Smith & Wesson M&P M2.0 Compact Torture Test: First 250 Rounds

For the first outing of our 2,000-round torture test with the Smith & Wesson M&P M2.0 Compact, one box of 100 rounds of Winchester White Box 115-grain FMJ rounds, two boxes of Aguila Ammunition 115-grain FMJ rounds and several magazines of Browning Ammunition’s 147-grain BXP defensive ammunition made the trek to the range. At ranges of 5 and 7 yards, slow- and rapid-fire testing along with strong-hand-only and weak-hand-only shooting expended the bulk of the ammunition.

Winchester’s ubiquitous “white box” 115-grain ammunition, the FMJ common to retail outlets and box stores, presented an interesting conundrum: the 100-round box actually contained 103 rounds in it. We ran this through the 15-round flush-fit magazines as well as 17-round magazines from the full-size M&P, with no malfunctions experienced. Aguila’s 115-grain FMJ saw similar incident-free function, with all 100 rounds feeding, firing and ejecting without trouble.

An interesting side note for both of the 115-grain FMJ sources: a 15-round .40 S&W magazine for the M&P was included among the 9 mm magazines. While initially we were reluctant to use this magazine in testing, due to the potential for misfeeds, the consistent operation of the gun led us to give it a try. In all instances, the M&P Compact fed from the .40 S&W magazines despite the different feed angle (because of the difference in cartridge size, the .40 S&W mags have a larger opening, and the 9 mm rounds sat much higher). Obviously we don’t recommend using incorrect magazines as part of any testing or practice, but the use of this magazine does illustrate that the M&P Compact is capable of powering through potential magazine-related malfunctions, such as expanded feed lips like those found on the .40 S&W magazine.

Browning’s BXP 147-grain JHP saw three magazines (two 15-round magazines and one 17-round variant) run without a single hiccup, bringing the total of rounds fired through the M&P Compact to 250 for the first range session. Accuracy with both the FMJ and JHP ammunition at 5 and 7 yards was excellent, with slow-fire resulting in one ragged hole just slightly left of center (we may or may not replace the sights down the road, so we’ll hold off on adjusting for now).