New Smith & Wesson Ported Performance Center M&P pistols (VIDEO)

Smith & Wesson is rolling out four new M&P Pistol models based on its CORE packages with ported, lightened slides. These guns are made to be competition-ready right out of the box.

The new Ported Performance Center M&Ps will be offered in 9mm and .40 S&W and 4.25 and 5-inch full-size configurations.

These pistols sport a pair V-style ports at the muzzle end of the barrel and the slides have six cutouts. While only two are used to vent gas the cutouts still serve to lighten the slide, which lowers felt recoil in addition to the porting and increases cycle time.

“The two biggest advantages of running a ported gun in competition involve reduced muzzle rise and less perceived
recoil,” said Jerry Miculek, Smith & Wesson’s all-star competition and exhibition shooter. “When added to an already accurate platform, these features combined with the M&P’s low-bore axis, result in an enhanced competition gun that’s ready to hit the range.

“This combination of features is also going to help with shorter split times and more rounds on target, which are two things every competitor wants.”

Fast actions mean getting back on target in less time and for competitors who are looking to shave fractions of seconds off their splits each drop of help counts.

Being based on the CORE — Competition Optics Ready Equipment — these pistols have machined slides to accept a wide variety of micro red dot sights or MRDSes with adapter plates. They also use tall “suppressor” sights to clear the base of an MRDS so that they can still be used in case of a sight malfunction.

The pistols come with adapters for Trijicon RMR, C-More STS, Leupold DeltaPoint, Doctor, Insight MRDS and
JPoint red dot sights.

That’s not all the new Ported Performance Center M&Ps have to offer. They feature a new Performance Center trigger that’s set at the factory at 4.5 pounds and on top of that the frame has been modified with an adjustable over-travel stop.

So not only is the new trigger race-ready, something that’s never been very true for M&P pistols in general, if the user decides to upgrade it with aftermarket parts the overtravel stop can still be used with other trigger.

Having a short overtravel means faster trigger reset times and for long shots, more accuracy. If the shooter is still pulling the trigger to the rear after the pistol fires it’s possible to add a touch of unintentional user-induced inaccuracy. A simple overtravel stop addresses both issues.

One other competition-centric touch that many shooters will appreciate is a stippled-style set of backstraps. The Ported Performance Center M&Ps come with more aggressively-patterned backstraps for a solid grip that would be out of place on most carry pistols but is standard procedure for race guns.

All four models are priced at $812, and that’s the MSRP so real-world prices will be considerably lower.

For a shooter looking to get a straightforward polymer-framed striker-fired competition pistol the Ported Performance Center M&Ps stand out strong. It wouldn’t be possible to take a standard M&P or even a CORE pistol and upgrade it with a ported slide and barrel, competition trigger, and aftermarket backstraps for less.

The 9mm models have a standard 17+1 capacity and the .40 S&W models 15+1. The pistols ship with two magazines and are already in distribution channels and should hit stores any time.

For more details and specifications head over to Smith & Wesson’s Performance Center.