M&p 2.0, apex kit worth it?

[Smakmauz]

Well, certainly not the trigger bar. It seems S&Ws tooling is leaving performance suffering damage in the bar. Some are really bad, like the picture. Mine wasn't quite that bad but definitely needed work to polish out.

Another source of grittiness is the striker block plunger spring. It is captured on the end of the cover plate in 2.0, unlike the old design of the MP 1.0. The old design allowed the spring to self center under the metal cover plate.

I've noticed the nub on my plate is not quite centered, so the cover plate could be holding the spring offset in its hole, causing you to feel coil bind with the hole walls as the plunger is depressed. I'm thinking about cutting that nub off the 2.0s plastic plate and letting the spring self center.

Those scratches in the side like that can be pretty normal with the M&P system. its where a milling on the slide hits that part of the trigger to kick it into reset. sometimes those milings are a bit sharper than others. It looks worse than it is. Once they are cut in they usually don't get any worse and I usually just hit them with polish to smooth them out. you can also make minor adjustments to move the nub out of they way a little bit if its scratching too bad. The one pictured is pretty bad. all of mine M&P's have had that to some degree.

 

[NewToGuns17]

Trigger should be here and installed by tonight I'm going to clean up everything ad I go sand polish anything I missed. I did all the polishing with it assembled.

 

[Smakmauz]

One thing I just thought of that I don't know you ever discussed (or realized) is the install of the USB (striker block)... do you already have a means for removing the rear sight? unlike glock, which is really easy to disassemble, the M&P's require you to drift out the rear site and access the s-block from the top of the slide. Luckily you only have to do it once but its still the hardest part of the install.

I'm hoping you already knew about that and have the means to do it but if you don't want to do it right now and just wanna get the rest of it done first you can leave the factory one in there for right now. the duty\carry kits will function just fine with the factory S-block without any issues, just not quite as buttery as the apex.

If you do have the set up to remove the sight then I will give you one last tip to check the striker block pocket thoroughly for any burrs or grit and make sure to clean it out really well prior to re-install. Some of the older models were notorious for having a light burr or some grit from manufacturing in there causing more of that gritty trigger feeling.

Have Fun!!

 

[Trailryder50]

Some of the older models were notorious for having a light burr or some grit from manufacturing in there causing more of that gritty trigger feeling.

My 2.0 compact had light burring of the striker block hole. The striker block hole intersects with a place in the striker hole. Apparently, after cutting one, the other is cut and that intersecting cut leaves burrs around the edges of the previously cut hole.

 

[NewToGuns17]

One thing I just thought of that I don't know you ever discussed (or realized) is the install of the USB (striker block)... do you already have a means for removing the rear sight? unlike glock, which is really easy to disassemble, the M&P's require you to drift out the rear site and access the s-block from the top of the slide. Luckily you only have to do it once but its still the hardest part of the install.

I'm hoping you already knew about that and have the means to do it but if you don't want to do it right now and just wanna get the rest of it done first you can leave the factory one in there for right now. the duty\carry kits will function just fine with the factory S-block without any issues, just not quite as buttery as the apex.

If you do have the set up to remove the sight then I will give you one last tip to check the striker block pocket thoroughly for any burrs or grit and make sure to clean it out really well prior to re-install. Some of the older models were notorious for having a light burr or some grit from manufacturing in there causing more of that gritty trigger feeling.

Have Fun!!

Yes sir I've already changed out the rear sights. I wanted to do the kit on my shield as well but was scared. Now that I've done the 2.0, I think I'll do the shield

 

[bsmiley]

Waiting to hear how it all goes on your install...

 

[NewToGuns17]

All went well. Getting the trigger pin through the frame, everything else and through the spring was the hardest part. I polished everything i didn't get to the other day while I had the chance. I actually don't mind the apex springs, I'm sure they'll lighten up as I shoot anyways, but they aren't bad. They feel "positive and consistent" I guess you could say. Like a nice car shock...

 

[NewToGuns17]

Polishing and geometry look good? Don't know how much smoothing with a file and sandpaper I can do before I screw things up...

 

[NewToGuns17]

Trigger

 

[bsmiley]

Looks very good! How's it feel now?

 

[NewToGuns17]

Looks very good! How's it feel now?

The weight of the trigger feels heavier in the "first stage" leading up to the break, but it feels very smooth. I don't mind it feeling heavier because it's "safer" when holstering but it's also not jerky, meaning as I pull back it's fluid and doesn't stop or skip. Where the trigger is going to break is so much easier to get to than the stock trigger system and then it's a short click once you pull it. It's also easier to hold The trigger at that breaking point and be confident it's not going to randomly go off. The reset is much shorter than stock but I don't know if it's because of the size of the trigger giving the illusion. The striker safety is much lighter it seems and much smoother, again, less jerky. I don't know if the polishing I did made it any better though (on the stock parts).

 

[NewToGuns17]

One question. Did I mess anything up by knocking off the little flat where the arrow points? It looked like the drawing I made on the right (side view) before I filed it. Now it looks like the drawing on the left. Hard to tell bad stamping and machining from intentional, but I didn't figure it was needed. There was a ton of grooves on that entire side and I decided to make the call and flatten it entirely. Took a risk...

 

[Smakmauz]

You don't want to alter the geometry in any way. Just smoothing out any tool marks or burrs. Hit it with a dremel felt wheel and some flitz to put a mirror shine on it as a final step and it'll be "slicker than snot on a brass door knob" as my dad used to say.

 

[Smakmauz]

My 2.0 compact had light burring of the striker block hole. The striker block hole intersects with a place in the striker hole. Apparently, after cutting one, the other is cut and that intersecting cut leaves burrs around the edges of the previously cut hole.

thanks for the report!

 

[Smakmauz]

One question. Did I mess anything up by knocking off the little flat where the arrow points? It looked like the drawing I made on the right (side view) before I filed it. Now it looks like the drawing on the left. Hard to tell bad stamping and machining from intentional, but I didn't figure it was needed. There was a ton of grooves on that entire side and I decided to make the call and flatten it entirely. Took a risk...

not likely. the striker block doesn't even contact down that low on the nub.

 

[Smakmauz]

One question. Did I mess anything up by knocking off the little flat where the arrow points? It looked like the drawing I made on the right (side view) before I filed it. Now it looks like the drawing on the left. Hard to tell bad stamping and machining from intentional, but I didn't figure it was needed. There was a ton of grooves on that entire side and I decided to make the call and flatten it entirely. Took a risk...

the next face down hill from that; the one that contacts the new sear actuator, however, can affect your over travel. if you take too much off of that you might interfere with the striker dropping properly and possible light strikes. you do want minimal over travel but you still need at least a tiny amount to make sure the sear is able to fully get out of the way of the striker.

you probably don't have anything to worry about

 

[Smakmauz]

The reset is much shorter than stock but I don't know if it's because of the size of the trigger giving the illusion.

this actually is an illusion in the new 2.0 because of the way the new parts interact, you can't' actually change the reset point without modifying the the new sear actuator. Apex is addressing that part in the new FSS kits that are coming out for the 2.0. in the older system, the reset length was more dependent on the interface between the trigger bar loop and the geometry of the little lobe on the sear.

still, even with the stock system, they got it down to a pretty good place... its a pretty short reset...

 

[Smakmauz]

All went well. Getting the trigger pin through the frame, everything else and through the spring was the hardest part. I polished everything i didn't get to the other day while I had the chance. I actually don't mind the apex springs, I'm sure they'll lighten up as I shoot anyways, but they aren't bad. They feel "positive and consistent" I guess you could say. Like a nice car shock...

yes, the apex springs are stiff when new but they do mellow out pretty nicely.

 

[NewToGuns17]

Hopefully it all works. My range is down for a month!

 

[Smakmauz]

Hopefully it all works. My range is down for a month!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

That stinks! guess you'll have to break it in with a bunch of dry fire practice!