M&P M2.0 Basics
The 9mm Performance Center M&P M2.0 C.O.R.E. features a ported 5″ barrel and slide. The overall length is 8.5″ and the weight is 28.6 oz. unloaded. The barrel and slide are both stainless steel with an Armornite black finish, while the chassis is matte black polymer. Capacity is 17+1. The gun ships with two 17-round magazines.
There are four different palm swells so you can fit the grip to your hand size. I changed out the one that came on the gun for the smallest one to fit my hands better. It’s a simple task using a pullout tool at the base of the grip. This tool has another purpose we’ll discuss later.
There is a large external extractor and a very large ejection port. This gun has no external safety. That’s an option on regular M&P’s, but I don’t see it offered on any of the Performance Center models. All M&P’s have a trigger safety, and they have an internal drop safety that blocks the striker from moving forward until the trigger breaks.
One thing I like on this gun that’s not on my older M&P’s is the click-on, click-off operation of the ambidextrous slide lock lever. On all my other M&P’s this lever is spring-loaded and only held in the up position by locking into a notch on the slide. There isn’t such a notch on this slide; it’s all internal. The magazine release is reversible and since the slide lock is already ambidextrous, left-hand shooters should be right at home with this pistol.
The frame of the 2.0 has some improvements over the earlier models. It is built around a rigid embedded stainless-steel chassis system to reduce flex and torque while firing. The chassis is extended a little beyond that of the M1.0 guns. There are two small windows at the front of the frame through which the inner chassis and the serial number are visible.
The grip has a new texture. A tactically minded friend of mine once showed me how easy it was to twist an M&P out of my grip. He was correct. No matter how hard I tried, I could not hold on to the gun if he wanted to take it away from me by wrenching it out of my hand. That’s not true of the M2.0 pistols. The new texture is aggressive, but not so aggressive as to be uncomfortable. It’s got just the right grit to provide a secure grip, even if your palms are sweaty.
The M&P’s cocking serrations resemble fish scales. There is a full set on the rear of the slide and a small set on the front that works fine for a press check, although a visible port on top of the slide at the rear of the barrel makes a press check technically unnecessary.
In addition to the cutout for the optics, the slide features two rows of four ports each. The forward two ports are aligned with the two ports on the barrel. The purpose of all these cutouts is straightforward. Exhaust gas going straight up helps keep the muzzle down and on target while yielding a sensation of less overall recoil.