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Field Ethos
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By Ron Dan
I’ll go ahead and say it: if you have exposed lightening cuts on the slide of your defensive gun, I think it’s stupid.
For a long time, if you wanted a decent long-slide optics-cut pistol, it seemed like almost all of them had some sort of exposed cuts. To me, that’s perfectly fine on a competition or range gun, but it leaves the liability for dirt and debris to get in the slide on a defensive gun. If you’re like me, you never know what kind of environment and lint you’re about to expose your guns to. The last thing I want to worry about is having to constantly check my slide to see if anything has worked its way in.
When S&W told us they were releasing a long-slide metal-framed M&P, I assumed they were only going to offer it in a competition format with exposed slide cuts, and man I was so excited to be wrong. And I’m not hating on those guns. If you’re my boy Hunter Constantine and want to burn up a USPSA match with the M&P Competitor HD, go for it. For me personally, I like my competition guns to be the same gun I have next to my bedside, and that’s where the Metal HD shines. This gun is a big, heavy brick that’s designed to throw lots of rounds downrange with negligible recoil, and it does that job so well. The best part is the duty-style slide that gives you a full 5-inch barrel without an exposed slide and without any comps or porting that could lend to complications in a low-light encounter.
I’ve been shooting this gun for a while now and just finally got around to putting an optic on it, a Leupold Delta Point Pro. Ultimately, I knew I wanted this as a bedside pistol, and I would want every possible advantage I can get in the unfortunate event that I have to use it. To help with visibility and a little recoil mitigation, I also attached one of the new Surefire XC3 compact lights.
Everyone knows we are big fans of the M&P series here at FE. From the 10mm M&P as a woods gun to this new Metal HD as a bedside gun, S&W is producing some real winners in the category. With everything on this gun and the big steel frame, this gun has been ridiculous for shooting. The accuracy has been impressive, and the recoil is negligible at worst. The factory texturing on the frame is aggressive, but I’m not planning on carrying this inside the waistband, so the frame is perfect for potentially sweaty hands in the house.
Overall, this is one of my favorite bedside pistols made, and you could argue that it’s the best bedside design on the market. With the weight of the frame and the interchangeable backstraps, I could also see this being a great bedside option for smaller-framed shooters that want a lower recoiling gun.
Price: MSRP is $1,149, but I anticipate street pricing will be lower.
Pros: This is a big, heavy brick of a gun that will quickly put rounds exactly where you want them with very little recoil.
Cons: Don’t expect to carry this thing comfortably inside your waistband. Check out the polymer-framed M&Ps for a more versatile option, if you need that.
The post The Bedside Blaster appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...
I’ll go ahead and say it: if you have exposed lightening cuts on the slide of your defensive gun, I think it’s stupid.
For a long time, if you wanted a decent long-slide optics-cut pistol, it seemed like almost all of them had some sort of exposed cuts. To me, that’s perfectly fine on a competition or range gun, but it leaves the liability for dirt and debris to get in the slide on a defensive gun. If you’re like me, you never know what kind of environment and lint you’re about to expose your guns to. The last thing I want to worry about is having to constantly check my slide to see if anything has worked its way in.
S&W M&P9 M2.0 Metal HD
When S&W told us they were releasing a long-slide metal-framed M&P, I assumed they were only going to offer it in a competition format with exposed slide cuts, and man I was so excited to be wrong. And I’m not hating on those guns. If you’re my boy Hunter Constantine and want to burn up a USPSA match with the M&P Competitor HD, go for it. For me personally, I like my competition guns to be the same gun I have next to my bedside, and that’s where the Metal HD shines. This gun is a big, heavy brick that’s designed to throw lots of rounds downrange with negligible recoil, and it does that job so well. The best part is the duty-style slide that gives you a full 5-inch barrel without an exposed slide and without any comps or porting that could lend to complications in a low-light encounter.
I’ve been shooting this gun for a while now and just finally got around to putting an optic on it, a Leupold Delta Point Pro. Ultimately, I knew I wanted this as a bedside pistol, and I would want every possible advantage I can get in the unfortunate event that I have to use it. To help with visibility and a little recoil mitigation, I also attached one of the new Surefire XC3 compact lights.
Everyone knows we are big fans of the M&P series here at FE. From the 10mm M&P as a woods gun to this new Metal HD as a bedside gun, S&W is producing some real winners in the category. With everything on this gun and the big steel frame, this gun has been ridiculous for shooting. The accuracy has been impressive, and the recoil is negligible at worst. The factory texturing on the frame is aggressive, but I’m not planning on carrying this inside the waistband, so the frame is perfect for potentially sweaty hands in the house.
Badass Bedside Build
Overall, this is one of my favorite bedside pistols made, and you could argue that it’s the best bedside design on the market. With the weight of the frame and the interchangeable backstraps, I could also see this being a great bedside option for smaller-framed shooters that want a lower recoiling gun.
Price: MSRP is $1,149, but I anticipate street pricing will be lower.
Pros: This is a big, heavy brick of a gun that will quickly put rounds exactly where you want them with very little recoil.
Cons: Don’t expect to carry this thing comfortably inside your waistband. Check out the polymer-framed M&Ps for a more versatile option, if you need that.
The post The Bedside Blaster appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...
