I recently borrowed a M&P40C for testing a new drop in barrel. I have been looking at a lot of pro shooters using the M&P line and I had high expectations.  As it turns out, this particular M&P knocked my opinion down a few notches.

First the positives, it’s a good reliable concealable powerhouse. It’s hard to go wrong with an easily concealed 40 caliber with a 10 + 1 capacity. The grips feel good in the hand. The gun has a nice styling and highly visible 3 white dot stock sights.  S&W provides an extra magazine and interchangeable backstraps for size adjustment.

Upon test firing this gun I felt it was fairly accurate for it’s size and would potentially fall into the very accurate category. The problem is the trigger. I fully realize a subcompact pistol designed for deep cover doesn’t usually have anything approaching a target trigger. That being said, the first word to describe this trigger is CRUNCHY. There is no reason for any trigger to be crunchy. Obviously, some trigger smoothing is in order here. Secondly, the trigger pull after long travel is suddenly quite heavy in the last 1/4 of the pull. In testing, my first magazine was the most accurate. After that fatigue and crunch led to falling accuracy.

All in all, the M&PC is a solid platform and a good purchase. With the 40 caliber you have the choice of buying conversion barrels to 357 or 9mm (I would suggest a new magazine with the 9mm option). You get S&W reliability, good accuracy and a gun that will hold value. You may need to invest in some trigger work to realize it’s full potential.