I've only seen one reference to a long term evaluation of the SD9, so I thought I would do my own.


I have an SD9 I got from Academy Sports.  It was bought new, with a black melonited slide, and Hi-Viz Litewave fiber optic front and rear sights.




I added 3 magazines to the 2 that came with it for a total of five. I'll try to add day, type of ammunition, number of rounds etc.




3/14/16:  1st range trip for function check.  Box stock.  85 rounds Federal 115 gr. brass Champion.  All rounds fired.  0 stoppages, FTF or FTE.


              Based on this trip, I ordered the Apex SD spring kit, and the improved trigger, which were installed.  Also because of the length of my


              thumbs, and the length of the slide stop, the slide lock would not engage after the last round because of my thumb depressing it.




              Total:  85 rds.




3/28/16:  2nd range trip.  New trigger and spring kit added.  100 rounds Federal 115 gr. brass Champion.  All rounds fired without issue, but once


              again, my thumb interfered with proper function of the slide stop.  At this point, I decided to disassemble the pistol, and I cut the slide


              stop pad in half, and reshaped it.




              Total:  185 rds.




4/16/16:  3rd range trip.  First time with reduced slide stop.  50 rounds of Perfecta brass 115 gr., and 150 rounds of Tula steel 115 gr.  Tula was


              used for the first 80 rounds.  At round 54 (round 6 of magazine 4) I experienced a stoppage.  A spent steel casing was stuck in the


              chamber.  The slide and extractor slipped off a piece of rim, continued travel and attempted to chamber the next round which stopped on


              the spent case.  I locked the slide open, removed the magazine, let the slide drop and operated the action.  The casing ejected, after


              which, I reloaded and continued firing the remaining ammunition with no stoppages.  The slide stop functioned approximately 60% of


              the time.  I will have to build a protective shelf with accraglass gel for full function, I suppose.




              Total:  385 rds.  One failure to extract at round 239




 

Thanks for the write up.
Not to be uhh critical, but I think you'll need to fire a few thousand more rounds through it and keep using it for a few more years before calling it a "long term" review.  A few range trips really isn't much in terms of long term performance.

That is the point.  I have only been able to take it to the range three times.  That is what is recorded.  As I shoot it more, I'll update this thread each

time.  I also intend to shoot it in one or two USPSA matches as I go.

Shot a uspsa competition today.  Round count was 165, but the match director let me run some reload drills with the rest of my ammo, so total count was 200 rounds.  Had another failure to extract in the last stage between 140 and 160 rounds.  At this point, I think I will clean and lube the gun since I've been shooting it dry.  Ammunition was Winchester Whitebox 115 grain FMJ.
Total:  585 rds.  2 failure to extract.



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Another range day.  I had cleaned it after the last update, but I don't think I will clean it again until I start seeing malfunctions again.

Today I fired 200 rounds of Tula Steel cased, and 30 loose assorted rounds consisting of 5 Federal 115 JHPs (9BP), 8 rounds of Tula BrassMAXX,


2 rounds of Silver Bear Steel cased, and 15 rounds of Speer 124 +P JHPs.  No failures or stoppages, even though I fired all steel for 200 rounds,


and then fired brass.


Total:  815 rounds.  2 Failures to extract.

He intends to have an on-going thread.

so this is my tag.

Tag. Been considering picking up one of these but I think an M&P 9c will come first to compliment my full size and shield.

I have one. I like it.
I put the Apex trigger kit in mine.


No failures to extract in the first 250+ rounds.

7/2/16  Another USPSA shoot.  It was a qualifier match so round count came out to 114 rounds.  Federal 115 gr. aluminum case, which seems very

under-powered to me.  No failures, and pistol was shot dirty.


Total:  929 rds. 2 Failures to extract.

7/23/16:  Range day.  I took 86 rounds of Federal 115 gr. aluminum cased ammo, and 150 rounds of Perfecta 115 gr. brass, both FMJ.  I  put 36 rds. of

Perfecta through my Tristar/Canik T-120, which I took along with 3 of its magazines because I was curious.  Eighty-six rounds of Federal and 114 rounds


of Perfecta went through the SD9.  The first five mags (80 rounds) I experienced three failure to lock open due to my thumb over-riding the slide stop.


This happened again when I fired 53 rounds non stop from the CZ-type magazines of my Tristar.  Because of the feed lip geometry the follower of those


magazines will not operate the slide stop, but the magazines do function in the pistol so far with no stoppages.  That, to me, is useful information.


Total:  1129 rds.  2 Failures to extract.  

9/3/16:  USPSA competition.  Ammunition was 91 rounds Perfecta 115 gr. FMJ, 47 rounds of Federal Aluminum 115 gr. FMJ, and four reload

rounds I picked up off the ground and shot.  They were reloaded with Blue Bullets coated projectiles of unknown weight.  No stoppages of any


kind.  Rounds today was 142.


Total:  1271.  2 Failures to Extract.

Thanks for the thread OP. I've been looking at picking up a couple of these to put away for my kids.

I just picked up a sd9ve for $280. Put 8 mags through it. On the first 4 I had 2 fail to lock the slide back on empty and one last round empty case Stove pipe, no big deal, gun was empty anyways. I recall lone wolf distributing saying to break in their glock barrels with plus p ammo so I ran a mag of golden saber +p through it. The next 3 mags ran 100%. Upon dry firing it when I first got it it felt like a long heavy DA revolver trigger, but as I shot it it felt much better by the end of 8 mags. seemed to lighten up a lot. Honestly, this gun feels better in the hand and shoots as good or better than a glock or XD.
Ammo I ran was tula, perfecta, blazer brass, Remington 115grn fmj, federal HP and golden saber.
ETA: the stippeling on the grip is awesome. Very sure grip. I can't shoot a g19 because my fingers are to big to line up in the finger grooves, so it's nice that s&w left off the finger grooves. One slight problem for me is I have really big hands that hang over the bottom of the grip and when changing mags I pinch my hand between the frame and base plate.

I agree with you on the grip.  Just so comfortable.  When I shoot competitions I keep thinking I'll shoot the glock this time, yet keep taking the SD9.

 

The only thing I've found better, personally, are Browning Hi-powers, and CZ-75s.

Good write up OP.  Been considering picking one up for truck duty.  The Apex kit is probably one of the best upgrades for them.

10/1/16:  And another USPSA competition.  Round count fired was 166 rounds.  Ammunition was 50 rounds Federal 9BP 115 gr JHPs, 104 rounds

Federal Aluminum 115 gr. FMJs, 9 rounds Perfecta brass cased 115 gr. FMJs, 2 hand loaded rounds I picked up off the ground loaded with Blue Bullets


coated projectiles of unknown weight, and one metal cased FMJ of unknown weight and manufacture.  No failures, and has not been cleaned since round


585.


Total: 1437 rounds.  2 Failures to extract.

11/5/16.  Monthly USPSA competition.  Ammunition was.  150 rounds Perfecta brass case 115 grn. FMJ, 18 rounds Federal 124 grn. +p HST, 48 rounds Federal aluminum 115 grn. FMJ and one round of unknown weight in a blazer brass case I picked up.  In the 7/23 update I said that CZ/Canik/Tristar mags would work.  I now say that is only true with FMJ ammo because when I tried a magazine with the JHPs, the first round caught on the feed ramp and experienced bullet set back in the casing.  All other rounds fed properly with the SD magazines.  So 217 rounds with one failure to chamber using improper magazines.

Total: 1654 rounds.  Two failures to extract.  One failure to chamber.

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11/12/16:  Range Day.  I stopped by Wal-Mart to check out the ammo section since I had recently received a $50.00 gift card.  The store nearest my

house had Federal 115 grn. FMJ aluminum cased 100 round value packs for $19.44 + tax, so I bought three of them.  I recently purchased two


magazines each for my Glock and SD9 so I took both.  I used 30 rounds for the Glock magazines (2 x 15 rds.), and all the remaining rounds went


through the SD.  I also fired the set-back JHP I mentioned in my 11/5 entry, and four rounds I picked up at the competition, which were hand loaded


with Blue Bullets projectiles of unknown weight.  Total through the SD, therefore, was 275 rounds with no failures or stoppages.


Total:  1929 rounds.  Two failures to Extract, one failure to chamber.

12/3/16:  Monthly USPSA competition.  Ammunition was 150 rounds of Perfecta 115 gr. FMJ, 50 rounds Tulammo 115 gr.

FMJ, 1 round Federal HST 124 gr. +P, 9 reloads using Badman coated lead bullets of unknown weight, and 1 aluminum

cased 115 gr. FMJ picked up off the ground.  Total fired today is 211 rounds.  No failures to feed, fire or extract.

Total:  2140 rounds.  Two failures to extract, one failure to chamber.

Thanks for the thread OP.

Very intrigued by this gun.
I love S&W and know for a fact that their service is top notch.

How has accuracy been?

I'm not sure if my answer is usable, because I haven't really shot it for accuracy.  I know when I shoot USPSA,

IF I do my part, I can keep fist sized pairs in the A-zone of these targets to 15-20 yards:

2/4/2017:  Monthly USPSA competition.  Ammunition was 50 rounds Federal 147 gr.  HST JHP +P (wasn't

paying attention and bought it instead of my preferred 124 gr. load)  and 122 rounds of Winchester USA

Forged 115 gr. steel cased ammunition.  The Winchester gave acceptable reliability and accuracy but

seemed under powered and was VERY dirty.  As the day progressed, I could feel the slide getting 

sluggish, but it never stopped.  Total round count today is 172 rounds.  No failures to feed, fire

or eject, though my thumb did stop the slide lock from functioning one time.

Total:  2,312 rounds.  Two failures to extract, one failure to chamber.  Not cleaned since round 585.

March 14, 2017 will be one year.  I will shoot it in the March competition and try to go to the range at

least one more time, to make sure the total round count is over 2,500 rounds and then that is that.

I'm satisfied with the pistol, and want to start shooting PCC division in USPSA, so that will be the end of

this thread for me.

You shoot hollow points in USPSA?

Since I did this thread as a review, yes I did in a few instances.  I used 50 rounds in the last match

because I bought 147 HSTs by mistake.  I prefer 124 HSTs.  So I decided to just shoot the entire box

in this case.  I wanted to shoot this pistol with some variety of bullet styles not just different 

manufacturers of FMJ ammunition.  So far the pistol has digested Federal 115 gr. 9BP JHPs, Federal 124

and 147 gr.  HST JHPs, and Speer Gold Dot 124 gr. JHPs without issue.  I think that is useful information

for a review.

2/5/17:  Range Trip.  Got my PSA AR9 together and wanted to function test it.  I took the SD9 just to 

get a little more trigger time.  Ammunition was Federal aluminum cased 115 gr. FMJ.  Fifty rounds.

No failures to feed, fire or eject.

Total:  2,362 rounds.  Two failures to extract, one failure to chamber.

3/4/17.  Final Update.  I missed my monthly USPSA competition today because I had to 

work a bit in the morning, so instead today was a range trip.  Ammunition was Federal

Aluminum 115 gr.  FMJ ammunition (235 rounds) and one stray Federal 9BP  115 JHP 

that I found in my shooting bag.  Total was 236 rounds.  No stoppages or failures.  So at

this point this pistol has 2,598 rounds of ammunition through it and has not been cleaned

for 2,013 rounds (last cleaned at round 585 in May of 2016).  IMHO, the pistol is sound

especially with an apex upgrade.  I have shot glocks for years, to the point that at times

in competition I would short stroke the trigger at times, and would have to let the trigger 

go back to reset, but when I did, it always fired, and that is the only slight I can claim 

against the pistol.  Because I have years with the glock, but only one year with the SD9

I will readily admit that I would chose the glock type first.  But if my sample of one is

any indication, the SD type is a reliable, useful compact pistol that is a superb value for

the money, even if some would call it unrefined.

Hope this has been helpful.

Thanks OP. After following your thread and a few others, the SD is on my short list to get for my kids. I'm not made of money and I have to buy three of them.

If you're getting 3, take a look @ the Taurus PT111 G2.  Atwoods had 'em for $200 the other day.

Thanks.

Tagging for updates. I still need to do the trigger and spring kit to mine.