Echo40
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A few weeks ago I started seeing some Full-Size M&P45 Police trade-ins pop up online for about $350 and since I had a birthday coming up I decided to buy one as soon as I had the money.
I found myself browsing online day by day, in search of the best deal while simultaneously keeping track of inventory while I waited, and suddenly I encountered an unexpected deal which I could already afford at a price that I just couldn't pass up. A Police trade-in M&P40c complete LNiB for only $269.99! Needless to say, I jumped right on that deal and placed my order immediately on sight.
While it may not be what I was originally looking at, this isn't a case of me settling, not by a long shot! As most of you already know, I am a huge fan of the .40 S&W cartridge, and have actually been wanting an M&P40c for years, but they went completely out of production a couple of years ago, plus the prices on them have been downright ridiculous ever since, often times going for anywhere from $400 to $500 with no box and only two magazines.
My example is in Like New Condition inside and out, with minimal wear on the slide as well as the slide rails, so this pistol obviously wasn't shot very much at all, if ever. Granted, that's not too surprising seeing as the M&P40c is the Compact model which would have served as a backup rather than a primary duty pistol.
As previously mentioned, the M&P40c was completely discontinued around two years ago. First it had simply been replaced by the M&P40 2.0 Subcompact, which was just a revision of the M&P40c with the average M2.0 upgrades, (extended slide rails, enhanced grip texture, and improved trigger) but rebranded as a "Subcompact" because the M2.0 Compact is of equal size to the average "Compact" size of the Glock 19/23, wereas the M&P40c was closer in size to the "Subcompact" G26/27, which lead to some confusion and even a bit of disappointment among those who had purchased one expecting similar size to a G19/23. Personally, I think Smith & Wesson was smart to label it as a "Compact" originally since, let's face it, nobody really considers the G19 to be a Compact Pistol anymore, nor was it ever really worthy of being labeled as a "Compact" for having a ½ inch shortelide/barrel and an inch shorter grip, but I digress...
The most likely reason why it was discontinued in both its original M&P40c and 2.0 Subcompact configuration was due to the fact that it's similar in size to the M&P40 Shield, which as you can see is quite a bit slimmer in width, yet holds nearly as much ammo in the the magazine. (10 rounds vs 7-8 rounds) So the Shield was often times considered to be a superior opinion for Concealed Carry. As someone who has been carrying an M&P40 Shield since 2021, I agree. During warm weather, the Shield is much easier to carry concealed due to its lighter weight and slimmer profile.
However, I would argue that the M&P40c would be better for cold weather concealed carry since the extra width isn't as hard to conceal while wearing heavier clothing, plus it holds more ammo, especially because it can take full-size 15 round M&P40 magazines.
As you can see, the M&P40c is quite a bit smaller than my SW40VE, which holds 14 rounds in the magazine, and carries easily enough in cold weather, but obviously the M&P40c would be even easier to conceal, and I'm sure it's easier to shoot accurately too, considering the SW40VE's notoriously heavy 12lb trigger. Which brings me to the main portion of my little first impressions review here...
The M&P40c has a substantially lighter trigger than the SW40VE, factory rated as 6.5lbs, but my particular example feels a bit lighter than that, although I don't have any devices to measure it precisely just yet.
I've heard that the M&P40c had a mushy, somewhat gritty trigger, but that isn't true of my example, which feels pretty crisp. Granted, I've heard that the M&P40c trigger smooths out with use and also was improved upon in later production models, so it might just be broken in or a newer model. I was able to find a date code on the label which indicates that my M&P40c was produced on September 5th, 2009. However, I'm unaware of when triggers began to improve, so... Yeah. Besides, it's a used LE trade-in, so for all I know it has had a trigger job.
Well, that concludes my first impressions of the M&P40c. I hope you enjoyed reading the review or at least found it informative. I do intend to do a future range report on it, which I know I'm pretty bad at, especially because I don't get out shooting much, but Independence Day is coming up, so I'll most likely do some shooting then.
I found myself browsing online day by day, in search of the best deal while simultaneously keeping track of inventory while I waited, and suddenly I encountered an unexpected deal which I could already afford at a price that I just couldn't pass up. A Police trade-in M&P40c complete LNiB for only $269.99! Needless to say, I jumped right on that deal and placed my order immediately on sight.
While it may not be what I was originally looking at, this isn't a case of me settling, not by a long shot! As most of you already know, I am a huge fan of the .40 S&W cartridge, and have actually been wanting an M&P40c for years, but they went completely out of production a couple of years ago, plus the prices on them have been downright ridiculous ever since, often times going for anywhere from $400 to $500 with no box and only two magazines.
My example is in Like New Condition inside and out, with minimal wear on the slide as well as the slide rails, so this pistol obviously wasn't shot very much at all, if ever. Granted, that's not too surprising seeing as the M&P40c is the Compact model which would have served as a backup rather than a primary duty pistol.
As previously mentioned, the M&P40c was completely discontinued around two years ago. First it had simply been replaced by the M&P40 2.0 Subcompact, which was just a revision of the M&P40c with the average M2.0 upgrades, (extended slide rails, enhanced grip texture, and improved trigger) but rebranded as a "Subcompact" because the M2.0 Compact is of equal size to the average "Compact" size of the Glock 19/23, wereas the M&P40c was closer in size to the "Subcompact" G26/27, which lead to some confusion and even a bit of disappointment among those who had purchased one expecting similar size to a G19/23. Personally, I think Smith & Wesson was smart to label it as a "Compact" originally since, let's face it, nobody really considers the G19 to be a Compact Pistol anymore, nor was it ever really worthy of being labeled as a "Compact" for having a ½ inch shortelide/barrel and an inch shorter grip, but I digress...
The most likely reason why it was discontinued in both its original M&P40c and 2.0 Subcompact configuration was due to the fact that it's similar in size to the M&P40 Shield, which as you can see is quite a bit slimmer in width, yet holds nearly as much ammo in the the magazine. (10 rounds vs 7-8 rounds) So the Shield was often times considered to be a superior opinion for Concealed Carry. As someone who has been carrying an M&P40 Shield since 2021, I agree. During warm weather, the Shield is much easier to carry concealed due to its lighter weight and slimmer profile.
However, I would argue that the M&P40c would be better for cold weather concealed carry since the extra width isn't as hard to conceal while wearing heavier clothing, plus it holds more ammo, especially because it can take full-size 15 round M&P40 magazines.
As you can see, the M&P40c is quite a bit smaller than my SW40VE, which holds 14 rounds in the magazine, and carries easily enough in cold weather, but obviously the M&P40c would be even easier to conceal, and I'm sure it's easier to shoot accurately too, considering the SW40VE's notoriously heavy 12lb trigger. Which brings me to the main portion of my little first impressions review here...
The M&P40c has a substantially lighter trigger than the SW40VE, factory rated as 6.5lbs, but my particular example feels a bit lighter than that, although I don't have any devices to measure it precisely just yet.
I've heard that the M&P40c had a mushy, somewhat gritty trigger, but that isn't true of my example, which feels pretty crisp. Granted, I've heard that the M&P40c trigger smooths out with use and also was improved upon in later production models, so it might just be broken in or a newer model. I was able to find a date code on the label which indicates that my M&P40c was produced on September 5th, 2009. However, I'm unaware of when triggers began to improve, so... Yeah. Besides, it's a used LE trade-in, so for all I know it has had a trigger job.
Well, that concludes my first impressions of the M&P40c. I hope you enjoyed reading the review or at least found it informative. I do intend to do a future range report on it, which I know I'm pretty bad at, especially because I don't get out shooting much, but Independence Day is coming up, so I'll most likely do some shooting then.
