I also did not like the sandy/gritty feel. No one can say that it is meant to be gritty. It is gritty because it is a production gun and the design leads to a gritty feel. The trigger weight certainly could be intentional... but not the grittiness.

Could I survive without the APEX kit... sure. Would some of my friends even notice the trigger as being bad... some not.

Once I pulled the trigger with it installed I felt like I had a very comfortable handgun and felt complete

Also have to agree that trigger weight should not be a safety mechanism to give you a chance to rethink accidentally shooting your grandma in a dark hallway.