The M&P 22 Compact by Smith & Wesson is the perfect tool for teaching new shooters. The price is right, ammunition is cheap and the low recoil of a .22 caliber firearm makes it the perfect teaching tool. The M&P has the quality and feel of a full size gun making the transition to defensive calibers simple and intuitive.

I was in the market for a .22 pistol. My local gun shop, Grays Harbor Guns brought the M&P 22 compact by Smith & Wesson to my attention. This gun fit the bill for what I was looking for and Grays Harbor Guns priced this made in the USA pistol, with the Smith & Wesson lifetime service policy, for an amount I couldn’t refuse. The suggested retail price of this pistol is $389.00.

My first observation of this pistol was the similarity to it’s big brothers. The fit, feel, and function to this pistol are very comparative to the larger caliber models. It is a reduced scale version of the full-size M&P pistol. My personal purpose for this gun will be teaching basic pistol courses of fire.

With that in mind, I like the manual thumb safety and adjustable rear sight. The adjustable rear sight allows for quick and easy adjustment of both windage and elevation with the use of included 1/16” Allen tool. After a few adjustments to the windage, I was able to ring steel on a six-inch plate at 25 yards with ease.

The grip angle and texture felt natural and solid in my hands. My only disappointment on the grips was that it didn’t come with changeable palm-swells like the big brother of this gun. I like the M&P’s extended backstrap. I have rather freakishly large hands that often get “slide-bite” from smaller pistols, not with this pistol.

The trigger surely isn’t comparable to that of a competition target pistol, but I think that’s a positive thing for this gun. While it is a “nice” tripper press, it’s more like that of the full-size larger caliber M&P’s, not a target shooter .22.

This M&P is suppressor ready with a threaded fixed-barrel and raised sights; the thread barrel is 3/8”x24 takes 3/8”x24 to 1/2”x28 adapter. While I didn’t have the opportunity to try out a suppressor on it, I can imagine that it would be a pleasure to shoot with one on.