Texas DPS Ditches S&W M&P over Reliability Issues

rbird7282 said:

Howard county had FN, Glock, and the M&P tested when they were looking for replacements for their Sigs. The M&P broke during the testing. They chose the Glock. Their Sigs were having too many issues,
So they switched.
For the record I have an M&P and never had any kind of failure. Rock solid.

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Respen33 said:

Funny thing is most consumers love their S&W m&p but law enforcement seem to have issues. I wanted to point out that S&W sells a different version of the consumer to law enforcement. They have slight tweaks. They are built to higher tolerances for reliability but it mean you have to clean and properly treat your pistol more.


Think AK47 vs m16 when you shove it in sand with a locked bolt.

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Huckleberry said:

Go to the S&W Forum and you'll find the only difference between the "Civilian" and LE/MIL is LE pricing, NS and 3 Mags. Same for most other Blue Label guns at other mfgers.

No 2 production lines, tighter tolerances or tweaks unless you order extra options or get some work done in the S&W Custom shop.

Plus, AK to AR is comparing apples to oranges and that discussion can fill threads and forums on its' merit.

Now, 10 microns is a pretty tight standard for battle rattle considering how many times these pistols were probably field stripped, cleaned, fondled, finger focked, re-assembled, re-assembled again if done incorrectly, dry fired, inspected, holtered, draw practiced, dropped, picked up, more finger focking, more disassembly, fam fire, initial qualification fire, more cleaning, more fondled and of course, in ranks inspection of arms in addition to all the other live and simulated fire training for advance training. Plus due to all the inspections, the pistols were probably run very, very dry because that's what boots, noobs, rookies and nuggets tend to do because that gets driven into their skulls by their instructors sometimes with too many arms inspections.

Theses pistols got a lot of extra abuse but probably no more than the Sigs have received in prior classes.

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RoadDawg said:

The Glock Blue Labels actually are different than their public offerings. The trigger springs are not the same. (Type and weight of pull differs.) And in some states, the magazines are full capacity instead of the limited ones that are forced onto the public by the nanny politicians.

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RoadDawg said:

I have heard/read many such statements from M&P owners. They claim no issues with their particular pistol.

What most do not realize is the stress put a upon a pistol in training a new Officer or a retraining an established Officer on a new firearm.

The drills are grueling and the average pistol will never see anything even close to it in the private sector. So the comments really are comparing apples to ox carts.

The Texas PS tried to use the M&P pistols and found that they were not holding up under the regimen that training require of them. They determined that a certain level of failures in training would cause them to expect that same level of failure on the street. It was then decided that the number of failures warranted dropping the M&Ps from their program. That does not mean that all M&P owners in the private sector should run right out and trade in their pistols. Your personal M&P pistol will in all likelihood, never see even a portion of the stress of their pistols. Use it in good health.

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clandestine said:

SIG Fanboy Instructors gonna Fanboy.

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clandestine said:

SIG Fanboy Instructors gonna Fanboy.

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TxAggie said:

I know you're not keen on the newer gen Sigs, what's your current favorite? HK, MP, Glock, other?

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clandestine said:

All 3 have strong and weak points.



Gen 1-3 Glock are great because they have an abundance of spare parts available but are not very ergonomic. I only own Glocks now for the parts and availability of magazines reason alone. Glocks tend to have a good capacity.



M&P's are super ergonomic but parts are not as common and mags can be harder to find and sometimes cost a little more. M&Ps tend to have a good capacity.



HK's are one of the best current handgun manufacturers IMO, BUT mags are VERY expensive and parts are VERY hard to acquire. They don't break often but when they do they go down hard. They tend to be large even for mid size models and often hold less then other manufacturers offerings.

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clandestine said:

All 3 have strong and weak points.

Gen 1-3 Glock are great because they have an abundance of spare parts available but are not very ergonomic. I only own Glocks now for the parts and availability of magazines reason alone. Glocks tend to have a good capacity.

M&P's are super ergonomic but parts are not as common and mags can be harder to find and sometimes cost a little more. M&Ps tend to have a good capacity.

HK's are one of the best current handgun manufacturers IMO, BUT mags are VERY expensive and parts are VERY hard to acquire. They don't break often but when they do they go down hard. They tend to be large even for mid size models and often hold less then other manufacturers offerings.

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