Smith & Wesson, a gun maker with a long and storied production history, is best known for products that support military and law enforcement endeavors. However, it’s also one of the few companies that offers a 10mm Auto trail gun trifecta, including revolvers, pistols and more recently a folding pistol-caliber carbine. We have posted a review that digs deeper into the performance potential of the Smith & Wesson handgun options. But this write-up takes a closer look at the company's folding M&P FPC carbine and how a carbine-length barrel affects this popular outdoor cartridge's performance potential.
The Smith & Wesson M&P FPC (top) shown with the M&P 2.0 pistol (center) and the Model 610 revolver.
The M&P FPC is a blowback-operated, semi-automatic carbine which has clearly been influenced by the 25-year old folding KelTec Sub2000 design. One of the key changes to the M&P FPC is that the barrel folds to the left side of the receiver instead of over the top of the receiver like the Sub2000. However, the bolt, recoil assembly, tubular stock support and rear-mounted charging handle have been 'borrowed' from the KelTec model. Nevertheless, Smith & Wesson has applied changes and features to the M&P FPC that many would consider improvements on the original Sub2000 theme.
When folded, the M&P FPC is just 16.75-inches long.
The polymer receiver is a clamshell configuration split horizontally. It is secured by six screws at the rear and two pins at the front which serve as the hinge support for the barrel assembly on the left side, and the spring-loaded release lever on the right. Pressing the release lever forward opens the action so that the barrel swings to the left to fold up against the stock assembly. The charging handle extension on the left is notched so as to lock the barrel in the folded position. Pulling back slightly on the charging handle releases the barrel to swing back and lock into the extended position. It’s a rugged configuration that's simple to deploy.
This carbine weighs in at 5-pounds 14.4-ounces unloaded.
The muzzle of the 16.25-inch-long 4140 chromoly steel barrel is threaded at 9/16x24 TPI for 10mm Auto-compatible muzzle accessories including compensators and sound suppressors. A knurled thread protector is provided. The barrel is shrouded by a 12.25-inch long polymer AR-style handguard with a full-length Picatinny optics rail along the top and a slew of M-Lok accessory slots along the sides that double as cooling vents.
The muzzle is threaded at is threaded at 9/16x24 TPI for compensators and suppressors.
The heavy-duty bolt assembly is made of stainless steel and supported by a large, round-wire recoil spring that extends into the steel stock tube. It operates in a similar fashion to an AR-15 buffer assembly. The tubular extension is capped off by a fixed polymer shoulder stock with a textured butt plate. Smith & Wesson gets extra points for not wasting this stock's utility potential. It has been widened and fitted with a tilting release lever to support the storage of a pair of additional M&P pistol 15-round magazines. Two more points go to the company for providing a total of three magazines for this carbine, one for the grip and two to fill the slots in the stock.
The rifle style Swampfox Liberator II red dot optic was an ideal fit for this platform.
The lower half of the M&P FPC's polymer receiver is a clone of the M&P series pistol grip frame, including the trigger guard, the polymer trigger with an integral safety lever, the ambidextrous bolt release lever, reversible magazine release button and a total of four interchangeable back straps. The grip frame's texturing is aggressive like the pistol’s, and they even kept the takedown tool stored at the rear of the grip. The double-action trigger exhibited a 4-pound 12-ounce trigger pull weight according to a Lyman Products digital trigger gauge.
The controls, trigger and grip frame have been borrowed from the M&P pistol.
The M&P FPC does not ship with a factory installed sight system. Instead, the handguard optics rail can be used to support either an extended eye relief magnified scope or a red-dot optic. In this case, I tried a few different red-dot optic heights on for size and found the red-dots with AR-15-height risers to be the best fit for me.
The fixed shoulder stock provides storage slots for two 15-round M&P pistol magazines.
The carbine was topped off with a Swampfox Liberator II (RDLR122-2RD; $149) using the taller mount provided in the box. This fully enclosed rifle-style 2 MOA red-dot arrives with a pair of flip-up lens caps. This makes it ideal for a folding carbine that's going to be shoved into a duffle or backpack for transportation. Available with red or green illumination, the compact 6061 aluminum housing is fitted with lenses featuring an anti-scratch, anti-fog and hydrophobic coating. Other features including Shake N' Wake automatic on/off technology, ten manual brightness settings, and up to 10,000 hours of run time using a single CR2032 button cell battery.
Shooting the 10mm Auto cartridge from a carbine boosts performance while taming felt recoil.
For the shooting range evaluation, the M&P FPC was test fired using a total of five factory 15-round magazines. The carbine, the magazines and the ammunition all operated together flawlessly. There were no malfunctions of any kind throughout the course of informal and formal testing. When shooting the same ammunition from a 10 mm Auto handgun, the felt recoil generated can be on the stout side of the scale. But as expected, the carbine kept felt recoil to moderate, all-day comfortable levels suitable for a wide range of body shapes and experience levels.
This carbine operated reliably with all of the ammunition and magazines included in the range test.
Although I enjoy going the rounds with the pistol-versus-revolver debate just as much as anyone, the conversation changes when you add in pistol-caliber carbines. Much like the .357 Mag. and .44 Mag. revolver rounds, the 10mm Auto puts its best foot forward when fired through a 16-inch barrel. A carbine provides more than enough time and rifled bore distance for the high-pressure gases produced by the powder ignition to fully develop. But just how much bullet performance might be gained by using a carbine instead of a handgun depends a good deal on the ammunition used.
The bench rested performance testing for the M&P FPC was conducted by firing three 3-shot groups into paper targets posted at 50-yards. Muzzle velocity was measured for 10-shot strings using a Garmin Xero C1 Pro chronograph. Here are the carbine's results:
As I've seen with other PCC tests, the reduced speed and subsonic loads tend to exhibit only modest velocity gains. Remington's softer shooting Cor-Lokt Handgun load, topped with a 200-grain jacketed hollow point, was the slowest load of the test set to begin with. It gained an average of 44-fps when compared to the manufacturer's listed velocity. More is more but this is not exactly an earth shattering increase. But for those who are concerned that too much added velocity will negatively affect the hollow point bullet's performance, sticking close to the listed velocities will be seen as a good thing.
The CCI Blazer Brass 180-grain full-metal jacket load and Federal Premium's Solid Core Syntech 200-grain hard-cast lead load have factory listed velocities of 1,200 fps. The Blazer round gained 196-fps while the Federal picked up 148-fps. Is this enough of a difference to make a difference? Yes, it is. And since both of these bullets are intended to provide deep penetration and bone-breaking power, this velocity boost is a good thing.
The two 3-shot groups of 0.84-inches (left) and 1.03-inches (right) were fired using the G9 Defense load.
The fastest load of the test, the G9 Defense EHP, only got faster. The 95-grain fluted-copper solid (they like to call this bullet an External Hollow point) scooted right along with a velocity boost of 346-fps. That's 2066-fps of muzzle velocity from a pistol-caliber carbine! The good news about this bullet type is that as velocity increases the cavitation effects become more pronounced with the potential for the bullet to be even more effective. And there was nothing to complain about in regards to accuracy either. You can read more about G9 Defense ammunition offerings in this review. And you can read more about light, fast 10mm ammunition performance from a carbine-length barrel here.
As of this writing, I have yet to meet a 10mm Auto carbine that I didn't like. I'm pleased to report that the Smith & Wesson M&P FPC has been added to that list. It is rugged, reliable and loaded with features that are a great fit for a folding carbine intended to be both portable and enjoyable to use. The M&P 2.0 pistol type controls, trigger, grip frame and magazines provide a familiar feel and operation for those who already shoot M&P or other striker-fired pistols. And for those who choose to pair this carbine with an M&P 2.0 pistol, the shared 15-round magazines are a bonus indeed. For more information, visit smith-wesson.com.
Smith & Wesson M&P FPC Carbine Technical Specifications
- Type: blowback-operated; semi-automatic; centerfire rifle
- Caliber: 10mm Auto
- Magazine: M&P 2.0 removable box; 15-round capacity
- Barrel: 16.25-inches 4140 chromoly steel, round profile, matte black finish; 1:10 RH twist; 9/16x24 TPI threaded muzzle
- Trigger: double-action only; pull weight 4-lbs. 12-ozs. as tested
- Sights: none; full-length handguard optics rail
- Safety: 2-position cross bolt
- Stocks: steel tube with fixed polymer buttplate, LOP 14.5-inches
- Metal Finish: matte black
- Overall Length:30.75-inches
- Overall Length Folded: 16.75-inches
- Weight: 5-lbs. 14.4-ozs. unloaded with one magazine
- Accessories: three magazines, three grip back straps, grip tool, lock, owner's manual
- MSRP: $699; smith-wesson.com
