Yesterday and bunch of family and friends took advantage of the extremely nice weather and got together for a good old shooting session that mainly included friendly competitions. Many pistols were represented including 4 rugers, 2 berettas, a Springfield, and old Ithaca 1911, a high point and my trusty S&W SD9.

We had a grand time shooting each other’s pistols, but the main focus was competing with each other in a series of friendly shoot-outs including El Presidente and a series of made up competitions including ragged hole shooting (who can achieve the tightest group from 5 and 7 yards away untimed), balloon popping from various distances away with someone shooting next to you, timed quick draw just to name a few of our ad-lib games.

Now before I go further I was to add a disclaimer that I am no professional and I've never shot in any type of official competition or league. My companions are categorized in the same way, no one claims to be an expert by any means and I don't want this to be taken as bragging.

With that being said, the SD and I were champs. As the day progressed all of my small complaints about the SD seemed to be unfounded. The slightly loose slide I've discussed before was not even close to noticeable in rapids fire drills and the accuracy was dead on. I could tell the gun was way more accurate than I am as I would consistently produce tight groups and when I feel I jerked or pulled I could tell where the bullet was going to go before I even looked at the target.

As I would win these small competitions more and more attention was being paid to my SD. It sure is a good feeling when a group of people, all with fairly nice weapons, start asking about my pistol, then start lining up to shoot it, then telling me what they like about the gun.

Overall the gun ran next to perfect for over the 200 rounds I put through it with the only one exception, the slide failed to lock back once which no one else noticed. I have to take a look at the slide in question sometime soon. No FTF's or FTE's. of any sort.

As for the other guns, my Brother's Ruger SR40, that has 600 rounds through it total, exhibited the same problem it's been having since new, the slide won't go all the way forward occasionally after it's been shot. He claims he's calling Ruger on Monday, we'll see. A Ruger LCR proved to be not very fun to shoot over a long day as the recoil is more than I'd deal with for more than 20 rounds even shooting 38's. An older Beretta (was there a small auto before the Nano? I didn't get the model) had all sorts of problems all day long.

The other popular gun of the day was the Ruger SR9C which was brand new yesterday and I have to say is one sweet gun. Just handling it next to my SD is what made with notice the looseness of my slide and how long my trigger pull is.

To conclude, once the shooting started all of my SD complaints melted away. It was super accurate, it ran flawlessly, and was fawned over by all of the other shooters. While everyone wanting to shoot the gun and complementing its positive aspects doesn't change the gun itself, it does make a person feel good about their firearm.

I shoot tight groups from the bench but I tend to pull it low and left when standing. The SD40 seems to be pretty snappy even more so than my taurus pt 145. But nothing a little more range time wont fix. I still worry about the loose slide hopefully it wont get any worse.

That's how it goes, theoretical issues versus practical use. The S&W SD series are excellent handguns and true bargains at their price point. Glad you had such a great day at the range. I am betting you will have many more in the future!

Fat B.

I'll agree the LCR it's a "fun" to shoot gun. I'm just curious as to what grain bullet you were using? The wife uses 158gr fmj for target and 110gr. fed hp's for sd. It's got a lot less felt recoil with the 110gr. and the factory Hogue grip. The Hogue grip is tons better than the Crimson Trace grip.

I love my SD9. Accurate right out of the box.

Thanks and for sure the SD is going to be my go-to gun for fun at the range this summer! I'm hoping to get into some IDPA shooting but the local club is almost 2 hours away. The down side to living in Central Wisconsin. The upside is I took a couple back roads to public land and in about 10 minutes total away from my house and I set up shop by a big sand hill in the middle of nowhere and I didn't have to worry about other jokers at the public range.

I called and asked and they were using 130g FMJ of some brand ammo that I've never heard of. But just because I have never heard of it, doesn't mean it was super cheap or rare, I just usually stick to the common stuff. It had the factory grip. I really couldn't imagine shooting .357 out of that gun that is a choice now for caliber. I do see why they are selling like hot cakes. They have almost no weight to them, they are small yet still fit well in the hand and with no hammer you can shoot it from in your pocket or women from their purses and not worry about moving parts getting caught. 110gr. is better on the recoil? I'll have to try that out next time.

Oh and I wanted to mention that I constructed and used the $17 IPSC target stand from a video on youtube. Absolutely worth it for shooting in places where there aren't target stands available. The parts cost me $13 plus tax at Home Depot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c_eA_oM_PY

It's too bad that they are being discontinued. I think S&W is making a grave mistake with this gun. They never gave it a chance and the more people shoot it, the more people will buy it. Just from shooting and trying it, like your friends did, makes all the difference. I love my SD9. Hey S&W wake up and give the gun a chance to grow.

From my research, they're not discontinuing the SD series. I haven't found any real proof of this and the weapon is still on the s&w website. I think someone proposed the idea of a different sku for the weapon or something like that... that makes more sense.

I agree, there is no formal announcement so people are assuming with no real basis.

I agree that at this point it is mostly theory and conjecture. But, some of that theory and conjecture comes from the financial / marketing power point that was released in Feburary 2012 talking about the future of the M&P, Bodyguard and the Sigma, but failed to mention the SD series completely.

This is a screen capture of the PP slide that is often referenced:

It could be in their better interest to allow the SD to gain its own popularity. Just because they're not pushing it doesn't mean its off the board. Everyone thought after the SD the Sigma series would be a memory, but its still here so... we can't know what they're going to do until they do it. I know all of the SD variants are still available on the s&w site so...

I would love to see the SD series remain in production. I continue to be impressed with both the size and performance of my SD9. And like I have said on this forum before; just in case it is going to be discontinued, I am going to pick up another one to put in the safe.

IMHO. I don't see the SD9 or SD40 ever going away.

Great to hear a review on the SD. I've owned a ruger SR40,trigger was great compared to the old P series but I simply have a problem,(it's personal) with the top of slide loaded chamber indicator.That's when I sold mine and got a SW40VE and lots of ammo w/ the money.Sounds like you all had a really great time at the range!!!!

S&W posted it on their facebook page the SD is no more......."Smith & Wesson Corp. ‎Brad Paynter - you are correct. I just looked at the 2012 price list and the SD9 and SD40 are no longer listed meaning...out of production. As for why? Lots of models ome and go, it all comes down to some top secret magic formula that only finance people pretend to understand. But no worries, if you own one, we'll cover it under the Lifetime Service Policy. And if you want one - I'm sure they are available at retail.
February 29 at 7:56am · Like"

I took the SD again out last sunday and this was my target at the end of the day. It has about 60 rounds in it. I was shooting from 15 yards away, quick draw from a holster. 2 shots to the target, reholster and try again. A couple 3rd shot to the head thrown in. I kept pushing myself a little quicker so I don't mind a stray shot or two. Not too shabby for the SD!



The target is mostly IDPA dimensions with the head area of a IPSC head area thrown in which I like. The white dot is usually not on my targets but as I was painting trim in the garage and got some paint on me I figured I'd make myself a center bull to shoot at. Seemed to work well.