This might be the longest name of a modern Striker Fired pistol. It’s time to take an in-depth visit at the brand new PERFORMANCE CENTER® M&P®9 M2.0 METAL CARRY COMP pistol from Smith & Wesson.
Ergonomics of the PERFORMANCE CENTER® M&P®9 M2.0 METAL CARRY COMP
This pistol has the same fantastic ergonomics, if not better than the original M&P 2.0. The interchangeable back straps are super nice and have plenty of texture. The Smith & Wesson M&P family has always felt great in the hands. Access to controls is perfect. The randomized stipple pattern on the front strap and the back strap is some of the best in the industry on a factory pistol.
Other than feeling great in the hands, the only other element to note, is the lack of a beaver tail above the back strap. It doesn’t have a beaver tail at all, and folks with large hands that ride high, will find a bit of interference with this location. I truly wish more pistols had positive beavertails. The reason why they typically don’t is because they are being advertised as conceal carry pistols. Therefore, some customers complain about beaver tails pressing into their belly being uncomfortable. Beaver tails are awesome, and carrying a great gun isn’t necessarily always super comfortable. The PTR Archon Type B has nailed down the conceal carry beaver tail in their design.
The Trigger of the PERFORMANCE CENTER® M&P®9 M2.0 METAL CARRY COMP
The trigger is definitely one of the elements that is least desirable in the PERFORMANCE CENTER® M&P®9 M2.0 METAL CARRY COMP. The trigger is an improvement over the standard model M&P 2.0, but it has a very rearward reset and break. For someone that has larger hands, the location of the break of the trigger, releasing the striker, is at the far back of the trigger guard and leaves the end user with a more hooking of the finger over the trigger.
Insert the Overwatch Precision TAC Trigger System and Spring Kit. It is a flat face trigger that has a much more forward reset. This prevents the end user from hooking the trigger as much, and gives a much more pleasant shooting experience. Especially, for folks that have large hands. Their competition spring kit is a huge improvement and makes the M&P 2.0 series pistols very fast to shoot.
The reset on the factory trigger is barely audible, and almost impossible to feel. This is always been one of the biggest qualms with the Smith & Wesson M&P family is the lack of a positive and tactile trigger reset. Is this a big deal for most experience shooters? The answer is no. Most experience shooters can overcome that feeling and not worry about super positive trigger reset. As for newer shooters that have just begun to learn the fundamentals of trigger reset and trigger press; this can be a little bit more daunting of a task the Smith & Wesson M&P mechanics.
Specifications from Smith & Wesson:
- ClearSight™ Cut – Our unique design diverts gasses away from your optic letting you maintain an unobstructed view when firing.
- Carry Comp® – Our strategically designed Power Port™ diverts gas upwards to reduce felt recoil when firing.
- 4.22″ 1:10″ twist stainless steel barrel w/Armornite® finish.
- Optic ready.
- Flat-face trigger with PC™ tuned action
- 18 degree grip angle.
- Blacked-out serrated rear sight, night sight front sight.
- Stainless steel slide ported w/Armornite® finish.
- Four interchangeable palmswell grip inserts.
- Ships with (two) 17-round magazines.
The Slide on the Metal Carry Comp
The slide is beautifully machined with almost topographical splines along the cocking serrations. One would certainly would agree this slide is one of the most aesthetically pleasing slides of any factory striker-fired pistols on the market. It does have a compensated port on the slide that is slightly oversized compared to the port size. I do wish it was a tad larger window for the port.
There are a couple windows on the left and right side of the slide. I think it could have done without these. These could be consider “lightening cuts” or aesthetic windows. They don’t serve a real purpose and don’t really fit with the rest of the slide aesthetic.
Optic Cut and Optic Options on the Metal Carry Comp
At $999, you would expect a metal optic plate system. It comes with a fairly flimsy set of interchangeable plastic optic plate components and screws. They are more of a plastic washer effect between the optic and the slide cut versus a true load bearing, recoil lug designed optic plate system. There is room for improvement in the development of higher quality optic plates for this pistol.
The Ported Barrel of the PERFORMANCE CENTER® M&P®9 M2.0 METAL CARRY COMP
Now the ported barrel is probably the feature that many people will desire in this platform. The port size appears to be identical to the port size on the Model 19 Carry Comp revolver, or the Smith & Wesson 586-L Comp. The port size is very small. A very hot loaded 9 mm +p is the only way you’re truly going to feel some benefit to the port size and compensation of the design. This is one of the poorest designed ports on a 9 mm striker-fired pistol.
Aftermarket machine shops that chunk port barrels and slides, certainly offer larger port sizes in their designs, or a series of multiple ports. This port offers next to no compensation with target loads, such as, the Blazer 115 grain Brass that we tested the firearm with. There is obviously some level of compensation, but it is almost indiscernible with target loads.
The price of the pistol at $999 is not justifiable with the compensator being one of the greatest selling features of this design. It certainly is an afterthought and an unfortunate engineering mistake. A compensator would have been a much better investment in a true compensated design, with testing of port sizes on the compensator to increase the downward force on the end of the barrel. There is just not enough pressure escaping from this tiny port to really do anything. Smith & Wesson also increased the inner diameter of the end of the barrel, past the port, as a pseudo expansion chamber. There is no real barrel crown now either. Interested to see how carbon aggregates here and effects the leading edge to the rifled portion of the barrel.
To see more on the live fire of the PERFORMANCE CENTER® M&P®9 M2.0 METAL CARRY COMP, click on the text!
Holster Compatibility of the PERFORMANCE CENTER® M&P®9 M2.0 METAL CARRY COMP
The Smith & Wesson PERFORMANCE CENTER® M&P®9 M2.0 METAL CARRY COMP pistols are advertised as fitting KYDEX and other Smith & Wesson standard models of the M&P 2.0 series of guns. This is almost true. The pistol with light, does in fact fit the equivalent M&P 2.0 holsters. The spline of the 1913 picatinny rail of the Metal M&P 2.0 pistols is slightly more exaggerated in the location where it meets the trigger guard portion on the dust cover. This feature has a slight interference with the lesser defined M&P 2.0 polymer frames. The holster used in this review was the ANR Design Appendix with Claw Holster.
Comped Pistols and Competition
The presence of this single useless port in the barrel now disqualifies you from shooting Carry Optics in USPSA with this pistol. There is no way that this pistol remotely belongs in the Open Class of USPSA. Unfortunately the compensated barrel now places this pistol in that category, and is a complete waste for such an attractive gun that would be great for Carry Optics.
The Metal Frame of the Metal Series of M&P 2.0 Pistols
The frame is aluminum and beautifully machined. It’s one of the nicest looking and feeling machine frames on the market. Unfortunately, Smith & Wesson did not answer the call that everyone hoped for. That is, providing customers with a steel metal frame, not a lightweight aluminum metal frame. This pistol would feel and operate beautifully with a steel frame.
In Conclusion
In conclusion about the PERFORMANCE CENTER® M&P®9 M2.0 METAL CARRY COMP is that at $999, there are a lot of great features built into this pistol. With Glock GEN 5 MOS pistols coming in in the $640 range, we believe that there is some added value to the ergonomics and slide features of the PERFORMANCE CENTER® M&P®9 M2.0 METAL CARRY COMP pistol. We don’t think the features of this design truly elevate the pistol to the $999 mark, but we’re splitting hairs and not too far off from the true value of this pistol. We would much rather have a $1200 pistol option that comes with a steel frame, a match bull barrel with no compensator, and a serviceable guide rod and recoil spring assembly where you can swap flat wire springs to match the loads that you are running. The trigger would be decent if it had a more forward reset.
Otherwise, it’s a fairly fun firearm to shoot when sprung to the loads that you were shooting, and paired with the Overwatch Precision TAC Trigger. Unfortunately, there’s no place for this firearm in the competition world. It just does not compete in the Open classification of USPSA. As for a high quality concealed carry pistol, the port is now more of a noise maker than a quality compensator component of the firearm.
Alex Costa
Owner of ANR Design LLC