Yesterday, I traded in my Gen 3 Glock 17 for a used, but like new M&P 9 Pro 5" at my favorite LGS. I had the flock for a while, and I could shoot it reasonably well, however the grip design never really grew on me, feeling a bit too big in my hand. As such, I did some looking around at other options, considering both the Beretta APX, and the H&K VP9 as well. I was leaning toward the VP9, having demoed one last week, but then I spotted the M&P 9 Pro in the gun case. I immediately liked the feel in my hand over the Glock, in addition to what I consider to be a superior trigger pull, break and reset. As this is strictly a range competition gun for me, I considered the 5" barrel to be a plus, not to mention a superior set of sights, and the fact that it came with the original case, paperwork, backstraps, and 4 mags for a total price of $430 OTD, less the trade value of the G17, was what ultimately sealed the deal.
Now, for those of you who saw my story about a purchase that went bad about a month ago over in the revolver forums, on this gun I did an extra thorough inspection before purchase, though the LGS I was dealing with this week is always beyond helpful if and when something goes wrong or I find damage on the gun after the fact, not to mention that every firearm they sell gets inspected by their gunsmith before being out out for sale, so an extra thorough inspection was not really necessary. Anyway, as I stated above the gun is like new, showing almost no wear at all, save for light copper fouling in the bore, and that's about it. The exterior finish was near perfect, and there were very little signs of use on the gun. The mags told a different story however: The light grey followers showed plenty of wear marks, so I know the gun must have been used a fair bit.
My choice was proved correct, as an afternoon range trip yielded much tighter grouping than I was ever able to shoot with the Glock, and I am very happy with this gun.
As to my questions: I dove into the SCSW 4th edition to glean any info on this model I could, including manufacture date. According to the book, the date code on the box should be telling, and mine showing 032316, suggests a build date of March 23 2016, which is supported by the serial number prefix HML in the dates by serial number section of the book as well. The book however does state that the particular model I have, SKU # 178048 was only produced from 2010-2014, despite the date code, and S&W's website still offering them for sale (I think). Can someone please confirm to me whether I am interpreting the date code wrong? I had thought that the M&P 9 CORE had replaced the M&P 9 Pro, as the book indicates, however I may be mistaken.
Also, I might try IDPA in my free time this summer, and I am looking for a suggestion for a good holster. I have found a lot of holsters for the M&P 9, but none for the 5" so far.
This is my first M&P pistol, however not my first S&W semi-auto, so any and all other pertinent info is appreciated. Thanks.
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Now, for those of you who saw my story about a purchase that went bad about a month ago over in the revolver forums, on this gun I did an extra thorough inspection before purchase, though the LGS I was dealing with this week is always beyond helpful if and when something goes wrong or I find damage on the gun after the fact, not to mention that every firearm they sell gets inspected by their gunsmith before being out out for sale, so an extra thorough inspection was not really necessary. Anyway, as I stated above the gun is like new, showing almost no wear at all, save for light copper fouling in the bore, and that's about it. The exterior finish was near perfect, and there were very little signs of use on the gun. The mags told a different story however: The light grey followers showed plenty of wear marks, so I know the gun must have been used a fair bit.
My choice was proved correct, as an afternoon range trip yielded much tighter grouping than I was ever able to shoot with the Glock, and I am very happy with this gun.
As to my questions: I dove into the SCSW 4th edition to glean any info on this model I could, including manufacture date. According to the book, the date code on the box should be telling, and mine showing 032316, suggests a build date of March 23 2016, which is supported by the serial number prefix HML in the dates by serial number section of the book as well. The book however does state that the particular model I have, SKU # 178048 was only produced from 2010-2014, despite the date code, and S&W's website still offering them for sale (I think). Can someone please confirm to me whether I am interpreting the date code wrong? I had thought that the M&P 9 CORE had replaced the M&P 9 Pro, as the book indicates, however I may be mistaken.
Also, I might try IDPA in my free time this summer, and I am looking for a suggestion for a good holster. I have found a lot of holsters for the M&P 9, but none for the 5" so far.
This is my first M&P pistol, however not my first S&W semi-auto, so any and all other pertinent info is appreciated. Thanks.
Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
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),so I can tell you it's at least not modified to that point, though it may have a spring kit in it. All I can say is that it definitely has what I would call a clean break with, and fairly short reset. I will stand by my assertion that it is better than the G17, and will also offer that I am primarily a DA revolver guy, so my version of a great trigger may differ from yours. In that realm, compared to my model 28-2 with a SA pull of a scary 1.5-2 lbs (it's been performance tuned and polished) with no take-up at all, I'd judge, by feel alone, that the trigger pull on the 9 Pro is around 5 lbs, with only a tiny amount of take-up, which is acceptable to me. 
