☆ New Smith & Wesson Response PCC

[gregkl]

Tagged because I want to see Simon’s opinions.

I handled one of these at the shop. Two opinions 1) yuck it’s cheesy plastic and PCCs are stupid, carry a rifle and 2) this seems pretty cool, lightweight, takes different mags, trigger OK, bolt has a decent looking extractor. To be honest it peaked my interest as I like PCCs and enjoyed my AR9 before I sold it to a friend. I didn’t care for the plastic but I did like the weight.

As I mentioned above, I am hesitant because it's mostly made from polymer. 9MM may not be near as stout as .223 but it's quite bit more powerful than .22LR.

I like the idea of being able to shoot the same caliber and a lower cost round, but other than that I don't see other benefits.

 

[Got SIG?]

One thing that might be worth considering, cleaning the FPC is a breeze compared to an AR! I know, they are totally different rifles. However, I have had a ton of fun with the FPC at the range, no failures to fire or feed after about 700 rounds and yes, it is a lot of polymer (plastic). Might not be the best choice at the Chosin reservoir, but in Indiana, just fine! It is light, fast, and feels very natural in the hands. With the weight of the 23 round magazines seated in the buttstock, it balances well into the shoulder. Lastly, my wife really enjoyed it. Makes me feel better knowing she is comfortable with it. For the money, it is a great deal. Enjoy and take care of each other. Sorry I didn't pay attention to the thread - I commented on the FPC and not the Response PCC. My mistake.

 

[marvin02]

@Got SIG? - relevant in the comparison of the two, although the AR9 I had was easy to clean.

 

[VERT]

@Got SIG? - relevant in the comparison of the two, although the AR9 I had was easy to clean.

Yeah the AR9 I had was the easiest gun I ever cleaned. Basically patch down the barrel, gun off the bolt, lube and put back together.

 

[el_barto3]

https://www.smith-wesson.com/product/response

View attachment 306363

Looks like a nice shooting gun, with those m&p mags I'd think it'd be reliable

 

[Twinks46975]

Picked up my Response tonight. Added sights, red dot and muzzle device. Feels pretty good. Gonna try to make it to the range this weekend to shoot it for a while.

If you get an opportunity to post an update in the future I’d like to hear your thoughts.

 

[Twinks46975]

Looks like a nice shooting gun, with those m&p mags I'd think it'd be reliable

I was thinking the same thing. I was curious if there were big discussions about the polymer upper.

 

[Twinks46975]

One thing that might be worth considering, cleaning the FPC is a breeze compared to an AR! I know, they are totally different rifles. However, I have had a ton of fun with the FPC at the range, no failures to fire or feed after about 700 rounds and yes, it is a lot of polymer (plastic). Might not be the best choice at the Chosin reservoir, but in Indiana, just fine! It is light, fast, and feels very natural in the hands. With the weight of the 23 round magazines seated in the buttstock, it balances well into the shoulder. Lastly, my wife really enjoyed it. Makes me feel better knowing she is comfortable with it. For the money, it is a great deal. Enjoy and take care of each other. Sorry I didn't pay attention to the thread - I commented on the FPC and not the Response PCC. My mistake.

It felt natural in my hands. I own the Ruger PC 9 but have never been down the 9mm AR style road. I’ll give it a chance and see how it goes.

 

[marvin02]

Sootch's review:



He was given the rifle by S&W.

He states that the charging handle isn't compatible with standard ar15 handles. This video shows that a standard handle will fit:



Here is another:

 

[Simon6101]

Simon's review

Finally made it to the range today. I took 115 gr. FMJ, 124 FMJ, 147 FMJ and 135 +P Critical Defense. I zeroed the Holosun i had installed and then began shooting rounds.
I was at MCF&G and they have 5- 6in. Plates at the end of the bay. I started out just running the plates back and forth. Everything went well with all Ammo.
Next I started doing double taps to see if I could keep them on the plates while shooting quickly like Friday Night Steel. All ammo ran perfectly.
After shooting 500 rds this morning with only stopping to load mags I can say 3 things
1. The Response ran with 4 different grain weight ammo with no stoppages at all.
2. The recoil is what I expected for a blowback PCC.
3. It did get pretty warm to the touch and was still warm when I got home 30 minutes later.
I did not get time to try out the Glock adapter since some other members showed up and decided to move into the bay I was using. If they would have asked would have been no big deal but just moved in and took over so I loaded up and left.
That being said; Overall I feel that the rifle is built well, functions properly and is very accurate.

 

[WebSnyper]

Simon's review

Finally made it to the range today. I took 115 gr. FMJ, 124 FMJ, 147 FMJ and 135 +P Critical Defense. I zeroed the Holosun i had installed and then began shooting rounds.
I was at MCF&G and they have 5- 6in. Plates at the end of the bay. I started out just running the plates back and forth. Everything went well with all Ammo.
Next I started doing double taps to see if I could keep them on the plates while shooting quickly like Friday Night Steel. All ammo ran perfectly.
After shooting 500 rds this morning with only stopping to load mags I can say 3 things
1. The Response ran with 4 different grain weight ammo with no stoppages at all.
2. The recoil is what I expected for a blowback PCC.
3. It did get pretty warm to the touch and was still warm when I got home 30 minutes later.
I did not get time to try out the Glock adapter since some other members showed up and decided to move into the bay I was using. If they would have asked would have been no big deal but just moved in and took over so I loaded up and left.
That being said; Overall I feel that the rifle is built well, functions properly and is very accurate.

Sounds like it performed pretty well.

And man, that's not cool etiquette from the other member about the bay. I would not have been happy about that at all.

 

[Simon6101]

Sounds like it performed pretty well.

And man, that's not cool etiquette from the other member about the bay. I would not have been happy about that at all.

I wasn't and I checked the log sheet. Member and a guest. Training the guest well. That is why I just packed up and left. I had several guns with me to shoot. I will go back to getting there at 0800 to shoot when nobody else is around.

 

[marvin02]

@Simon6101 - thanks for the report.

 

[zachcz]

Thank you for range report.

How does it feel compared to 15-22. Seems to share a lot of characteristics just from the couple short videos and pictures I’ve seen. Does it feel more substantial?

 

[Simon6101]

Thank you for range report.

How does it feel compared to 15-22. Seems to share a lot of characteristics just from the couple short videos and pictures I’ve seen. Does it feel more substantial?

Funny you would compare those 2. I compared them and the Response is a little heavier. Overall they are both the same platform. With a standard AR grip the only differences would be weight and handguard length

 

[Simon6101]

@Simon6101 - thanks for the report.

Anytime.

 

[eric001]

I've not shot the FPC, but I did get a chance to give it a good once-over. It felt really good to me once I got past the polymer idea. Now that I see the Response compared to the FPC, I'd be really interested to see if S&W will merge the two ideas and do a folding AR variant. To me that would be an interesting engineering problem, but could be really cool to have the expandable/collapsing stock, multiple mag and trigger change capability, AND fold the barrel for backpacking, etc.

Interesting that the Response was venting gas down through the trigger area in the Honest Outlaw video ~7 min or so (way above)...
@Simon6101 was that actually noticeable to you at all? Did you see any gumming up of the works from the gas going everywhere inside the frame??

 

[Route 45]

Interesting that the Response was venting gas down through the trigger area in the Honest Outlaw video ~7 min or so (way above)...
@Simon6101 was that actually noticeable to you at all? Did you see any gumming up of the works from the gas going everywhere inside the frame??

He was using a suppressor, which increases back pressure and gives you gas blowback. If you're not going to run a suppressor, it's nothing to worry about. Probably nothing to worry about with a suppressor either, except for the annoyance or gas to the face if you are a lefty.

 

[Simon6101]

I ju

I've not shot the FPC, but I did get a chance to give it a good once-over. It felt really good to me once I got past the polymer idea. Now that I see the Response compared to the FPC, I'd be really interested to see if S&W will merge the two ideas and do a folding AR variant. To me that would be an interesting engineering problem, but could be really cool to have the expandable/collapsing stock, multiple mag and trigger change capability, AND fold the barrel for backpacking, etc.

Interesting that the Response was venting gas down through the trigger area in the Honest Outlaw video ~7 min or so (way above)...
@Simon6101 was that actually noticeable to you at all? Did you see any gumming up of the works from the gas going everywhere inside the frame??

I did not notice any of the blowback and just opened the rifle to check for buildup. There is a little unspent powder but nothing excessive. I don't run a suppressor and as already pointed out that increases back pressure and dirt.

 

[eric001]

Well, that totally makes sense. I've never used a suppressor, so never even thought about back pressure. Thank you both!!

Still, even with a little extra crud... for the price and weight, the Response looks pretty attractive.