Is anyone still doing their own? The easiest solution seems APEX, but can you do it yourself and it be comparable?What about the firing pin block, just buy it also, or smooth and polish the factory one? Is it worth the time?
Order the APEX kit and be done with it. Its worth it. There is a reason it seems that people are not doing their own trigger jobs anymore.
Apex is ‘the way’ with an M&P!
Depends on what you want to do. I simply wanted a smoother trigger and a decent trigger reset. The Apex Sear did both, as well as drop the trigger pull from 6.5lbs to around 3.5-4lbs. The striker block helps make the trigger even smoother. That’s as far as I’ve gone and I’m completely satisfied with the results, although I didn’t really have a big issue with the stock triggers. Randy of Apex, has a YouTube vid to help you install it on your own. That’s what I did. The striker block is just as easy. Anything else, I’d get the M&P DVD so you don’t screw the pooch or simply send it in to Apex or G&RTactical to have the other options installed. Since I have 4 M&Ps, I got the DVD so I could learn to disassemble the entire weapon.
Just buy the APEX. Its easy and fast. Also keep the old parts just in case in the unlikely event you have to send your gun back to Smith. If you modify the sear, they will probably not be very happy about that when it shows back up at Springfield.
That is the rumor, however, I still don’t get it. If it’s MY pistol and have had custom work done to it, who is S&W to replace your custom parts with stock and not return your parts? Sounds like a law suit to me. I’ll about to send one back to replace a slide stop that broke off. I will call them and include in the letter, that they not replace anything but the broken part.
I just picked up a new M&P9 with the Apex/DCAEK kit preinstalled, from Grant at G&R Tactical. This is the best trigger I’ve yet experienced on an M&P, after owning several and trying a couple of M&P’s that had custom trigger jobs on them. It’s perfect for carry. It may actually be just a tad bit lighter than I’d prefer (the concern being with ND’s or AD’s), but all things considered, I think it’s the best thing going.
My thoughts are why take the chance of FUBAR’ing a trigger job when Apex gives you a true “drop in” trigger job.
The M&P is a great platform and Apex as made it lightyears better.
I’m going to go apex, just read where it was easy, and I enjoy the line of work.
I have a full size 45 I sent to the S&W PC for their trigger/action job. Had the gun back in five working days and shipping was only $30 from Oregon to Mass. I was quite impressed with the gun when I got it back, trigger was much smoother, it actually had a reset I could feel and trigger pull dropped from just over 9#s to under 5! Only complaint is that they don’t replace the striker block, they just round it off with a dremel ( the silver “ball” under the slide towards the rear). I also have a FS 357sig and a compact 357sig that I did the full job on using Apex parts. Both guns were finished in under an hour but you need a sight pusher! The trigger on both these M&Ps feels much smoother than the factory job and cost was approx 1/2. Do it yourself, there really isn’t much involved and the M&Ps are very user “friendly” in terms of parts removal/replacement. KEEP YOUR OLD PARTS, what was mentioned above is true about S&W yanking any non-factory parts if you send the gun in for warranty service and the fact you did this could completely invalidate the warranty if they wanted to push it. Bottom line is the Apex parts install will provide you a much better trigger than the PC action/trigger job and at a lower cost!
I have never heard of them removing your custom parts and replacing them with stock parts, have you? If your pistol is modified from stock, they will likely charge you for any broken parts that you request them to fix since you will have voided your warranty by installing the aftermarket parts.
That is why people advise to hold-on to the factory parts. If you need to send your M&P in for warranty work not related to the custom/aftermarket internal parts, then you can re-install the stock parts before sending it back to S&W, and your M&P will still be under the factory warranty.
That is pretty much common practice in-terms of warranty coverage for all firearms manufacturers. You or someone else modifies it from factory specs, you void your warranty.
In my opinion the Bowie LX trigger job is by far the nicest trigger available for the M&P.
While i DO like the Apex parts and think Randy is an absolute blessing to the platform i am unhappy with the revolver like trigger that my M&P’s sported prior to my removing three APEX sears. I have gone back to factory sears as i find it easier to deal with a little bit of over travel than the massive amounts of pre travel found on an apex equipped gun.
The only mod that i make to my stock sears is a slight bit of material removal and polish at the edge of the sear that controls trigger break weight. I prefer to stick to 4.5 pound triggers when possible.
At 100 dollars for the bowie trigger job its only 11 dollars more than a DCAK from Apex. IF you have multiple M&P’s and dont mind being without one for a little bit i would without a doubt pursue the LX trigger mod.
+1 on BTC. I have his “S” trigger job on all of my M&Ps (one still pending). It smooths take up while giving a positive reset. Just be warned the “LX” is VERY short (almost 1911 like), if you like that…have at it. Personally, for my purposes, I like the “S” (Tho, if I had a manual safety M&P I would probably go LX ala 1911). Whatever you choose, David Bowie is a standup guy who does amazing work…just be prepared for a long wait.
I had never fully taken apart my M&P before getting the APEX trigger kit. It is super easy to do, the youtube videos are very helpful and I found the customer service to be great when I called with ?'s.
I performed all the trigger work on my M&P and it feels great. It’s about 4.5lbs, breaks crisply, and has a very tactile reset for an M&P. While the APEX parts are moderately priced, I feel the work and satisfaction of performing it yourself is more than worth it. Also, I love taking everything apart so…
You have to remember when figuring in trigger jobs on guns, the shipping cost. At a minimum, there is a $30 dollar fee and realistically for most, a $50-$70 fee. Then you have the turn around time. This will vary from gunsmith to gunsmith, but is generally a 3-6 month wait.
C4
Thats very true, i mentioned the timeframe, i didnt mention the added cost. Thanks for pointing that out Grant!
Still, all in all, if i didnt know that randy had a forward sitting sear and trigger bar in the works i would go with the bowie LX trigger regardless of cost. It really does need to be felt to be believed. Alot of people compare the apex parts to a finely tuned 1911 trigger, at one point i did too but this is only in regards to the actual break. There is alot more at work here as the break is only part of the equation. Overall trigger travel and reset distance are paramount when shooting for speed AND accuracy at least in my eyes.
Alot of shooters will disagree, namely HK LEM fellas and i wont really argue as i firmly believe that ANY trigger can be mastered and shot well with a bit of training. I do however believe that as it currently stands the APEX sear makes the M&P far too revolver like.
Sorry this thread is a little old but I just got an M&P, put around 300 rounds though it and the trigger is super gritty. I was thinking about getting the APEX dcaek, help this.
When you refer to the APEX sear are you talking about the whole DCAEK or just the sear, or are they one in the same?
So the reset with the DCAEK is not short like a Glock?
Exactly, reshaping the stock sear which goes past the hardening process to the softened MIM center is not a good idea for a defensive type handgun.