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So I was reading in another thread about improving the trigger on my M&P's and wanted to know if anyone has installed the Apex Tactical Duty/Carry Action Enhancement Kit (AEK) on both the 4.25" and the compact and if so, is there a big difference in the initial trigger pull before it breaks?

I'm sure there will be lots of opinions, but I need to know facts from experience. If anyone in the DFW area has it installed and would be willing to let me try it out I would very much appreciate it.

thanks in advance

AustinRealtor has installed a few. He let me play with one that he set up and it was great.

Have installed the Apex sear and striker block but left all the factory springs. I really like the results; vast improvement. However, there is still too much slack or "take up" in the initial pull before reaching the break point. I hear that Apex is now working on a fix for this too. I think member dcphoto tried the "duty" kit springs in his .45 and kept one but not the other? I don't remember for sure. As I understand it, the springs in the duty kit just increase pull weight vs. using sear & striker block alone with factory springs. Gives benefits of crisper break and reset point, but maintains weight in the 6-pound plus range (weight on mine with just sear & striker block swapped is about 4 - 4.5 pounds). I don't believe the duty springs help with slack/take up.

I am quite pleased with the results of an Apex DCAEK that SRVA installed on my M&P 9C. Without installing any springs from the kit, trigger pull was reduced a slight bit. More importantly, any grittiness of the take-up is now gone and it breaks cleanly. Previously, it seemed to stack or hang up a bit before breaking. The first round fired after the retrofit surprised me, but in a good way. Since then, I have put around 200 rounds through and really feel it is money well spent.

SRVA allowed me to watch and assist a bit as he performed the installation. It is quite straightforward and I feel that I could perform the installation myself without any issues other than not having a sight pusher to remove the rear sight.

Best of luck.

I installed the APEX DCAEK on my M&P 45. I started by installing all of the springs, but after a couple of weeks I decided that I didn't like the way the trigger felt with the APEX trigger spring, so I switched it back to the factory spring.

With the full DCAEK installed I had a very crisp 5lbs 10oz trigger pull. With the factory trigger spring it's a very crisp 4lbs 6oz pull.

APEX is developing a new sear that will reduce the takeup. I'm pretty sure (but not positive) that they are also making some kind of "thing" to reduce the over travel after the trigger breaks.

I also want to put on a set of Trijicon night sights at the same time, can i remove the sights without any special tool?

geekwagun wrote:I also want to put on a set of Trijicon night sights at the same time, can i remove the sights without any special tool?

They're both dovetailed, so you can drive them out with punch, mallet, and a vice. This is what I did when installing kit on my M&P9 (installing striker block requires removing rear sight). But when installing night sights on that gun and on my M&P45, I used dcphoto's M&P-specific sight tool so as not to damage the tritium in the sights. To remove rear sight, be sure to loosen allen screw first and even then you still have to give it some good whacks - which is why I was glad he had sight pusher when putting in night sights.

Also beware that when removing the rear sight the striker block spring and a little silver plate will fly out and are easily lost - for this reason Apex provides a special tool that helps push out the rear sight and holds those small parts in place so you don't lose them (see first video below). If you're going to do sights AND the Apex parts, might as well do them together and wait until you receive the little Apex tool.

Apex has great You Tube videos explaining how to install their parts:

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=kEaVMxkp8PM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=ruCW-yACkzI[/youtube]

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=FHr-IyejH7g[/youtube]

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=q8J6LKkuHDI[/youtube]

Awesome !
I think I've made up my mind and will order the parts...


edited to add: I found new Trijicon night sites on several web sites the one with the lowest price at http://www.nightvisionsales.com/trijico ... -2685.html $112.20 with free shipping. OpticsPlanet, midwayusa, all were $123.25 on sale.

I'll order the Apex kit from Apex since every site that stocks it has it for the same price $89.95

Decided to by the apex kit from midway, shipping is half Apex and less than Brownells

I too want night sights & the DCAEK now on my 45c. My stock trigger about wore out my finger in 100 rounds.

If your in Oak Point Geekwagun, we're practically next door neighbors. I'm over in Cross Oak Ranch & Oak Point PD patrols our neighborhood.

BTW, if you're not on this forum, you're missing out on a TON of great info on the M&Ps:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-m-p-pistols/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've done the APEX DCAEK install on a M&P45, and while there is a slight improvement in the trigger, I do not personally believe it's a $80-100 improvement. If I were you, I would wait for Apex to re-tweak their design before dropping the cash, or I would try one of the alternative aftermarket setups.

If you absolutely cannot live with the stock trigger, the Apex might help, but I was personally underwhelmed (especially at their price point).

Another option is to send it to Dan Burwell. I found references for him on the M&P forum and sent my pistols to him (full size and compact 45's) for his standard trigger job, fiber optic front sight and his rear sight. I am very pleased with the results. I have dry fired a M&P 9 Pro that had the Apex parts and it is not as good as Dan's work. As a point of refernce, he is on the S&W pistol team (a very good and active shooter).

LTUME1978 wrote:Another option is to send it to Dan Burwell. I found references for him on the M&P forum and sent my pistols to him (full size and compact 45's) for his standard trigger job, fiber optic front sight and his rear sight. I am very pleased with the results. I have dry fired a M&P 9 Pro that had the Apex parts and it is not as good as Dan's work. As a point of refernce, he is on the S&W pistol team (a very good and active shooter).

What was the cost on something like that?

LAYGO wrote:I too want night sights & the DCAEK now on my 45c. My stock trigger about wore out my finger in 100 rounds.

If your in Oak Point Geekwagun, we're practically next door neighbors. I'm over in Cross Oak Ranch & Oak Point PD patrols our neighborhood.

Right across the pond from Cross Oaks