handguns/news

S&W to Provide pistols for S. Australian PD

Posted on by Caleb

S&W has been contracted by the South Australian Police Force to provide its 4,000 officers with their M&P .40 pistols.  From The Tactical Wire:

SAPOL conducted a field trial during 2008 in which 502 operational country and metropolitan police officers received training in the safe handling and use of the M&P pistol and carried the firearm in an operational environment. Deputy Police Commissioner Gary Burns, said, “Feedback from our officers was very positive and they welcome the introduction of the semi-automatic M&P40. The M&P40 has a number of enhanced features and is a good fit for policing purposes in South Australia. It will replace the Smith & Wesson .357 revolver which was previously standard issue.”

The M&P pistol is rapidly catching on across the world, and is beginning to give the Glock a run for it’s money as “the” polymer pistol.  While Glock still enjoys the lion’s share of the market, thanks to the M&P from Smith & Wesson and other polymer entries from gun companies, Glock can’t just sit back and rest on their laurels.  This is a good thing for gun owners, and a good thing for the market – more products and more competition is a good thing.

Caleb

6 Comments

  1. Curious.

    I would have thought that Australian police would have no need for sidearms, seeing as how guns are banned in Australia and all…

    {/snark}

  2. This is a good thing for gun owners, and a good thing for the market – more products and more competition is a good thing.

    I agree, but at some point a pistol is a pistol is a pistol… You either know how to run one or you don’t.

    Love the feel of the M&P, hate the trigger. (Sort of like the HiPower the reset is almost ghost like… Yes, I ride the trigger)

  3. TRIGGER RIDER, TRIGGER RIDER!

    In all seriousness though, the “a pistol is a pistol” is only true for a small segment of gun owners, such as high volume competition guys. A lot of people will buy this gun because it’s an S&W, or buy it because it’s not a Glock, or whatever – creating that competitive market is what then allows us high-volume guys to create the market for aftermarket parts like triggers, etc.

Comments are closed.