I have a friend who is new to handguns and wished to buy a 40sw. I had been talking to him about the M&P's and how much I love mine. Well, he bought a SW40v with 4 mags and a few boxes of ammo for $600 . He asked me to test it out for him so i brought it home. I have never pulled the trigger on any handgun that was so bad. Very heavy with bad creep and a 2 stage stop in the middle! Just the feel of the gun says cheaply made to me. My question: is this type of pull usual or unusual for this model? And can it be fixed without a trip to Smith & Wesson or a gunsmith? Thanks!

I know nothing about the SW series but the SD series does have about 1/16" gap* between the trigger bar and the sear release which you might feel. Doesn't bother me, never notice it. Beyond that my gun really cleaned up with a little use and some grease between the trigger bar and the frame.

*Checked again - The 1/16" translates to about 1/8" at the trigger. This is right at the beginning of a trigger pull and could be considered by some as roughness in the trigger. I recognize it as just take up.

Is it just me, or do triggers feel different when there is a live round in the chamber? At any rate, while my SW40V does not have a nice trigger, it does not exhibit all of those characteristics you describe. It has not been fired and has a 8lb-6oz trigger pull. Is your friend's pistol new or used?(New I hope; we could be more optimistic that the trigger will improve.) If memory serves me, you will find that people on this forum have some favored trigger mods for this gun that don't require the expertise of a gunsmith and are reasonable for a self-defense gun. Then again, it may just need some breaking in by dry-firing. I'm sure some other members who have actually shot an SW version can comment on that. I'm with you; that $600 could have bought a nicer gun and a bunch more ammo. You probably know Bud's was last selling the SW40VE for $301 when they were in stock. High cap mags were $35 or so last time I looked. I think he had a bug to buy a gun and we all know what that can be like. Plenty of people here love those guns, maybe not so many the first generation.

I can't address that question using a live round, too much else on my mind when on a range, but I can say that my SD9 trigger feel doesn't change when I "fire" with a good quality snap cap in the chamber.

Apex Tactical will address any trigger issues with S&W pistols. It is not just the SD series, other S&W semi-autos also have terrible triggers. The trigger on my wife's M&P was awful until I put in the Apex upgrade. Now it's nice and crisp. They make two excellent and inexpensive upgrades to the SD series. I just bought a SD40VE for myself and have already ordered from Apex even though I haven't gotten my gun yet. I personally don't know anyone with a M&P, Sigma or SD who hasn't used Apex to upgrade.

Link to the SD upgrades below.
https://store.apextactical.com/WebDi...?categoryId=22

I read lots of praise for the Apex upgrades, but I have decided to not upgrade my SD9VE, too many reports of light strikes, etc.

I got a significant improvement by smoothing and lubing the side of the trigger bar where it rubs the inside of the frame. I don't have a 5# trigger pull but I'm satisfied with what I do have, whatever it may be.

I was on Google looking for a mod for my 40 and found a video on one of the forums. All you need is a small punch or a screwdriver for glasses.
After you remove the slide, there is a pin on the rear of the frame that you pop out. After that you pull the seer housing out and you take a pin out of it that drops a spring that you remove to lighten the pull. From there you can take the outer spring off of the inner sections of the seer and then put it back together. Make sure you don't loose any pins or springs. After you put it together with the 2 a springs out perform a functions check without a mag. From there go to a range and test fire it.

Here is the link to the video, hopefully I helped explain the process.

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?for...%20-%20YouTube

Dry fire the pistol 1000 or more times and it will be a totally different trigger.

While it will always be a long pull and on the heavy side, it will smooth out tremendously in the first 1000 firings or dry fires.

I don't have an SD40VE, but I was at a gun show yesterday and took a look at a SD9VE. I dry-fired that gun many times and it didn't feel gritty or stagy at all. As a matter of fact, I was surprised at how good the trigger on that particular gun felt. It had somewhat of a long pull, but that's what I would expect from a DAO trigger.

Like others have already stated, I think after your friend puts a couple hundred rounds thru it, it should smooth out.

Let us know how things work out for him...

__________________
Tom
Michigan CPL

I just bought a SW40V in excellent condition a few days ago - with the original box - for $186. That might be considered a somewhat good deal, but not much, as I bought my SW9VE a few years ago brand new for $299.

On the other hand, my recent 40V only came with one mag, and I've found that original mags are now quite pricey. They can go on ebay for around 40 bucks each. Sometimes more. If the value of the gun used is, say $250, the extra mags and ammo could add another $200 to the value, putting it more like a $450 value. Yes, he overpaid a bit, but maybe not as much as one might think.

I don't know why people complain about Sigma triggers. They aren't supposed to be like other triggers. The guns have no external safeties, so the long trigger pull is the safety. My recommendation to any Sigma owner is to shoot it before you do trigger mods. Is the gun accurate enough for self defense at 7, 10 and 15 yards? If it is, why modify the trigger if the gun's purpose is self defense?

Also, I should mention that a Keltec P 11 trigger is much worse than a Sigma trigger...and I own two of those. Yes, I own CZ's and Rugers with nice target quality triggers, but for SD the Sigma should work.

I have the Apex spring kit in my SD9 (not the trigger), it made a big difference. Trigger feels just as good as my Glock.

Long time reloader, shooter, new to semi-autos.

I just purchased a used SW40VE, probably never fired over 10 times. Nasty trigger, but I have helped it by dry firing and judicious stoning of some wear areas. Will it help the trigger pull if I only remove the spring that is normally removed and not replaced?

Thanks,

Joe

Gentlemen; Do a search on SW9VE trigger problems and read. The pistol, while very successful for S&W, has a badly checkered past, and a black history that S&W never could overcome Trigger was always designed to be DAO, mimicking a revolver. The new SD9VE was SW&W's response to the problems w/ the SW9VE and has a much improved lockwork and by design, a much improved trigger. Still a DAO design, but much shorter take up and sear let off. Both pistols can be improved with a little judicious polishing and lubrication. To the SW9VE's credit, they do get better with use. Both do actually.
Best value for a combat pistol on the market IMHO. Magazines interchange, BtW.
A quick note of caution; make sure NO hydrocarbon lubricants get into the striker area(Glock says this as well). This can cause problems that can result in sticky triggers and excess crud build up. Good luck and have fun.

__________________
LEO, Instr, Armorer, Gov's 20

Thanks for the reply. I did do a search last night and found the answer. Could not sleep so I was digging around at midnight.
I should have known the answer was already posted.

Joe