Glock 17 vs. M&P 9?

Glock 17 RTF vs. S&W M&P 9

A couple days ago, the Vuurwapenblog responded to GunNuts Media blogger Shelley Sargent's question: Why the M&P?. Shelley eloquently highlights some of the advantages of the M&P over the Glock, including truly ambidextrous controls, interchangeable backstraps to accommodate different sized hands, and location of manufacture.

I own both, and having put many rounds through multiple copies of both models (and with all due respect to Shelley, whom we at 10-8 hold in high regard,) I have to side with the Vuurwapen blogger on this one, mainly due to the accuracy issues of the M&P 9mm. With nearly any box stock Glock 17, I can hold better than three inches at 25 yards using factory ammunition. With most M&Ps, my groups at the same distance using the same ammunition is around eight inches.

To add insult to injury, most M&Ps come with nearly unusably bad triggers out of the box. The end user must either send the pistol back to the S&W Performance Center for a sear upgrade, or purchase the excellent Apex Tactical Hard Sear to have a pistol with a decent trigger. Glocks consistently come with workable triggers right out of the box.

That said, the M&P in 45 caliber is extremely accurate and if mated with a Performance Center (or better yet, an Apex Tactical sear), the trigger is good to excellent. Make a M&P 9mm with a Performance Center Sear with the accuracy of an M&P 45 and I will be sold. Until then, the Glock 17 wins this battle of the fantastic plastic nine millimeters.

Visit the Gun Nuts Media Blog and Vuurwapen Blog and tell us what you think!

Tim Lau

10-8 Consulting, LLC