I am going to start my own thread on this, but I presume at some point the mods may just merge them into one.
Like others my Apex Tactical Specialties goody bag arrived today (woo hoo) and you would have thought Santa himself put the package on my desk. I tore it up and marveled at the awesomeness contained therein. Yes, the t-shirt and patches were cool and will definitely see lots of use. But the real awesomeness came in the form of the SD parts and accessories.
The mag extension arrived anodized in green. The color is very cool and stands out without being gaudy. The build quality is exactly what one would expect from Apex. I own a number of extensions from MecGar, Arredondo and Taylor freelance and this Apex extension is nicer than all of them, only the Taylor extension comes close. The set screw is a very nice touch and allows the extension to attach securely to the magazine body without an ugly metal plate and two ugly screws like the aforementioned competitor. Better than all of that, it works. I loaded up the magazine and was able to put 19 rounds of Speer Lawman 124gr TMJ in it. Sweet. Now for the trigger!
I selected my SD9 (the old version) for this trigger. It already has an Apex spring kit installed but has not been polished internally. Every time I detail strip an SD9 I always wish that S&W would have made it a little simpler. Fortunately Apex included a slave pin to make the job that much easier. 10 minutes later the trigger was installed and I was dry firing like a maniac. First I have to point out that the trigger is a MAJOR improvement over stock and is worth every penny (free or full price). It not only feels nicer, but it has much less creep and travel. I even feel like I can predict the break now, where before that was iffy. Trigger return / reset is also cleaner. I dug out the Timney trigger gauge and it broke at just a miniscule over 6 lbs (3 pulls all with the same result). But if I had to guess I would have said 5.25-5.5lbs by feel. The trigger is also very smooth, which is probably why it felt light to me than 6 lbs. All in all this trigger is clearly a winner.
Just to give you an idea of how much I like this trigger, I ordered 3 more before I even walked out the door to the range. One for my SD9VE, one for my stock M&P9 and one for my stock M&P9C. The rest of my M&P's already have the FSS trigger so there was no need or order more. I have said many times that S&W needs to just come out with a M&P APEX edition & SD APEX edition, but I fear if they did than no one would want their standard models. So I suppose that is out of the question. Plus it doesn't really matter as Apex parts are easily to purchase and easy to install on our own.
And then I went to the range. Time was limited so I was only able to put just over 150 rounds into paper. 0 malfunctions, 0 parts breakages, 0 parts issues and one very happy shooter. There really is not a whole lot to report. The mag with the extension on it fed exactly as it supposed to, only with 3 extra rounds available. The first round fed and ejected as smoothly as the 19th round. The trigger got even better as I pulled it over and over and my accuracy & speed with the SD9 improved. I am sure with more time behind the trigger I will improve even more.
I am back at my desk with a now clean and lubricated SD9. I only paid $299 or so for it and it now has approx. $90 worth of Apex parts and accessories in it. This is now a $389 gun that shoots better than a LOT of $550+ guns. So essentially S&W and Apex are now able to bring us a quality semi-auto with an excellent trigger and a +3 mag extension for approx. $200 less than other makers can. Seems almost too good to be true.
Thanks again Scott & Apex Tactical Specialties. Even without the freebies you have earned a customer for life.
Like others my Apex Tactical Specialties goody bag arrived today (woo hoo) and you would have thought Santa himself put the package on my desk. I tore it up and marveled at the awesomeness contained therein. Yes, the t-shirt and patches were cool and will definitely see lots of use. But the real awesomeness came in the form of the SD parts and accessories.
The mag extension arrived anodized in green. The color is very cool and stands out without being gaudy. The build quality is exactly what one would expect from Apex. I own a number of extensions from MecGar, Arredondo and Taylor freelance and this Apex extension is nicer than all of them, only the Taylor extension comes close. The set screw is a very nice touch and allows the extension to attach securely to the magazine body without an ugly metal plate and two ugly screws like the aforementioned competitor. Better than all of that, it works. I loaded up the magazine and was able to put 19 rounds of Speer Lawman 124gr TMJ in it. Sweet. Now for the trigger!
I selected my SD9 (the old version) for this trigger. It already has an Apex spring kit installed but has not been polished internally. Every time I detail strip an SD9 I always wish that S&W would have made it a little simpler. Fortunately Apex included a slave pin to make the job that much easier. 10 minutes later the trigger was installed and I was dry firing like a maniac. First I have to point out that the trigger is a MAJOR improvement over stock and is worth every penny (free or full price). It not only feels nicer, but it has much less creep and travel. I even feel like I can predict the break now, where before that was iffy. Trigger return / reset is also cleaner. I dug out the Timney trigger gauge and it broke at just a miniscule over 6 lbs (3 pulls all with the same result). But if I had to guess I would have said 5.25-5.5lbs by feel. The trigger is also very smooth, which is probably why it felt light to me than 6 lbs. All in all this trigger is clearly a winner.
Just to give you an idea of how much I like this trigger, I ordered 3 more before I even walked out the door to the range. One for my SD9VE, one for my stock M&P9 and one for my stock M&P9C. The rest of my M&P's already have the FSS trigger so there was no need or order more. I have said many times that S&W needs to just come out with a M&P APEX edition & SD APEX edition, but I fear if they did than no one would want their standard models. So I suppose that is out of the question. Plus it doesn't really matter as Apex parts are easily to purchase and easy to install on our own.
And then I went to the range. Time was limited so I was only able to put just over 150 rounds into paper. 0 malfunctions, 0 parts breakages, 0 parts issues and one very happy shooter. There really is not a whole lot to report. The mag with the extension on it fed exactly as it supposed to, only with 3 extra rounds available. The first round fed and ejected as smoothly as the 19th round. The trigger got even better as I pulled it over and over and my accuracy & speed with the SD9 improved. I am sure with more time behind the trigger I will improve even more.
I am back at my desk with a now clean and lubricated SD9. I only paid $299 or so for it and it now has approx. $90 worth of Apex parts and accessories in it. This is now a $389 gun that shoots better than a LOT of $550+ guns. So essentially S&W and Apex are now able to bring us a quality semi-auto with an excellent trigger and a +3 mag extension for approx. $200 less than other makers can. Seems almost too good to be true.
Thanks again Scott & Apex Tactical Specialties. Even without the freebies you have earned a customer for life.
