I take everything Mr. Hawks says with a 'grain of salt'. And the positive reviews I read on the M&P compact 40 out weighed the negative reviews by a long shot. BTW, S&W sent me a new front sight in 3 days. And the tech told me when I called that they do use white model paint. And I would assume that the reason it came off is that it somehow was not surface preparation process to make the paint adhear.
Also, I noted since the start of this post that the compact like heavy loads. Both for function and accuracy. The lighter handloads tend to stovepipe occasionally. But no matter, I only use the hotter loads when carrying anyway as recoil is still very controllable.

I bought a 9c that I liked so much that I picked up a full size 40. They have been great pistols for me, and compare very well with my XD40. Mine have proven to be reliable and accurate, and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.