APEX Kits, what I have found...

[DavidC77]

This is what I have found for Ma guns putting a APEX Kit into them, I would think that the numbers will be different for you Free Staters with the 6.5 Lb trigger pull, this may still help you...


.
OK I have just got done doing my M&P Shield with a APEX Kit and my M&P 45 with a APEX Kit, here's what I have:


I checked my trigger pull on my Shield and it was at 11.5 Lbs (Ma gun).

After I installed everything but the trigger spring I rechecked it, I was down to 7.5 Lb's...

I had heard of the pull being different if you didn't install the trigger spring, I thought it was the other way around than what it turned out to be...

I took it apart again and added the APEX trigger spring, I than put everything back together and rechecked the trigger poundage.

I am down to 6.5 Lbs now...


So the APEX will give a Mass gun a 6.5 Lb trigger and it feels real good... It's not gritty, it pulls reel smooth, in short I like it...

I would think that once I get out and shoot it some the trigger poundage will come down some more...

I'll get out to shoot it soon and let you all know how it works...

.

OK just got done doing my (Ma) M&P 45...

Stock Trigger... 10 Lbs

APEX Kit with stock M&P trigger spring... 6.5 Lbs

APEX Kit with APEX trigger spring... 5.25 Lbs

Very nice feel to that one also...


.

Just thought that you folks that were thinking of doing a APEX Kit would like to know what you get, or at least what I got so you can decide to do a APEX Kit or a Gun Smith Trigger Job...

I'm not trying to take any work away from a gun smith, I love the work that Greg Derr has done for me... I just hated the all day drive to him and than home, so I wanted to try and do a few APEX trigger jobs myself... It wasn't that hard to do either...

Good Luck on yours...


.

EDIT: Sorry I didn't say that the kits I used were/are the Duty/Carry AEK Kits for both guns...


.

 

[howard829]

David,

Did you replace the Hard Sear & Spring? My impression of the Apex videos was that if you replaced the Sear Spring the pull would be lower then by replacing the Trigger Spring the pull would come back up a lb. or so. Am I missing something?

Howard

 

[markush]

I've never had to deal with the MA trigger but I'm thinking if your changing all the springs along with the sear...why would it still have a heavier trigger pull??

 

[gnystrom]

It is interesting how many variances in the trigger pull wt. have been found on the Shield. I realize we all are using different criteria, but some Shields came with a very heavy trigger. Mine (using my scale) was just over 8#. The addition of an Apex Hard Sear alone dropped it to 5-3/4#. No spring changes needed. There is still a tiny bit of grittiness from the USB, but it is a carry gun and virtually unnoticeable.

 

[southchatham]

Add a free state trigger return spring and you can bring it down to 5LBs. For my MA 9c I left the MA spring in and I get 7 lbs with the apex kit. I like this for a carry gun. I tried the free state spring that brought it to 5lbs, but the pull was to mushy for me.

 

[Steelman]

Question on the Apex for Ma. I know most of us aren't lawyers but what happens in a worst case situation and you have to use your M&P. Post incident investigation reveals that your M&P is not Ma compliant?
I want to go Apex but have this concern.

 

[southchatham]

Question on the Apex for Ma. I know most of us aren't lawyers but what happens in a worst case situation and you have to use your M&P. Post incident investigation reveals that your M&P is not Ma compliant?
I want to go Apex but have this concern.

Only new guns sold have to have a 10lb trigger. Their is no law against lighter triggers.

 

[JNewell]

It is not illegal and unlike some aftermarket accessories that would potentially come back to bite you, this isn't very likely to be noticed. Even the factory might not notice; there's been at least one report of S&W mis-boxing a MA-compliant Shield.

 

[DavidC77]

David,

Did you replace the Hard Sear & Spring? My impression of the Apex videos was that if you replaced the Sear Spring the pull would be lower then by replacing the Trigger Spring the pull would come back up a lb. or so. Am I missing something?

Howard

Yes Howard I did replace the sear and spring, put it back together and checked the poundage, than I took it back apart and put the APEX trigger spring in...

The numbers in my 1st post are what I came up with...

 

[DavidC77]

I've never had to deal with the MA trigger but I'm thinking if your changing all the springs along with the sear...why would it still have a heavier trigger pull??

Because we are dealing with a Mass gun that comes with a 10 Lb (or more) trigger pull to begin with...

We do not have you free staters trigger pull of 6 or 6.5 Lbs...

New Mass guns by Mass rules need a 10 Lb trigger pull to be sold in this Commywealth...

Yes it's stupid, but that's Mass...

 

[DavidC77]

Question on the Apex for Ma. I know most of us aren't lawyers but what happens in a worst case situation and you have to use your M&P. Post incident investigation reveals that your M&P is not Ma compliant?
I want to go Apex but have this concern.

As Southchatham and JNewwell said you can do what ever you want to do to "YOUR GUN" once you own it...

It is not illegal to change the Ma Trigger...

If you need to send your gun back to S&W for repairs they will not change anything on your gun, unless you are sending it back for a trigger problem, they would most likely change it back to stock parts...

If the gun go's in for something else they are not going to take your APEX kit out and replace them with stock parts...

 

[pyro]

The Apex trigger spring is apparently lighter than the Massachusetts trigger spring. I would suspect that an M&P stock trigger spring, being a pound lighter than the Apex trigger spring, would lighten the pull even further.

 

[markush]

Because we are dealing with a Mass gun that comes with a 10 Lb (or more) trigger pull to begin with...

We do not have you free staters trigger pull of 6 or 6.5 Lbs...

New Mass guns by Mass rules need a 10 Lb trigger pull to be sold in this Commywealth...

Yes it's stupid, but that's Mass...

Yeah i get that part...What I couldn't get was that if your changing the springs why wouldn't it bring the pull weight in line with a non MA trigger...it's heavier springs in the MA guns that makes them heavier in the first place no?

But from reading later comments in this thread it seems it's a trigger return spring that is not included in the APEX kit that is keeping an MA trigger from being a "normal" trigger pull weight...right?

 

[DavidC77]

Yeah i get that part...What I couldn't get was that if your changing the springs why wouldn't it bring the pull weight in line with a non MA trigger...it's heavier springs in the MA guns that makes them heavier in the first place no?

But from reading later comments in this thread it seems it's a trigger return spring that is not included in the APEX kit that is keeping an MA trigger from being a "normal" trigger pull weight...right?

I'm not sure on that either, I am not sure what spring they are talking about...

I went into S&W Website, I looked at the S&W M&P Parts List and they list a different "Trigger Bar". There is a Mass trigger bar that is listed as a higher poundage than the free state guns... Now that was on my S&W M&P 40 FS and Compact, I haven't looked up a Shield yet, it maybe the same thing were the trigger bar is affecting the poundage, not sure though...

 

[N4KVE]

Only new guns sold have to have a 10lb trigger. Their is no law against lighter triggers.

While this is true, if the owner of that gun shoots someone, as in the Trayvon Martin case, & the gun is tested, the prosecution can use that against you. Sir, why did you "soup up the trigger" on your self defense weapon? GARY

 

[Dnizzle80]

This is what I have found for Ma guns putting a APEX Kit into them, I would think that the numbers will be different for you Free Staters with the 6.5 Lb trigger pull, this may still help you...


.
OK I have just got done doing my M&P Shield with a APEX Kit and my M&P 45 with a APEX Kit, here's what I have:


I checked my trigger pull on my Shield and it was at 11.5 Lbs (Ma gun).

After I installed everything but the trigger spring I rechecked it, I was down to 7.5 Lb's...

I had heard of the pull being different if you didn't install the trigger spring, I thought it was the other way around than what it turned out to be...

I took it apart again and added the APEX trigger spring, I than put everything back together and rechecked the trigger poundage.

I am down to 6.5 Lbs now...


So the APEX will give a Mass gun a 6.5 Lb trigger and it feels real good... It's not gritty, it pulls reel smooth, in short I like it...

I would think that once I get out and shoot it some the trigger poundage will come down some more...

I'll get out to shoot it soon and let you all know how it works...

.

OK just got done doing my (Ma) M&P 45...

Stock Trigger... 10 Lbs

APEX Kit with stock M&P trigger spring... 6.5 Lbs

APEX Kit with APEX trigger spring... 5.25 Lbs

Very nice feel to that one also...


.

Just thought that you folks that were thinking of doing a APEX Kit would like to know what you get, or at least what I got so you can decide to do a APEX Kit or a Gun Smith Trigger Job...

I'm not trying to take any work away from a gun smith, I love the work that Greg Derr has done for me... I just hated the all day drive to him and than home, so I wanted to try and do a few APEX trigger jobs myself... It wasn't that hard to do either...

Good Luck on yours...


.

Just to clarify...are we talking about the DCAEK kit to do this mod or is there an additional kit as well? Thanks

 

[keakar]

what I would like to know is if anyone has just tried to polish the trigger bar cam to smooth the rough edges and not need to replace the USB.

the reason I ask is I have the standard M&P version with the 6 1/2 lb trigger which I am very happy with but I want to lose the gritty feel of it without reducing the trigger below 5 1/2 lbs.

in a perfect world I would do the AEK trigger swap and the USB but only if I could do it in a way to keep at least a 5 lb trigger.

this is a home defense gun that I want a little stiffness to the trigger

by the way after 8 emails to Apex over 2 weeks asking the trigger swap USB question and they have never responded so im not impressed by their customer relations

 

[Robotech]

Polishing the trigger bar is not enough. The real problem is the striker block, and sometimes the hole it fits in.

I removed the burrs in the striker block hole at the intersection of that hole and the striker channel, and polished the striker block as well. It still wasn't enough to eliminate the all of the "gritty" feeling, though it did improve it a lot.

The biggest difference was in replacing the striker block with the Apex USB, which changes the engagement angle between the block and the trigger bar. You can modify the striker block on your own, if you are careful and don't remove to much. For most, it'll be easier to just buy the Apex part.

The only spring I changed was the one in the striker block. I've kept the rest of the stock springs for now. I may try other combinations later, but for now, the USB and new Apex sear have gotten the trigger to where I like it.

 

[JNewell]

Very useful to have those comparative figures - thank you!

This is what I have found for Ma guns putting a APEX Kit into them, I would think that the numbers will be different for you Free Staters with the 6.5 Lb trigger pull, this may still help you...


.
OK I have just got done doing my M&P Shield with a APEX Kit and my M&P 45 with a APEX Kit, here's what I have:


I checked my trigger pull on my Shield and it was at 11.5 Lbs (Ma gun).

After I installed everything but the trigger spring I rechecked it, I was down to 7.5 Lb's...

I had heard of the pull being different if you didn't install the trigger spring, I thought it was the other way around than what it turned out to be...

I took it apart again and added the APEX trigger spring, I than put everything back together and rechecked the trigger poundage.

I am down to 6.5 Lbs now...


So the APEX will give a Mass gun a 6.5 Lb trigger and it feels real good... It's not gritty, it pulls reel smooth, in short I like it...

I would think that once I get out and shoot it some the trigger poundage will come down some more...

I'll get out to shoot it soon and let you all know how it works...

.

OK just got done doing my (Ma) M&P 45...

Stock Trigger... 10 Lbs

APEX Kit with stock M&P trigger spring... 6.5 Lbs

APEX Kit with APEX trigger spring... 5.25 Lbs

Very nice feel to that one also...


.

Just thought that you folks that were thinking of doing a APEX Kit would like to know what you get, or at least what I got so you can decide to do a APEX Kit or a Gun Smith Trigger Job...

I'm not trying to take any work away from a gun smith, I love the work that Greg Derr has done for me... I just hated the all day drive to him and than home, so I wanted to try and do a few APEX trigger jobs myself... It wasn't that hard to do either...

Good Luck on yours...


.

 

[JNewell]

I went into S&W Website, I looked at the S&W M&P Parts List and they list a different "Trigger Bar". There is a Mass trigger bar that is listed as a higher poundage than the free state guns... Now that was on my S&W M&P 40 FS and Compact, I haven't looked up a Shield yet, it maybe the same thing were the trigger bar is affecting the poundage, not sure though...

Guessing - perhaps the trigger bar is shipped with one of the two different weight springs attached. It's hard to believe the trigger bar itself is actually different (?).