finally had a chance to get to the range and shoot the new member of the S&W family. all i can say is that i am as impressed with this weapon as i am with my sigma 40ve. compared to my sigma, the trigger pull is as long, just a little lighter. really love the slide serrations, big improvement from the sigma. gives you a real positive grip when racking the slide. sights are similar, SD white circles are a little bigger, no big deal. sigma/sd magazines cycled flawless, sigma baseplate is squared, sd is rounded, cosmetic...love the fact two different weapons use the same magazines. probably will purchase another in the near future, can't justify the extra 150$ on the m&p for ambi control/trigger. like knowing all the handguns in the arsenal will run the same magazines, just like my AR's. also wanted to say i purchased some remanufactured ammo from freedom munitions and have been really impressed. great ammo on the cheap, also have a brass credit program, check them out.
SD40VE
- Thread starter RWGN
- Start date
No the dremel can take too much too fast. I start with the mag in the gun, and draw a line around the floor plate. Use the butt of the grip as a guide, so you don't take too much away or have to keep inserting the mag to check.
I start out using emory boards or a file. When you get close to your mark switch to sand paper to get the deep sanding grooves out. It takes a little time. You can always take material away, but you can't put it back.
I start out using emory boards or a file. When you get close to your mark switch to sand paper to get the deep sanding grooves out. It takes a little time. You can always take material away, but you can't put it back.
just got the sd40 ve today . 100 round of Winchester hollow points . I think I'm in love . like it better than my glock23 . maybe my new carry pistol after 300 more rounds
chevythunder
Member
Only had time to put 50 rds through my SD40 and i love it. Going this fri to put at least another 100rds throught it. Shoots nicer than my 457 with magnaport
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bayou blaster
Member
Yea i love my SD 40 also great gun for 300 out the door.
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Bought mine a while back and first thing on the agenda after putting about 200 rounds through it was a trigger job with a new spring, polish the ramp, slide and side of the sear. got the pull down to about 4.5# without a hitch running about 500+P rounds through and not a single jam or stovepipe. Great cheap gun and with a Hogue grip extender, fits like a glove. The extender seemed to stabilize the recoil a bit as well.
Ruger Nut
US Veteran
What part of Louisiana? Avoyelles parish here.
"A Cajun/Coonass is the only one that can look at a rice field and tell how much gravy it takes to cover it!"
BBauer927
Member
just bought my sd40ve at a gun show 2 months ago and love it for sure. great gun for an amazing prize. put 200 rounds through it so far and its been blasting away beautifully.
I've had my SD a few weeks and like carrying the gun. It's about 3 oz. lighter than my M&P and a little shorter on the barrel. Had night sights put on which really helped and am currently waiting for a steel guide rod and recoil spring. Hopefully, the accuracy will improve a lot with these upgrades.
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2012
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I am looking to buy a SD40VE when they come back in stock at Academy, but I have read recently it may have FTF problems with non-rounded ammunition. My buddy recommends Federal Hydroschock ammunition, but I am now wondering if these will feed reliably. Anyone have experience with Federal Hydroschock or other non-round loads in a SD40VE?
Just installed Wolff recoil spring and stainless guide rod on mine and upgrades are complete. Really like the gun and carry it all the time. No FTF or FTE's ever with this one. Get it if you can. Most everywhere I've looked, they're out of stock like most everything else right now. A good partner with my M&P and will look for the Shield in 40 for the spring/summer carry.
CatFanInTn
Member
I own the SD9VE and have just over 400 rounds through this gun over the last two weeks without a single issue. The only ammo I have put through it other than a FMJ rounded nose of some sort was some of my self defense ammo (Hornady 147 gr hollow point) and again, the gun shot flawlessly.
I did clean and lube it before my first visit to the range and I made sure to load both my mags (16 rounds in each) and let them sit for a few days like that to help loosen up the spring.
BBauer927
Member
How much were the night sights? And where did you get them from? Thanks
I got them from a pawn shop in town that does a lot of gun sales. The sights were for M&P (Trijicon) for a flat $100. Worth it.
New SD40VE
I got a sd 40 about a week ago i like it shoots well for a carry gun id like to put a apex kit in it. This will be my first carry pistol. off the bat it looks good runs great. with more range time ill feel better about head shots at 25 yard. It does make some rattle when walking in holster but out of 10 id give it a 7 . I got it under $360 after tax
I got a sd 40 about a week ago i like it shoots well for a carry gun id like to put a apex kit in it. This will be my first carry pistol. off the bat it looks good runs great. with more range time ill feel better about head shots at 25 yard. It does make some rattle when walking in holster but out of 10 id give it a 7 . I got it under $360 after tax
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2012
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- 3
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Got my SD40VE, cleaned and lubed it with Froglube, and put 10 Remington JHPs in a palm sized area at 30 feet with 3 outliers and 6 within a 1-1/2 inch circle and I am not an experienced shooter at all. The long trigger pull made it hard to know precisely when it was going to fire, but I figure I'll get used to it.
OK, what is the best way to load the magazines. The most my thumb could manage was 10 rounds before it cried uncle. I have a similar problem with my ancient Savage 1915 .32 which holds 10, but I have to slip the last few rounds in perpendicular and then tip them 90 degrees to push the others down which I am sure is not good for the magazine. Is a course in thumb wrestling in my future?
Techse7en77
Member
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2013
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Man, I wondered the same thing... first magazine I loaded was brutal on my thumb! After leaving it loaded for a while, I emptied the JHPs and refilled it with FMJs at the range... and they went it way easier. I guess it loosened up enough, or maybe my technique was better. In the meantime I had ordered the Uplula speed loader... I tried it as soon as I got it and it's almost too easy when using it! haha
Schnard78
Member
Knightrider03m
Member
Looks good. My mag is giving my seat at work hell.
Just a note about the Sigma mags: the Sigma baseplate is not only shaped differently, but its also thicker (this is on the SW40VE ones, not the SW40F which is WAY thicker).
The Sigma baseplate from bottom to the top mics out at 0.263". The SD baseplate mics out at 0.244".
For me this is enough that the Sigma baseplate is just about bottoming out on my SD40VE before the mag catch engages. If I take a second to wiggle it a bit it'll catch, but it doesn't do so as effortlessly as the stock SD baseplates.
I personally wouldn't trust the mags with the Sigma baseplates to correctly seat if I had to change them at speed. As a result I wouldn't hesitate to carry a Sigma mag in the gun, but I wouldn't carry one on my belt as a potential reload mag until I'd switched out the baseplate to an SD one (or sanded down the Sigma plate a bit thinner).
The Sigma baseplate from bottom to the top mics out at 0.263". The SD baseplate mics out at 0.244".
For me this is enough that the Sigma baseplate is just about bottoming out on my SD40VE before the mag catch engages. If I take a second to wiggle it a bit it'll catch, but it doesn't do so as effortlessly as the stock SD baseplates.
I personally wouldn't trust the mags with the Sigma baseplates to correctly seat if I had to change them at speed. As a result I wouldn't hesitate to carry a Sigma mag in the gun, but I wouldn't carry one on my belt as a potential reload mag until I'd switched out the baseplate to an SD one (or sanded down the Sigma plate a bit thinner).
Maybe some practice reloading would help? I know what your talking about it does take a slightly forceful shove to seat the mag. I think with some practice it will become second nature to slap the mag in right every time.
Its not about force. I can insert the mag slowly up until the baseplate contacts the frame pushing on it and it often still doesn't seat until I "jiggle" the mag body a bit. If I slap one in quickly no matter how forceful about 20-30% of the time it falls right back out of the gun. Like I said I wouldn't care about carrying such a mag IN the gun to start with. Once it locks in its no problem, but I wouldn't carry one on my belt as is.
Swapping the SD baseplate over to those same Sigma mags totally alleviates the issue (I've already tested this) - they seat easily and correctly every time. I've got 3 Sigma mags and 2 SD's, but I'll swap SD baseplates over to the Sigma mags as soon as they become available for sale separately (not sure why but Midway nor Brownells have an SD parts category yet).
Swapping the SD baseplate over to those same Sigma mags totally alleviates the issue (I've already tested this) - they seat easily and correctly every time. I've got 3 Sigma mags and 2 SD's, but I'll swap SD baseplates over to the Sigma mags as soon as they become available for sale separately (not sure why but Midway nor Brownells have an SD parts category yet).
I'm sure that would work if it comes down to it. If I can't find the proper baseplates given enough time I may look into doing that. For the time being I don't really intend to carry this gun nor use it in competition (I used a Ruger LCP and an M&P 9L for those, respectively), so I'm not too terribly worried about it.
Not sure, but it also could be the date of manufacture. I don't know if S&W's really old baseplates were thicker or not, but my Sigma mags are all Law enforcement only marked so they're from at least before 2004.
I was considering the M&P compact in 9mm, but this looks to be a good and less expensive option, especially since it is a thinner framed pistol for concealed carry. However, if these some of the suggested upgrades are needed to make it more efficient, why not just go with a shield or the M&Pc?
Tmatahead
Member
NO! They will not.
My wife & I love ours SD's She has 9mm, I the .40. Both with Apex Spring Kits. She has 15# recoil spring, metal guide rod, I have 22# recoil spring guide rod. I polished the ramps starting with 600 grit wet paper, then went to 1500, finished with Flitz. These weapons will now load anything they are fun, and hold great groups at 30'. We just wish we felt more comfortable carrying a large weapon. We are both over 6', yet can't get around the feeling we are carrying a rocket launcher...
