Umarex M&P 40 .177 Caliber BB Gun Pistol

I like this BB gun and am happy with the purchase.

Note…7000 BB’s later and I broke it :(. I used mainly nasty copperhead BB’s which had begun to corrode so I guess it’s my own fault. The trigger, never my fav thing about this BB gun basically slipped internally so it no longer fires reliably. I will buy another because this was a great little BB gun.

Pro.
Uses MUCH less co2 then my Tangfolio 1911.
Well made and solid ( for plastic) construction
Accurate ( when you master the trigger)
Magazines are cheep and solid
The ‘glowing’ dots on the sights are a very nice touch

Cons.

It’s plastic…mice plastic but still not as solid as metal Addendum…I popped off the grip while changing bottles of co2. It was easy to fix but I was unhappy with how easily the plastic slipped from the running groves. I will just have to be careful I guess….
It’s not blow back, which isn’t really a con since you save gas.
The only real gripe I have is the heavy trigger pull….it takes time to get used to and if your accustomed to a Nice light pull it will throw your BB’s off to the right until you learn better
After putting a thousand BB’s through in 2 shot bursts the trigger slipped and began to be unreliable- note that this was after a lot of prior use with sower shooting though.

All in all a nice plinker and pretty gas efficient (I was getting 80 ish shots before needing to change cartridges)

Great little BB gun. Target practice in garage.

If you’re looking for realism this is not the gun to buy. Its an okay gun that packs a punch but honestly looks a bit like a toy when its in your hands. The c02 housing is a bit too free sliding and can make you a bit cautious when shooting.

The BB’s Are too heavy for the spring that’s in the clip. It leads to occasional misfires. I have a few other air guns and they are much more accurate than this one. when shooting it, it doesn’t come close to the advertised velocity of 410 FPS. I tried to return it, but this is one of the few items that is unable to be returned. If you plan on buying it, make sure that you keep it because you won’t be able to return it. This is the most disappointed I’ve ever been with Amazon.

I’m an avid powder handgun shooter, caster, and reloader and I’ve been looking for a nice BB pistol with which to target shoot/plink out back and in the basement when time or weather precludes a trip to the range. I have several dedicated target pellet pistols but was looking for something more in line with standard powder semiauto firearms. I tried a 1911-version blowback BB pistol and liked the functional realism, ergonomics (heft), and that 1911 trigger. However, it is a CO2 hog (3 clips about maxes out a CO2) and it produces very low velocities. It is a nice piece, but is a rattle-trap by comparison with a firearm. Accuracy is pretty marginal because, I think it has to be made with very loose tolerances just so the blowback can function. And extra clips are relatively expensive. So I started looking at other BB pistol types and decided to try the Smith and Wesson M&P non-blowback BB pistol based upon reviews and published capabilities.

I give this BB pistol 3stars, not because it is average in the field but because it has about as many negative as positive attributes in my opinion.

Trigger – Nice shape and width, comfortable. Pivots solidly in frame w/o a lot of slop or side-side play like some airgun triggers exhibit (+). Very long and heavy pull. Stacks up significantly for last half of travel. Very pronounced spring creaking and dragging before the shot breaks (-). Maybe it will wear in before it wears out.

Sights – Square notch rear with fiber optic dots. Square top front with white paste on dot. The sights are actually pretty functional. The square tops really help with elevation alignment. The rear notch width is wider than I like, but it works. It is annoying that, in my case, the white dot is off center on the front sight (-). It would have been a plus up if the front were fiber like the rear. Mine happens to shoot to near POA (not using the dots, just the sight outline) but it would have been very annoying if it did not. The rear sight should be windage adjustable. It is not (-).

Magazines – Uses metal stick-type magazines that have a spring catch to hold the follower open and are very easy to load via a chamfered bb port in line with the shot tunnel. They are also affordable since they do not hold the CO2 cartridge and therefore do not need a CO2 valve in every magazine. Magazines are a nice design (+). However, the internal magazine catch and release button in the pistol itself is plastic. Plastic on metal equals likely failure point. Pistol Mag catch (-). Make it metal.

CO2 system – The CO2 installs in a small metal (aluminum?) subframe within the hollow plastic frame handle after the rear 2/3 of the handle grip is slid back away from the frame/trigger guard. The handle back wrap is formed from a thin plastic shell that rides in two very small horizontal slots in the pistol frame. It is very easy to twist the shell and cock it on the frame, either opening or closing, making for gymnastics to get it re-aligned without breaking off the grip guide tabs. The guide tabs on the inside of the handle shell are only about 1/16 in tall and 3/16in long and look less than 1/16 in thick. They ride in a corresponding shallow, horizontal slot on either side of the frame. These look like another early failure waiting to happen. The guide tab edges get peened every time the handle shell comes out of the slots. Handle access mechanics (-). Once in the handle, the CO2 screw has a small plastic pivoting tab that swings straight to allow the CO2 screw to be finger loosened and tightened. The tab doesn’t feel very robust. I think I feel resistance to the pull of a magnet, so the screw might be steel.

Firing mechanics – This pistol shoots with very nice power (++). This is its best feature by far. It is advertised at 480fps. If below that, it’s not far below. I’m happy with the velocity so I didn’t chrony it. As a quick test, I shot through a piece of wood wall paneling at 15yd. The 1911 only dented the surface of the same material from about 8yds. The M&P is way faster than the 1911 blowback. This pistol is surprisingly accurate for a BB gun (+). Soda cans are easy to hit at 10yd once you learn the non-adjustable sight picture.. I’m sure the limited mechanical gyrations in this firing cycle have a lot to do with that. Although a simple and well-controlled action, the bb shot tube (barrel) pistons about 3/8in out of the plastic muzzle of the pistol during the trigger pull. This is a typical mechanism so that the BB can be picked up at the breech of the barrel, but most of the time the gun is designed to hide this inside a false muzzle. Don’t need to see the end of the shot tube every trigger pull. (a minor -).

This pistol is great on CO2 consumption. Second best feature. At least 60% more shots at much higher velocity than the 1911 blowback (+).

This pistol is so close to being really awesome. I didn’t want a hollow toy. But, unfortunately, this feels almost like a kid’s squirt gun. Squeeze the grip and it creaks of hollow plastic. Tap the slide with a finger and obviously a hollow shell. The power is great and the accuracy very good. CO2 consumption is better than any blowback. But, the worst aspect of it is the hollow, chintzy feeling just picking it up. This pistol weighs just 1.1lbs (digital scale) with CO2 and clip on board. The 1911 blowback weighs 2.1lbs and feels much, much better. If I were Umarex/Smith, I would put this firing mechanism into a long slide version of the M&P (to hide the shot tube pistoning) and make it a totally solid polymer or poly/metal slide non-blowback, so the BB version weighed closer to the firearm. That combined with this power and accuracy, excellent CO2 consumption, convenient clips, with a windage adjustable rear sight, true fiber front, steel CO2 screw tab, metal magazine catch, and more robust grip guide would take this pistol to a totally different level. Seems like there might be a market niche between this current offering and a full-metal blowback. I know this isn’t an expensive model as offered, but I’d pay more for the above feature list in a heartbeat.

Very accurate and powerful pistol! Was very surprised with the accuracy due to the low price. I own more expensive pistols that are much less accurate! Gun balances nicely in the hand but it’s definitely on the “plasticky” side. Pretty good trigger and sights are very visible and bright. C02 consumption is very low and I’m getting approx 100 solid rounds from one cartridge. All in all, a fun and satisfying BB pistol to shoot at a very affordable price.