Smith & Wesson

I have owned this for 2-1/2 years now, so at this point, I feel I can comment. While I did purchase a Holosun SCS multi-reticle sight for it, I have just been using the stock white dot sights at the range, and it is just fine. I personally love the feel of the M&Ps, and the full-size heft just feels really stable. The mag release and slide locks are in spots where my thumb naturally looks for them. The interchangeable palmswell grips, while not custom fit, do allow for some versatility. I actually can go back and forth between the medium-large and large inserts, but usually stick with the med-lg. Those with smaller hands, like my daughter, don't like it as much, even with the small inserts. For her, it is cumbersome to rack, and the weight is hard for her to hold steady at arm's length. I have run all different brands of ammo through it, and have had zero problems. I do notice that the smaller members of my family sometimes have feeding issues because I think they are not bracing it enough for the action to work properly, but I doubt that is unique to this pistol. It is easy enough to field strip and clean. The sear deactivation lever was a little hard to find the first time, but I quickly got used to it and like that you don't have to pull the trigger to remove the slide. The size and weight that make this fun and easy to shoot also make it not a great choice for concealed carry for me. I am 58, 180 lbs, so the M&P Shield is my primary CC weapon. At home, this sits in a niche on my side table, but it goes to the range with me every week. I know this is very subjective, but it's one of my favorite guns.

The bluing in the front of the cylinder blew off after the first 20 rounds. It was sent back 3 times, and 3 times, 3 separate guns. Same issue. At this price point, that is NOT OK!

I purchased a 642 a decade ago, have carried it extensively as a backup gun until recent retirement. Everyday primary carry now, nice for running everyday errands or hiking/fishing. Excellent piece. Finish started to wear, so I bought the 442 because hey, I love S&W revolvers and wanted a blue one. The 442 functions perfectly. I put 100 rounds through it yesterday, gives me small-game accuracy at under 10 yards if I do my part. Beautiful… but, the forcing cone looks like a 12-year-old cut it with a hacksaw. It’s rough and ugly. NEVER have I seen a S&W forcing cone this rough and raw. Not sure how this slipped by QC. Anyway, 100 rounds of hardball and no shavings or spitting, so it’s functioning perfectly. I have a picture if they will let me post it. But the gun is accurate, tight, otherwise perfect, and I don’t intend to return it. But S&W needs to slow down the production line, strive for quality over quantity, in my opinion. Box said made in Tennessee, but gun says made in Massachusetts. Either way, it’s a S&W snub .38, works perfectly, and yes, I’d trust my life to it. I’ve been carrying a S&W J-frame snub .38 in one variant or another since the mid-’80s.

Firearm fires once, then jams. Can't rack the slide manually. Still jams.

Love the green dot. Very quick recovery for double taps. Very light recoil. The slide spring is a little stiff, but I have not shot enough through it yet. I probably won’t get to keep it for myself. My wife loves it. I have an Echelon, and this gun is much easier to shoot with quicker recovery. Shots surprised me because I love my Echelon!

Is this revolver rated for .38+P ammunition?

I love this pistol. The slide is easy to rack, and the mags are very easy to load. The recoil seems to be slightly less than a 9mm. The grip safety is no problem for me at all. In this pistol, I prefer the 30SC over the 9mm because of the 10-round capacity vs. 8 rounds in the 9mm. This pistol is my favorite to carry. Some of the reviews criticized the trigger, but mine is great, and the pistol is very accurate. The pistol is relatively easy to field strip and reassemble, but make sure to read the section in the owner’s manual for instructions on the disassembly/reassembly procedure before you do. There is a very specific method, and if you do not follow it, you may end up with the slide stuck in a position where you can’t move it forward or back. I know this because it happened to me the first time. I thought I would have to send it back to S&W to get the gun back in operating condition, but I figured out a way to release the stuck slide without damaging it. After that, I have never had an issue with disassembly or reassembly of the pistol.

The texturing on the hand grip is terrible, very rough, like rough sandpaper. Terrible, I had to put a sleeve on it. But once the sleeve was on, this thing is great, feels good in the hand, lines up very easily for target shooting, and it performs very well actually. 250 rounds through it, and no hiccups, no problems whatsoever. Oh, and by the way, deadly accurate, very accurate. So that's what it is...that is the way.

This is my 3rd 22 magnum handgun. I've had the Taurus Tracker 9 shot revolver. Always fired each round as revolvers do. Then I purchased the Kel-Tec 22 mag. It was okay but required precise loading of the magazine to fire okay, but seemed to have too many failure-to-feed issues. NOW, the M&P 22 Magnum. As most others state, you may have a failure-to-feed in first two mags. In my shooting, I only had one failure-to-feed in second mag and then ran through another 5 mags without any issues. The M&P 22 Magnum is a hit with the new Tempo firing system. LOTS OF FUN. FIVE-STARS . RECOMMEND HIGHLY.