Beginner Gun Review: The Smith & Wesson M&P C.O.R.E. 9mm
In my first unofficial post on Gun Noob (helping to answer a Free For all Friday question), I mentioned that I recently retired my 9mm Beretta PX4 compact in favor of a 9mm XDS 3.3.” The PX4 was fulfilling dual roles, as both a carry/self defense gun and a range toy. Now that I have a little more disposable income (not really, but I keep telling myself that) I decided to replace one do-it-all gun with two more specialized pieces. Since I am looking to start competing with a pistol, I did some shopping around and decided to buy myself a Smith & Wesson M&P C.O.R.E. 5″ in 9mm. I can’t shoot Glocks worth a damn (wrong grip angle) and as much as I like the XD series (I do own one after-all) the M&P just felt ‘right’ in my hands. Besides, Jerry Miculek shoots one and who am I to argue with the master.
The M&P C.O.R.E. line of pistols has the upgraded internals (read: better trigger) as the Pro line and comes with three interchangeable back straps. Smith and Wesson’s C.O.R.E. stands for Competition Optics Ready Equipment and thus has a slide pre-cut for an optic. It comes with a number of mounting plates for various red dots as well as raised sights for co-witnessing. The 5″ has a set of rails underneath for an optic/laser, but I won’t be installing one of those on this gun. While the trigger is certainly better than the one that comes on the standard M&P line, I quickly swapped out the internals for those in the APEX trigger kit. Much Better… Since I plan on shooting competitions with this pistol, I also grabbed two extra mags (17 rounds) and a trijicon RMR that I picked up on the cheap.
The gun shoots very well for a polymer pistol. The 17+1 round capacity is nice and the largest backstrap finds my hands very well. Despite my average hand size, I tend to go for the larger backstraps on target pistols as they allow me to get the most skin on gip contact for maximum controllability. I have only run FMJ ammo through this pistol so far, but it has functioned 100% with zero failures to feed, fire or eject. Embarrassing anecdote; on my most recent range trip, I failed to re-install the rear-most retention pin on the pistol before firing it. It still managed to function flawlessly and shot great groupings out to 15+ yards. Go figure, but lesson learned.
I’ll be doing another review of this pistol once i get the RMR installed and settled in as well as more rounds down range. I may be pimping it out even further for competition with a full trigger upgrade as well as a flared magwell and magazine extensions. Stay tuned and feel free to make suggestions on what else to add.
Ease to Breakdown
Like most modern pistols, the M&P C.O.R.E. is fairly simple to take apart. Lock the slide back, slide small lever located inside of the chamber, flip a large lever on the frame 90 degrees and slide the whole upper assembly off of the frame. This pistol does not need to be dry-fired before disassembly, a plus in the safety category. Reverse the process to reassemble and presto, the gun is back together and ready to fire. 3.5 out of 5.
Maintenance
Once the upper and lower assemblies are separated, pop out the barrel and mainspring, clean, lube and put back together. Couldn’t be more simple. 4 out of 5.
Reliability
It’s a modern polymer pistol and should be fairly reliable. As I noted before, it fired and grouped well even with a pin missing. While i certainly don’t recommend trying this with any gun, it is an accidental testament to how well the pistol is made. So far, so good. 5 out of 5.
Safety
This gun has a hinged trigger assembly as well as the standard firing pin and drop internal safeties. The M&P line has an available 1911-style thumb safety, but this particular model didn’t come with one (although one can be purchased separately and installed). There is no beavertail safety (like on the XD line) but I don’t consider this a negative. I am not personally a fan of the feel that hinged polymer triggers give, so I may be swapping it out for a metal trigger. That being said, it does function perfectly. 4 out of 5
Poor Technique
With 3 different backstraps, this gun should fit most any shooters hands. Furthermore, I was not able to get this pistol to function improperly, even with a limp wrist (and a missing pin). I don’t know what else to say. 5 out 5
Starter Kit
In this department, Smith and Wesson lags behind Springfield and others. Like all M&P pistols, this one comes in a decent plastic case with 3 backstraps, two 17-round magazines (thank god), and a gun lock. The C.O.R.E. line of pistols also come with a variety of mounting plates to assist in fitting an optic to the slide. 3.5 out of 5
Accessories/Upgrades
The M&P line of pistols has a decent following and there are a number of upgrades and accessories available. With the slide cut-out and raised sights, red-dots now become simple to install. Trigger upgrade kits and competition accessories are readily available, as are holsters and the rail under the barrel allows for just about any laser/light that you might wish to install. 4 out of 5
Final Word
I don’t buy guns that i don’t love, and this is no exception. I research heavily and then test shoot any gun that I am interested in buying. Ever since seeing this gun at Shot Show 2013, I was hooked. It shoots smoothly and even the stock trigger was more than decent (I’m just a trigger snob). A lot of people will recommend a glock, others will recommend a Springfield XD, but I’ll recommend an M&P. Final score of 4 out of 5.
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