Upgrading the M&P

As you may have read in my Oops I Did It Again blog, I picked up a M&P9c for an everyday carry. Of course, with a carry you get very personal with it, so I plan to shoot it a lot it tailor it to my needs. In the 3 short weeks I have owned it, I have put 310 rounds through it without a single hiccup. Even my $700 Beretta had some problems in the first few rounds. I've shot mostly re-manufactured (reloaded) 115gr 9mm, with a little Federal 124gr and 10 rds of 124gr+P Speer Gold Dot JHP since that is my carry load. I'm still amazed and how smooth this gun runs and how much I enjoy shooting it. 


Now I got her, and yes it's a her, about a month ago. It was my plan to carry her so I needed a holster. While there are plenty of options on the market, I had a few specific requirements. I want solid retention so it doesn't rattle about while I'm moving. I like a forward cant, as I think it hides the grip better and offers a better draw. I work in a corporate style office, so I wear business attire on the regular, so I wanted a tuckable holster. And of course, minimal visible footprint. After looking at many companies (Bravo Concealment, De LA Rosa tactical, Contact! Concealment, Galco, Blackhawk!, White Hat, etc) I decided on a Crossbreed... again. If you are not familiar with Crossbreed Holsters, they are worth checking out. This is the 2nd one I bought from them and I have been very happy with both holsters (first was for the Taurus TCP), I even bought one for my Dad for his PF9.  I decided to go with the Supertuck in cowhide with the Combat Cut option for my M&P.


Now, the thing with Crossbreed is, they are all handmade here in the USA. That translates to a slight wait to get the product. But I will say its worth the wait. I took about 3 weeks for me to get my holster. So in the 3 week interim... what's a man with a new gun and no holster to do? Improvise of course! I happen to have a holster for my Beretta 92 (bought from Beretta) laying about that the M&P would fit in. It actually fits way better than I expected. So this was a great temporary solution to my problem.



I have pictures here of both the Beretta Holster and the Crossbreed.The Crossbreed can be identified by their iconic cross on the belt clips.  Now I know the Beretta holster is not meant for the M&P but I want to do a quick comparison of an off the shelf holster vs custom made one. First, notice that the Beretta is plastic on leather vs Crossbreed's Kydex on leather. Well, the Kydex offers far superior retention compared to the plastic. Just look at that fine molding! Also the leather is nicer, the clips are stronger, and it has adjustable ride height. Looking at the back of holster you can see several holes for the clips to be moved up and down.One huge item that, at least me me, that makes Crossbreed superior is their use of a locking nut for the belt clips. This simple item keeps the screws on the clips from backing out and keep the clips from rotating. Most other hybrid style holsters I have seen don't have this.

 The other big thing, is the ability for me to get a full purchase on the gun in the holster, meaning a full grip like I was going to fire it. That is why I opted for the Combat Cut option. It trims away all the excess leaving just enough to cover the slide and important bits. The Beretta holster, like many other off the shelf aftermarket holster have excess material either under the trigger guard or at the palm swell. The Crossbreed Combat Cut is custom cut for my gun. As you can see, no excess.

In addition to my holster, I also picked up a full size 17rd magazine and A&G grip extender. The M&P9c takes its big brother's magazines so it is really nice for range days or competition shooting.  It seats just like the compact magazines. As you'll see in the pictures though, it leaves some exposed magazine. I saw the A&G grip extender in the store and figured I'd try it out. You can see the difference with it on. Still no problem getting the mag in or out with the extender on. 

In a few weeks I will be upgrading my sights to XS Big Dots and I will be having my slide cut with additional serrations. More on that later..

As always, any comments or concerns, please let me know below. 

P.S. Her name is Kaylee