Also if SD is for self defense, what does VE mean? Value Edition.

Mine has a very specific purpose... It's my hunting sidearm.
While it has never given me any reason to the contrary,
in my mind, I can't rely on a $250 gun for daily protection.
Not diss'ing anyone else who does, just a personal thing.
I had mine Cerakoted in a RealTree style pattern and I carry it
when I hunt as a close defense weapon for dogs, coyotes,
wild boars, or any other animal that might not take kindly to me
being in the woods with them. I shoot 25-50 rounds through it
prior to hunting season just to check and verify, but it has never
given me a reason to think poorly of it.

All I have in the way of handguns these days are 442's and SD9 VE's. The 442's get pocket carried and get a wee bit of range time. The SD9 VE"s rest in the night stand, hang out in the book case by my chair, ride in the glove box and go on every range trip. The SD's are very pleasant to shoot and certainly get the job done without breaking the bank. All that I've done to mine is install steel M&P rear sights.

45tex - You're close. VE means Value Enhanced.

Best Regards,
ADP3

I have had No problem out of mine sits on my night stand every night and goes where I go we will see what happens.

I bought the first one because it fit my hand like a glove and was 100% reliable.

I bought the second one because of the first one and the awesome price point.

They have multi-roles; house gun, truck gun, teaching tool, loaner etc.

A test drive is all it takes to sell someone on them.

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NULLI SECUNDUS

I got mine as an early birthday present from my sister. I use it for HD and blinking.
My daily carry gun is a Ruger SR40c or a Walther PPQ 40s&w depending on the clothes I wearing.

To tell the truth I looked G19 before my SD9ve. I read some reviews but the fact that it was a S&W for $300 is what sold me. I had a 357 mag. loved it & still have SN 38 sp. was night stand gun, both S&W.
I was not a big pistol shooter & had not been hunting in years, when the Wife decides she wants to carry for protection.
Knowing she was going to need to train a lot I knew we would both need handguns, so this one fit my needs & budget.
If I did carry I would find a way to carry my SD9ve, for now it is HD , car & truck gun. Now I am getting back into a little small game hunting I take it with me.
I have had it for over 2 years now , stopped counting rounds at 2400 a year ago , shot everything I can find through it & all it does is work , I shoot the heck out of it & clean it sometimes never a problem.

8000 rounds through mine now and 1 FTF.. seems pretty reliable to me. It's called maintaining your firearm.

I got mine because I just liked it. I have M&Ps and a couple of SIGS. They're great, but I wanted a gun that I could carry on the bike or throw in the car with no worries. My LGS guy handed me a SD9VE and then, while I looked it over, he went in back to get one in a box, and waited for me by the check-out counter. He said that everyone that handles one and then looks at its price tag takes one home. It cost me $289 plus tax. Its trigger pull is a bit long but with some minor polishing, its smooth as it can be. I changed its plastic rear sight. No reason except that I had a spare and liked fiddling around with it. Its had a bunch of rounds through it now, mostly my hand-loads. It has not had one single failure of any kind and its as accurate or better than my M&Ps. Its a heckuva lot smoother than my Shield, and, for me, more accurate, too. In fact, the Shield is likely to find itself for sale.

There have been more returns per dollar spent from this gun than anything else I've owned. Smith's most under-valued product, IMHO.

BTW, mine fits in the old Glock 19 holster well enough that I don't have to start surfing the holster adds, either.

I have a SD9VE that I use for ccw. With 5000+ rounds no failures using various brands and handloads. Where can I get the stainless recoil rod?

I've found two places -- Galloway precision.com and Wolff Springs.

I bought the Wolf model -- didn't like it because the spring was not captured and was a huge pain in the tailfeathers to breakdown for cleaning. The "spring" part of the Wolff combo is a regular old wire spring, not a flat wound type. Don't know if that's good or bad, but it is different. But the quality from Wolff is excellent.

The Galloway one is a captured spring much like the original spring except that it has a stainless rod. The spring is a flat wound variety, just like OEM. The other products that I've seen from Galloway are of excellent quality, no reason to think this one wouldn't be either. I will likely order one of them when the shooting budget comes off life support.

I carry my SD9VE in a kydex hybrid IWB adjustable holster made by Homestead Holsters LLC in Illinois. I carry appendix style. It prints less that way.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Home defense gun and occasionally rides in the car. The gun is a tad big for carry, but if it was my only option I would.


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blah, blah, blah, you have to spend a lot of money for a reliable gun BS. It's got the same guts as the M&P and actually a better trigger, (I know I had both). Never had any FTE's or FTF's with mine. And as far as Ruger goes, I love them and they make a lot of great firearms but their polymer striker fired guns are not among their finest arms. The SD9VE is just fine.

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This Signature is too Short!

Yes, it stands for Value Edition. As it's an SD9 without the frills and a lower price.

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This Signature is too Short!

I got the sd9ve for hs and range wife got a sig saure p250sc and now likes my ad better so time to get a new sd9

I think that you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone on the planet choosing an SD irrespective of its price. So, comparisons between a $500 gun and a $320 gun (Academy prices) means that $180 difference in price buys you a lot more gun. Sure, if price were no object, we'd all be buying H&K's - unless we work for S&W or own stock in the company.

Between similarly-prices guns, like a Glock 17, a Springfield XD, a Beretta PX4 and an S&W M&P, the choices are not so cut and dried (except for me as I hate Glocks). Each will have their plusses and minuses.

Speaking of Shlocks...I mean, Glocks, I have heard a lot of negatives about the Gen 4's from folks who owned the earlier models - especially G17's. In effect, you're paying the same amount of money for less of a gun.

At least S&W and Ruger made it plain that they wanted to offer a "stripped-down version" of their higher priced guns with the "VE" suffix on S&W's and the "E" suffix on Rugers.

BTW, the Ruger PE is almost identical to the SR9, and its price point has come down to SD territory. The same can't be said for the SD, however, as it doesn't really bear family resemblances like the Shield does, for example.

Now, about owner's satisfaction with the SD line.

I think a great indicator are the ratings and reviews left by people who bought their SD's at Academy. They are not gun afficionadoes. They don't own five guns and needed a sixth. They are mainly first-time, semi-auto gun buyers, but a number of them are graduating up from .380's or adding a second gun for home defense.

Visit Academy.com and check out just the ratings left for the SD9 and the SD40:

For the SD9, there were 68 5-star ratings, 8 4-star ratings, and 1 3-star rating, for an average of 4.9 out of 5.

For the SD40, there were 54 5-star ratings, 11 4-star ratings, 2 3-star ratings, and 1 2-star ratings for a 4.7 out of 5.

I attribute the lower ratings to the major differences in user experience between firing a .40SW versus a 9mm, given the size and weight of the SD40.

Nevertheless, add all of them together and here's what I would call a very objective and representative rating by the average buyer:

112 5-stars
19 4-stars
3 3-stars
1 2-stars

For an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 for 135 customers.

I'd say that's a pretty good indicator of customer satisfaction for a new pistol that has to overcome a checkered past.

I think you can say the same about virtually anything. If a Ford Focus was the same price as a Lexus, which would you choose? The SDVE's target audience is the buyer looking for a lower-priced handgun, but it delivers much more value than its price would indicate. You can't say that about many other guns in the same price range.

Not me. I owned a H&K - USP Compact 9mm - and I wouldn't buy another. It was expensive (I paid over $900 for mine), the trigger was lousy, the magazines were expensive (at the time - a couple of years ago - they were over $60 each) and H&K is one of the most arrogant companies I've ever dealt with.

Use mine for HD and target plinking.

Value Enhanced

Nightstand gun. Fun at the range. Carry gun. It's price and functionality make it pretty versatile.

Thinking the M&P will save your life better somehow than the SD.VE line is nothing but S&W gun snobbery. A problem many owners have. Once learned any gun will work. I own both and love the third gen all metal guns best. Its your responsibility to learn your weapon, whatever the kind.

I use my sd9ve for hd and target shooting at the range , I recently acquired my ccp , I feel my sd9ve is just too big to carry comfortably so I am looking to pick up a m&p shield 9c for carry duty.


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[QUOTE=Tom95YJ;138120018]I use my sd9ve for hd and target shooting at the range , I recently acquired my ccp , I feel my sd9ve is just too big to carry comfortably so I am looking to pick up a m&p shield 9c for carry duty.

Don't give up on it, most people can carry more gun than they think they can. It is nice having 17 rounds, plus the spare mag!

GKC, the joke goes "The only person H&K doesn't hate is Jack Bauer!"
Very tongue-in-cheek funny, but really indicative as well.
Got it from some posters tag line, somewhere.

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LEO, Instr, Armorer, Gov's 20

I have a SD40VE and it is my EDC/HD gun. Put a Galloway Precision stainless guide rod and 20 lb. spring in it. Gun ran perfectly before and after the guide rod/spring install with about 400 rounds total fired. I emailed the fellas at Galloway and they suggested the 20 lb spring for ultimate reliability in 40 caliber. I use only 165 and 180 grain factory loads and did notice a slight decrease in recoil.

New gun owner here. Just bought the SD9VE as my first handgun a few days ago, took it to the range yesterday, put 100 rounds through it just to make sure everything seemed in order. Love it, and my groupings with it are tighter than with any of the Glocks or the M&P's that I've shot at the range. Since I live in the wonderfully (sarcasm) anti-gun state of New Jersey, I can't carry. But when I get my Florida/Utah/Arizona CCW's (whichever I end up getting), or when I travel to states that allow open carry without a permit, I'll definitely be taking it with me. But in the meantime, it's my home defense weapon and I trust it to do it's job.

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S&W SD9VE

Even though the SD9VE is my first pistol I've owned, I've shot a few other 9MM pistols in my time, and the recoil on this gun is awesome! As I posted in to new members forum the doctor told me that I wouldn't be able to fire any pistols after my arm injury.. He was wrong.. I was able to put around 250 rounds so far with this gun. And no issues.. I thought that I was going to have a "limp wristing" issue and jams as a result because of my injury.. not the case. To me.. this pistol is just awesome!

Congratulations HappyTom and Greetings from Anderson. I'm glad that the SD9VE has got you back in the game. Mine gets shot more than any of my other guns, and it really is a pleasure to shoot. The absence of finger grooves on the front strap really enhances the grip for me. My fingers just never meshed with a Glock.

Best Regards,
ADP3

I carry my SD9VE for armed security, shoot top 3 in qualifying and coworkers are amazed how much they like it more ( especially the grip) than a Glock. Very accurate, no ftf or fte in about 2,000 rounds, excellent ergonomics. Even like that 8lb trigger.

Mine will be home defense and a range toy once the kinks are worked out (having failures to extract). I love the trigger (bone stock), the way it points and overall shootability. I have other guns for carry.

My story w/ the SDVE is sort of unusual. About 11 years ago, I was robbed at gunpoint by a scared kid w/ a cheap .25 auto. We both survived, thank-fully. My Colt 1911 was at home, instead of in my hip, where it should have been. It was at home 'cause I found it too heavy to carry. Lesson learned ! I lost my 1911 (and everything else) during the housing bust/ recession. Fast forward to 2014. Had been saving my $$$$ for either a Glock 19 OR a SA XD9 Service model. I fell short, started to do a bit of research and stumbled upon the SDVE series. I found the best local price and went to investigate. I handled each of them. The XD felt good, bore axis was a bit higher than I liked. Tried the G-19 next. Low bore axis and a bit more compact, BUT the grip was just slightly too short AND I did not care for the finger grooves on the grip. Then I tried the SD. I was sold. Even had some $$ leftover for lunch, LOL !!!!!

I use the SD, primarily for a HD gun. I have carried it a couple times and I can hide it, but I need a good IWB I think. I have ZERO issues with the gun, even though the gun itself has had a few minor issues. During the first 500 rnds, it had a problem with the slide locking open on a partially filled mag. Altered my grip, problem vanishes. Lately, been having issues w/ the slide FAILING to lock open on an empty mag. My sense is it's a spring/ follower issue. Other than that, it runs fine. Trigger is smoothing up nicely, weight of pull was last measured at 8# and may be slightly lighter now. This is also one of the most ACCURATE OOTB pistols I've ever fired. It's so accurate, APEX won't make a replacement bbl for it.

I'll get past the current issues and continue to use/ carry my SDVE !!

I hope everyone enjoys their's as much as I do mine !!!

It shoots great holes in paper & water jugs

My 1st was a sd9ve but added a Shield , M&P 2.0 and a PPQ m2 all 9's . Have not really explored any hammer fired pistols or revolvers since all this is all relatively new for me .

I'm amazed I haven't seen the proverbial redneck reply,"It's going to be a truck gun."

I dont think I would call it that but i do keep one in the "truck" and the RV and on me

I bought an SD9VE as my first striker fired pistol, primarily to see how striker fired differs from my hammer fired pistols. I found I like the SD. It's become the "nightstand" gun.

While my SD9's reside in my trucks, make no mistake...they are accurate and ulta reliable to the point where I trust my life to them.

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NRA Life Member, Patron

I use mine as daily carry in an On Your 6 Designs Kydex OWB with Kore Essentials gun belt. I also use it as a range plinker. I also wear it IWB in my PJs/gym shorts with an Uncle Mike holster. Also as my bedside gun until I can get to my 12 Gauge.

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Two SD9VEs and one SW9VE. One is carried, one is on the nightstand and the SW9VE is the recliner aid.

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GA Carry member
Vietnam Vet

Home defense, carry at times , range practice and I happen to use it for Action Pistol Practice. I've used it in 3 IDPA matches and where I am not the fastest or best shot out there I have a lot fun doing it and it is much better then shooting at paper plates. It will test how well your pistol functions as well as yourself under a little stress. I highly recommend it but you have to watch out it IS addictive.

I have a little practice COF session here . Note : Zero is good

SepUVPS - Google Photos

Norm

Home defense and teaching new shooters. The reason is that a slightly stiff trigger is better for those panicky, half-awake gun grabs at 3am, plus I prefer new shooters who haven't yet learned not to place their booger hook on the bang switch shoot something like my SD.

All this about trigger pull ? ? There is no right or wrong, just personal preference.

I bought four Sigmas when they were at giveaway prices, 3 - 9's and a .40 (gave one 9 to my daughter in law for EDC. She loves it).

I have absolutely no problem with a long or firmer trigger pull because for decades I shot revolvers DA, and the Sigma/SD trigger is no mystery.

It simply comes down to what you have become accustomed to, and how you approach it. Neither bad nor good, just what each individual likes and can shoot well with.

BTW, the SW9VE has about 8k through it and still looks and functions like new. Not my EDC anymore, due to age-related issues (I reverted to the KelTec P-11), but it still gets shot as much as all the other 9's combined.

I ordered an SD9VE today with the HighViz sights. My intentions for it is to replace my Sigs and Beretta for carry and nightstand use...given it's price, I feel I would be out less were I have to use it and thus possibly lose it to the evidence lock-up. I will also use it for frequent trips to the range and possibly in Production division.

I carry my SD9VE all day everyday. Never had a malfunction.

Holster is a first generation Alien Gear. I had to cut some of the material away to give my hand room to get a good grip on the frame.

Both are highly recommended.

If you care: I put Williams sights, an apex trigger spring kit, and an extended takedown lever on it.

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Smith..and Wesson..and myself.