M&P 2.0 Trigger?

Kinda new to the forum. I recently purchased a new in the box M&P 2.0 9mm 4" barrel. This gun has a terrible trigger. I have 2 1.0 M&P's and their triggers aren't great either but in my opinion much better than the 2.0 trigger. The take up on this new gun's trigger feels like a country mile.
I really like these pistols but don't understand why Smith doesn't put a decent trigger in them. Even it raised the price a bit it would be worth it. I mean they shoot good, shoot relatively clean, easy break down, quality materials, and reasonably priced. What's not to like? The trigger!
I looked at the Apex kits for these guns. Will their Duty/Carry Action Enhancement kit make this trigger's take up shorter and sear release smoother? The kit costs $100. I think Smith could put a better trigger in their guns for that $100 or less.

I bought a M&P 10mm 4" 2.0 in February and its trigger is excellent. Tiny bit of takeup and a 4-1/2lbs crisp release with no over travel. My gun has a manual safety, I would not feel comfortable carrying a pistol with this trigger and no thumb safety.

That’s weird. Most consider the 2.0 trigger to be way superior to the original. Longish take up is something many striker fired guns have as part of disengaging the trigger safety. It’s the break that concerns most people. Maybe the 1.0 doesn’t feel like take up as it works through that crunchy drop safety disengagement.

You can find M&P Performance Center sears on eBay that, along with polishing the striker plunger, will transform your trigger. Check out Freestone Armory. If you don’t see any, contact them and ask. I have had very good experiences dealing with them.

Does yours have the newer flat trigger or the old hinged two piece trigger? If the old style then YES the Apex kit is a good upgrade.

If you have the newer trigger some grit/metal shaving/trash may be in your mechanism and a detail strip and clean could help.

I have a M2.0 M&P Shield 9mm.

I upgraded the trigger to an Apex one as I like the extra safety. I'm not at all disappointed.

I installed an Apex Duty Carry kit in my M&P 2.0 9mm Compact to replace the stock hinged trigger. Big improvement.

I have an Apex in my Competitor and really like it.

Initial takeup on the trigger allows you to get your digit on the trigger even if it's less sensitive due to gloves, cold weather, etc without danger of an unintentional discharge. I recently spent $$$ to get a 2 stage rifle trigger that allows that.

The way you're supposed to operate the trigger is to complete your trigger press, pin the trigger all the way back to ride out the recoil and acquire the sight picture for the next shot. Then, let the trigger go forward just enough to reset for the next shot. Won't be any takeup.

Granted, there's some difference of opinion on that process, but acting like the trigger is a hot stove and losing contact with it, forcing you to start the whole "find the trigger" process all over again isn't helpful.

If your concern is gritty trigger travel, dry fire will generally smooth off the high spots. Or, you could send it back to S&W and let them take a look at it. Not every example is a demonstration of excellence.

The 2.0 trigger is/was head & shoulders above the 1.0 trigger. 1.0 owners would pre-order Apex kits so they'd receive it about the day they'd be picking up the 1.0.

The 2.0 has/had the original Shield trigger, which at the time, was the best M&P trigger out there. If yours has the hinged trigger, all you really need to improve it, is the Apex Hard Sear, going for about $30-$45. The hard Sear will smooth and lighten the pull.

To me, the original Shield trigger with the Apex Sear is nicer than the 'new & improved' Shield Plus Flat trigger.

The current trend of being a trigger snob, e.i., complaining about any any every trigger that doesn't mimic a competition or target trigger, is somewhat pathetic. It shows a lack of knowledge and skill. Needing the initial light 1 or 2 pound take up on a striker-fired handgun to be very short on a duty/carry weapon is ridiculous IMHO.

That initial take up on a 15+1 striker-fired handgun should NOT be an issue for any competent shooter. It's only for one round, and then it each and every other of the 15 rounds will be fired from right after the short reset. This should NOT affect your first shot or any follow up shots if the shooter is competent.

From what the OP described, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with his example. Most are looking for an excuse to needlessly spend $120+/- of a new trigger. Oddly enough, there are a plethora of of videos of people taking those guns out the box and shooting them very well. There are even hundreds of thousands L.E. and militaries around the world who actually use those guns in real life or death situations with the stock trigger. Then we have people who will only ever shoot at paper who will whine and complain about the triggers on the same striker-fired handguns, like it's the end of the world, like they can't hit the broadside of a barn with them, and they must waste money on an aftermarket trigger to make up for their like of skill and trigger control. It's easier on their ego to blame the gun and not themselves.

Spending $$ on trigger jobs, or hanging a bunch of stuff on a gun, does not improve marksmanship. My M&P 2.0 Compact has the hinged trigger that I had to get used to, but I learned. To my way of thinking range time is half the fun of ownership.

Well Armed said:

The current trend of being a trigger snob, e.i., complaining about any any every trigger that doesn't mimic a competition or target trigger, is somewhat pathetic. It shows a lack of knowledge and skill.

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Nonsense. The trigger is the interface between the user and the pistol. Nothing wrong with making that interface as good as it can be. Long, gritty and overly heavy triggers are not conducive to accuracy. Those with knowledge and skill realize that.

Mike-AK said:

Nonsense. The trigger is the interface between the user and the pistol. Nothing wrong with making that interface as good as it can be. Long, gritty and overly heavy triggers are not conducive to accuracy. Those with knowledge and skill realize that.

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The "trigger" is already good. Those who know how to shoot well (DA/SA, DOA revolvers, etc) don't typically complain about standard striker-fired triggers as they have no issues with them. Like I already mentioned, tell yourself what you need to and rationalize it however you want. I guarantee you that I, and many others, can pick up the same stock strikers that you all say are "terrible" and shoot them just as good or better than those who spent $100+ on a new trigger. Those who can't blame the gun and/or trigger.

Well Armed said:

The "trigger" is already good. Those who know how to shoot well (DA/SA, DOA revolvers, etc) don't typically complain about standard striker-fired triggers as they have no issues with them. Like I already mentioned, tell yourself what you need to and rationalize it however you want. I guarantee you that I, and many others, can pick up the same stock strikers that you all say are "terrible" and shoot them just as good or better than those who spent $100+ on a new trigger. Those who can't blame the gun and/or trigger.

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They spend $100 for a new Apex trigger when all that is needed is to take out the striker plunger and lightly polish the chamfer into a small radius. I removed the Apex that came in my used 2.0 and put the stock trigger in it with the radiused plunger and it’s probably a 3 lb trigger now.

BS, I agree w/ Mike-AK. Trigger weight is one thing. Rough, gritty, feeling like you are pulling something over 50grit sandpaper is another thing. My experience is on a 1.0 and a 2.0 compact. Both IMHO were too light for carry, and they were sure rough. The 2.0 was better than the 1.0 but a basic Apex duty/carry kit went into both and I polished everything but especially the striker block plunger. The standard duty/carry trigger spring increases the pre-travel weight but the better sear helps reduce the final pull through the wall so the overall weight ends up around 5#. But the overall pull is smooth. The other kits containing more springs plus sear springs etc allow more tuning. The Apex striker block plunger is probably a good idea for people w/ limited machining capabilities. I reshape mine and polish them myself. If I couldn't do that I'd buy the Apex unit because they have figured out the optimum shape and polish it so it looks like it is chromed.
Saying I and others can shoot a stock gun better than the OP can is ridiculous and not close to being helpful. No one cares if you can shoot better than them, there will always be someone better than someone else. The OP wants to make his gun better for him. If you can't help with that.....

CBStuard said:

BS, I agree w/ Mike-AK. Trigger weight is one thing. Rough, gritty, feeling like you are pulling something over 50grit sandpaper is another thing. My experience is on a 1.0 and a 2.0 compact. Both IMHO were too light for carry, and they were sure rough. The 2.0 was better than the 1.0 but a basic Apex duty/carry kit went into both and I polished everything but especially the striker block plunger. The standard duty/carry trigger spring increases the pre-travel weight but the better sear helps reduce the final pull through the wall so the overall weight ends up around 5#. But the overall pull is smooth. The other kits containing more springs plus sear springs etc allow more tuning. The Apex striker block plunger is probably a good idea for people w/ limited machining capabilities. I reshape mine and polish them myself. If I couldn't do that I'd buy the Apex unit because they have figured out the optimum shape and polish it so it looks like it is chromed.
Saying I and others can shoot a stock gun better than the OP can is ridiculous and not close to being helpful. No one cares if you can shoot better than them, there will always be someone better than someone else. The OP wants to make his gun better for him. If you can't help with that.....

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Take the slide of you 1.0 or 2.0 off and pull the trigger. While you are doing this, note that there is zero resistance other than the tiny trigger spring. You only need to radius and polish the striker plunger. No other hoops to jump through or a trigger kit needed. I’ve never encountered this gritty trigger phenom so many repeat ad nauseum.

Equus said:

They spend $100 for a new Apex trigger when all that is needed is to take out the striker plunger and lightly polish the chamfer into a small radius.

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I don't know about "they", but I did not buy any Apex triggers for any of my M&P 2.0's. The new S&W optics ready flat trigger is just fine. I did replace the sear housings with Performance Center sear housings available on eBay on my non PC pistols. The PC sear makes a HUGE difference. I also remove the striker blocks and polish them with a felt bob and Flitz using my Dremel. I do the same on the part of the trigger bar that contacts the striker block. Those two areas are where the majority of the grit in the pull come from, along with manufacturing crud in the striker block bore. I hose that out with some Birchwood-Casey Gun Scrubber and then hit it and the striker block plunger with some Hornady OneShot before reinstalling it. I prefer the optics ready pistols, as you don't have to dink around with the rear sight when working on the striker block. That and the new ones come with the new flat trigger.

I've found simply using dry fire practice and actually shooting a new gun and putting rounds down range helped me learn that particular example's trigger and smoothed the trigger out. I've never need to do any of that extracurricular stuff, I reckon polishing would accomplish the same goal as dry frying and shooting would accomplish minus becoming more familiar with the trigger and firearm.

Some people get a new handgun, dry fire it several times, and then complain about the trigger before even shooting it or getting familiar with the trigger. I've had new out the box guns at the range that I was grouping to great with at the first outing, but after dry frying a ton of times in my spare time before the very next range visits, I vastly improved.

Some people need a crutch and can't shoot well without a trigger that will hide their inadequacies. At least get the most out of the very capable stock trigger before spending money to change stock parts. If I see that many others can pickup and shoot the same platform with a similar trigger but I'm personally am having issues, then I rather fix what stopping me from being just as good as them because moving on to aftermarket cover-ups. I enjoy the challenge. If everyone is having an issue and no one can shoot the gun well, then that is different.

I put the Apex kits in both my M&P 2.0 Compact and my Shield 1.0. IMHO they are far better than any of the iterations of the standard trigger. I have put custom triggers in all of my striker fired guns except my new Canik Mete mc9. That trigger is great out of the box.