Hey guys excited to be part of the community. Just got back from a great gun show in Orlando and after looking over many many guns and prices came home with a new S&W SD40 VE. Love all the features and great look of the gun, and its great to get a full size high caliber gun for the great price offered. Can't wait to pick up on Thursday and see what she's got! Hoping this FTF issue I've been reading about doesn't hit me too. Seems to be a manufacturer issue out the box so I'm assuming it will happen right off the bat instead of creeping up at the wrong time. So we will see once I put that first one in the chamber! Hoping no issues wit FTF cuz other than those occasional guns, from what I read it seems to be an excellent gun that owners seem thrilled to have.

If anybody has any suggestions on starter bullets to put in there (to help prevent possible FTF issues) or any other tips and suggestions for my new gun then please reply. Can't wait for Thursday, I get to go pick it up and load the first one in the chamber and take her for a spin!

Attached Images

Smith-Wesson-SD40-VE.jpg (106.9 KB, 217 views)

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S&W SD40 VE
Glock 23 Gen 4

Clean the gun and magazines before firing.
Then use any standard commercial US ammo

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Science plus Art

It should fire and work with any factory ammo made to SAAMI spec. If it doesn't, send it to S&W for warranty repair. By the way, by "FTF," do you mean "failure to fire" or "failure to feed?"

I think she would work for you just fine. There is no such thing as "the perfect gun" even Glock has had and has issues, its man made and not perfect. Would i trust it. Ya i would, ive trusted the older version (sigma). Congrats and enjoy!!! btw im going shooting wends!! Have fun and be safe.

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Aim small miss small

just clean and shoot. I have over 600 round thur minds

Sorry for not being specific. Failure to Feed. Some people have posted having problems with certain ammo not loading properly from the clip to the chamber

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S&W SD40 VE
Glock 23 Gen 4

First thing to do is to learn how to field strip it and clean the gun of the packing gunk. Oil or grease the rails (important) before reassembly. I usually grease the rails and oil the pivot joints. I also put grease on the barrel where it'll rub on the slide and also a dab of grease on the barrel lug (cam).

That's all there is to it. My Sigma 9mm never gave me any issues and I don't see why yours should.

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_It was love at first shot_

I have 200rds through my SD40VE with not a single FTF or FTE. Ive put reloads,target loads and hollow points in it. Another 250rds to come this Sun at my 9hr handgun glass which im confident i will not have any issues. At 21ft it only takes 2 rounds to remove the x out of the paper. Very accurate,and very reliable weapon for the price

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Since the SDs and SDVEs its hard to justify the old VEs......pretty sure im going to trade my SigmaVE for a FEG High Power.

Hey guys - Just got back from my 1st round at the range with my new SD40VE. Put about a 100 rounds Federal FMJs through it.

Def love how the gun shoots! Very smooth but powerful shots, smooth trigger pull all the way through the clip, surprisingly small re-coil and great accuracy with the stock iron sights. Thoroughly enjoyed shooting this gun and also for 1st shots out of this gun I was very pleased with the accuracy. Even when I went head hunting on the target at the end the accuracy was very good, landed some killer head shots. Also burst shot the rest of a clip (approx 7-8 shots) and it felt amazing, so smooth and quick but amazingly still and accurate through the whole quick 7 shot process. In fact, on my shot chart you can see the cluster that was the 7 shot burst all collected right above target mans heart. So as far as the shooting of the SD40VE I love it!

BUT...I definitely was experiencing initially some of the FTFeed issues that alot of people were posting about. Literally every mag I loaded at the range did not load the 1st round properly into the chamber and kept the slide from returning back to the ready to fire position. It is isolated to just loading the 1st one after the cock back of the slide, after 1st one loads it rolls through the rest of the clip no problem. Except I did have one misfire in the middle of a clip, not sure if I should chalk this up to start up and breaking in issues or something I should send back in to S&W right away?

As far as the FTF issue I feel like its a combo of initial user error and possibly some manufacturer flaws. I've seen LOTS of posts about FTFeed issues with sd40ve owners having right off the bat. I read posts about some suggesting that you really need to yank on that clip and let it rip for the bullet to chamber properly. I guess depending on the type and size of gun you have cocked back before one might be used to a smoother easier slide action. For instance my friend was shooting his sigsauer 40 cal and it slide back and forth like butter. We both put the same force and even a little extra into cocking my sd40ve back and the bullet kept getting "hung up" as it was trying to enter the chamber on the 1st bullet. After running out of ammo and returning home I was determined to see if this was user error or an actual flaw. So I cocked back and chambered a round and then dumped it out the ejection hole, keeping in mind where others said you really got to give this one a good pull back. So I over exaggerated my pull back of the slide and then let it go like a slingshot and sure enough it chambered and locked into the firing position perfectly. I repeated the process multiple times to see if it truly was affecting the outcome. 9 times out of 10 the bullet chambered properly. But 100% is what we pay for and NEED!

So, if anyone else is having FTF issues (which seems to be alot) then i highly suggest, and speak from experience, you really need to over exaggerate your pull back of the slide and then let it snap back hard on its own. no pussy footing this bad boy. That nearly 100% corrected my issues. But still need to achieve that 100%. Before I go calling up S&W I plan on running another 100-200 rounds through it this weekend. Looking for two things, 1.) no misfires so we can say that one misfire in 1st session was a fluke and 2.) see if working some more bullets through it and really yanking back on the slide helps solve the FTF issue. Plus a good cleaning after this next session might help the exchange seem smoother and lock into place perfectly every time.

Will keep ya guys updated and anybody else please share your feedback, comments, questions, suggestions, tips, and anything else. P.S. included the 1st 2 shot charts when I let the SD40VE rip!!

Attached Images

	shot chart 1.JPG (46.2 KB, 371 views)
	shot chart 2.JPG (46.9 KB, 354 views)

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S&W SD40 VE
Glock 23 Gen 4

How did it turn out?
I've shot mine at only one range session so far, about 280 rounds of flawless functioning with several types of ammo. Initial impression is that it's a good gun & excellent value. I'm a wood-and-steel type, but this polymer wonder seems very, very practical so far.

shooting great so far! put about 250 rounds through it blasting through the clips with no problem. Lots of power, but not too bad of recoil considering. Pretty damn accurate out the box as well. Shoots beautifully. Can't wait to take her back to the range soon. Also thinking about adding an Apex trigger kit to the piece, supposed to make trigger 3 ibs lighter and improves accuracy.

although, I Have seen what people are talking about with the failure to feed issues. Seems to get hung up every once in awhile even when giving it a good pull back. And if you don't give it a good tug I can see why a lot of people have the initial problem with ammo not seating in the chamber properly. But I'm bout to give her a good cleaning and lube and Im sure that will make it smooth as butter. And pass through another 100 rounds should help smooth out the mag feed area as well. Loving the gun so far and I'm sure after breaking it in some more I'll love and appreciate it even more

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S&W SD40 VE
Glock 23 Gen 4

500rds through mine now and still not a single issue. Gun loads and fires everything you put in the mag.

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how many rounds are you putting in the magazine? I just got my SD40VE yesterday. Shot 70 rounds today with one misfeed. I am wondering since the first round is misfeeding if it would work better with 13 rounds in the clip. that last (14th) round fits tightly.

I've just purchased one of these SD40 for a 2nd handgun. I figure I should be able to get ammo for one or the other of them.

The only complaints I have about the SD is the trigger pull. Is there a kit or something I can get to get the pull down to say 6lbs?

Thanks

Ask and you shall receive.
Apex Tactical Duty/Carry Trigger Kit S&W SD Series
https://apextactical.com/store/produ...php?pid57.html

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How many guns are too many?

I just got an SD40VE today. I just got back from firing it. I DID have the failure to feed issue as mentioned in earlier posts. I pulled the slide back just as I do with my Colt 1911 and let it ease forward and it closed on the side of a round. It did this about 5 times until it closed on one then I fired the rest of the magazine and it worked flawlessly. I tried different things on the next magazine. I discovered that if you pull the slide back fully and let it slam home, it works everytime. If you let it forward just a 1000th of an inch it will jam. Also if you open the slide before inserting a magazine and use the slide release lever to close it, it works everytime as well. This is my first "plastic" pistol and I guess they just have a few quirks. I was surprised by this though, because you can let the slide close as slow as you want to on my colt 1911 or my berette 92 and they work chamber just fine.

I need a holster for my new sd40ve. I was thinking about a blackhawk serpa. They dont list one for the sd40ve but they do for a sigma 40. Does anyone know if the sigma holster will fit the sd40ve or if there are better holsters for it than the serpa?

I bought the M&P holster for my SD40VE. Fits perfect

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Attached Images

uploadfromtaptalk1361061429556.jpg (81.1 KB, 276 views)

Looks awesome!!

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S&W SD40 VE
Glock 23 Gen 4

And that is exactly what causes the Failure to feed: riding the slide.
Just let it work like it does after a shot. Pull the slide back and let it go!

Only time to ease it down is on an empty gun.

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Science plus Art

every pistol with a slide should be pulled back to its extent and then released, as it would from firing a round. failure to do that would result in malfunction similar to limpwristing

alot of users also seem to be having problems with their magazine fed guns from using "clips", easy fix though

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please care, use hollowpoints