Smith and Wesson finally is making it easy to use an optic on the M&P M2.0 line of pistols. Yes, the regular M2.0. Not the performance center, not the M&P Pro, and not the C.O.R.E. pistols. You’re probably familiar with the M&P M2.0, but you may not know of the subtle improvements that Smith & Wesson has made. Let’s go over them:
- It’s Optics Ready! The micro red dot is here to stay.
- It was easy to mount by using the included hardware. S&W uses a thin plastic plate, but the only purpose of the plate is to index the optic and keep it from moving laterally. The mounting screws do not screw into the plate, but pass through the plate, into the slide. Plastic seemed an odd choice of material until I examined the system. I now think this will work fine. Mounting a Trijicon RMR was very easy.
- Suppressor-height sights (in this case, optic-ready-co-witness-sights) are already on the pistol. I barely notice the sights when I am looking through the optic, but they are really nice to have.
- The slide stop has been slightly enlarged. It is now big enough to use as a slide release. It even works from the right side of the pistol. Unfortunately, certain holsters, meant for earlier versions of the M2.0, might be snug enough that they require some sanding to work with this wider version of the slide stop.
- Usable front slide serrations. The M2.0 has always had small front slide serrations. However, due to the shape of the frame, and the minimal serrations, they weren’t very useful. Now, the slide serrations work perfectly for their intended purpose. On a pistol with an optic, this is an important feature.
- If I were to improve this pistol, the loaded chamber indicator port at the top rear of the barrel would be the first to go. Escaping gas makes your optic dirtier than it needs to be, and the loaded chamber indicator is not necessary.
At the time of this writing, Smith & Wesson has released an improved trigger. I don’t mind the current trigger, but if it were improved, great!
Nothing that Smith & Wesson did is revolutionary. However, they made smart, simple, improvements to a proven platform. This pistol should be on your short-list when considering a mid-size pistol.
Now, how do I get that red dot to stay still while I’m trying to aim?