While I applaud Randy and his team at Apex for coming out with innovative products, The above quote pretty much sums it up… I had a FS M&P9, and it had Apex parts in it which helped the trigger considerably…The problem was, it was one of the inaccurate ones, and would’ve needed a aftermarket barrel fit to it… When I figured up what I spent on the pistol, Apex parts, and then added what the barrel would’ve cost, we’re into HK territory… At that point I asked myself what was I doing? I sold it and moved on… I bought a VP9 a while back, It does everything I want it to… the only thing it needed was better sights, (mine has Dawson’s) I can see it, if you’re going full custom, or installing this in a M&P45 (which were always very,very accurate) but in a out of the box FS9 with so-so accuracy? Naa, I don’t get it… But, Hey, It’s not my money…
In my wee little brain, I look at the changes like customizing my car, or my rifle. My car gets me reliably from point A to point B without the need for customization just as my black rifle doesn’t need a lot of stuff hanging off the fore end to meet my use criteria. But driving up the windy Highway 1, taking corners with precision and speed dictated a few changes to the suspension to suit my driving style. It’s all boils down to my perceived need. Nothing more. Customization to fit the satisfaction of an individual-me.
For some, the desire to change some characteristic of their pistol is driven by functionality and not just a whimsical impulse. Take the beavertail grip safety on the 1911 as an example. It is an evolution of the original design that many owners find a necessity rather than a luxury.
The desire to see how one can advance their own performance envelope through technological advance is a strong impulse in both the competition world, as well as in general. While many might argue that one spend money on ammo or training and improve the skills of the driver, at some point an improvement in the technology will yield a net gain in performance. Ask Rob Letham, Julie Golob or even Jerry Miculek about the guns that they use to win titles with. I know that at least 2 of those names have won titles with non stock guns. I know this because I worked on them.
As ralph and Shao reflect- spending money is an individual choice, and I most definitely agree with them.
-Randy
Higher end gun? Customization? People take 1911’s put $3000.00 into them and they are highly customized and hand fitted. Why not hand fit a Glock? It is cheap and easy to do and yields very good results. You can hand fit a Glock and get a trigger better than a VP9 for about the same investment as the VP9.
IMO the VP9 isn’t the sliced bread that many make them out to be. Not everyone thinks they are ergonomically correct, not everyone likes that type of magazine release, nor is the slide stop / release that well done on either side of the weapon. Even the trigger out of the box is only marginally better in some people’s mind then say a Glock. I personally don’t like the hard reset of the VP9. Add the cost of the VP9, cost of the mags, lack of as much support for holsters etc and the VP9 isn’t as great an option as many make them out to be. I wanted to jump all over the VP9 bandwagon also, but I was left very unimpressed. Maybe my hopes were too high.
The problem in my mind is there is no higher end plastic double stack people popper that does anything better than a standard service pistol like a Glock with mods.
Accuracy - nope, not against one with a fitted barrel. Trigger feel, nope, not with the aftermarket. Ergos - only in the ambidextrous slide release, anything else can be changed. Plus, they can’t match the user serviceability, availability of spare parts and ubiquitous other aftermarket doo dads.
No one yet makes a perfect service pistol at any price. If one could blend all the best attributes of what’s on the market, you could probably get close. Until then, you have to pick from what’s on the market.
If you can make what’s out there better for you, I say drive on.
Because reasons and stuff. This is "Murica, dammit.
As Randy noted above, there will come a point where hardware upgrades will yield performance improvements. It’s like a computer. Why not just buy a 10 year old laptop and be done with it?
I applaud Randy for making these improvements which ultimately could save my life one day. I salute you Sir!