The UK’s National Army Museum recently announced they have received a historic revolver tied to an iconic British adventurer from World War I.
The revolver, which looks to be an early Smith & Wesson 1st Model Hand Ejector in .44 — the company’s first N-frame– is engraved with the name of Ashraf Bey.
Who? More in my column at Guns.com
Debuted last October, the S&W M&P M2.0 Compact, a 15-round capacity medium-sized entry to Smith and Wesson’s line, was from the beginning thought to be a direct contender to niche populated by the well-liked Glock 19. The G19 has long been the people’s champ when it comes to a double-stack 9mm handgun that is serious enough to provide solace if needed while compact enough to carry without pulling your pants down every other step.
Over a five-month period, I put 2,000 rounds through the new Smith, give or take a handful, and carried it for approximately 400 hours, and compared it directly to the G19.
In short, Smith got a lot of things right.
Just got my hot little hands on S&W’s new M&P 2.0 Compact in 9mm, which Smith plans on pitting against the always-popular (in polymer pistol circles) Glock 19.
Going through the specs, the Compact uses a 4-inch barrel and has a 15+1 round capacity in 9mm and 13+1 in the .40 variant with an unloaded weight of just under 24-ounces. This is a dead ringer in comparison to the Glock 19 and 23 and a hair lighter than the 26-ounce P-10 C series from Czech gun maker CZ.
I plan on having fun shooting them head-to-head and I have already found things I like about it over the Glock, though it does have a few thorns.
It was leaked by Academy a while ago, but on Jan. 3 Smith and Wesson made their new and improved entry into the world of “Glock killers,” their updated M&P M2.0, official.
It will probably be a super hot item at SHOT Show coming up and with a MSRP of $599 and both standard black and FDE offerings up for grabs, could do well.
From S&W’s presser:
Highlights of the M&P M2.0 pistol include an extended stainless-steel chassis and high grip to barrel bore axis ratio for reduced muzzle rise and faster aim recovery. The M&P M2.0 pistol further improves performance with a fine-tuned, crisper trigger, lighter pull, and a tactile and audible reset. The pistol, available in three calibers (9mm, 40S&W and .45 ACP), includes an aggressively-textured grip and four interchangeable palmswell inserts for optimal hand-fit and trigger reach.
Superior Ergonomic Design
• M&P pistol’s optimal 18-degree grip angle, providing a natural point of aim
• M&P pistol high grip-to-barrel bore axis – more comfortable to shoot, faster aim recovery
• Four interchangeable dimensional palmswell grips for best-in-class fit: S,M,ML,L
• New aggressive M2.0 textured grip for enhanced control
• New front cocking serrationsSuperior Performance
• New M2.0 crisp trigger with lighter trigger pull
• Tactile and audible trigger reset
• Accurate 1 in 10” twist 9mm and 40S&W, and 1 in 15” twist .45 Auto M&P M2.0 barrels
• Extended rigid embedded stainless steel chassis to reduce flex and torque when firing
• Tactical white 3-dot steel sights for quick target acquisitionSuperior Controls
• Ambidextrous slide stop, reversible magazine release, and optional ambidextrous thumb safety
• Simple M&P take-down lever, for easy disassembly and maintenance
• M&P pistol sear deactivation lever – safe take-down without having to pull the triggerSuperior Finish
• Armornite® – hardened nitride durable corrosion resistant finish on barrel and slide
• Cerakote® FDE finish over Armornite® on Flat Dark Earth M2.0 slides
