Recently bought the SD40ve and was looking into upgrading it a bit. Saw the spring kit and trigger are really cheap and seems like everyone on the reviews say it's a must. The only question I had really is I purchased the gun for personal protection mainly and obviously to have some fun at the range also. I read a few things about mods on guns and such and I read that self defense isn't acceptable if you have a gun that had been modified. Would these simple upgrades mean I would no longer be able to use it for self protection. I can live with it as is if that's the case cus it's the main reason I got it, but would also really like to try it out. Thanks everyone.

Think of it as an "upgrade". Both my M&P and SD9VE have them (Apex). With a more precise trigger you'll be a star at the range. And more fun to shoot. Maybe you're overthinking the "isn't acceptable" part.

I started a thread on 11-28-13 titled "SDVE Spring Kit + AET = 1 Hot Rocket!". There I mention some important tips for this project.

We just did the Apex upgrade on Bluebonnet's SD9VE. It shoots like a different pistol! Much better and smoother. Unless you significantly reduce the trigger pull and are involved in a borderline justifiable shooting, you should have no issues.

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I just installed the spring kit in my SD9VE and I like it. This is my 1st handgun and I've had it for about 6 months and kept it stock until now. My shot group at 10 yards went from about 7" down to 4.5-5".

Thanks everyone. Ya I know I'm probably overthinking the whole self defense thing just wanted to double check. I pray it is somthing I will never have to worry about and never have to do, just read a few things about it and don't wana do anything that would get me in trouble. Is there any downside to doing these upgrades? Only thing I read is the back end of the trigger pull gets a little stiff but that past the firing point anyway so doesn't seem to matter.

This is my first handgun as well and was glad to see somone shot stock got a while with their first and did the upgrade. I mean for the price of it how could you not do it haha. Thanks

I bought the Apex kit for SD40VE about a year ago and just recently put it in. I should have put it in when I bought it. The upgrade is well worth it.


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I put the Apex spring kit in after about 1 1/2 years but had to put my original striker spring back in as I got a lot of fail to fires , I left the other 2 Apex springs in.

If you gun is pretty new I'd shoot the heck out of it before installing the springs to make sure you don't have any warranty issues where you would have to send the gun back to S&W as they would probably replace the springs with OEM


Norm

The worst case scenario is that you install the trigger and springs and then decide you don't like it. You're only out about $45 and you can put the old one back in.

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Get off my lawn!

I'm going to give you an opposing opinion...I don't recommend it. (This is my opinion...which, with $2 or more, might get you a small soda somewhere.) I don't like to modify the fire control group of a pistol. Some pistols lend themselves to that...like a 1911, for example...but unless you are a qualified gunsmith, I wouldn't recommend such a modification even then. The main reason that the SD9VE has a heavier trigger is because it doesn't have an external safety...it's designed that way...and modifying that MAY void the warranty. It also MAY work against you if you ever need to actually use the pistol for self-defense (ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defendant had such reckless disregard for safety that he intentionally modified a safety design of this pistol to make it easier to fire unintentionally.) Granted, neither of these issues may arise.

I have owned and shot a number of DA revolvers and DA semi-autos (like a SIG, for example) that had a heavier trigger than the SD9VE in DA mode. I didn't buy mine for a target pistol, and I certainly don't want to do anything to (potentially) compromise the reliability of a self-defense gun. There have been some reports of reliability issues after modifying the fire control group on these pistols, and that's not something I want to risk on my gun. If I wanted a different trigger, I'd buy a different gun.

This is just my opinion...and since you asked for opinions, I'm offering mine. I don't expect everyone to agree with me...or even most to agree with me. It is your gun, after all, so do what you want with it.

Agree with the above, the gun was designed with no safety so the longer trigger. Spend some time with it, you get used to it and you wont notice it so much anymore. The lack of a safety is simplicity so you dont forget to take it off when you panicked, reducing the trigger increases your chances off it going off accidentally. As to the legal side, modded or unmodded your going to get suedby the dead ones family regardless so just get used to that, hopefully you never have to. Thats my opinion, you asked, practice practice practice and enjoy the security of knowing it will fire when you want it to and hit hopefully where its intended.

I very respectfully disagree with the gentlemen regarding not modifying the trigger. If I believed for a second that it made my wife's pistol less safe or reliable, I would have strongly recommended against it. Heck she might shoot me by "accident". Of course, as both these gents pointed out, your firearm, your choice. As I alluded to earlier, keep the parts and if you decide to go back, it is a simple reversal.

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Get off my lawn!

I object to you characterizing me as a gentleman.

I order my spring kit, and should be here this week end. I hope it will improve that nasty trigger it now has..

Do we still think guns "go off accidentally"? The person holding the gun accidentally does something stoopid by having his booger hook on the bang switch when it shouldn't be, because maybe his judgment was messed up by fear and adrenaline, but guns do NOT go off accidentally, and if your attorney tries to use that to defend you after you screw up, just do us all a favor and plead guilty.

That isn't the concern. There are plenty of anti-gun prosecutors who will happily try to convict someone of murder, when it was actually self-defense. A jury of know-nothing or anti-gun liberals might be all too easily persuaded of the defendant's reckless conduct by his disabling or modifying a safety feature.

This is all speculation, of course...but given the tide of anti-gun sentiment, and especially pending the outcome this fall, it may not be all that far-fetched. Still, it all comes down to individual choice...and each man makes his own.

That's why an innocent man goes for a bench trial.

NOT!

Keep the gun stock. Not doing so could have a disastrous effect of reliability, and if you don't think so, search for all the threads of folks who have "issues" after installing kits such as this.

There is nothing wrong with the factory parts, and since the weapon is for self-defense, do not do anything at all that might affect reliability.

Look, in the end, the promise of making your pistol a tiny fraction easier to shoot is just advertising bluster. When I have tried those, I find that I can shoot just as well with the factory parts.

But, you say. . . in theory a lighter trigger makes the pistol easier to shoot. If these kits make you able to shoot an 8 ring group at 5 yards instead of a 7 ring group. . . . So what?

Gadgets do not make you a better shot for practical purposes. Practice does that. Unfortunately, people these days want "drive-thru" instant gratification, so a "gadget" is thought to bypass the practice needed. Wrong.

Spend your money on ammo. Shoot all of your ammo, buy more, and repeat. In the end, your gun will be easier to shoot, and you will be a better shot.

And, nobody ever listens to this advice.

Absolutely agree. I own a SW9VE, which I'm sure most here would say has a worse trigger than the SD. I have no problem shooting it. It is accurate for my needs. Like you, if I didn't like the trigger, I would buy another gun.

The Apex offering is called the carry/duty spring kit. if some idiot tries to bring that mod up in the court of law you always have that to fall back on. Its designed and sold for carry/duty use.

Indeed it does wonders for the trigger and personally I have never experienced a light strike with any ammo and I am a cheap skate who shoots a lot of TulAmmo which is known to have hard primers. Carry ammo is Hornady critical duty and speer gold dot. never an issue with those either when testing them for reliability.

One of the things I heard was, "if you're going to buy a bargain gun, and then spend almost $200 to upgrade it with the parts and labor, you might as well buy the more expensive Glock." But while the Sigma might have been a Glock knockoff, these SD guns have a lot of little nice touches that make add up to make them worlds apart. The Glock is a very solid-feeling gun for sure, but it feels horrific to hold in my hand. The grip angle is not right and the grip serrations on the side feel like broken glass cutting into my hand. They don't have free falling magazines so emergency-speed reloading is out. Lastly, the distracting football field goal rear sights are annoying.

The SD has excellent sights out of the box, easy to manage magazine reloading and it feels amazing in my hands. Off shooting, or strong side. The one thing I had to change was that trigger. Why?

Well, I really analyzed and broke down my technique and discovered something very important. Everyone already knows, you aren't supposed to do two things jerk/yank (slap) the trigger or increase the tension of your grip on the gun as you pull the trigger. Both slapping the trigger and gun squeezing, strangling or choking both throw your shots off target. The "perfect" shot comes from the gun itself being as still as humanly achievable while the trigger and only the trigger alone is moving back.

Here's the problem: With a heavy trigger pull, you need ridiculous muscle conditioning in your index finger joint as well as the tendons in your lower wrist to be able to pull over ten pounds with just the last two joints in your index finger. Letting your whole fist collapse into the gun gets you more of the power that your brain wants to use to force that heavy trigger backwards, but you can't do that because now the gun is moving (ever so slightly) as you pull the trigger. Go faster, it gets worse.

Stock, you have to treat the SDs like a DAO revolver. So what I discovered was that by using the last knuckle to gain enough purchase on the surface of the trigger face, I'm able to leverage enough strength without squeezing the grip with as if to make a fist. My trouble with that is that I use the NRA-taught thumb-over-thumb grip and I could feel the tip of my trigger finger interfering with my off hand because it was still too far inside the trigger guard. I wanted to instead go up to but not inside of that knuckle the way you're supposed to.

With the Apex spring kit, enough tension is released such that while it's still a safe gun with a trigger that is not feather light (like a Glock, actually), I can apply proper grip and trigger finger placement and--consequently--shoot more accurately.

Here's why I think that this is all very important...

While it's probably not outstanding legal practice, there is nothing that prevents a prosecutor from discussing any modifications made to a firearm used in an SD case. But in my mind, you have a bigger problem if you missed because you couldn't shoot accurately in an SD encounter. You're responsible for EVERYTHING that goes down range. So I'd rather talk to my attorney, and explain it to them after I've just saved my own life or the life of someone else who was about to be killed unless I opened fire, than to have gotten into that situation without the proper tools and techniques in the first place, and make things worse.

OK, I just got back from the range after installing the spring kit in the sd9ve and all I can says WoW!!! I went from throwing rocks to actually hitting what I was aiming at. Trigger pull is still long but smooth, 8.5# to 6.5#. I'm a happy camper..