Evolution of My M&P9

[saudadeii]

I bought my M&P9 fullsize back in mid 2013 when it was still on roster. Despite the gripes about the trigger I liked it. About a year later I read about "upgrades" such as the H trigger bar and new slide stop. So I purchased them and did the easy upgrade. Not bad at all. About a year after that I came across a sear housing block that contained the performance center sear so I jumped on it. Another easy upgrade and did improved the break and reset. I also did the Burwell trigger job to the extent I could. In the end not bad at all.

Last year I bought the ported 5" slide kit to turn it into a pseudo CORE. Topped it with a RMR. The CORE slide had an improved striker block (like the APEX USB). A bit of tweaking the loop and I was quite pleased.

Later last year, S&W did a fire sale on 2.0 grips so I grabbed a bunch of backstraps and grip tools to go with my CORE backstraps. Still have the CORE grip on it.

Finally, last week, I received a 2.0 sear housing and trigger bar. The install was drop in. A leap in improvement and no dang loop to tweak. Still a far amount of takeup to disengage the striker block, but once it hits the sear, the break is crisp and clean. Reset is vastly improved. Naturally the H trigger bar is gone but the 1.0 slide stop is still in.

So from a plain jane, formally on roster, M&P9, to a nearly 2.0 CORE, (OK, let's call it v 1.5), all using S&W parts.

Now some will say (OK perhaps many), what a waste. I should just bought a 2.0 or dropped in an APEX and be done with it. Perhaps you're right. Still, it's been an incremental improvement, a learning exercise and rewarding to know I didn't screw it up (so far).

Here are a few pics along the way.

The day I picked it up in original form.
MP9FS New.jpg

My CORE Slide Kit
MP9FS PC Box.jpg

Sportin' the CORE
IMG_1900.jpg

Bunch o' grips
grips.JPG

1.0 vs 2.0 sear housing
shb1v2.JPG

On to pricing for those who must know

M&P9 - $499 plus tax and dros
H stamp trigger bar and improved slide stop - $20
5" Ported Slide kit - $357 delivered
Box full of 2.0 grips - $15
RMR06 Type 1 - $350 (on sale)
2.0 SHB and Trigger bar - $52 delivered

So approx $1360 so far and I still have all of the original parts.


Next off to the range. But that will be a different post.

[saudadeii]

Since the attachment limit is 5, here's the 2.0 sear housing installed in my 1.0 frame. The mag safety got "lost" somewhere along the way.

shb2_in.JPG

[pratchett]

Beautiful. So the 2.0 SHB is drop-in? If that's all I replaced what improvements could I expect?

[jguevara_95]

Nice! I want to get the 5” Core slide and RMR. Hopefully soon

[etwinam]

Nice, I built one very similar to yours and it was an amazing gun. I sold it and went to a 2.0 but I miss it at times. Great job man, looks beautiful. Nothing beats a well tuned M&P

[Xombie]

Where did you get the 2.0 SHB and Trigger bar from?

[saudadeii]

Beautiful. So the 2.0 SHB is drop-in? If that's all I replaced what improvements could I expect?

The trigger bar and shb were drop ins. Has a cleaner, crisper break, much better reset. If you still have the stock striker block you may still feel some grittiness and "staging". Since my core slide kit came with the improved striker block, the pull is smooth but still a bit on the long side. Still not a fan of the hinged trigger.

I got the 2.0 parts at Midwest Gun Works. They show the 2.0 shb for the 9/.40 OOS.

[saudadeii]

Not mentioned earlier but I've bought a bunch of spare parts for this as time has gone by. I have an extra 4.25" barrel, striker assembly, recoil spring assemblies, take down lever, tdl spring, and a small bag full of other springs and parts.

At one time I thought about selling it, before the CORE kit, and just buy a CORE. Note that a real CORE has an adjustable over travel stop. Given the money I've sunk in already, I decided this was the easiest path (no PPTs and messing with the marketplace).

When the time comes to sell it (when I bail out of CA), someone will get a good deal including all the stock parts and spares.

[CJJohn]

Thanks for sharing this info! Well done.

[mlevans66]

Yeah that was a great evolution. Thanks! Looks really cool!

[mbnderek]

Thanks for posting this! Recently bought an M&P 1.0 FS and the PC slide kit. Got curious with fitting a 2.0 Sear Block after looking at my buddy’s and found this post. Have the block and trigger bar coming in this week. Thanks!

[1G75]

What are your thoughts on the ported 5" slide Vs the stock OEM?

Felt recoil/ muzzle blast/ flying debris/ flash on the muzzle end?

[Bakerloo]

I had one that I loved but couldn't hit anything with it. Loved the gun, but I could probably have thrown it more accurately than actually shot it. I would love to get another one that I could shoot well.

[jsigone]

What are your thoughts on the ported 5" slide Vs the stock OEM?

Felt recoil/ muzzle blast/ flying debris/ flash on the muzzle end?

ported barrels on the PC kit is straight cheating. Gases force the recoil flip to be small, not like it's huge anyways w/ 9mm. But man it lets you have a fast cadence vs running the stock 4.25" uppers, pair that with Apex trigger and ya it's straight cheating.

The accuracy on the PC barrel is dope paired w/ red dot makes shots at 100yd steel plates pretty easy.

my builds are similar to the OP minus the 2.0 sear and grips. But Apex FSS triggers in both 9 and 45