SW SDVE

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I shot mine the other day after sitting around awhile. I was surprised how well it works in fast draw and shoot drills, which is its primary purpose. Reliable, safe, and accurate enough. For the money vs. quality, it's hard to beat as a defensive pistol. I paid $299 online plus shipping, transfer fee. Have seen them as low as $269 free shipping. Mine did jam a lot at first and the trigger was impossible. Memory is foggy, but jamming was mostly on Silver Bear steel 147's though. I would't shoot any bimetal or brass alloy bullets at all now. The fact that the SD is for all intents and purposes a Glock 19 without finger groove (of perhaps cheaper materials) should make it respectable enough. After several hundred rounds the trigger is much, much better. A little grease where the trigger bar rubs against the frame, etc. Is a big help until parts wear in. You mustn't over oil it or the firing pin will get stuck in the gunk. Keep it clean. It aint a Glock! :)
 
I have two of these guns; an SD40VE and an SD9VE. Both are the latest gen.

I really like them a lot. As osbornk and roarshock said, the trigger improves with use. I tried the Apex upgrades and it only caused problems. I went back to the stock springs and just shot them a lot. Now, comparing the triggers to my S&W Shield, they are not bad at all. Just a little heavier than the Shield, but just as smooth. Nowhere near as heavy as any double action. No striker fired gun will ever ever be comparable to a nice single action trigger.

Both my guns have been 100% reliable (except for when I screwed around with the Apex parts) and they have been shot a lot. They have good ergonomics and are actually really fun to shoot.

Even though I have many other handguns, nearly all more expensive, I keep the SD40VE with a light mounted to it as my bedside HD gun. The SD9VE goes with me in the car on road trips as a backup to my on body CCW. So that shows how much faith I have in them.

I think a lot of the bad remarks about these guns are actually about the earlier gen guns. The current gen SD VE guns are very good handguns for a great price.
 
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I have had my SD9VE for almost 2 yrs. & I like it a lot. The trigger never bothered me, but I shoot a lot of DAO revolvers.
 
I had an early model Sigma in .40. I have reached a point in life where I buy more expensive guns but this line from S+W represents a tremendous value. I never had any failures with mine.
 
DMK said:
I think a lot of the bad remarks about these guns are actually about the earlier gen guns.
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That's the first thing to understand about the SD series.

Most of the major problems with the platform were fixed with the 2nd generation SWxE ("E" for "Enhanced") pistols. The 3rd generation went further and eliminated a few weird design foibles of the 1st-2nd gen, notably the proprietary accessory rail and the front sight that can't be removed non-destructively.

The second thing to understand about the SD/SWxE/Sigma series is that they are NOT Glock clones or copies except with respect to broad and general design aspects. Much of what you may read online about "Swocks"—e.g. parts interchange with Glocks, S&W is still paying Glock royalties—is mythical. :rolleyes:
 
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In my humble opinion the SD9VE is the absolute best value there is in a handgun right now. I myself picked up another one at Academy last weekend for $279.00. The one I've had has always performed flawless, it'll eat any type of ammo, etc.

I have XD's, Glocks, etc. And they are all fine firearms and yeah they may be better built and prettier to look at. But the SD9VE is the perfect truck gun and when you can literally get two of them for the price of some of the others it's a no brainer. All of them are tools that you can count on getting the job done when needed.

Lots of people complain about the triggers on the VE but I guess I'm one of those lucky ones where it honestly doesn't bother me at all. Matter of fact I personally prefer the heavier SD trigger (mine is right at 7.25 lbs) when carrying.

Anyway, the SD9VE can't be beat for the price. I'm actually considering getting a couple more of them.

One last thing (editing to add this), Academy also has a SD9 version, or at least my local one did. From what I understand...and I may be wrong...the SD9 is an Academy exclusive version of the SD9VE with the only changes being a blackened slide and fiber optic sights. Also I think it comes in a plastic box instead of the cardboard box. Everything else is the same. If someone knows otherwise please correct me!! anyway, this SD9 version is also on sale for I think $329 right now. Not a bad deal if someone doesn't like the silver slide and wants fiber optic sights.
 
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The trigger is ok for defensive shooting its not a target gun if the bullets hit the target within a chest sized area you aimed at then its good to go.
The reset is long but its fine for the purpose of this gun.
I give this gun a 7/10 I bought mine for $230 used put 130 rounds through it with different types of ammo no issues. I am getting used to the trigger and the groups get better. I probably will buy another one if I see a good deal under $300. Its a inexpensive gun I can leave in my vehicle in places that dont allow ccw and have as a spare carry gun if I need more firepower.
Smith and Wesson will probably make a better trigger and newer better revised model once the market demands high quality and inexpensive handguns like Caniks and Taurus g2 series but domestically produced.
 
Tibult said:
Smith and Wesson will probably make a better trigger and newer better revised model once the market demands high quality and inexpensive handguns like Caniks and Taurus g2 series but domestically produced.
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I doubt that; I don't think there's enough room price-wise between the SD and the M&P to accommodate a third pistol line. It would cannibalize sales from the models above and below it. This already happened in 2011 when S&W originally offered the SD and SWxE pistols side-by-side with night sights on the SD for $75 more. In mid-2012, they dropped the night sights, changed the slide finish to stainless, added the "VE" suffix, and dropped the MSRP by $50, replacing the SWxE. (The street price has subsequently dropped down to SWxE levels).

Additionally, IMHO there's really not a substantial build-quality or fit-and-finish gulf between the SD and a G2 or Canik, while the SD offers a much better-known brand name and it's "MADE IN USA." Based on hanging around at Academy Sports, this is enough to make a majority of buyers choose the SD.
 
One last thing (editing to add this), Academy also has a SD9 version, or at least my local one did. From what I understand...and I may be wrong...the SD9 is an Academy exclusive version of the SD9VE with the only changes being a blackened slide and fiber optic sights. Also I think it comes in a plastic box instead of the cardboard box. Everything else is the same. If someone knows otherwise please correct me!! anyway, this SD9 version is also on sale for I think $329 right now. Not a bad deal if someone doesn't like the silver slide and wants fiber optic sights.
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I believe that's the previous model to the one currently produced. There are only minor differences between the SD9/SD40 and the SD9VE/SD40VE. I've never heard of them coming with fiber optic sights though. That might be some kind of distributor exclusive thing.

CarguyChris gives a really good breakdown of the various models/generations here:

https://thefiringline.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5316047&postcount=11
 
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BeornLS said:
Academy also has a SD9 version...
DMK said:
That's actually the previous model to the one currently produced. (SD9/SD40 without the VE).
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No, the ones at Academy Sports are advertised and marked as an SD9, no "VE." They revived the black slide finish and non-VE markings, but the pistols don't come with night sights, so they're not exactly the same as the previous 2011-2012 iteration.
Tibult said:
I meant they update the SD line currently with changes not a whole new separate line.
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They might do that. Who knows? Maybe they could call them the GP9 and GP40. SD40-2 would work, but SD9-2 obviously wouldn't. (Obscure joke that U.S. railfans will understand. :))
 
That pistol is indeed the "poorman's Glock".

It allways will work and functions flawlessly. It is an 100% reliable pistol.

However it is a Plastik gun and only 22 oz. I developed an severe flinch because of this light weight 9mm Luger pistol and because of the Trigger.

The Trigger is not too bad but muzzle flip for me is too much for this 9mm pistol and prefer an all metal pistol with an weight of around 34 oz to 36 oz for an more comfortable Shooting.
Slide and Metall parts are better than Glock's but the Plastik is a bit thin.

Shooting the SD9VE before an SAA 1873 Revolver screws up the Shooting skills completely IMHO.
 
No, the ones at Academy Sports are advertised and marked as an SD9, no "VE." They revived the black slide finish and non-VE markings, but the pistols don't come with night sights, so they're not exactly the same as the previous 2011-2012 iteration.
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That is interesting. So they are an exclusive. They don't even show up on S&Ws website.

It looks like the same barrel and slide finish that S&W is using on the Shield (Armornite over stainless steel).
 
I didn't intend to like this pistol. Purely pragmatic - cheap. Plastic.Too flashy. But all the youtubes comparing it identical to a Glock 19 urged a little more respect. More convincingly the ergonomics are great and the controls are really easy to operate. Feels good and handles nice. Terrible trigger for targets? True. But shoot it fast as possible alongside the better trigger guns and the difference is slight if noticeable at all. Long sight radius, big front sight, heavy barrel, low bore axis, perfect grip, ideal spring rates. Stainless barrel and slide! The recoil and muzzle flip are less for me than the little Tristar C-100 which I actually do like. It's a real metal pistol after all of renowned heritage and very well made. But a half price Glock backed up by a much more customer friendly USA company? Fills more than a niche in the market. Hope the prices stay reasonable.
 
More convincingly the ergonomics are great and the controls are really easy to operate. Feels good and handles nice. Terrible trigger for targets? True. But shoot it fast as possible alongside the better trigger guns and the difference is slight if noticeable at all. Long sight radius, big front sight, heavy barrel, low bore axis, perfect grip, ideal spring rates. Stainless barrel and slide!
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Nice summary. I agree with all those points, except that I don't think the trigger is terrible. Great trigger? No, but not terrible either.

The guns are a lot of fun to shoot steel with.
 
However it is a Plastik gun and only 22 oz. I developed an severe flinch because of this light weight 9mm Luger pistol and because of the Trigger.

The Trigger is not too bad but muzzle flip for me is too much for this 9mm pistol and prefer an all metal pistol with an weight of around 34 oz to 36 oz for an more comfortable Shooting.
Slide and Metall parts are better than Glock's but the Plastik is a bit thin.
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I also had a terrible flinch with my SD9VE that I had to work on to get rid of. I adjusted finally with practice so I do fairly well with it now. However, I have a full size steel 1911 in 9mm that I am much more accurate with. I shoot heavy guns better but I carry light most of the time.
 
SD9VE...

I shoot this gun better than any Glock I've owned and really liked the low price. I'd buy another if I needed to. YMMV. tom. :cool:
 
I've shot mine enough to really improve the trigger pull itself, but control and predictability hasn't kept up with the mechanical smoothness. Wish there was a definite break instead of that lazy roll over. Crappy triggers can improve your shooting though. It's fun to just throw it up and fire like it was a shotgun or bow, intuitively like a baseball almost, so the trigger isn't so important, just part of the process. I won't be posting any targets needless to say...but it works pretty well sometimes.
 
In addition to what I wrote earlier, the SD series pistols take different magazines than the earlier pistols.
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Sigma & SD's use the same mag. Only difference is the base pad which is cosmetic. The two are virtually identical; most notably is the front sight being dovetailed and takes M&P sights, front slide serrations, trigger finger touch pad, trigger/striker springs, & standard rail -vs- weird rail

EDIT: Not 100% sure about the diff between striker springs. I don't have a way to measure the weight diff. :(
 
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I have had one for several years. Mine is the SW9VE. I have the only one I have ever seen that was all black. When I bought mine it cost me $325 OTD. But it came with one of the High Intensity flashlights that takes the CR123 batteries. I also got a $50 rebate and two free factory mags from S&W. So now I have a total of four mags.

It has been my truck gun for the last couple of years. The trigger on mine isn't nearly as bad as some would have you beleive. And there are trigger mods on Youtube but I don't recommend them for a carry gun since they involve removing two springs. Here is a good review of the gun from Hickock45. If this doesn't sell you on the gun then nothing will.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cleMs8xmqc
 
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