Another new S&W....

[MyDads38]

I don't usually buy "duplicates" of something I already own. That said, once S&W started offering the SD/VE series in different color frames/slides; the desire was there. Today, local Rural King had the FDE/Black Slide model on Clearance @ $279 + tax. I just couldn't walk away.

My original SD9VE has been flawless since bought new-no mods/all stock with app. 2,000 rounds of factory/reload ammo.

The FDE/Black Slide has been calling me since I saw the first one. Now to see if this new one will run as well as my original!

Add: Found my new pistol is the SD9 (not VE)

 

[M29since14]

I've seen several different shades of that gun recently - including maybe an all gray one? I'm not in the market for another 9mm anything right now but $279 sounds pretty fair for a new one. Folks complain about the heavy triggers but the examples I've been around all seemed to work just fine. Congratulations on your new S&W.

 

[MyDads38]

Took the new SD9 to the indoor range 6-12-2019 and fired 100 rounds through it. 50-REM-UMC 115 gr. and 50-REM L/E Training 115 gr.; both shot flawlessly in the SD9. I did notice that the front sight was just right of center in the dovetail, and the pistol shot just left on target. So I will take it to a LGS and have them center the front sight and all will be good.

 

[Papa_D]

I've actually thought about getting another instead of paying more for "an upgrade" like the M&P or GLOCK. Mines been flawless and easy to carry all day, every day.

Sent from my Vivo XL4 using Tapatalk

 

[km101]

Hmmm. After reading this thread I started checking, and the local Academy has the SD9VE for $259 with stainless slide. I will have to check them out. There may be a new S&W in my future! Thanks guys!

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

They are good guns for the price, could 25,000 Afghan police who received them and the 17,000 insurgents they sold them to be wrong? Estimates may vary along with specific model.

 

[touchoneoff]

I really can't remember hearing anything bad, related to the SD/VE series of pistols. I had one of the older SIGMA types, in .40 S&W, for about three years, and shot it quite a bit...never had any issues with it.

I need to get one of the SD9's, with black slide and colored grip frame. I have moved away from the .40 recently, only own pistols in .380 ACP, 9mm Luger, and .357 Mag.

 

[McChemist]

I purchase my SD9 VE in OCT2018 on-line for $265. Once I acclimated to the trigger pull and the rough back and front traction grids, not too shabby. Accurate and reliable. The only trouble I had was when I first shot it using the ammo I had purchased with it- Wolf 9mm. Clogged the slide and barrel. Steel casing and russian ammo-never again. The only two mods that I have made were a slightly wider take down tab/lever to facilitate the operation (very successfully) and softer textured skin for the grip (very much improved), for $25. It works reliably and hits where it is aimed. I don't know what else you could ask of a pistol. BTW-a replacement guide rod and spring assembly is $7 on-line if one might have the unlikely need to replace it.

I do have questions for the assembled intelligencia: 9mm Luger vs. 9mm NATO. I know the NATO round has a slightly greater chamber pressure, but will use of it be detrimental to the SD9?

I did read somewhere that the SD9 was such a copy of a similar Glock (don't know what Glock model was being referred to) that the barrels were virtually interchangeable. True or bull excrement?

 

[S&W Rover]

9mm NATO runs pressures a little bit above 9mm +P, according to a quick search of the interweb.

The SD-9VE Owner's Manual has this to say about +P ammo:

"Plus-P" (+P) ammunition generates pressures in excess of the pressures associated with standard ammunition. Such pressures may affect the wear characteristics or exceed the margin of safety. Use of "Plus-P" ammunition may result in the need for more frequent service.

And this to say about +P+ ammo:

"Plus-P-Plus" (+P+) ammunition must not be used in Smith & Wesson firearms. This marking on the ammunition designates that it exceeds established industry standards, but the designation does not represent defined pressure limits and therefore such ammunition may vary significantly.

9mm NATO ammo does not have a SAAMI rating, but appears to have pressures a little above the SAAMI rating for +P and closer to +P+. So it appears the SD-9VE should probably not be used with 9mm NATO ammo, according to S&W's warning. Using it a couple of times is not likely to cause any measurable harm, but persistent use seems like a bad idea. S&W would probably not honor a warranty claim related to damage caused by 9mm NATO ammo, if they somehow knew it had been used.

The SD pistols are pretty robust -- they handle the .40 S&W cartridge well, which has roughly the same chamber pressure as the 9mm round but obviously generates greater recoil because the .40 S&W round is generally heavier -- but my opinion is that it would be a good idea to avoid the 9mm NATO round in the SD-9/SD-9VE. If you use 9mm NATO regularly, you might want to inspect the pistol for frame battering; peening of the barrel hood and breech face; stress or distortion of the barrel lug; stress fractures of the barrel or chamber; and other signs of excessive pressure or wear. And you might want to change out the recoil spring assembly on a more frequent basis than normal -- maybe every 2000 rounds.

 

[McChemist]

9mm: Luger v. NATO in a SD9/VE

Rover, thanks. You confirmed what I thought. I did't have any plans to use +P or NATO rounds. Definitely not +P+ loads. Just good intel on the pressure equivalencies.
McChemist

 

[touchoneoff]

I purchase my SD9 VE in OCT2018 on-line for $265. Once I acclimated to the trigger pull and the rough back and front traction grids, not too shabby. Accurate and reliable. The only trouble I had was when I first shot it using the ammo I had purchased with it- Wolf 9mm. Clogged the slide and barrel. Steel casing and russian ammo-never again. The only two mods that I have made were a slightly wider take down tab/lever to facilitate the operation (very successfully) and softer textured skin for the grip (very much improved), for $25. It works reliably and hits where it is aimed. I don't know what else you could ask of a pistol. BTW-a replacement guide rod and spring assembly is $7 on-line if one might have the unlikely need to replace it.

I do have questions for the assembled intelligencia: 9mm Luger vs. 9mm NATO. I know the NATO round has a slightly greater chamber pressure, but will use of it be detrimental to the SD9?

I did read somewhere that the SD9 was such a copy of a similar Glock (don't know what Glock model was being referred to) that the barrels were virtually interchangeable. True or bull excrement?

Well, I do know that a long time ago, S&W had to pay-off Glock for supposedly making too close of a copy of the G19, with the SIGMA pistols. Read a big ole article on it a couple of years ago.

 

[S&W Rover]

1997 - Glock and S&W settled out of court. S&W apparently agreed to pay Glock for infringing on the Glock design, and to make a change to the gun's design in the area around the sear...

I don't have one of each, so I can't make a direct comparison. I think the takedown lever is the same (since then, other gun companies have copied that type of takedown lever too) as well as the sear and striker design, but I don't know just how precisely similar.

I have a feeling if S&W "introduced" the SD today instead of when it did in the early 1990's, Glock wouldn't even notice.

Is the barrel the same on the Glock 19 and the SD? Someone who owns both will have to look... Some of the springs look pretty similar in the parts pages of Brownell's...

 

[Mark Shadow]

SD9VE Long Term Eval

Had some time so looked at old SD9VE9mm threads. I've had mine since 2012 or early 2013. It has been a great gun. An LGS had it for $239.00. I couldn't resist. Then about a year later another gunshop had a used magazine bin and I picked up two Sigma mags for $5.00 each.The floor floor plates are a little different, but they work fine. I bought the gun to shoot steel cased ammo and at the time I was buying a lot of Freedom Munitions ammo (I never had issues with it). I have put at least a couple of thousand rounds of steel or Freedom through it. No issues. The other ammo I shot a fair amount through it was Winchester 9mm Nato 124 grain. Cabela's used to have good prices on that ammo. Again no issues. I haven't put that many rounds of hollow points through it. Mostly just a few here and there from left over boxes. Probably around 100 rounds of different brands (but no 147 grain-never had that much in that weight). No issues. Of course, the trigger is long and a little different. I thought of putting an Apex trigger in it, but the trigger has smoothed out nicely. It's not like a 1950s K-frame, but it's not bad. I never shot for groups but inside 25 yards i generally hit what I am aiming at. Though I have a reserve of ammo, I haven't been shooting it much lately. Mostly I've been banging away with 22s because I stacked 22 ammo very high and very deep during the good times of Trump. But a few days ago I went to my range, stood at the 100 yard line, fired one round and nailed my steel IPSC target. Yep, no doubt there was some luck, but I quit after that one shot. I have a few guns that I would bet my life on. It is one of them (I have an XDS 45 that I can't get to run reliably after 1000+ rounds. Oddly, .45 wadcutter works great. Anything else not so much but that's a different story). I have a variety of handguns, but I think I inadvertently became the "be wary of the man who owns one gun..." due to shooting it the most because it was my cheap ammo gun. Also, for many years I shot a Glock 22 with the New York trigger. So I know about aweful triggers. I also have lubed it with Frog Lube. Not sure how good Frog Lube is, but cleaning it after shooting cheap-cheap ammo was easy.

So as far as comments about don't shoot this or that ammo out of an SD9VE, I've put just about everything through mine with no issues and no damage. Mine is just a sample of one, YMMV. But, with all the Turkish and Philippine guns around now, it's nice that an American made gun at a crazy price (at the time) point works. In october 2021, you can't find them for $250ish anymore. But I've seen them on-line for $329.00 which in light of current insanity isn't a bad price. Oh, the one modifcation I did was put a Talon rubber grip on it. It needs to be replaced, but its been on the gun for several years.

 

[McChemist]

I purchased my SD9VE in 2018 for $265. That was my first firearm. I probably could have found one for a better price (could not have been too much better), but I was not yet cognizant of many other places to purchase low cost-high value firearms, and I put the SD9VE in that category.

It handled all kinds of ammo, even Wolf, steel case and dirt. I stopped using steel jacketed ammo as it takes more effort (cheap) and time (invaluable) to clean a firearm.

As to the trigger, Apex make a good replacement, but a shooter can train to that trigger. I never replaced it. I did apply a thermo-setting pistol grip. That helped a lot. It just didn't seem cost effective to buy an inexpensive firearm and then spend a lot of money making modifications instead of buying a more expensive firearm with the desired modifications.

I gave it to my son and he feeds it whatever he can find.