what makes the S&W sd9 not a sigma?

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It has steel sights, not plastic. The front sight is a tritium night sight. The trigger is WAY improved over the Sigma. It has a different style slide that IMHO looks sharper, and has a nice melonite coating. It has a traditional tac rail, not a propriotary one like on the Sigma.
All of that and it is dead reliable like the Sigma too! IMO it is way worth the extra $80 you would spend over the Sigma. Good luck!
 
That's basically it.

The biggest complaints against the Sigma have always been the trigger and the odd rail. The SD addresses both of those issues.

The Sigma has a good reliability reputation, it is lightweight, very ergonomic, good capacity, and a solid company with a good warrantee behind it.
 
The 1st generation Sigmas had reputation for unreliability.
During the late-'90s, they were rejected by several Federal law enforcement agencies due to unreliability and parts breakage.

The reliability issue was correct with the 2nd generation of Sigmas.

The SD series are a rebranded cosmetically altered Sigma. In essence the 3rd generation of Sigmas.
 
The SD series are a rebranded cosmetically altered Sigma. In essence the 3rd generation of Sigmas.
Actually the 3rd Gen Sigmas had been on the market for several years when the SD went into development. However, you're essentially correct on the SD being the next evolution of the Sigma.

What I've been told by a very reliable source formerly within S&W follows.

The pistol we now know as the SD (Self Defense) was actually developed to be the 4th Gen Sigma. The primary goals in development were to address the shortcomings of the trigger (without internally cannibalizing sales of the M&P), and add a standard rail. It was going to be called the Sigma Delta (or SD), rather than 4th Gen Sigma, to emphasize the significant changes.

Somewhere down the line it was decided that keeping the very good selling Sigma, and adding the SD as a separate pistol was a better sales strategy. The SD abbreviation was kept, but now standing for Self Defence. Steel sights, tritium front insert, and Melonite top end were added to the aforementioned standard rail & improved trigger to fill the $400 price point & feature set void between the Sigma and the M&P.

So, yes the SD can be thought of as a souped up or next gen Sigma - heck they use the same mags, and I'm pretty sure you can swap top ends on them (but don't hold me to that). On the other hand, when you look at the SD's quality & features it's a strong value at the price point.
 
the SD are about $85 more than Sigmas around here. If nothing else getting a simga refinished with a better trigger and sights would probably cost a good bit more than $85. that doesn’t even include the black color finish.

I am most likely going to be up a Sd9 as my next purchase. The $85 seems well spent on the sights and trigger.
 
One of my co workers has a .40 sigma it has feeding issues ....
It's a S&W. Have your co worker call S&W. They'll pay the shipping both ways, and fix the gun.
 
Anyone know if all the SD trigger parts will fit into the sigma? If the trigger is better, I figured I might be able to swap out and get the Apex tactical kit for it, too.
 
I own an SD9 and the only thing that looks somewhat like a sigma is the frame look. The inside is not a sigma or an MP it's closer to a Glock. The only thing the slide has in common with the MP is the extractor. This gun is not an upgraded Sigma nor a lower grade MP. This gun is a gun of it's own , in looks, feel, lockwork, slide fit, trigger, sights and inside is so different than both the sigma and mp. This gun is closer to a Glock 19 than it's siblings, so I wish people who haven't bought one or seen it apart would stop calling it an upgraded sigma or a lower mp because it's neither. I think that it's a hidden gem cuz this gun has a smooth 7.5 to 8 lb trigger which feels more like 6 and is so comfortable in my hand I didn't want to stop shooting it. I don't know how durable this gun is because I compaired it with my Glock 19 and the Glock seems to be built a bit stronger than the SD, but time will tell. I am a Glock man all the way but this gun is really nice and I am going to carry it and keep it I like it that much. Thumbs up to S&W they should market this gun to LE's along with SD use. Price is really right on with this gun it's a lot of gun for the money. I found it very accurate and shot 300 rounds without any problems at all.
 
S&W settled out of court with Glock for infringing on Glock's patents with the first gen Sigmas. The early production SDs had M&P sights, and the rear sight was even marked as such. The SD uses the same magazines as the Sigma. The barrels, frames, and internals on the Sigma and SD are very similar.

For anyone who wants to see the similarities in frame & barrel for his or her self without taking a trip to the local gun store you can download the manual for each pistol free from S&W. Look under the heading "Lubrication", which is coincidentally at the top of page 23 in the manuals for both guns. In another striking coincidence the frame is pictured in figure 17, and barrel in figure 18 of the Sigma manual; while these items are shown in figures 18a, and 18b, respectively, in the SD manual.
 
They are similarities between the pistols because they are all made by smith but the lockwork in each pistol is different. That very question was asked by someone at their 2010 shot show which is on line. Each gun is like an off spring of each other but they are not just an MP or a Sigma up grade. The Sigma sear looks like the MP sear which the SD looks nothing like the two but all three has a trigger return spring above the trigger, which is similar to each other. Each gun is a pistol off spring of each other but none are twins of each other. Do they use some of the same parts like sights, frames or extractors, of course, but they are all different guns by design. Gun Blast has the SD and MP frames and slides together similar but different. Sigma and MP on one site were side by side and they were similar but different. A MP is not a Sigma and an SD is not a sigma or MP. As for barrels, the barrel of the SD looks just like my Glock barrel. Except for the polygonal rifling. I have to say do like this gun. I hope it can stand up to heavy use. Ugaarguy you may be right in the fact that their intention was to make a 4th gen sigma but what i see is with so many changes they created another gun completely. That's why I said it's a gun onto itself and I think they realized that when they finished the gun.
 
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The SD9 is on my shortlist. Its all about the ergos man and this line has has it in spades.
 
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