So this weekend sucked. Spreading mom’s ashes, my eldest sister has been acting like an asshole, whole family coming into town. Ugh. Times two. Ugh.

Long way to say my wife sent me out to get propane for the family bbq tomorrow. Well I thought I could stretch that out a bit and check out the lgs. I may have taken it too far because my wife (who has my location in her phone) asked me if I now had a job at the gun store.

So I started walking around and some things caught my eye. Among them a HK MR556 sbr and some blue label Gen 6’s. I’ve been lusting after that ridiculously overpriced HK for awhile but I figured a cheap blue label was more aligned with my budget.

I liked both gen6’s, a 17 and a 19. Everything everybody said before. Great texturing, great new shape, great undercut. I liked the trigger shape. It was a meh Glock trigger as Glock triggers go. Very mushy. Seemed more so than my gen4’s and 5’s I own.

So I moved in to the S&W counter. They had one of the new MP9 2.0 Metal HD. All steel frame, Night Fission sights, overtravel stop screw, little “ears” at rear of slide, fantastic trigger. The dingus on these seems flimsy but it works and feels fine just seems flimsy to my eye. It was literally way better in every way to the glocks I was playing with. Obviously not apples to apples. It weighs a bunch more and is clearly oriented towards gaming. I loved it and bought it.

I haven’t shot it. I won’t shoot it till this week. I have owned a couple MP9’s before (1.0) and they were shooters once I did the Apex bit. This one doesn’t need anything and I suspect it will be a laser.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: pedropcola,

Sorry to hear about you mom/family issues but congrats on the new pistol. I think S&W did a great job with the newer M&P line but you know the rules, no pics, it didn't happen.

Nice. I'm liking this new trend of metal frames for traditionally polymer striker pistols. I'm not an M&P guy, but I'd love to get my hands on a P320 SXG grip module. Unfortunately, despite the internet wanting us all to believe that P320s have zero value, the cheapest I've been able to find one of those is still over $600 .

The S&W MP9 2.0 HD Steel Frame shoots very well. I love the Night Fission sights. On fast targets like steel they couldn't have been better. The deep U notch with the green front wasn't quite as good at distance from a pure accuracy standpoint but it also could be my less than optimal eyes at this point. There is a reason I own a bunch of dots. lol

The S&W 617 Mountain Gun continues to be a favorite. Another hundred plus rounds. No cleaning of any kind yet at the 500+ mark and no issues. Very accurate. I continue to use the "full" brass bead sight picture which has the front blade slightly higher in the rear notch than I am used to but it seems to be the way to go with these sights.

The Ruger SP101 Lipsey edition 327 Magnum continues to be a favorite as well. I finally fed it some high end (Critical Defense/Duty?) 327 Magnum ammo. Turns out I am not a huge fan. Every shot it felt like I was being pelted in the face by what I assume is unburned powder. At the ridiculously high pressures of this cartridge it means you get pelted with some authority. It was probably only a few grains but it was every shot. I did not like that. 327 may end up being carried and rarely shot. It is a dream with 32 Long and 32 H&R Magnum.

Loving that 617 Mountain Gun, hoping to get mine home from the LGS very soon.

quote:

The Ruger SP101 Lipsey edition 327 Magnum continues to be a favorite as well. I finally fed it some high end (Critical Defense/Duty?) 327 Magnum ammo. Turns out I am not a huge fan. Every shot it felt like I was being pelted in the face by what I assume is unburned powder. At the ridiculously high pressures of this cartridge it means you get pelted with some authority. It was probably only a few grains but it was every shot. I did not like that. 327 may end up being carried and rarely shot. It is a dream with 32 Long and 32 H&R Magnum.

Try a different load before you give up on .327 Mag. I don't have any personal experience with it, but as a handloader I do know that some powders are more susceptible to incomplete burn under certain conditions than others, and it could be that Hornady used a powder that's sub-optimal for that load or barrel length.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
The Ruger SP101 Lipsey edition 327 Magnum continues to be a favorite as well. I finally fed it some high end (Critical Defense/Duty?) 327 Magnum ammo. Turns out I am not a huge fan. Every shot it felt like I was being pelted in the face by what I assume is unburned powder. At the ridiculously high pressures of this cartridge it means you get pelted with some authority. It was probably only a few grains but it was every shot. I did not like that. 327 may end up being carried and rarely shot. It is a dream with 32 Long and 32 H&R Magnum.

Check out Gun Sam Revolver Ballistics YouTube channel, he’s a big fan of the .32 and does quite a bit of testing with both .327 Federal and .32 H&R.

https://www.youtube.com/@GunSam

The factory .327 loads are typically loaded hot. Short barrels can mean unburned powder. My LCR is carried a lot and shot little.
However if you reload, the magic is that .327 can be anything you want.

I agree. I have planned on turning my Dillon Square Deal into a 32 machine. I’ve been saving cases and when I have enough it’s go time. 32 is financially a disaster shooting factory stuff. Reloads actually make the math palatable.

I have 2 or maybe 3 versions of high end 327 Magnum. At market rates though I just brought enough to “give it a go”. I will try the other stuff next time.

I have read how “punchy” 327 is in recoil. I did not find that to be the case. I think it recoiled pretty mildly with a very abundant pressure wave. I could deal with the pressure if it wasn’t carrying little anti personnel particles as it hit me. lol.

I imagine it must be loud as hell as well. I am going to enjoy that little wheel gun.

The 617 MG is a dream.

Good deal. Stick with .327 brass to make your life easier. I bought some Starline .327 cases to add to the factory brass. Don’t get the nickel coated - I’ve not had good luck with that (primer pockets were out of spec).
You can always down load .327 to mimic the other .32s … but cannot do the opposite.
Missouri Bullet Co. makes a nice coated .32 bullet for reloading.
Keeps things somewhat affordable.

If I wasn't so deep into the Glock ecosystem, something like the S&W M&P would have been my daily carry. And typically, I buy a pair of what I would normally carry. A metal version would definitely pair with a polymer one for me.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola
I may have taken it too far because my wife (who has my location in her phone) asked me if I now had a job at the gun store.

Hahahahaahhahahahaa!

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
So I moved in to the S&W counter. They had one of the new MP9 2.0 Metal HD. All steel frame, Night Fission sights, overtravel stop screw, little “ears” at rear of slide, fantastic trigger. The dingus on these seems flimsy but it works and feels fine just seems flimsy to my eye.

The new dingused M&P trigger is a big improvement over their prior hinged trigger used on the M&P 1.0 and earlier M&P 2.0 pistols.

S&W now sells the newer trigger as a drop-in replacement at only ~$50, so I just converted my early M&P 2.0 Compact over, and am much happier with it now.

(Unfortunately, they are not available for the M&P 1.0, unless you go aftermarket.)

I have previously owned the 1.0’s. Both wore the Apex trigger because I could not abide the hinged trigger it came with.

The trigger is great on this 2.0 HD. Very good trigger. I have no ACTUAL issues with it. I just look at the flimsy looking dingus and wonder how sturdy it is. That’s it. I am an inveterate tinkerer though so when somebody makes a trigger that is sturdier looking I might try it. I might not though because I think it leaves a big hole where the overtravel stop screw goes.

It’s a great trigger. I’m being ridiculously picky.

I grabbed one of the new M&P HD steel frames to sell via my FFL but I have to admit it seemed really well made. Smith and Wesson has that thing priced right and it helps that there is already a pretty heavy aftermarket for it.

I appreciate that it uses the same backstrap system and generally fits the same holsters as the polymer guns. I am a very big Walther PDP SF fan, but it sucks that the gun is essentially externally it's own thing so holster compatibility is basically nonexistent to the poly guns.

If I was going to buy a steel framed striker gun today, it would probably be the M&P.

I own a handful of PDP’s. 3 of them are the SF versions. 2 compacts and a fs. Not only do they require different holsters, the holsters are kind of hard to find. I did finally but it’s not like everyone makes them.

I need to take this MP9 HD out side by side with the PDP SF. It would be a close run honestly. They are both really really good.

I just bought an SCS for this gun. Haven’t installed it yet.