I sold my full size M&P 22 to fund the purchase of the compact model. I had a little over 10,000 rounds through the full size, and I loved shooting it, but I liked that the compact was made by S&W (and in my mind would be supported by them for longer than the Walther made full sized) and I liked that the compact had adjustable sights.
Cons:
It feels really small. The full size didn't really feel any different to me than my M&P 9 Pro. The compact feels tiny by comparison, it's more like a shield. I knew that logically going in (it's called the compact for a reason dummy) but holding and shooting it is going to take a little getting used to.
Pros:
Just about everything else.
The sights:
I'm not a huge fan of three dot sights, so I'll probably black them out.. But there are quite a few who complained about the black rear sight on the full size, so here are the dots if you want them. The adjustable rear sight is huge if you want to do paper target shooting. The full sized was fine for steel targets, but if you want to hit the center of the x ring, there wasn't a lot of adjustment you could do. It's not a bullseye gun obviously, but the adjustable sights help considerably.
The takedown:
Pulling out the takedown lever on the full size took a lot of force when it was new. I had to use a flat head screwdriver for leverage for the first 2,000 rounds or something before the darn thing would come out easily. The compact just turns downward like a normal M&P. The captive recoil spring is a nice touch too and makes reassembly one step easier.
Ammo consumption:
The full size could be picky with ammo. Mine hated Winchester ammo with a passion, and wouldn't reliably shoot any flavor of it. Federal worked pretty good, but it'd choke on it a few times out of a hundred. On the Compact's first trip the range, I shot 350 rounds of five brands through it and didn't have a single failure of any kind.
100 rounds of CCI Mini Mags 36 grain HP
100 rounds of Remington Golden
50 rounds of American Eagle 40 grain
50 rounds of Aguila Super Extra
50 rounds of Winchester White Box HP
The fact that this gun shot Winchester white box after the full sized couldn't make it through a mag of the stuff without choking, really made me happy that I traded the full sized for the compact.
The trigger:
This gun really has a good trigger. It's got a good, clean break and a tactile reset that was easy for me to feel. It's no Apex FSS kit, but it felt good. I'd say it's definitely better than the full sized trigger.
I look forward to many more range trips with this gun! Hopefully I'll get as much usage out of this one as it's full sized predecessor.. But with less ammo related woes.
Cons:
It feels really small. The full size didn't really feel any different to me than my M&P 9 Pro. The compact feels tiny by comparison, it's more like a shield. I knew that logically going in (it's called the compact for a reason dummy) but holding and shooting it is going to take a little getting used to.
Pros:
Just about everything else.
The sights:
I'm not a huge fan of three dot sights, so I'll probably black them out.. But there are quite a few who complained about the black rear sight on the full size, so here are the dots if you want them. The adjustable rear sight is huge if you want to do paper target shooting. The full sized was fine for steel targets, but if you want to hit the center of the x ring, there wasn't a lot of adjustment you could do. It's not a bullseye gun obviously, but the adjustable sights help considerably.
The takedown:
Pulling out the takedown lever on the full size took a lot of force when it was new. I had to use a flat head screwdriver for leverage for the first 2,000 rounds or something before the darn thing would come out easily. The compact just turns downward like a normal M&P. The captive recoil spring is a nice touch too and makes reassembly one step easier.
Ammo consumption:
The full size could be picky with ammo. Mine hated Winchester ammo with a passion, and wouldn't reliably shoot any flavor of it. Federal worked pretty good, but it'd choke on it a few times out of a hundred. On the Compact's first trip the range, I shot 350 rounds of five brands through it and didn't have a single failure of any kind.
100 rounds of CCI Mini Mags 36 grain HP
100 rounds of Remington Golden
50 rounds of American Eagle 40 grain
50 rounds of Aguila Super Extra
50 rounds of Winchester White Box HP
The fact that this gun shot Winchester white box after the full sized couldn't make it through a mag of the stuff without choking, really made me happy that I traded the full sized for the compact.
The trigger:
This gun really has a good trigger. It's got a good, clean break and a tactile reset that was easy for me to feel. It's no Apex FSS kit, but it felt good. I'd say it's definitely better than the full sized trigger.
I look forward to many more range trips with this gun! Hopefully I'll get as much usage out of this one as it's full sized predecessor.. But with less ammo related woes.
