Smith and Wesson M&P vs Beretta px4 vs Glock 17

[brotherinkrime]

I have recently gotten my restricted concealed carry permit and I am looking to purchase my first pistol. I have no prior experience and I don't have anyone to turn to for advice. I have decided that I want to start off small with a 9mm. I recently went to a gun shop and picked up a few guns to see how they felt in my hand. So far my top three in the following order are as stated in the title of this post. My basis for this is that the S&W feels the best in my hand. My hand is able to completely wrap around the grip whereas the other 2 were a bit shorter. I am not sure if this is something that I would get used to or if I should just stick with my gut instinct. I hear and read alot of good things about the glock. If there are other models you think might be better please recommend them. Any help for a newbie is much appreciated.

[Tred15]

Hello there fellow Fultonian ! I myself have a Glock 17 and stubby-breakfast-sausage fingers, so my question is this: Was the Glock that you tried a gen 4 ? The previous generations had a "medium" grip and the gen 4 starts out at "small" and made a big difference for me. Unfortunately I can't say anything for the other 2 but my Glock shoots like a champ

[hexidismal]

The simplest answer here is that all three of the options you have listed are high quality firearms; any of which is arguably every bit as 'good' as the other two. Now, it is of course wise to seek out information from experienced users of products when choosing between them. That being said however, it is important to separate valuable information from biased opinion. Especially on a first purchase, when you are undoubtedly over-thinking every little thing, it's very easy to be swayed and further led into confusion by popular notions. Pride though, as well as desire for self-assurance, will often skew recommendations to what the endorser owns or is most familiar with.

So, to sum up.. All three are good. You should go with the one that feels right to you. If you've chosen the firearm that you really want, you will more greatly enjoy your ownership of it and potentially perform better with it as a result; whether due to pride, the desire to practice more, etc. and etc.

[minderasr]

Ideally you should shoot each gun before making your decision. If that is not possible, I would Google reviews of each gun. Carefully consider the pros and cons, with the proverbial grain of salt of course because there will be haters and fan-boys of each.

With that said. I have a gen 3 Glock 17 (w/night sights) and love it. Good luck with your decision and congrats on your permit.

[cooden]

If the M&P felt the best in your hands, buy the M&P. Like mentioned above, they are all good pistols, it has to come down with what feels best for you. With that being said, I am a former Glock guy that has moved over to the M&P platform---I've never regretted the decision.

[nessman]

See the thread about the Rochester PD replacing their PX4's with Glocks... they tried the M&P but they failed miserably in field testing. They're going with the Glock.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

[OnPatrol]

See the thread about the Rochester PD replacing their PX4's with Glocks... they tried the M&P but they failed miserably in field testing. They're going with the Glock.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

M&P's really didn't hold up... That being said, I own two and have had no problems.

[Dozer]

If capacity factors in for you, I don't believe that pre-ban magazines exist for the M&P line, though they do for Glocks. I'm not sure about the Beretta.

[OnPatrol]

If capacity factors in for you, I don't believe that pre-ban magazines exist for the M&P line, though they do for Glocks. I'm not sure about the Beretta.

M&P: NO
Glock: YES
Beretta: 92: YES, PX4: NO

[RochPersDef]

From what I have experienced and seen in training and from data resolved from real life tests, My thoughts are as follows:

Glock is #1
Sig is #2
(sometimes these two will switch as they are practically neck and neck anyway)

Close 3rd is the M&P
CZ

Way down my list is the Px4 Storm. Never like them. probably never will

Again, the above is just my thoughts from what I have seen, observed, and studied. Everyone has their favorite guns for their own reasons. I go with what works all the time, without fail. I don't judge by price, features, nifty ideas.

[Hickok]

The Glock and Sig are my favorite duty pistols.

[ScotchMan]

M&P: NO
Glock: YES
Beretta: YES

Not for the PX4. The Beretta 92 series has pre-bans available, but if I remember correctly those magazines do not fit in the PX4.

Out of these choices I would go for the PX4. But I prefer hammer-fired guns. The PX4 has the best trigger of these in my opinion as well. However I don't like the Beretta's slide-mounted safety that is up to fire instead of the traditional 1911-style down to fire.

I would certainly consider other guns before deciding. Ruger SR9, Springfield XD, CZ, H&K, Walther, Sig, etc. Also if at all possible, shoot them before deciding. What you shoot the best is probably the best choice, and you may find that a gun that feels good in the store, pinches or smacks you in some way when fired that you couldn't forsee ahead of time.

My recommendation for an entry-level 9mm would be a Walther PPQ or a Sig SP2022. The latter can be had for $400 online. Myself, I shoot mostly H&Ks these days.

[ladder13]

None of the above, I prefer an excellent 3rd Gen S&W 3913. No auto's better than all metal 3rd gen Smiths. IMO



Or a double stack 6906 would do quite well also.

[jhm8071]

We're not helping are we?

I was in your situation a couple years ago. I couldn't decide between an M&P, Glock, or XD. After getting my permit, I shot my friends 9mm Glock. I'm not sure what gen it was. It felt blocky and didn't seem to fit my hand well. I shot it alright, but it felt odd. At a shop, I picked up the XD and M&P. The M&P fit my hand very well with the medium backstrap. I ended up going with the M&P9c. I couldn't be happier with it. I'm not opposed to a Glock or XD, and I wouldn't mind having either one, but the M&P seemed to fit my hand well.

I went to the range with my friend again after I picked up the M&P. We both shot a bunch of pistols, and I shot the M&P best out of all of them. Like was said before though, you can't go wrong with any of the pistols you listed.

[WebsterNYtech]

Having fired all 3 pistols and owning two of them, I can say I would stay away from the PX4 storm. I own a Glock 17 and a PX4 9mm. The Glock has been rock solid, but the first PX4 (which is my wife's gun) had to be sent back to Beretta due to issues with the mag getting stuck in the gun and the slide not locking back on an empty mag. They destroyed the pistol and shipped a new one with the same serial number, but the process took a few months and quite a few phone calls. Sadly the new PX4 is starting to display the same issues on occasion. I've never had an issue with the Glock, and every M&P9 I've fired felt comfortable and accurate. Buy what feels right for you

[Mike_in_MD]

See the thread about the Rochester PD replacing their PX4's with Glocks... they tried the M&P but they failed miserably in field testing. They're going with the Glock.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

Maryland State Police is currently changing from the Beretta PX4 to the Glock 22 despite Beretta being in MD and the state government for several administrations forcing various Beretta models on the state police. First the 92, then the 96 and then the PX4.

Some of the PX4's had feed ramp damage due to JHP's. They also had some magazine issues.

[Suby]

None of the above, I prefer an excellent 3rd Gen S&W 3913. No auto's better than all metal 3rd gen Smiths. IMO



Or a double stack 6906 would do quite well also.

Get yourself a Glock and lose that nickel plated sissy pistol - YouTube Joking of course.
Glocks - YouTube

[BUCKrub91]

Get yourself a Glock and lose that nickel plated sissy pistol - YouTube Joking of course.
Glocks - YouTube

What movie are those from

[Suby]

U.S Marshals
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120873/

[kflo01]

IMO. I would go with the M&P for the smiple reasons that it fit the best in your hand (which is huge and overlooked alot by people) and the 2nd fact is the M&P is a great great pistol. Great pistol. Should be a no brainer I think. Unless the M&P is priced way higher than the other 2 go with it.

[ScotchMan]

Some of the feedback seen in this thread goes against everything I've read elsewhere. The vast majority of reviews of both the PX4 and M&P line are overwhelmingly positive. I owned a PX4 so I am especially familiar with those. I think we're basing a lot of this thread on the experiences of the RPD, and while I don't question OnPatrol's report, I'm still curious what happened with the M&P. What I got from the other thread was that one user had one issue, but it could very well be more than that.

The point is, we have an extremely localized group here with specific opinions, but if you do some research at a national level I think you will find the same thing that I did; that all three of these choices are more or less equal in terms of quality and reliability. All three are used extensively by police forces in the US, especially the Glock and M&P, so if there were big design flaws with those weapons they would be extremely well-documented.

[OnPatrol]

I, too, was suprised with the trouble the M&P had. I personally own two and have had no problems. That being said, I have absolutely no plans to unlaod my M&P's, and in fact I recently purchased the Shield 9mm.... so that makes three M&P's I guess.

During our testing, the concern came from the fact that multiple M&P's were having failures.

I would encourage NYF member ThinBlueLine to chime in on this one.... he had much more range time during the testing process.

I would buy another Glock or M&P today.

I would not buy a PX4.

[LetsGoRed]

I don't have first hand experience with any of them (still waiting for my permit), but I'll likely go with the PX4 compact in 9MM. I've been encouraged by the reviews I've read. "On paper" it offers what I'm looking for (all personal preferences, of course): external hammer, external ambidextrous safety (I'm lefty; wife is righty), ambidextrous slide release (ONLY on the compact, other models it is right hand only), low recoil (revolving barrel is suppose to eat up more of the recoil, this should be a positive with my wife), and mag compatibility with the CX4 I will hopefully be picking up tonight. (This'll be one way as the compact mags are bit shorter so won't go into the CX4, but I can buy extra full length mags that'll fit both the CX4 and the PX4 --they only stick out a quarter inch or so on the compact PX4).

[Mike_in_MD]

I, too, was suprised with the trouble the M&P had. I personally own two and have had no problems. That being said, I have absolutely no plans to unlaod my M&P's, and in fact I recently purchased the Shield 9mm.... so that makes three M&P's I guess.

During our testing, the concern came from the fact that multiple M&P's were having failures.

I would encourage NYF member ThinBlueLine to chime in on this one.... he had much more range time during the testing process.

I would buy another Glock or M&P today.

I would not buy a PX4.

I have around 2,000 rounds through my M&P and have had zero issues. I put 400+ through in one class and no issues. I finally cleaned the gun after 1,000 rounds just because I had beat it up during the class.

I have no knowledge of the guns used or their previous use and condition however there are ways to make a test come out the way one group wants. Eugene Stoner had claimed that US Army Ordinance played games with the tests when they first tested his design.

Has anyone asked the Atlanta, GA PD how they like their M&P .40's?