Let’s Take A Look At The S&W M&P9 M2.0 BB Pistol
The S&W M&P9 M2.0 BB pistol is an officially-licensed CO2-powered replica of the popular 9mm centerfire model. It’s an interesting airgun both for its excellent resemblance to the original and the design choices that were taken during development.
With any product – cars, soft toys or airguns – there’s a slew of design choices that need to be taken at the concept and initial design phases of the product’s development. Some of them will be related to performance, others to appearance or other factors.
Many of these design decisions will be related to price. For a product like a BB pistol that’s going to sell for around $100, there’s a limit to the number of parts, costs for plastic molding and metal castings, assembly time and all the aspects of a product that most people don’t normally think about.
As we know from previous HAM investigations, the cost of a strong blowback in a CO2-powered pistol is usually a low muzzle velocity and smaller shot count. Likewise, adding more parts in one area generally requires some consequent reduction in another – it just makes sense if you have to keep to a budget.
What’s all this about?
Well, it’s is important as it’s clear that the top design priority for the S&W M&P9 M2.0 BB pistol was high muzzle velocity. The second was probably the realism provided by matching the interchangeable palmswell grips of the firearm. Looked-at in this light, the designers did a very good job with this product…
First Muzzle Velocity
Everybody likes more muzzle velocity. Right? The designers of the S&W M&P9 M2.0 BB pistol certainly scored here!
The claimed maximum is either 375 FPS (if you read the gun’s manual) or 400 FPS if you believe the marketing claims. Either way, it’s high for a BB pistol.
In unstructured testing here at the HAM offices, the S&W M&P9 M2.0 BB pistol produced a Muzzle Velocity of 370 FPS using the recommended Umarex Steel BBs at a low temperature of 63 Degrees F. As we know that all CO2-powered guns shoot faster in warmer temperatures, that equals a Muzzle Velocity of no less than 424 FPS at 90 degrees F..
Wow! That’s a very high figure for any BB pistol – in fact, it’s about the highest we’ve ever seen for a blowback BB pistol.
Yes, the S&W M&P9 M2.0 BB pistol does have blowback. True, it’s a short blowback, but it is there and combining it with with that high FPS is a significant design achievement!
Next The Palmswell Grips
Like the firearm original, there’s three different grips that interchange for the most comfortable shooting experience. Now, each of those grips is comprised of at least 10 parts. The plastic moldings are high quality and they all require assembly. That takes time and costs money…
So we have close to 30 additional parts here compared to the requirements for a traditional “fixed” pistol grip. Plus, there’s a sliding base to the magazine to hide the Allen screw that tightens the CO2 cartridges. That’s yet another part!
Note that you’ll probably need a screwdriver to depress the catch in the back in order to engage the replacement backstrap.
What’s the payback from this? Well, it’s probably that the S&W M&P9 M2.0 BB pistol cannot be field-stripped.
Other Features
Overall, the S&W M&P9 M2.0 BB pistol is a very good representation of the firearm original. The size and proportions are close to the original while the weight is just about 3 Ounces lighter.
There’s a functioning trigger safety, together with a manual safety on the right side of the frame. This second safety requires something of a knack to operate. The slider is moved forward then up or down, as shown in the photograph below.
The 18-round magazine has a BB follower notch. This simple, useful device makes loading BBs so much easier! Otherwise you have to keep the BB follower pulled down by hand, with consequent risk of damage to finger nails. Yes – amazingly – this is not a standard feature of all BB guns.
One appearance step that will be welcomed by many is that the BB replica legal lettering is printed small, in gray and in an inconspicuous location on the underside of the trigger guard.
So this is an interesting and unusual BB pistol. If high FPS tops your wish list for a replica, this is probably the one you’ll choose.
