S&W SD9VE or SD40VE

[zerosoma]

Looking at these. I have already technically purchased a Hi Point C9 but can exchange it (I have not fired it) with no restocking fee if I decide on a different gun. I picked a .40 version up yesterday and it seems incredibly light, and felt great in my hands. I have already purchased 9mm ammo so I would have to order one of the SD9VE's in, could take a month or so.

Anyone fire one of these? I have heard they are one of S&W's lower tier guns but not quite as abysmal as the Sigmas. I know how things work though, a well-known brand puts out a cheaper gun and really skimps on workmanship. Hope that's not the case here. I like the idea that it comes with 2 mags, the 9 holds 16+1 versus the Hi-Point's measly 8 round mag (and only comes with 1 mag). Hi Point cost me $155 out the door.

Their price for this gun is around $375 +tax but said they'd work with me as much as possible if I found a cheaper price new (and I did, $299). So technically let's say $350 out the door (perhaps the best price they can do). Worth it? I'm really tight on money so the Hi-Point was a very attractive option and I could technically spend the extra $200 or so on ammo, i.e. more range time and practice.

The Hi-Point seems like a well made weapon but so does the S&W. I know there's gonna be a lot of "hear-sayers" but I would extremely EXTREMELY appreciate advice from someone who has fired both weapons or at least one of them. Anyone can do research and repeat information - i.e. totally useless. Also not interested in "other options" (durr just go with a Ruger P84 or a Taurus whatchamacallit durrr). So with that being said...

Avoid or go for it?

 

[SuzukiGoat]

Avoid the hipoint at all costs. Had a sw40ve that I put 8-9k rounds through before selling.

Jammed once.... with blazer aluminium... while I was attempting to limp wrist it and force a ftf.

Order one. Remove spring from trigger. Lube with a quality synthetic auto oil. Never look back.


Those guns LOVE light and fast ammo. Pwr Ball ammo +p is my poison of choice.

The recoil is sharp on either. 40 or 9mm.

Would I buy another? If it was all I could afford yes. For self defense I prefer the glock to the stainless Smith. It was brutally reliable, and after "losing" trigger spring... fairly accurate.

With faster ammo there is a slight torque to the left during recoil. Takes getting used to for follow up shots.... or shoot heavy hollowpoints and never notice.

 

[jhMalibu]

I've both the sw9ve and a recently purchased, used sd40ve. S&W really lightened the weight somehow with the sdXXve series. I don't have a C9, but I would say go with either S&W 9 or 40 as I can not see anything negative with them for a basic, no frills pistol. 9 will be cheaper in the long run assuming ammo scare/shortages abate at some point in the future.

 

[SuzukiGoat]

I should add that by "fairly accurate"... I'm doing a disservice to the pistol. It is accurate. In stock form the heavy trigger pull makes followup shots difficult to master. Removing one spring remedies this, doesn't void you warranty (Smith will do it for you if you mail it to them), and costs nothing.

I would not own a hipoint for plinking or depend on it in any fashion. I would use it for target practice... as I think a large fmj bullet hitting it at a few hundred yards would render it safe enough to use as the paperweight it is.

 

[tstep]

Bought one for my son for Xmas. Originally he was liking the S&W M&P. We shopped thru the Glocks, Sigs, and Rugers. We came back to S&W strictly because it fit his hand better than the others.

When it came down to final selection between the SD40 ($300) vs the M&P 40 (for just under $500), it more or less came down to the trigger. Many of the articles we read did not have good words for the trigger, but liked the gun otherwise. We researched it and found trigger spring kits for $20, so we rolled the dice on the cheaper SD40.

I have not run it thru it's paces yet, but my son has had it out. He just came back from a weekend shoot with his buddies and confirmed the trigger could use some help. He said it had a very heavy pull, and could use a bit of work, but he was satisfied overall. The fix seems simple. Either completely removing two extra spings or replacing them with a lighter spring kit. We will be tackling that very soon.

I suggest you read up on the SD40 trigger mods if you are leaning towards it. It is a bit confusing, as alot of the articles are on the Sigma model that proceeded the SD40.

Never shot a Hi-Point, so no comment there. I'm a single shot Thompson and single action Ruger guy anyway, so what the [censored] would I know about semi-autos anyway.

 

[jhMalibu]

The SDve series has a much nicer trigger pull compared to the earlier Sigmas IMO.

Also, the $20 spring kit from Apex Tactical is a very good purchase if trigger modification is wanted.

Realize also that most of my experience comes from Mass-ified triggers which aren't applicable to the rest of the country

 

[SuzukiGoat]

Advise, do not remove BOTH springs. Just the smaller inner spring. Otherwise it increases the chance of failure to fire.

TONS of YouTube videos and takes less than 2 minutes. Just do it when you do the initial cleaning and oiling before firing.

A dab of copper based antisieze on the four contact points between slide and lower for the first hundred cycles yields good results. Glock does it for a reason.

As for the m&p... my wife has one. To shoot... it is heads and shoulders above the glock and sw series... and even dare I say some 1911s. Just doesn't feel as abusable as its cheaper little brother.

 

[zerosoma]

Say, is it true this gun does not have a safety?

 

[SuzukiGoat]

The safety is keeping your finger off of the trigger.

It has internal safeties disallowing it to fire when dropped, VIBRATED, or jolted...it also has a ta
nged trigger.

Revolvers don't have external safeties either.

Booger Hooker only on bang lever when you're content to destroy what's beyond the barrel. At all other times, away from the trigger.

In my experience, safeties encourage new shooters...and old, to point guns where they shouldn't under the guise of a button always working or their memory to use it being infallible. I don't own any handguns with functional safeties.

 

[askani79705]

Apex makes a spring kit that makes the Sigma's trigger feel normal,Get the Smith it's a much better weapon.

 

[Astro14]

Safeties are an interesting subject...a bit OT...but I own several pistols with (Baretta, S&W) and several pistols without (Glock and H&K)...and find it interesting that more and more police departments are going to Glocks and others without external safeties. Having seen people under stress (simulation, live fire, etc.) draw a weapon and fail to select the safety off, resulting in zero rounds downrange towards the target, there is merit in the designs that lack external safeties for weapons that may be drawn quickly...

I don't meet your criterion stated above, "actually shot" one of the guns that you're considering, so, no doubt you'll consider my comment in the "durrr" category, but I have had excellent customer service from S&W. Great company.

 

[zerosoma]

OK so it looks like they sold the .40, aren't taking orders, and won't be getting any 9's in soon.

Oh well. This C9 might turn out to be a fabulous gun. Range time when spring hits

 

[Fleetmon]

I, personally, think you lucked out that they were out of the S&W's.....that model is nothing more than an updated Sigma....absolutely the worst firearm ever sold by S&W....prone to jams, ftf, and too light of primer strikes. You would be much better served with a used M&P or Shield if S&W is your fancy or there will be plenty of used firearms on the market once the storm blows over, all of which will have been broken in and work everytime.

Hi-Points work....no matter what people think about them and they ARE butt-ugly but they work. Magazines are often damaged by loading to capacity (download by one round) and don't slam the magazines home...that is only for tv. Don't over-lubricate because too much lube in the slide channels slows down slide velocity which causes jams and ftf's and too much lube in the firing pin tunnel causes the firing pin to slow down which causes light primer strikes.

 

[Robenstein]

I would take a look at the Stoeger Cougar in 9mm. They are much cheaper then when they had Beretta stamped on them. They just moved the whole production line to Turkey. I have one and love it.

 

[zerosoma]

Originally Posted By: Fleetmon
I, personally, think you lucked out that they were out of the S&W's.....that model is nothing more than an updated Sigma....absolutely the worst firearm ever sold by S&W....prone to jams, ftf, and too light of primer strikes. You would be much better served with a used M&P or Shield if S&W is your fancy or there will be plenty of used firearms on the market once the storm blows over, all of which will have been broken in and work everytime.

Hi-Points work....no matter what people think about them and they ARE butt-ugly but they work. Magazines are often damaged by loading to capacity (download by one round) and don't slam the magazines home...that is only for tv. Don't over-lubricate because too much lube in the slide channels slows down slide velocity which causes jams and ftf's and too much lube in the firing pin tunnel causes the firing pin to slow down which causes light primer strikes.


Thanks for the encouragement!

I actually think the C9 is kinda sexy...

 

[Fleetmon]

I guess that's one way to describe them....good luck and practice well and practice often. Don't listen to the naysayers about HP's. I've worked on a bunch of them and as I posted earlier, MOST problems are caused overzealous lubrication.

I also recommended downloading your magazines by (at least) one round...this relieves a little pressure on the mag lips....the archilles heel of most semi-autos. That and slamming the magazines home....no need to do that and it eventually causes more harm than it does good. Afterall, how long does your door latch last if you continually slam it....same principle....sooner or later it will need adjustment and/or replacement.

Good luck and let us know how it shoots.

 

[Sonic]

Originally Posted By: Fleetmon
absolutely the worst firearm ever sold by S&W....prone to jams, ftf, and too light of primer strikes.



Now there is a pile of misinformation. Which one do you own? The Sigma, the SD, or the SDVE? If you are having a problem with yours contact S&W.

 

[Fleetmon]

I own the Sigma (didn't purchase it, it came with a large purchase of ammunition).......Note, I was referring to the Sigma as being the worst ever not the upgraded ones however....I believe the upgraded S&W is still a blowback, correct? If you'll remember, S&W replaced most Sigmas sent to them for repairs, sometimes several times.

If yours works for you, good.

Zerosoma asked for an opinion and I gave him one....I've had more than several of each on my workbench. S&W entered the blowback market to attract another segment of the firearm market and because the ownership at S&W at the time was oversea and profit, not quality was the driving force.

Myself? I prefer locked-breech but to each their own.

 

[Sonic]

Buy whatever you'd like. That's my point. What we don't need here is somebody bashing brands or models. Stating that a specific gun is prone to nothing but failures is ridiculous. If that were the case they wouldn't sell. But for some reason some people have a stick up their butt about certain brands or models.

 

[AVB]

Originally Posted By: Fleetmon
I own the Sigma (didn't purchase it, it came with a large purchase of ammunition).......Note, I was referring to the Sigma as being the worst ever not the upgraded ones however....I believe the upgraded S&W is still a blowback, correct? If you'll remember, S&W replaced most Sigmas sent to them for repairs, sometimes several times.

If yours works for you, good.

Zerosoma asked for an opinion and I gave him one....I've had more than several of each on my workbench. S&W entered the blowback market to attract another segment of the firearm market and because the ownership at S&W at the time was oversea and profit, not quality was the driving force.

Myself? I prefer locked-breech but to each their own.


The early SW9 was an atempt at a blowback,it did not work well and was replaced. There is a reason you got one free with ammo. I have a SW9VE, it is a locked breech based on the Browning short recoil system. It is boringly reliable, like a Glock with a 12# trigger.