowed a 43x and shot again(23) having never held a 43x let alone shot it .

With practice I might be a bit better with Glock but doubt it’s enough to matter, a quality gun for CC is my goal so either will work.



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When asked, I generally suggest an M&P to our recruits. The Glocks have been successful and have worked well for most agencies, but the M&Ps seem to fit most people better and shoot softer. I have a longer term relationship with Glocks, and some other reasons to stick with them, but certainly either is a good choice. If I were getting a duty weapon, it would be some variant of the M&P with a RDS, most likely an RMR.

I have seen indications of the smaller Glocks not working as well as the full size and compact Glocks. My 33 works fine (but I don't shoot it all that often - it is just unpleasant), but my 26 (since traded) was not as good as the 17s have been.
 
Interesting post and CB3's thoughts on things are always interesting. About a year ago I shot a friends G19x. Loved it, so was considering one when the G45 came out. Bought a G45 and no regrets. My Pro 5 has a really nice trigger, but its an Apex duty that I had to buy and install. The G45 stock trigger is great and I just hammer the target.
Glad I get to have more than one option.
My Shield 1.0 with apex is way better than any G43 I've shot.
 
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Over the years, I've owned a couple of G36's. I can't say I ever had a problem with either of them, but I didn't feel there was sufficient magazine capacity

I'm sure mine was the one bad one. I still wont ever buy another Glock.

I knew how many rounds it held when I bought it, not an issue for me.

It holds more than the revolver I carry.
 
I was a complete GlockTard from 1991 until 2018. I have easily 60K rounds through various Glocks I have owned, 17, 19, 26, 21.

In 2018 I tried a M&P 2.0 full size and that did it for me. I had tried and liked the 1.0 back in 2012 or something but the trigger was just not there and at the time a few friends of mine had 1.0 with various issues, mostly accuracy.

After doing some research I found out the 2.0 cured the 1.0 issues and decided to get my first M&P 2.0. It started with the 4.25 and I fell in love with it.

I did have "shooting low" issues when I first got it. After shooting Glocks for so long I was pointing down. I can easily go back to Glocks because of muscle memory but if I draw and quick shoot I will shoot high with a Glock now. I ended up getting rid of my Glocks over the last year and a half. I can't and don't want to go back and forth and change up my grip angle etc. I gave my last G17 to my oldest son.

IMHO the M&P is better in every way. With the 2.0 I only replace the sights, the trigger is fine by me. I never replaced my triggers in my Glock's either. I only changed out the connector bar for the Glock OEM minus connector.

The only thing I miss about Glocks is the ease of taking them all the way down. No need to remove the rear sight or push out a roll pin to take the slide all the way down.
 
If you like Glocks and you like Smith & Wesson, then you should check out the Sigma series of pistols, since they're essentially just Glocks with a S&W twist.

In fact, the Gen 1 Sigmas were so close to Glocks that Glock sued them for patent infringement, which ultimately ended in them settling out of court, with S&W agreeing to pay Glock royalties on Sigmas sold and that later generations would be redesigned to no longer infringe on Glocks patents.

Many folks argue that the modern iteration of the Sigma known as the SD(#VE) Series isn't part of the Sigma Series, but visually speaking it's basically a Gen 3 Sigma given its visual similarities to the Gen 2 Sigmas, and many parts between the Gen 2 Sigmas and SD Series are interchangeable. (You can even swap the slides, frames, and barrels between them.)
 
I carried a Glock (17/22/23) for 23 years as an issued duty weapon. They were reliable, durable, low maintenance and sufficiently accurate. Now retired I put my 23 that was given to me upon retirement in the safe, they were never a good fit in my hands. I now stick with my Shield (primary), M&P 40 pro, and 1911 simply because they are a better fit for me.

I'll not criticise the Glock. The odds are someone else's shoes won't fit me either.
 

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