Well, im a new gun owner and had been teetering on the idea of purchasing a gun. I didnt know where to start exactly, so I decided to just go to my local gun dealer. While browsing of course saw the sd9ve and first thing that jumped out at me was the look of the gun and of course loved the price, asked immediately to hold it and being a complete and total noob to this thought you know this thing seems pretty damn good (even if I know nothing about guns). It just didnt seem chintzy and comes with a magazine for $329 list price at my lgd.

Went home did research and saw some pretty favorable reviews and videos. Went back in a few days later and spoke to a gentlemen who served recently in the military and he said 9mm is a great first gun to have and pretty much what most police and military personnel carry. He said the sw was a good gun and thats all there really was too it, he inspected it for me said it looked great and I was sold.

So I slapped down the cash, did the 3 day wait. Came in ready to shoot and of course no 9mm range ammo (due to current bs) so I grabbed the cheapest personal defense ammo that was in stock....and headed towards the back.

Went in got settled in and fired away 20 rounds at a silhouette....felt pretty good, grouping was spaced all around but it wasnt a major mess, was shooting decently and hit the center point once. For the first round into a silhouette, it seemed a "noob success" and went home happy camper to do more research and get acclimated.

Finally got in some bear ammo online and went back to the range for a 50 round box to fire off. This time majorly dissapointed. I didnt even hit paper 50% of the time, was really depressing. Was totally aiming straight and arrow...not sure what the deal was. Felt as if I couldnt defend myself if I wanted too....

Also to add injury noticed after firing my rounds the white dot on the front sights was gone... Oh boy here we go. Did I make a bad decision, do I just suck? How much ammo do I need to fire and how can I defend myself in a threatening moment with this type of targeting when its not moving, well lit and im taking 10 seconds to fire, steady and breath (were the thoughts running through my head).

So figured what the heck, gonna regroup, bought a gun cleaning kit and brought it home dissembled the weapon read the manual front to back, read the cleaning directions and went to town. Im no expert but I can follow directions.

Grabbed another 50 round box of the bear ammo I had and went back in tonight and walked up to the guy at the counter and asked for some assistance. Figured if he can hit the target its me. So that will rule it out. He was very helpful, grabbed a small target and brought it out and pretty much tagged the center point 3 shots out of 3. Smiling I knew it was my error, which is is cool. His suggestion was because he knew of the heavier trigger is to squeeze it halfway in and aim, then follow through squeeze fire. Sure enough I went in aimed exactly as I did before but half squeezed and was pretty damn good I would say for being a total noob, honestly I felt like a champ this time. I mean from the last time to this time nothing was different except for the cleaning and squeezing, I knew I was aiming perfectly before and this time. Maybe I can thank online pc shooters for it or just being a man....but hell come on now I didnt think it would be that tough!

But I was shooting low and left the night before with wide grouping or just hitting air...this time I was pretty dead on just a little left and low. I mean I was pretty impressed compared to even the other shooters there. Ill post pics of the target practice pics later.

My guess is the cleaning might have been the reasoning the gun wasnt so perfect (warning noob assumption) as the manual states to clean it before shooting...and It was a week or so since I last shot it so maybe thats why? Your thoughts?

Otherwise im pretty happy thus far and will practice and watch videos more and just get more comfortable with the gun. Anyhow im resting easier now as I was pretty frustrated at how straight I was aiming before and not even hitting a silhouette target. My goal is to work on being able to hit a target in a tense real life event.

Overall im happy. I think this seems to be a great value and a good starter gun and well now im protected and that feels good.

Anyhow glad to be here and hope to learn a lot and help if I can.

Congrats on your first gun purchase. The SD's are excellent values. If you are interested in watching a good video on your gun, The Yankee Marshal has one up on his YouTube channel.

Also on YouTube Hickok45 has an excellent three part video on shooting.

You have already figured out that the most challenging thing about shooting the SD's is the trigger. I'm thinking about getting an Apex spring kit for my SD9.

Congratulations!

One question: you said it came with "a" magazine. If the pistol was new, it should have come with two magazines. I mention this because some dealers have been known to rob a magazine from the box, and sell the gun with only one magazine. If it was a used gun, then the previous owner may or may not have included the 2nd magazine (or the dealer may have taken it out.) If the gun was new, I would go back to the dealer and ask him for the 2nd magazine. These magazines are expensive, and even more so now...if you can even find one to buy.

Yeah even after editing my first post was overly lengthy and I spotted that error as well. I have two magazines..one in the gun and one in the box. Thats what I meant.

Im going to re-edit it so it doesnt sound so retarded. I wrote it quickly and with excitement. Just glad to have overcome the hurdle. My only thoughts are was it the squeezing or the cleaning that fixed my shooting issue.

Also was told by the gun shop they will repair the dot no problem. I saw a few people had that issue as well. Which honestly is fine as its not a night sight anyhow. The only drawback I can see is the rear sight isnt adjustable or easily adjustable. But I dont think it needs adjustment...its probably all just me.

If that is the criteria, I can't post any more...ever.

As for needing your sights adjusted, it may well be getting used to the trigger pull. Do a lot of dry firing, concentrating on not letting the sight come off a target (great fun when watching TV.) With the price of ammo, while you do need to do some live fire, dry firing will really help you as well as save money.

Not to hijack the thread but does dri firing hurt anything? also a noob 1st gun and also a sdve9 hadn't shot it yet.. thanks armallard

No, not in these guns. Dry fire is good for trigger practice and helps also break it in.

If you want, you can buy and use snap caps, which is basically dummy ammo, and has a "primer" that absorbs the impact of the striker...these can also help you practice loading and malfunction drills, without the risk of using live ammo.

My M&P is less than a month old and already has 100-200 dry fires (and counting). No ill effect and helps break in the trigger.

thanks for the replies guys so far I love the gun fits well finally found some ammo hope to shoot for real soon

armallard

Once you master that trigger you will shoot all other guns better.

Here's a quick tip. I had some similar issues with my SD40. I was shooting low & to the left. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. My grouping wasn't too bad. So I read that you want to make sure that when you're shooting that you use the pad of the 1st joint of the trigger finger to shoot. If you don't it will cause you to shoot low & down.

just my 2 cents.

I am new to the gun scene as well and purchased the SD 9mm VE I reserched this gun for 2 months and finally decided this was the gun for me especially after going to the seller and being able to get my hands on it.Now maybe it's just me but the trigger on it isn't bad at all I had already bought the apex trigger for it just because of all the reviews on the factory trigger pull being so heavy and long but I haven't even thought a ought putting it in.Like I said I've never fired another gun until this one so maybe after I do I'll change my mind but until then it feels great as is my my grouping just starting out isn't bad at all this is coming from an instructed so I feel pretty confident.130 shots fired so far and loving every pull.

Low and left is sometime as a result of recoil anticipation. Try dry firing it and getting used to that long trigger.

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

Congrats. Nothing better than being happy with a purchase

I actually am in my 10 day waiting period for the same thing as my first firearm

Want some good advice? Try shooting the gun with the current trigger. But, be prepared, it's like a revolver trigger; long and hard (WOW! That sounds very offensive! ). Then, either install an APEX spring kit yourself, or, have a gunsmith install it. I bet after the spring kit is installed you will be able to shoot a flea of of a fly's rear end at 50 ft.!

Grouping low and to the left is a common flinch for a right handed shooter. Low and to the right is common for left handed shooters. There are some great videos by Jerry Michulek, a S&W handgun professional, about grip, stance, and how to shoot.

One tip I picked up from the videos is to not be in a hurry to reset the trigger. Keep the trigger back during recoil until your sight comes back on target. Then ease the trigger out until you feel the reset

Congrats on the SD9VE purchase! I have had one for quite a long time now -- and like it a lot.

The low/left shooting is very common, as Spad124 noted. I wouldn't alter the sights until you get more practice. The SD9 trigger is NOT like a finely-tuned 1911 -- where the trigger breaks "like a glass rod" at 3 lbs. It is more like a revolver trigger. It can be mastered, and mastering it will aid you in shooting all other guns, too. I agree with the suggestion that you hold off on adding the Apex trigger until you have had more practice and developed the "muscle memory" to shoot this gun the same way every time. Then consider adding the Apex if you want to -- many people on the forum report good results with it.

Bottom line is that you have a very good pistol -- yep, suitable for "starting out" in shooting but it will serve you well for a long time. As someone said the other day, "Everything you need in a pistol and nothing that you don't need." I always throw in the comment that the SD9/40's are "good value for the money" but you know that!

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S&W Rover

Well, Daevil, welcome to the board. in case you weren't aware, make sure that you file for your $25 rebate. That will come in handy on extra mags, ammo, holster, Apex parts, etc.

Did any of you notice the OP guy's post was from 2013?

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Loving retirement!

No! That's four years old! And he has only posted 5 times, total, so its unlikely he's come back here to see any comments!

(I've done this a couple of times but will try harder to check the original post to see how current it is, or isn't. Thanks for pointing out that this one is old!).

But I hope his SD9VE experience continued to be a good one!

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S&W Rover

I realize the OP is probably not reading this and has, by now, figured out the issue of point of impact. For those who are here now, as has been stated, the trouble is easily diagnosed. This drawing is one of several similar and tells the tale. Reverse if you are a lefty, like me!

Practice makes perfect.

Yep - but it was Daevil's first so I decided to welcome him.

I notice the center has no reason as to why I keep shooting there. Was that cure/fix/result left out?

Lol....Im a low left kinda guy.

As long as the center is 4-6 inches Im ok

I admit I'm an amateur but my experience so far is that the bullets tend to go where the gun is pointed when it fires.

Or, I'm not a fan of those charts.

you got a very good pistol, experts say it is better built then a glock 19...and the prices are great

I installed a Apex spring kit in my SD9. It does make a differance.

This was my first gun too.

So far i've had a few issues but i was using terrible brass. I am hoping after the initial break in period and better ammo, everything evens out.

The SD9/40VE are great guns. They don't break the bank, are accurate and reliable. My first gun was a SD9VE too. Even though the first firearm I shot (a rental at a local range) was a SIG SP2022 9mm, the SD got the nod when I purchased my first gun. There were two factors that lead to this decision, 1. the reputation of S&W and 2. the price was only $299 +tax. After the break in I added a Apex trigger and spring kit that I got when I got lucky and was chosen by Apex to beta test their +3 mag extensions for the SD9VE.

Eventually I got a SIG later on, a CPO P229 .40 and added a .357SIG barrel to it. The SP2022 is still on my want list with many others.

So many guns - so little funds.