My brand new P.O.S! S&W SD40VE Range Report

[Oysterboy]

I just hit 1000 rounds with my Sigma 9mm. Sweet.

[willmc33]

Redhawk 5.5+P+ if you pick up a Shield 9mm then we will have the same carry guns. My EDC is a Smith 638. I know Smith has excellent customer service. I needed a new barrel for one of my older Sigmas. I bought it used so I was not the original owner. I called to ask how much a barrel was going to be. The CS rep who is the same guy I have talked to more than once strangely enough asked me why I needed a new barrel. I told him the rifling was almost gone. He said he was sending me a prepaid shipping label and they sent me a new barrel for free. Thats why it threw me so bad and I kept trying to see if it was going to smooth out because every Smith I have had has been flawless even their cheapest semi auto they offer.

All that being said I dont think a sub compact slim 9mm can get any better then my Shield. It is accurate, soft shooting, and in right under 700 rounds it has been absolutely reliable. It has actually been one of my favorite purchases on a carry gun. It is not quite pocket size like my 638 is so my 638 does get more carry time as it is extremely hot and humid in my area so I dress as minimal as I can. It will hide easily under a T Shirt but I just find it more convenient to drop tghe 638 into a cargo pocket. If you get a chance to buy a Shield I would say go for it. IMO its the best one out there. I shoot it noticeably better then my brothers PPS in 9mm. It handles and shoots like a duty pistol, is very well made, reliable,light, and slim. How can you go wrong?

[Battle Born]

Hate to hear story's like this! I think that no matter what the product is,
We will always be cursed with the dreaded "Friday" or "Monday morning" production.
Hopefully your next one runs like a champ!

Mark

[KMAX]

Please don't complain about S&W. Somebody might get the idea they are not perfect!

[327 FM]

I feel for ya man. This last winter I bought a new Kimber Solo. It too had about a 50% failure rating. Biggest POS I've ever purchased.

[Redhawk5.5+P+]

Please don't complain about S&W. Somebody might get the idea they are not perfect!

Don't listen to this guy, just because, he might actually have common sense.

[Justice06RR]

Second, it had an obvious flaw, but you still continued to waste ammo

I agree with what Redhawk said here. You experienced a lot of issues off the bat, but you still continued to attempt shooting 200rds?

For me, If a new pistol starts jamming or whatever in the first box or 50rds, I stop right there. It is very obvious that there is a problem with the firearm at that point, no need to waste the rest of your ammo. This happend to me when I bought a brand new PF9 that did not extract empty cartridges reliably and also would not chamber rounds when loaded to capacity.

Sorry to hear your experience. I'm a big Smith and Wesson fan myself, having owned M&P9's and M&P40's in the past that were absolutely flawless. I think you were just unfortunate to get a new pistol with QC issues, but is probably an isolated event. Every manufacturer will produce one or two new pistols out of a few thousand that may have problems. At least we know that S&W backs up their products with lifetime warranty and will even pay for shipping both ways.

[Leejack]

Sorry to hear of this bad experience.

I found the 9VE to be boring it's so reliable, they didn't need to create an "in between" market in the first place.

[power5]

Damn someone else relaying their story that does not make someone else happy. How dare you. And to those saying he wasted money on ammo when it clearly had a problem, wait thought it was a needed tweak, if he had only fired 50 you would have told him it needed to break in or something else. Can never win. Good thing we have the real intelligent people on this forum to keep us all in line.

He had a bad experience and shared it. Never said S&W was a worthless company, never said a XXX was better than any S&W. He even managed to compliment his LGS. The SAME LGS that sold him such a bad gun. If you can't handle bad stories about things you like, you should definitely leave the internet ASAP.

[Redhawk5.5+P+]

How dare you. And to those saying he wasted money on ammo when it clearly had a problem, wait thought it was a needed tweak, if he had only fired 50 you would have told him it needed to break in or something else. Can never win.

Yeah, I remember when S&W .40cal ammo was almost free, those were the good old days.

[willmc33]

It cost me $44.00 + tax

[James K]

I don't know if they still do, but S&W used to fire a full magazine from every pistol and a full cylinder from each revolver in addition to one proof load from the pistol and a cylinder of proof loads from revolvers. Of course, that costs money but it gets added into the cost of the gun and pays off in the long run in company reputation.

But all that really doesn't matter as far as the OP is concerned. 103 failures out of 200 rounds is simply not acceptable no matter if the gun was made by the Archangel Gabriel. If ammunition can be ruled out and the magazines were factory, then the factory should hear about it.

Jim

[Master Blaster 2]

Shuda bought a Taruus.

[presspics]

That's a bizarre story. My SD40 and SD40VE have been flawless! Fit and finish is superb too..

[ff1911]

Cleaned with Hoppes 9 and lubricated with Rem Oil.

There's the problem! Ya can't use Rem oil on a Smith

[kahrguy]

i would have contacted s&w and told them to make it run right and smooth the trigger but not my gun. Gun shope well probably sell it is used .

I have one of the sw40ve pistols thats got a nice 5.5lb trigger after watching some you tube tune ups and picking what I hoped was the best along with a wolffrp stricker spring. And did some metal part polishing. NO complants now. Very reliable too.

I have not used rem oil in ,a, ever. CLP yes along with kroil and one step.

[tahunua001]

WHO let this one slip past? it's still twitching!

[cocojo]

This is an old thread from July 2012 I hope you are aware of that.

[biohazard313]

ive put 350+ through my S&W SD40 VE and its had no misfeed, no jams, no unintential discharges....

as the manual recommended, i cleaned it before using it. they put crap on the gun and in the barrel to keep it looking new during shipping and initial storage at the stores before they sell, the manual said in big letter CLEAN BEFORE USING

maybe you got a lemon. i cant speak on that but i can say the sd40 ve i got has far exceeded my expectations.

ive added a apex spring kit and a steel guide rod. costs me about $60 total. it now is one hell of a firearm with a total price tag of just over $400 with the mods. next is some night sights.

i would recommend this to anyone looking for a budget friendly gun...

[ripnbst]

Get a pistol from the M&P series.

[carguychris]

Alas, NO pistol can be counted upon to consistently protect me against zombie threads.

Seriously, all gunmakers produce lemons. The Sigma seems to have a higher-than-average lemon rate by S&W standards, but it's still a good pistol overall, and IMHO their customer service is top-notch.

[RussB]

biohazard,

it's poor form to drag up an old thread like this

[Dragline45]

I know not everyone is rolling in dough, but the one thing I wont cheap out on is guns. I am by no means wealthy, until I pay off my college loans I wont have a ton of expendable income, but that just means I have to save a little longer for what I want. It is worth it IMO to hold out a little longer and save some more to get a quality gun then to settle for something of lesser quality. For jut a bit more money you can get an M&P, and for even less you can get a used M&P which is still better than the Sigma's and SD pistols.

Edit: Just realized this is an old thread, oh well.

[blackamos]

Like a Zombie this thread will not die.

[RussB]