(Courtesy of Breach Bang Clear)

M&P M2.0 Pistol – the New Smith & Wesson is Here

We’ve been getting RUMINT for months now about the new Smith M&P (SSD talked about it as far back as August), and today the manufacturer confirmed it. We reckon this to be wise; this will keep the impact unmitigated by the vast amount of noise coming out of SHOT 2017. Smith describes the release as the “new pistol platform for the future.” While that’s a pretty grand statement, there’s no doubt this will be one of the most talked-about product announcements of the year, though with the recent arrival of the PD10 and CZ’s P10C (and the difference in MSRPs), the new Smith will certainly have some competition.

Whether such competition matters remains to be seen — the first M&P has been, alongside the Glock, one of two handguns effectively dominating the market for years. Proponents of the 1911, Springfield, Ruger, Beretta, et al might not like to hear it, but facts is facts. Gravity works and most people buy Glock or Smith.

The new M&P is, as expected, a striker-fired polymer pistol, but it’s built on a steel chassis. Their formal release promises new features very nearly from front to back, including the trigger, grip, frame, and finish. The pistol will be rolling out en masse with 9mm, .40S&W and .45 versions available simultaneously, but the President of American Outdoor Brands Corporation (S&W’s parent company), references additional product line expansions in the coming year. He says they’ll “establish a completely new family based on [the M&P M2.0] platform.”

Interestingly, the .45 version has a manual thumb safety.

Continue reading on Breach Bang Clear

Images courtesy of Breach Bang Clear