.40 Cal. Glock vs. .40 Cal. M&P - Accuracy

[Innovative]

I tested (3) Glock 27 .40 cal. handguns and a .40 cal. M&P with several different loads. The M&P consistently came in dead last.

I know that every gun is different. However, I want to give S&W the benefit of testing with a serious accuracy load. I'm not just looking for any load. Does anyone have a load for the M&P that is known to be real accurate?

 

[JEG247]

The Golden Saber JHP 165 grains are pure tac drivers for me with my stock M&P 40

 

[Bobbj22]

My 45c, Shield 40, and Shield 9 are all more accurate than my G23 gen 4. I like Gold Dots or Rangers. To each his own.

 

[rraisley]

Might be more than you're more familiar with the 3 Glocks? I don't think there is anything inherent in the design of the Glock or M&P that would cause an obvious accuracy difference. The M&P's barrels are just fine, and they're tight. Trigger on a stock Glock might be better than a stock M&P, which could make a difference. Mostly, I think it's how you shoot them. While I don't care that much for Glocks, I have shot them, and they're fine guns, but I shoot my M&P better than /I/ have shot Glocks. I doubt it's really an ammo thing.

 

[kablamo]

It's you, not the gun. Flocks must "fit" you better or your more comfortable with them. I had a 3914 that everyone claims is an accurate gun and I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with it. Same thing with my kahr cw9, until I learned the trigger and now it's a tack driver. I shot a 40c and a 9c yesterday and could not tell a diff with accuracy. Both, when emptying a magazine had a group of one big hole at 21ft

 

[SPEEDGUNNER]

Although I enjoy shooting both guns, and alternate carry with each of them, I find my M&P .40 to be far more accurate than my Glock 23. The M&P is a little bigger, the G23 holds 2 rounds less, but I know that I always have an adequate amount of firepower that can be delivered on target if need be with either one.

 

[markerbeacon]

I tested (3) Glock 27 .40 cal. handguns and a .40 cal. M&P with several different loads. The M&P consistently came in dead last.

I know that every gun is different. However, I want to give S&W the benefit of testing with a serious accuracy load. I'm not just looking for any load. Does anyone have a load for the M&P that is known to be real accurate?

I have a M&P 40C, M&P Shield (9mm & 40 S&W) Glock 19, 23, 27, 30 and 36.

All shoot better than me.

 

[robkarrob]

I would be willing to bet those guns are all more accurate than any of us are at shooting them. Unless a gun is just plain worn out, they should all be accurate. Now they will all have variances as to point of aim and point of impact. If you could lock down all of the guns in a bench rest, you would see all tight groups from each gun. The bench rest removes the human factors out of the equation. Just trigger control alone can make a huge difference in POI.


Bob

 

[Innovative]

Seven replies so far, and only one shooter answered the question.
Does anyone have a load for the M&P that is known to be real accurate?

(Don't worry, this isn't a Glock vs. S&W question.)

I'd just like to know if the M&P might prefer heavier bullets. Who knows which bullets usually perform best in the M&P?

- What bullet weight?
- What manufacturer?
- What velocity?

 

[M29since14]

If you can find them - and can afford a box - try the Winchester 155 gr Silvertip hollow-point. If these will not shoot in your M&P40, I would say "good luck."

I do not know what ammunition S&W uses when they test their M&Ps. Might call and see if you can find out.

 

[red_12]

I'd be curious to see what I come up with here. I prefer my G27 to the Shield40, as far as accuracy and a couple other things, but have not fired the shield anywhere near as much.

 

[kudzu3]

I've never fired a handgun that wasn't more accurate than me, but I do shoot some better than others. It's most likely you, not the gun or the ammo. That said, Glock is an easy gun for me to shoot accurately, I like 'em.

 

[Rastoff]

I understand that you're looking for a load, but in order to properly help, we need to know if your accuracy issues are you or the load. Without this info ant loading info is a waste of time.

When testing, did you shoot off hand or from a bench rest?

 

[M29since14]

He's not asking for shooting advice, or comments about whether he appears to handle one make of gun better than the other. He's just asking for the most accurate .40SW round you know about in S&W M&Ps.

Over the last fifteen to twenty years or so I have fired a lot of .40SW handguns and all of them seemed to do very well with Winchester's STHP, for some reason. The M&P40s I have shot continued that tradition. They outshot Winchester's newer "Ranger" ammunition in both 165-gr and 180-gr weights by a considerable margin. Ditto my old stock of Federal Hydra-shoks in both 155-gr and 180-gr., and Remington's GS HPs, but I cannot recall which weight.

I have also experimented with different inexpensive .40SW factory loads and not found any that are particularly good shooters in my M&P40. I have not seen a lot of difference in Remington and Winchester offerings, but for the time being I would put Federal's Champions at the bottom of the list.

That's uncharacteristic of Federal's products, in my experience. The last batch of .40SW Federal Champions I bought shot poorly in my guns, and did not even function particularly well. I extracted one round from my M&P that had a bullet pushed back into the case more than enough to be noticeable - and a bit alarming. The bullets in this particular lot had an odd appearance that reminded me of plated bullets. I am not saying they were plated, but the bullets' surface did not have a smooth, drawn appearance like one expects with a jacketed bullet. Not used to that kind of stuff with Federal ammunition.

 

[1sailor]

The most accurate load/bullet combo I've found has been a Hornady 12gr. xtp on top of 4.6gr of Universal powder. The second most accurate (but very close) has been Berry's plated 124gr HBFP on top of 4.2gr. of Universal. Either of these will print a 10 shot group of about 2" or less at 50ft from a sitting position. I can load with the Berry's for about $6.75 a box.
Sorry, I just realized I listed my favorite load when shooting 9mm out of my M&P40. However, when shooting plain jane federal 180gr FMJ at the same range, same sitting position, I still come in at about 3" mol with 10 round groups.

 

[Titegroups]

Like has been stated thousands of times theres not enough inherent difference between them to make a substaintial difference for their intended use. Nobody uses them for serious target work, you have to ask yourself why.

 

[S&W1006]

I reload for my M&P 40 and it does not shoot light bullets well. Heavier bullets 165 170 or 180 seem to work best for me.

 

[rraisley]

He's not asking for shooting advice, or comments about whether he appears to handle one make of gun better than the other. He's just asking for the most accurate .40SW round you know about in S&W M&Ps.

That's true, but he's asking because of what I (and some others) think is a bad assumption: that the M&P, or M&P+ammo combination, is less accurate than the Glock. While there certainly are differences in ammo, I think if you shot and recorded them all using a quality rest, you'd find that the difference in them is far less than the variation in the way we shoot them. In other words, the most accurate ammo in the world will not make up for bad shooting. And that bad shooting can be caused by inexperience, or dislike, of a given firearm.

Another way of putting it, for me at least, is that every single cartridge make I have tried is more accurate than I am (on an M&P-style gun). I suspect that is the case with most/many.

But sure, suggest other, possibly better, ammo. I'm guessing that there won't be much of a difference.

 

[David White]

Hornady TAP PD is a very accurate loading. It can be had in a variety of flavors, 180 , 165(?), 155.
It is "touted" as low flash, crimped for consistent accuracy.
I shoot the 180 grain and it has been very consistent in its POI.
Give it a shot!

 

[CrossRifles2008]

Something tells me the problem is you. Your better fitted for a Glock. Nothing wrong with that, but its not fair to us one shooter. I've beaten full size Glocks and 1911s against other shooters with my 40c in fun completion. Doesn't mean my 40c is defiantly more accurate, but it does mean its plenty accurate enough for me.