OK, so I hit the range today with the new SD9VE. I LOVED the way the gun felt in my hand at the store, and spent some time last night dry-firing to smooth thr trigger out. The trigger is definitely heavier than my M&Ps, but is smooth. I'd say the published weight of 8 pounds is fairly accurate.
Once at the range, I proceeded to load the magazine. If you have an UpLula, I would highly recommend bringing it with you with this gun. Sadly, I do NOT have an UpLula. The first mag, I was utterly unable to load the 16th round. Just could not do it. The second I was able to get loaded using an old Glock mag loader I still have kicking around my range bag, despite not having owned any Glocks for years. After I fired the first two mags, I was able to get them both loaded to full 16-round capacity, but absolutely require the loader to get that last round in - and still a lot of effort. My fingers, they are sore.
OK, on to the firing. I shot 100 rounds of Remington 115gr JHP, and 50 rounds of Federal 115gr ball. All fed flawlessly, no hiccups at all. At 7 yards, which is my normal distance for defensive pistol shooting, I found the gun to be quite accurate. The targets in the picture below were both from 7 yards - 33 rounds on the left-hand target, 50 on the right. Felt recoil was a touch more noticeable than on a full-sized M&P9, but very manageable and getting back on target for quick follow-up shots was extremely easy.
Overall, I am seriously impressed with this gun. Once the mags break in I'll be even happier. In the meantime, I actually may prefer the feel of this to the M&P, and find the trigger highly manageable, and that was the real surprise. This one is going to be tapped for bedside duty - which is why it has the S&W Micro 90 light mounted on it. Just got that from woot.com as well, and had it on there today to see if the light affected the feel at all. Nope, having the light there didn't bother me in the least.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading!
Once at the range, I proceeded to load the magazine. If you have an UpLula, I would highly recommend bringing it with you with this gun. Sadly, I do NOT have an UpLula. The first mag, I was utterly unable to load the 16th round. Just could not do it. The second I was able to get loaded using an old Glock mag loader I still have kicking around my range bag, despite not having owned any Glocks for years. After I fired the first two mags, I was able to get them both loaded to full 16-round capacity, but absolutely require the loader to get that last round in - and still a lot of effort. My fingers, they are sore.
OK, on to the firing. I shot 100 rounds of Remington 115gr JHP, and 50 rounds of Federal 115gr ball. All fed flawlessly, no hiccups at all. At 7 yards, which is my normal distance for defensive pistol shooting, I found the gun to be quite accurate. The targets in the picture below were both from 7 yards - 33 rounds on the left-hand target, 50 on the right. Felt recoil was a touch more noticeable than on a full-sized M&P9, but very manageable and getting back on target for quick follow-up shots was extremely easy.
Overall, I am seriously impressed with this gun. Once the mags break in I'll be even happier. In the meantime, I actually may prefer the feel of this to the M&P, and find the trigger highly manageable, and that was the real surprise. This one is going to be tapped for bedside duty - which is why it has the S&W Micro 90 light mounted on it. Just got that from woot.com as well, and had it on there today to see if the light affected the feel at all. Nope, having the light there didn't bother me in the least.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading!
