Smith & Wesson has been a staple in law enforcement firearms since nearly the beginning in this country. I always jump at the opportunity to review their new law enforcement-oriented guns and I’ve had nothing but good luck with the new iteration of the Military and Police. The latest version of the M&P is the Carry Comp Series. Police1 wanted to test this series. We requested and received the Carry Comp Shield and the Carry Comp Full Size Metal.
Carry Comp Shield
The Carry Comp Shield comes with three magazines: one each 10, 13 and 15 round. It’s somewhat unusual for a pistol to come stock with three magazines. I decided to test the 13- and 15-round magazines because they’re the most likely to have trouble in subcompact pistols. When I carry guns like these, I fill the magazine, chamber a round and don’t top off the magazine. These guns have less slide mass and a shorter cycle, which makes stripping the rounds off the magazine on the return cycle more of a challenge; especially with magazines that aren’t properly broken in. I strongly recommend breaking in new super-high-capacity magazines by keeping them fully loaded for a few days and shooting several magazines through them before expecting 100% performance from them. As an experiment, I didn’t do that in this case.
Volunteers
I needed volunteers to be photographed shooting the gun. I went out to the department range and asked firearms instructors and SWAT team members Officer Brett Moore and Lt. Zeke Frazee if they would shoot my ammo through a gun they didn’t have to clean. Being the unselfish public servants they are, they trudged forward with the assignment without complaint.
| Click here to view the Carry Comp Shield Plus spec sheet
Range test
Officer Moore was the first to shoot my favorite defensive round through the Shield: Federal HST 124 +P. He had two failures of the slide to strip a round from the 12-round magazine. Being the supportive peers we are, Lt. Frazee and I mercilessly ridiculed Moore about his improper grip, knowing that the issue was actually that the magazines weren’t properly broken in yet. Both instructors shot several more magazines of Blazer Brass and HST through the pistol. After 150 rounds or so had been through the 13 and 15-round magazines (we didn’t bother with the 10-rounders because I’ve found them boringly reliable in all my other Shields), we stoked up some more +p HSTs to finish out the test. The fairly well-broken-in pistol and magazines chewed up several full magazines of HST ($ ouch $) through the 13- and 15-round magazines even with a less-than-ideal grip with 100% reliability.
Recommendations and physics
Reliable subcompact pistols are difficult to manufacture due to the basic laws of physics I outlined above. No matter what pistol you buy, always shoot several hundred rounds of both practice and defensive ammo. Manufacturers must make the springs very strong on these high-capacity pistol magazines to not only ensure long-term reliability but also to extend their service life. Break them in properly and they’ll function well.
Lesson
Never simply load and carry a pistol without vigorously testing it. They come from the factory lubed for storage. They should be cleaned. As stated above smaller pistols with exceptionally high-capacity magazine springs — which require exceptionally stiff magazine springs — must be broken in a little before they are ready for serious social work. I purchased this Shield Carry Comp and it’s now a trusted member of the carry rotation.
Carry Comp Metal Full Size
The Carry Comp Metal was my first experience with the Metal version of the M&P and with the improved version of the M&P ported barrels. Some of the advantages of the Metal series are less frame flex, which increases accuracy and slightly more weight to dampen recoil.
Thirteen shots fired from seven yards at a cadence of four rounds per second (.25 split time). The author lost control of the last two rounds that went high.
Five shots fired from five yards at a cadence of two rounds per second (.50 split time).
Five rounds fired from 25 yards at a cadence of one round per second.
Five rounds fired from seven yards at a cadence of two rounds per second (.50 split time).
Shooting
I took little care in preparing this pistol for testing. I wiped off the shipping grease and lubed it. I, again, had no trouble finding cops to help me test the gun. Several of us shot a combined 300 rounds of Blazer Brass, Federal HST +P and Remington Golden Saber with no stoppages of any kind. The trigger on the Carry Comp Metal is better than any of the custom-duty triggers I’ve purchased. The very first M&P duty pistols were not known for their fantastic triggers but that can’t be said today. Everyone who shot the full-size gun noted its crisp pull and almost non-existent overtravel.
Comp
One of the problems I’ve experienced with ported barrels on handguns is they tend to push gasses and even copper shavings up into the shooters face when firing from close retention positions. That was not the case with either of the Carry Comp pistols. The large port forces the gasses upward but also outward through the slide cuts near the muzzle. The last quarter-inch of the muzzle isn’t rifled. That puzzled me at first, but I realized that’s why copper shavings weren’t exiting the port. There is no rifling to cut into the bullet’s jacket. This practice is sometimes called “back boring” and is becoming more of a common feature in ported pistols.
I’ve generally found ports on a 9mm to be somewhat useless. Again, that was not the case with the Carry Comp Metal Full Size. I could tell little difference in felt recoil between the screeching 124 grain +P HST and the standard pressure Blazer practice ammo. Some of that reduction in felt recoil should also be attributed to the aluminum alloy frame, although it only adds about an ounce of extra weight. I believe the size and shape of the port is simply much more effective than any factory-ported gun I’ve shot before.
| Click here to see the Full Size spec sheet
Carry Comp
I believe the Carry Comp series will be a hit among both citizen and law enforcement consumers. I’m especially fond of the Carry Comp Metal. It has the feel and aesthetics of modern polymer pistols with a respectful nod to the steel guns many of us 20th-century cops learned to shoot with. Smith & Wesson’s M&P line continues to evolve and improve. I’ve carried nothing but M&Ps on duty since 2007 shortly after they were introduced. I still have that original M&P I purchased and I will be buying at least two more.
