S&W Releases New SD9 VE and SD40 VE

SD9 VE

http://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/SmWesson2/upload/other/NEWsd940ve.pdf

You beat me to the post! I almost thought I was losing my mind when I was this posted on facebook. And just when everyone thought the SD was dead.

Suggested retail price of $379??? That's only $10 more than the MSRP of the Sigma. What's going on here??? I'm going to have to ponder this one. Two pistols at approx. the same price point doesn't make sense which leads me to the conclusion that...

Senario 1. That the SD was slated to take over the Sigma all along. And Smith released the SD at a higher price point which people thought was a good deal then so when they lowered it by $100 everyone would think of how wonderful a deal it really was. Now it's a deal that cannot be beat and SD go flying off the shelf. S&W sits back and watches their master finally unfolding on their way to the bank.

Senario 2. Smith tried to fill a price point that wasn't economically realistic, SD at the price it was at just didn't make sense. So Smith backtracked, thought about it, and found it could make the SD for just about the same price as a Sigma, the focus groups and general public liked the SD more, and the SD didn't come with the stigma the sigma has. They quick shifted the SD to a lower price, put a stainless slide on it to differentiate it from the other SD's and viola! Another smith that people want to buy!

O.k. I have to stop thinking while I type. I also wonder how it's different than the regular SD.

Either way, now I really think the SD is slated to take over the sigma.

I see it doesn't have a front night sight.

Does this mean the APEX actually might make some more stuff for the SD like a trigger?!?!

I'm really excited about this. I love my SD and when I thought it was dead I was disappointed. Back from the grave!

The trigger is different. If they produce this thing with less than the horrible trigger pull on the Sigma, then they'll have a serious winner here.

Let's hope S&W has some brains and did just that.

Eh .. I will stick with the M&P line.

does this mean that the sigma line will be discontinued? wouldnt make sense to keep it around.

Just looked at those briefly on the S&W site...didn't spend any real time looking at them, but unless I am mistaken, the slide is stainless (color)? The previous edition of the SD pistols only had a black slide, as far as I know.

Between my M&Ps and my Shields, I am pretty well set for S&W polymers, but if I was in the market for another one, I'd sure look at one of these. I liked the SD9 I had for a while...ended up trading it in as partial payment on a 1911 I had to have.

If the trigger is better on this new model, I wonder if a SW9VE trigger can be upgraded.

Look like a Sigma to me.

I wonder if the trigger sucks as bad as the Sigma? One of the few guns S&W has made I would not consider owning. If it's your cup of tea, cool, but I can't support such poor design out of S&W, even if it is value priced.

Maybe, I hope, they got it right this time.

At that price I bet the millwork will be only as good as the sigma. That means bust out the tools and do some trigger work. If APEX is immediately on board, I'm gonna be suspicious of a partnership. What's the point of getting a value gun if you have to drop more on a trigger job in order to like it. Nevermind, I'm just addressing issues that haven't even come about yet. Furthermore, I'm not even in the proposed market make up.

These do look interesting. Can't wait to hear of some hands on time by some fellow forum members. I'm about to do some research on what distributors will have them. It does look pretty clean overall.

Dragon88 said:

SD9 VE

http://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/SmWesson2/upload/other/NEWsd940ve.pdf

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I had hoped the SD Series was not dead. The SD is much better than the SIGMA in so many ways.

The SD had melonite finish and a front night sight. It looks to me like all they did was take the SD and take away the melonite and the front night sight.

The price is right and the SD Series Trigger is better than SIGMA.

It will never be good enough for those who want a pistol at this price point to be as good as a Performance Center 1911 in terms of trigger or accuracy, so I anticipate that every kitchen table gunsmith that thought they knew more about gun design than S&W will get right to work removing parts, claiming those parts are not needed, doing kitchen table "trigger jobs" or sending the pistols back to S&W for a "free factory trigger job under warranty" claiming the trigger as designed is somehow not right.

The SD is advertised with 8 lbs + or - trigger, and it is designed to be like a DAO. If you want an M&P or Glock trigger, then by all means buy one of those. Personally, I liked the SD Series when it first came out, and I like these better, because I do not think the melonite finish or the front night sight is needed for the intended use.

I will not be at all heartbroken if the SIGMA is completely replaced by the SD Series. After owning and testing both, I find more to recommend in the SD than in the SIGMA.

Around 1990, if memory serves, S&W was about to hit the market with a couple thousand K frames in .357 Magnum at a fantastically low price, supposedly to be made up from left over forgings for the 9mm revolver M547 4 inch line. That was an excellent idea until someone figured out that something just wouldn't work. I wish I could remember the details, but I just cannot without trying to look it up. That .357 Magnum was to be fitted with the Combat Stock and would have been known as the Model 547M.

In any event, this is 22 years later, and this new VE version of the SD Series finally brings that idea to reality - a capable self-defense pistol at a really good price and with the S&W name.

I don't think anyone would argue that a 14 shot .40 S&W that takes up less space on your belt than a 6 shot K frame is a great idea.

Good ideas just keep coming from S&W.

Sigma, SD, or M&P. Three good choices.

S&W will love you no matter which one you choose.

So after all the "SD series has been discontinued" nonsense it turns out all they did was lower production costs a little bit and reintroduce it. Funny because that's exactly what they did with the Sigma series a long time ago. It also explains with the product code stopped showing up. I have an SD9 with an Apex spring kit and it is one awesome shooting machine. 100% reliable and very accurate. With a few thousand rounds down range this gun just keeps getting better. I will own an SD9 VE as soon as one shows up locally.

Personally I preferred the black melonite slide. No shiny slides for me for self-defense pistols!

That is an SD frame with an SD slide. Seeing as it has the SD frame it will have the SD sear assembly. Looks just like an SD minus the finish and front night sight guess that was how they dropped the price calling it VE (value enhanced). Makes me really wonder if they will keep the Sigma now there really is no reason to as price is so close it doesnt matter.

Guess im glad I got one of the original SD40s now

shawn mccarver said:

It will never be good enough for those who want a pistol at this price point to be as good as a Performance Center 1911 in terms of trigger or accuracy, so I anticipate that every kitchen table gunsmith that thought they knew more about gun design than S&W will get right to work removing parts, claiming those parts are not needed, doing kitchen table "trigger jobs" or sending the pistols back to S&W for a "free factory trigger job under warranty" claiming the trigger as designed is somehow not right.

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LOL you nailed it with that one

RightArm said:

At that price I bet the millwork will be only as good as the sigma. That means bust out the tools and do some trigger work. If APEX is immediately on board, I'm gonna be suspicious of a partnership. What's the point of getting a value gun if you have to drop more on a trigger job in order to like it. Nevermind, I'm just addressing issues that haven't even come about yet. Furthermore, I'm not even in the proposed market make up.

Click to expand...

That is a SD minus the night sight and frame finish nothing to do with metal quality at all. It has the SD trigger as it is an SD