SD40VE track record.

B

bspillman

New member
Are there any users that can chime in. Are these holding up well? Also can anyone recommend a good ccw holster? Thanks.
 
A couple of years ago I wanted a 40 caliber pistol and the SD40VE was cheap. I got one LNIB for around $200. I have shot it from time to time. It works fine and has never malfunctioned. I don't love it. The trigger is poor. But it goes bang every time and the price was right, so I have no complaints.

I may not be correct, but I have heard that it is basically a Glock copy and that Smith and Wesson ended up having to pay Glock money for infringing on the design.

SW40_zps453e3133.jpg
 
Last edited:
I had one. Picked it up cheap did not like the feel of it and also jammed on some different reloads u would shoot fine out of my sig. Sold it soon after still a decent entry level piece.
 
I traded a shot gun for one plus some ammo & like alright for a .40 cal. The only thing I may change is the trigger. Feels sluggish.
 
I do not have first hand experience personally but every single review I have watched and read show this (and the SD9VE) to be excellent pistols. I am getting the 9mm soon, the GF a Shield.


DungBeetle
 
The 9VE has been my truck for several months now. It has never had a single bobble or hiccup of any kind. When I bought it S&W had a $50 rebate and 2 free factory mags. I couldn't pass up on a deal like that. The trigger isn't nearly as bad as reported. It feels scratchy when unset but once it is set and in firing mode it just feels a little long and then it goes BANG. Every time. And if it really bothers you there are Youtube vids to modify it.

I have never seen another like mine. It came with a black slide instead of silver. I don't like the two tone look so this was a great surprise to me. I just ordered it sight unseen and was really pleased. Plus it came with one of the high intensity flashlights with a spare bulb. S&W really did me right on this gun.
 
tallball said:
A couple of years ago I wanted a 40 caliber pistol and the SD40VE was cheap.
Click to expand...
FWIW the gun in your picture appears to be a previous-generation SW40VE rather than a current-generation SD40 VE. The upgrades—aside from the space between the caliber number and the alphabetical suffix :)—are a standard Picatinny-style accessory rail rather than a proprietary rail, a different magazine design, an upgraded trigger, minor changes to the frame and slide styling, and perhaps most significantly, dovetailed M&P sights. The latter is arguably the biggest upgrade, as the aftermarket choices are far more extensive, and the front sight can be removed non-destructively; the previous SW-series front sight attaches using a plastic peg that passes through a hole in the slide and is melted or "mushroomed" in place, so it must be drilled out.
tallball said:
I may not be correct, but I have heard that it is basically a Glock copy and that Smith and Wesson ended up having to pay Glock money for infringing on the design.
Click to expand...
The SD series is a Glock copy only in the broadest sense, i.e. it's a striker-fired polymer-frame handgun with internal safeties and a similar takedown procedure.

S&W was sued over the first-generation Sigma series SWxF, SWxC and SWxE (x=caliber), reportedly about some aspect of the sear design. The suit was quickly settled out of court and the terms were never made public.

The vast majority of the parroted hearsay on the Interwebz about this lawsuit is just that—hearsay—unfounded rumors and speculation. :rolleyes: S&W did redesign the pistols soon thereafter to create the 2nd-generation SWxVE series, but this was reportedly done primarily to address chronic extraction and ejection problems, not because Glock sued them. OTOH contrary to the hearsay, S&W is not paying Glock royalties on an ongoing basis for the SWxVE and SD VE series.
ratshooter said:
I have never seen another like mine. [My 9VE] came with a black slide instead of silver.
Click to expand...
Are you certain it's a VE and not simply an SD9, no suffix?

The SD9 and SD40 were marketed alongside the previous-generation SWxVE series for about a year in late 2010-early 2011 IIRC. These pistols are differentiated from the SD VE series by the black slide finish and standard front night sight, and were sold for ~$80 more than the SWxVE pistols. However, S&W evidently decided that it didn't make sense to market 2 value lines simultaneously, and the fact that the original SD was priced perilously close to the M&P during a slow period for new-gun sales (prior to the 2012 panic) surely didn't help matters either. (S&W was running very generous rebate-or-free-mag promotions on the M&P at the time, which likely prompted many buyers to bypass BOTH value lines.) IIRC S&W axed the SD in late 2011 and subsequently replaced both lines with the SD VE in 2012.

OTOH I won't discount the possibility that S&W has sold a black-slide SD VE, possibly as a distributor exclusive, as these frequently don't make it into the published S&W catalog.
 
Last edited:
What Carguychris said, and I will add that I bought two of the SD40s when they first came out several years ago, and although I don't have a high round count on either of them, they are solid, accurate, affordable pistols. Some have upgraded the triggers, but the triggers don't bother me, so I left them as-is. Very good pistols for the price point.
 
Are you certain it's a VE and not simply an SD9, no suffix?
Click to expand...

Its just what I said it was. SW9VE on the slide. I don't know if it was a distributor gun or not. I had one with the silver slide and sold it. But I regretted selling it so told my dealer I bought all my guns from to get me another one.

I was pleased with the black slide over the silver finish. But yes, its a 9VE. No doubts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top