Boomsticks: Cheesy name, but the gun ain't half bad.

Well, we got our first two S&W Molded Plastics M&Ps in at work, and they pretty much bounced off the shelf, finding new homes within hours of each other. A thumbnail sketch of my first impressions:

1) Ergos are good, with the ever-more-common ambi slide stop and a low-as-a-limbo-dancer bore axis. The interchangeable backstraps seem more useful than the earlier variety on the P-99/SW99 and P2000.

2) The trigger, while still having that godawful hinge in the middle like a Stigma trigger, feels shorter in stroke, with a much more positive break. Think improved Walther P99 QA, here.

3) The "fishscale" slide serrations conjure warm and fuzzy feelings of bucks-up Performance Center 945's, Kimber Raptors, and Ed Brown Kobra Carrys, and help one overlook the fact that this is at heart another mid-price cop gun with a mold line.

4) This is the most substantial-feeling plastic cop gun I have yet to heft. The frame has none of that hollow "'toks'-when-you-tap-it" feel that afflicts even pricey polymer pistols like the USP. If you've hefted an HK P9S, it feels like that.

All in all, I'm impressed. The basic Glock, with no revisions for almost a decade, is beginning to look a bit long in the tooth compared to some of these newer plastic popguns. Gaston's at the very least going to need to do something about grip adaptability to stay in the game long term.