Oooh! Aaah! The Smith and Wesson M&P full-size in .40. (This one's not mine. Mine is the compact, and I'll post photos probably tomorrow.) Today I commented over at Will to Exist on an old post where he was asking for comparisons of the Springfield and Smith & Wesson M&P. Here's my $o.o2:
I have the Springfield service model (4 inch barrel) in 9mm and the M&P .40 compact (3.5 inch barrel and 10 rounds – 1 chambered 9 in the clip).
I love the M&P and I really really like the Springfield.
Where to start? How about starting in the guts. The rails are metal both front and back on the M&P whereas the back rails on the Springfield are polymer and part of the polymer frame. The tolerances on the M&P are much tighter, meaning that there is no extra movement to the slide. The Springfield will shift a little, changing the relationship of the barrel in the slide, if ever so slightly.
I'm accurate with both, but I feel more consistent with the M&P in .40 even though the barrel is shorter than the Springfield.
Personally, I've swapped out the medium size grip on the M&P frame for the large. The grip on the Springfield is a fixed size and feels a little small. I've got big hands and the larger grip extension on the M&P puts my trigger finger in a position that is perfectly aligned with the trigger and I'm less likely to pull any shot because of it.
Lastly, in terms of carry, the slide on the Springfield is larger than on most 9’s. You can see in the pictures over at Will to Exist that the height of the slide is greater on the Springfield. It’s got more weight than the slide on the M&P, so it’s a bit more nose heavy. The M&P sits nicely in the hand whether you’ve got a tight or loose grip on the gun.
The extractors are different. The Springfield has an internal extractor, making it more of a hassle to clean the slide when you’ve shot a lot. Carbon gets all over in the crevices. The M&P is a bit easier to scrub down after giving it a good workout.
I trust both for personal carry. I’ve had very few jams with the Springfield (thousands of rounds) and none (out of hundreds of rounds) with the M&P.