915 Test Fire

I test fired the S&W Model 915 with the curved grip and the two magazines for it that I'd replaced the springs.

I think it went well.

The curved backstrap is definitely superior to the straight one and recoil was very gentle.

I don't care for the sights on this second least expensive version of the S&W 3rd gen.  They are not conducive to fast shooting, but I made due dew do.

One round failed to fully chamber and the round below it had its nose up the feed ramp.  Not sure if that's a magazine problem or not.  It's disappointing because it has a new spring in it and it'd suck to have to decommission it.

Equalized

I give you the S&W Equalizer with thumb safety!

The cuts on the slide give a better grip for Harvey to pull and the lighter spring means she can work the slide like a pro!

The slide stop, on the other hand, is almost impossible to press down and release the slide.  I tend to slingshot the slide, but she'd prefer to use the stop.  I worked it obsessively for a bit and it's better, but still not easy.  Harder than a Gen 1 Glock!

It introduces a 15-round magazine to the Sheild Plus line-up in addition to the 13 and 10 round choices.

Plus!  Optics ready!

It's almost the same size as the M&P 2.0 Compact:

At least with the 13-rounder in the Equalizer and the 15-rounder in the Compact.

It's a bit longer with the 15-rounder.

A bit lighter and narrower means it carries better for her.

It's a bit bigger than a Shield Plus, mostly in length.

The trigger doesn't have a hinge or a little paddle in it.

That's because it has a grip safety.

If you think about it, the trigger safety is also a grip safety, just a different grip...

Impulse Buy

Harvey has complained about her grip strength since she went bionic.

Because she's hit the wall in improving her shooting, we decided to rent a gun designed for people with bad grip strength.

The S&W Equalizer!

It's like a Shield Plus and an M&P EZ had a baby.  Even uses the Shield Plus magazines that I already have stacked deep for my pocket gun.

She liked it well enough that she decided we could pay interest on the credit card for it.

In GURPS terms it's identical to the M&P 2.0 9mm Compact it replaces, except for being 1.8 lb. loaded instead of 2 lb.  Same 15 round capacity.

Another plus is it fits slightly better in her purse's gun compartment.

It came with a 10-rounder, 13-rounder and 15-rounder and an UpLula.  You need that UpLula to get all 15 rounds into the big mag.

Thanks to the Shield Plus, we have a lot of the 13 rounders around already, gonna have to get some more of the 15 shot mags.

She didn't shoot the rental any worse than the M&P 2.0 9mm Compact she's been carrying; but she was much better with manipulating the slide.  She gushed about that.

One oddity was the slide lock is insanely hard to push down to let it slide home.

I'd have never noticed because I slingshot the slide, but she's been using it to release the slide on all of her pistols since she started learning to shoot.

Should be easy for her to adapt.

Going With Pictures

In this thread, there are pictures of the arched backstrap for the model 59 and x59 guns.

Installed on a 459:

This is what the packaging looked like, way back when S&W still marketed them:

I wish they hadn't cut off the part number...
 

Upgrade

Did you know they made arched grips for 3rd gen S&W autos?

I do now!

Model 915 before:

Model 915 after:

I have long thought that the 59, x59 and 59xx series of guns needed an arched grip, and I was blissfully unaware that you could fix the 59xx guns!

Allegedly, there's a replacement, arched, backstrap for the 59 and x59 guns, but I have only seen a couple pictures, never the part for sale.

Sproing

Magazine springs are wear items.

Check every once and while if they've shrunk.

The top magazine is brand new.  The bottom one isn't.  I think it's an early 80's version of the 59xx series magazine.

The top spring is from an early 59xx 15 rounder.  The bottom spring is the same too short spring as the first pic.

Unloading the magazine with the shortest spring had a couple of moments where the follower wasn't following.

It was time to replace them.

Still The Goldilocks

The center group is the M&P 2.0 9 Compact.  The other two groups are the Shield Plus.

I then decided to so some Mozambique drills with the Compact.

While I keep hearing about how great the Gen 6 Glocks are, they'd have to really be great to replace my Smith.

Increase While Decreasing

Smith and Wesson is, apparently, giving away some 3rd Gen pistols.

If you click this cunningly crafted link, and enter yourself into the sweepstakes, I get 15 additional entries and, thus, increase my chance of winning slightly. 

Giving me more entries than you reduces your chance of winning, but you're here to help, right? 

PS: It could be an April Fools prank, but they already have my contact information from doing a warranty return, so... 

Silly Purchase

There's a company, 2nd Amendment Bourbon, that packages their whisky in faux gun cases.

We succumbed to the marketing gimmick.

We've seen three different colored cases, hunter orange, OD green and S&W blue.  We'd just come back from shooting our S&W's so...

 The little metal shot glass is patterned like a revolver cylinder!

 The stopper is embossed with the S&W logo, should you wish to display the bottle outside the case.

But, how is it?

Oh my!  It's good!  I think I have a new favorite bourbon.

Getting Familiar

Software Janitor is not familiar with S&W latest offerings.

This is an M&P 2.0 9 Compact.

It's about Glock 19 size and is distinct from the M&P 9C in capacity.  The 9C only holds 12 rounds, this one takes 15.

As far as I can tell from trying to find spare magazines anyways.

The grip shape fits my hand a bit better than a Glock 19 and I like having a manual safety even if I shouldn't need one.  Old.  Set in ways.

This is my Goldilocks gun.  It just fits my hand and I shoot it better than any other 9mm I've ever owned with the possible exception of the Browning HP.

It totes wonderfully in a gun-bra under a Hawaiian or flannel shirt when it's not unseasonably warm here in Florida in the late fall, winter and early spring.

I need to get a workable IWB holster to see if under an untucked t-shirt works.

Thag Lurn

Did you know that the magazine release on a S&W M&P Shield Plus is reversible from RH to LH?

I did not.

But I do now!

I'd long wondered why there were two slots in the magazine if you couldn't reverse it.

This procedure is NOT in the owner's manual. 

Background

Every iteration of Crispy gets a new background image.

Currently it's:

Sanity Prevailed

Every once and a while, I wonder about a S&W 4506.

Marsellus Wallace toted one in Pulp Fiction.

Bigger and heavier than the P220 I already own.

Prices have come down a bit, but not so far that I'm even tempted.

I suppose if I skipped non-essential things like food and shelter I could have one paid for in a few months.

Poop

Willard and I recalled that S&W 59 magazines worked in the Daewoo DP-51.

We cannot check that because the DP-51 has hidden itself from human sight.

Willard could lay hands on a DP-51 magazine, so he wondered if it would work in a S&W 59.

It does not.

The floorplate hits the front strap before the magazine latch can grab the hole.  The holes look identical and appear to be spaced identically from the mouth of the magazine.

So I checked it on a Marlin Camp Carbine.

Also no-go.  The latch never latches.

Oh well.

DP-51 on left:

The S&W magazine's hole is just a bit closer to the mouth of the mag.  That's why the DP-51 won't lock into the Marlin.

Hand Cannon

.357 SIG is about as identical to .38 Super, ballistically, as you can get.

The gigantic difference is the pistol.

My .38 Super 1911 Gov't Model shoots a 5" group centered around the point of aim at 25 yards.

Harvey's .357 SIG Sigma shoots a 6" tall, 3" wide group 4" below the point of aim at 7 yards.

I can shoot that Colt all day and am done with the Smith after 20 rounds.

Oh, don't get on my bad side when I'm carrying that Colt because my splits are insanely small.  I have been asked to stop bringing it to two bowling pin events.

Benign Neglect

It's a bad plan, but I tend to not shoot the gun I carry all the time because I'm carrying it...

I need not have worried overmuch because it shoots just fine.

I put 100 rounds through the Sheild Plus today in "right out of pocket" condition.

Only three malfunctions.

Two failures to lock to the rear on the 10-round magazine.  One fail to go bang.

The fail to go bang is ammo, because there was a normal indentation in the primer.  A second try with that round went bang.

I am thinking that the failure to lock is a magazine problem because the 13-rounders work just fine.

This 10 rounder has done this off and on every time I get more than 50 rounds through her.

Not the worst kind of malfunction to have.

Groups with the Tula Maxx ammo was... Meh.

It shoots much tighter with Winchester White Box.  Worth the extra money, I says.

FTX Fail

First, the M&P 9 2.0 Compact isn't properly called an M&P 9C.

Mostly because the true 9C was a 12-round gun with the matching shorter grip.

I point this out because if you tell the counter person 9C they will bring you a too short 12 round magazine when you want a 15-rounder.

Now to answer the question Slow Joe Crow asked:

My gun shoots 115gr Critical Defense FTX rounds no problem.  Slightly tighter groups than Winchester White Box.

Harvey's doesn't appear to like anything FTX.  Lots of fail to feed.

Happily Yee Olde Hydra-Shok appears to work fine, and so does Speer Gold-Dot.

We're hoping it's a break-in issue and will clear up as we use the pistol.

I Certainly Feel Better

Honest Outlaw left his M&P 9 2.0 Compact outside for a bit more than three months.

It doesn't appear to have hurt it functionally.

Sensible

Smith and Wesson's new Equalizer pistol uses the same magazines as the Sheild Plus.

That's a really sensible decision.

It Can't Be That Much Better Can It?

I'm noticing that the M&P 9 Metal has hit the shelves.

For a solid $200 more than it's plastic progenitor.

On one hand, that's still $400 cheaper than a new FN High-Power, on the other; one has to ask if it's 1/3 better than the polymer frame because that's what they're asking for here.

This tracks with S&W's MSRP when I compare like features to like features so as to get as close to an apples to apples comparison as I can.

The truth will be in the shooting, but I'm not going to be shooting one unless S&W happens to be reading this and drops me an email.

I will happily take one to the range and see how it compares to their older versions of the gun.

Assuming they want an honest review.

I'm never sure.

On the other side of things, being honest, the M&P 9 2.0 Compact is so much better than the M&P 9 1.0 Full-Size that I'm seriously considering trading the 1.0 for a 2.0 full size.

The Sheild Plus is definitely a big improvement over the OG Shield.

They do make improvements with each iteration which are generally worth having.

Though, I don't know if I like the gray on the metal version.