From its inception, the Smith & Wesson M&P lineup of handguns have been purpose built to fill the major requirements of military and police forces. Being that the 9mm is still the most popular handgun cartridge in the world, it is no surprise that the company came out of the gate with the M&P9 in the first run of production.

As with others in the M&P lineup, this pistol is fitted with a host of useful features that do not come across as “gimicky” but look to have real use and value in the field. Let's go over a few of these.

The M&P9 service pistol comes standard with 3 Dot combat sights that are dovetailed into the slide. You can purchase the gun with night sights already installed or you can easily upgrade the original set at a later date. Interchangeable backstraps allow the gun to readily conform to the different grips that shooters of various body types naturally have. The magazine release is reversible to accommodate both right or left handed shooters and the slide release is ambidextrous as well.

As is typical of most modern service pistols, the Smith & Wesson M&P9 is comprised of a steel slide and barrel mated to a polymer composite frame. Scalloped serrations are cut into the rear of the slide. Just forward of these is the noticeably beefy extractor which is designed to take years of extended use without failure. The guns are pretty much uniform in appearance with both the slide and the frame finished in black. An exception to this general rule include the pistols which are upgraded with Crimson Trace laser grips (pictured above) and the specialized Julie Golob Champion Series M&P9 JG.

The gun can be purchased with or without a manual thumb safety. While many feel that such design elements are unnecessary in this day of internal safety system, a manual safety is often a requirement for both police and military units and the M&P9 service pistol make accommodations for these customer groups.

As is typical of all pistols in the M&P lineup, a picatinny rail is included in the frame's design to facilitate a tactical flashlight or laser sight. The front of the gun also sports a custom contoured design with makes it easier to holster the gun with ease.

Reviews of the Smith & Wesson M&P9 service pistol can be found below. All versions of the 9mm gun including those with/without a thumb safety, with/without Crimson Trace grips, and standard or double-action-only trigger setup are to be included here. Specialized version of the M&P9 such as the long slide M&P9L and the Pro Series as well as the Julie Golob M&P9 JG have their own separate review sets. Other M&P pistols which are in difference calibers such as the M&P40, M&P45, and M&P357 also have their own place where you can submit reviews of those respective pistols.