If the S&W M&P handguns are so good, why are so many up for sale?

[Rockrivr1]

I've been reading nothing but good things about this line of handguns from S&W. But, as you look at the different auction sites and "For Sale" forums, like the one here at NES, you see a bunch of slightly used M&Ps being sold off. A number of them have only been owned for a brief time. For a handgun that's only been on the market a short time, it seems there are more then I would imagine if the gun was as good as it's toted to be.

Is it that the gun is not as good as people say, that people just don't like the way it fits thier hand or some other reason?

 

[SPG]

I have both the full size .40 and the "dark earth" .45; both have a good home.
The 40 I am looking for a 357 sig barrel for, and it will be my "traveling gun" SPG

 

[Mikey]

I MA probably b/c of the trigger but you could also say the same thing about the glocks for sale, there is always a billion of them available.

I love my M&P45 by the way.

 

[News Shooter]

It's a numbers issue only. Even though they've only been on the market for a relatively short time they are selling thousands and thousands of them. It stands to reason some people aren't going to like them for whatever reason and they go back on the market. We don't get many used M & Ps back in trade.

 

[drgrant]

1. A bunch of people likely bought them, didn't get trigger jobs done (as is NEEDED) or were too afraid of an imaginary law written by ayoob that says they can't modify it, and then declared the gun as crap and sold it.


2. There are the usual "gun of the month" guys who bought it, still don't know how to shoot correctly, and then sell it, crowd. I'm sure every one of us knows at least one of those guys.

3. "Oh shit, you can't buy normal mags for this in MA? I wish I knew that when I bought it.... "

4. Lots of newbs likely have been buying them as a first gun, (due to the relatively low cost of entry) then their needs/wants change, and they dump it for something else.

I'm sure there's more but thats a few. It's not a bad gun but I think the fact that it's being sold in MA under
draconian regs (mag cap limit, gay trigger thing) really hurts its viability in this market.

-Mike

 

[Jay G]

Not to mention with the S&W rebate, it works out to under $450 for a new gun with 4 factory magazines.

Cheap money to pick up a new gun, IMHO...

 

[Ninemil]

I purchased an M&P 9mm compact last month and initially I could not get through a magazine without several FTF, FTE, or failure to go into battery issues. Sent it back to S&W and within 10 days they returned it with a new barrel installed.

I must say that it's much better with factory ammo but is still finicky with my handloads (so I'm still experimenting). There was no charge to me, including overnight shipping both ways and their customer service reps were very responsive when I called.

The M&P forum has a number of posters with similar problems and a poll that (unscientifically) shows about 15% of those who purchase M&Ps initially have problems that are eventually resolved by S&W.

After all of that, since it's performing well with factory loads, it's one of my favorite pistols right now.

 

[GLOCK.Perfection]

I was at zero hour talking to the owner (forgot his name) and asked about the M&Pc and what he was getting for them. His response was most people get those, and come back to trade them for a glock . It could have been a sales pitch since im sure he makes a lot more on glocks, but still the thought of having to get a trigger job (and spending an extra 100) on a brand new gun just to get it back to how the rest of the country gets it out of the box bothers me. I got the chance to dry fire an MA version, and the trigger pull is normal up to the breaking point, where it gets extremely heavy.

I guess another way to look at it is would you rather spend 450 on a brand new gun with 2 free mags and spend 100 to get the trigger back to normal for a total price of about 550, or spend 600-750 on a (usually) well used glock? I guess that would be a matter of opinion.

 

[rwl1955]

M&P40.

Not to mention with the S&W rebate, it works out to under $450 for a new gun with 4 factory magazines.

Cheap money to pick up a new gun, IMHO...

********
After the trigger job done by Mike LaRocca my full size 40. is great. No problems. I will have night sights installed soon and it could replace my G23 as my carry gun.

 

[Ripach]

I would wager that a lot of them are from the "I got to have what's new" crowd. Some people will buy the latest thing without even looking at it just to be the first in their circle to have it. Then inevitably they either don't like it, or something else becomes a "must have" and the last item gets sold to finance the new one. I have quite a bit of used computers/peripherals from a brother-in-law with this syndrome.

 

[bfm]

is still finicky with my handloads (so I'm still experimenting). .

9mm is one of the trickiest rounds to handload. Might want to go to gunblast and look for their article on it. Has some good advice on getting consistance out ot the 9mm.

 

[OAR348]

Because most people are to stupid to learn to shoot it with the MA trigger and to lazy/cheap to get a trigger job done.

 

[Fsorrent]

Who ever said the M&P's are soo good anyway? I bought mine, got a trigger job on it and still hated it. I had a FTF every 50-100 rounds. The magazine's were crap too!

 

[Dieseldog1]

I love my 2 M&P's. I'll go along with the sentiment of there being so many in circulation also. I have the M&P 9 and 9c and could not imagine selling them.
Both have about a thousand rounds through them and are very accurate.

 

[kendall-op]

The trigger sucks, and you have to spend another 100 bucks or so to make it better. So you are better off with a refurb glock and the hi caps you can get with them.

 

[FunYun]

Who ever said the M&P's are soo good anyway? I bought mine, got a trigger job on it and still hated it. I had a FTF every 50-100 rounds. The magazine's were crap too!

LoL, yes, all M&P's suck cause yours doesn't work.

You do realize that bad mags will have a direct effect on how the gun functions?

Nothing is perfect.

 

[jhblaze1]

LoL, yes, all M&P's suck cause yours doesn't work.

You do realize that bad mags will have a direct effect on how the gun functions?

Nothing is perfect.

I have probably 3500-4000 rounds through my fullsize 40 and the only problem I ever had was after about 400 rounds I had the infamous mag drop issue. One call to S&W and 2 replacement mag catches were in my mailbox within a week. No problems since. There are no problems with the vast vast majority of M&P's. When anything is rolling off the production lines at that rate, whether gun or car or (insert generic widget here) there are gonna be a few with problems...

 

[mark056]

or were too afraid of an imaginary law written by ayoob that says they can't modify it,

Mike,

You made many good points on why there are used M&P's out there. Some folks just have to have the latest whizbanger wunderpistole, and then realize that it ain't the tool...it's the shooter!

In all of Ayoob's writings I have ever read I have never read that he categorically says you can't modify a gun and fear a problem in court; in fact he states that some modifications are helpful and defensible in court such as improved sights. In what I have read of Massad Ayoob's works and that would probably be in the hundreds now, he does talk about certain modifications to the 1911 which might be troublesome in court, such as an extremely light trigger pull, of say under three pounds. I have heard other experts make the same recommendations.

Regards,

Mark L.

 

[vicpinto]

I'm no expert but I shot an M&P9mm compact as well as an M&P40 while I was searching for something that was going to be my first handgun. I shot both about 100 rounds each. I didn't like the triggers. It actually gave me a blister on my trigger finger. I also don't like the way the trigger hinges down. After shooting them it answered the question of what I wasn't going to buy for my first handgun. YMMV.

 

[drgrant]

In all of Ayoob's writings I have ever read I have never read that he categorically says you can't modify a gun and fear a problem in court; in fact he states that some modifications are helpful and defensible in court such as improved sights. In what I have read of Massad Ayoob's works and that would probably be in the hundreds now, he does talk about certain modifications to the 1911 which might be troublesome in court, such as an extremely light trigger pull, of say under three pounds. I have heard other experts make the same recommendations.

I realize that Mas doesn't say those things directly, but people read the articles in American Handgunner, or whatnot, and then we end up with gun shop commandos, etc, telling people they shouldn't get trigger jobs, etc. He doesn't make a blanket statement, surely, but some of his articles insinuate that "lighter triggers might = bad/liability" . I think I have a magazine in my bathroom with one of his articles in it, and it talks about using NY triggers in glocks, etc.

-Mike

 

[wolf223]

i got mine (M&P9c) and shot the other's

M&P40 - my brothers gun, trigger seems a lot heavier than mine for some reason.

SIGMA40 - my brothers gun also, trigger is crap! but shoots and feeds reliably

SIGMA9 - my buddies gun, trigger is crap!

So I think I may have a lighter or smoother trigger somehow... my S/N prefix is MPVxxxx.....

My gun is 100% stock. the only i'm considering is night sights... she's accurate and eats everything except 1 brand of ammo. I can't remember the brand, but it's super super cheap and had the words "RANGE SAFE AMMO" on the boxes.

nowdays, i run Blazer, Winchester, Remmington, American Eagle in all FMJ and JHP's w/o any issues....

i am NOT as accurate with the compact as my other handguns, but I can get on paper at 30 to 50 ft.... perfect carry gun!

IMO - the biggest issue is see with these guns are the pack-straps. i watched my girl actually shoot better when she had the medium one on vs. the small or large.... strage, but true.

I prefer the large because I have long meat hooks.

Some people prefer the small (god only know's why) - but all three of them are current Glock 19/23/26/27 or similar sized Glock variant owners as well.

****If you are bent on Hi-cap mags, super super super availability of parts and related conveniences - then the M&P is NOT for you. Otherwise, it's just another option...

 

[john m]

 

[Cross-X]

All those For Sales make it all the better for those of us that really love the M&P platform!

 

[vellnueve]

It's the same reason there are so many Glocks and so many Sigs, etc out there. There's a lot of them, and while some people swear by them, others have different preferences.

 

[News Shooter]

Look out! There is someone on classifieds wanting to trade a Glock for an M &P!
OMG!!! How can that be???

 

[06LemansC6]

How is the trigger on the ones sold in free states such as mine? I'm considering a M&P .40c but I haven't decided yet. The others in the running are Sig 239 and Springfield XD sub-compact

 

[kenpoprofessor]

I shot the M&P in 9mm and .40, it felt good but not something I wanted to buy. I'll stick with my Glocks and XD's for now, at least until I find something I like better. I even tried a Sig. and it just didn't feel right somehow.

Have a great gun carryin' Kenpo day

Clyde

 

[BillO]

Because most people are to stupid to learn to shoot it with the MA trigger and to lazy/cheap to get a trigger job done.

Hey, call me stupid I couldn't hit anything with any degree of accuracy with the MA trigger. When I rented a non-MA-trigger m&P out of state, I couldn't miss. Sooooo, my spin on it was that it must have been the MA trigger. Or, mmmmmm. I hope it isn't the other alternative.

 

[Pilgrim]

People don't seem to sell 1911's nearly as much as plastic guns.

 

[Mattyb]

Because most people are to stupid to learn to shoot it with the MA trigger and to lazy/cheap to get a trigger job done.

Stupid and cheap? that's a bit harsh. Who cares? you dont like the gun, get rid of it. It's your $. I couldnt hit my way out of a wet paper bag or even hit a bus with an M&P I once owned. Even if it was right in front of me. Must I go a get a trigger job to justify that I'm not cheap or lazy, No! I'll just get rid of it. And speaking of cheap, spend the $15 and go green