Smith & Wesson has just announced the M&P FPC, a new ultra-compact 9mm pistol-caliber carbine that can be folded in half.
Pistol-caliber carbines, or PCCs, continue to be extremely popular, and Smith & Wesson has just thrown its hat into the ring as well with the announcement of the M&P FPC. The new carbine is chambered for 9mm, accepts double-stack M&P pistol magazines and can be folded in half for compact storage or transport.
The stand-out feature of the M&P FPC is its horizontal folding mechanism that can bring the overall length from about 30 inches down to about 16 inches. Because optics are mounted to a Picatinny rail on top of the M-LOK handguard, folding the carbine doesn’t interfere with one’s sights like on some other folding 9mm PCC designs. When folded, the charging handle on the buffer tube (which houses an integrated recoil buffer system) doubles as a locking latch.
Other notable features of the M&P FPC include a 1/2×28 threaded muzzle, a flat-faced trigger and an in-stock magazine storage compartment that can hold two spare mags. The carbine also has a cross-bolt safety, a reversible magazine catch and is compatible with M&P pistol palmswell grip adaptors. Each M&P FPC will ship with a 17-round mag, two 23-round mags and a carrying case with Velcro straps for transporting the carbine while folded.
John Myles, Senior Manager of New Products at Smith & Wesson, said this about the M&P FPC:
The team at Smith & Wesson aimed to design a pistol carbine that was compatible with various M&P series pistol magazines. We exceeded that initial desire by introducing side-folding mechanics that deliver a unique compact feature and allow the user to keep their sight system mounted on the gun both in the folded and extended positions. Extra magazine storage in the buttstock, familiar M&P fire controls, and reliable palmswell grip adaptors all make this new pistol carbine a great addition to the M&P family…
The Smith & Wesson M&P FPC is available now and has an MSRP of $659.
For more information, please visit smith-wesson.com.
More On PCCs:
- 13 Affordable 9mm Carbine Options
- 10mm Carbine: What Are Your Options?
- Go Small With These 8 Economical AR Pistol Options
- Should You Own A Pistol Caliber Carbine?
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I have owned an FPC for almost a week. I love the idea of my pistol and my rifle shooting the same caliber and using the same magazines, especially in an emergency situation. The FPC is fun to shoot and is very accurate. It is small enough to fit in all but the smallest backpacks. I’m not unhappy with my purchase, but it has one big problem that in my opinion should have been fixed before it made it to production. The pistol grip!! I have a couple of M&P pistols (full size) and I love the grips, especially the interchangeable palm swells. The FPC copies that great idea, but the issue is the length of the grip, it’s not a copy of the full-size pistol, it’s too short. That’s the reason for the piece of plastic that sits at the bottom of the 3 magazines that come with the gun. The plastic spacers float around, they are not permanently attached so they could and probably will fall off at some point. No worries though they just fill the gap between the bottom of the pistol grip and the base of the full-sized pistol magazines that come with the FPC. The real problem shows up when you shoot one of the magazines empty that come with the FPC, when the bolt locks back and you replace it with a magazine from one of your full-sized pistols (which do not come with the plastic fillers because if they did, they wouldn’t fit in your pistol). After you slam your pistol magazine in the grip, the bolt which is locked back WILL NOT RELEASE. I found this out the second time I shot it. It took about 5 minutes to figure out the problem. When the bolt is locked open and a magazine without the plastic filler on it is inserted with a little force, just like you do every time you do a mag change, the magazine gets inserted too far and the bolt WILL NOT RELEASE. On the range in my backyard was really the best place to find this out. The magazines will swap between the pistols and the FPC but not with the plastic spacer in place, with the plastic spacer on the magazines that come with the FPC they won’t fit your pistol. You can slide the spacers off the FPC mags and they will fit your pistol, but then you risk the same issue I described above when you run them in your FPC. The bolt not unlocking when your pistol magazine is inserted with the bolt locked open is fixable if you insert your pistol magazine very softly, or you insert it like you do on every magazine fed gun you own and then pull the pistol magazine down, after you pull the pistol magazine down then the bolt works normally.
I would love to know why the pistol grip length is not the same as the full-size M&P pistol and made to accept the 17-round magazine without the plastic filler.