I put the Duty-Carry AEK in my M&P 40 and could not be happier with the results. If you want a lighter trigger pull then the Competition AEK is a definite upgrade. I installed the AEK and FSS kits on an M&P Pro 9L which makes it a sweet shooting competition pistol.
M&P apex kit
- Thread starter HIGHRPM
- Start date
twoicebergs
Regular
FYI, with this kit in the CORE, the sequencing (timing) of the firing pin block is slightly off and can cause the odd light strike or no-strike. I don’t know if APEX fixed this issue or made an adjustment for the CORE model as I did this mod 4 years ago. If this happens, you will notice the edge on the blocker and on the firing will be damaged where they meet. Of course you could just remove the blocker, but that could make the gun unpredictable if it were dropped with it racked with a bullet in the chamber. If it were a carry gun, I would definitely not remove the striker blocker on this pistol! One must also realize that with this gun, the sear contact is predicated on the slide having little play with the fitment on the rail. As you will notice, there is actually quite a bit of play slide to frame and it wouldn’t take too much wear to have the sear not hold back the firing pin.
As others have said, there is a night and day difference in the trigger! It is fabulous. I have the original spring in with the kit with a small adjustment to the trigger return, and the striker blocker removed. The trigger pull is 1.5 lbs. Great for playing around, but too low for any sanctioned shooting sport, unless you shoot open division.
686 Shooter
Regular
I installed the FSS installed in my CORE in February 2015 and never ran into this issue. I wonder why it happens on some and not others? Did S&W or Apex change something around that time or is it just luck of the draw?
twoicebergs
Regular
That depends on how you use it. It I had just plinked with it, I would have never notice the timing issue. Going through 100-500 rounds with rapid fire in a session, that was when the problem presented itself. I put this trigger in with a some other changes to see if I could run this as an Open Division gun (IPSC). I believe I first noticed the problem after about 1,000 rounds in a few days of use. When I pulled out the firing pin, I immediately recognized what was happening. I pulled out the USB and used it with great success until the compensator (aluminum) failed. The threads couldn't take the recoil. If you look at the sear for the CORE and the sear for the regular M&P, you will see the difference. The APEX sear is primarily made for the regular gun and the CORE has the performance sear. The USB has a slightly profile different between the 2 guns. Also, the USB spring was changed to a different size, so some COREs may have the older style. Perhaps that is the reason why.
In any case, the trigger is great.
In any case, the trigger is great.
Based on your experience and with the objective of shooting IPSC Production would you go with the FSS or the AEK if choosing between the two? I have the CORE and can't get off the fence. Would the AEK plus the action enhancement trigger be a good compromise?
twoicebergs
Regular
The FFS is the best way to proceed. With the new rule you should see better scoring with the 3 lb trigger. There is a reason why the Open and Standard guys have 1-2 lb triggers! The heavier guns (Shadow 2, Tangfo) still have the recoil advantage, but this rule change really does help level the playing field somewhat for the striker fire crowd. I own both and if I ever get back into production, I am happy that I can finally use my Apex trigger, albeit bumped back up to 3 lbs.
Edit: Nothing better to do this afternoon, so I put in the Silver trigger spring, took a little off the lower edge of the USB, reinstalled it, and got a 3.6 lb trigger. I then took out the spring again and tweaked it so I have it right at 3 lbs. I put the Burris FF3 on it and now it is ready for IPSC PO Div. It is a shame I had to take off the Carver SS magwell to make it division legal.
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Lockhart Tactical? Difficult to tell what they have in stock and not easy to get a clear answer to the question but they show a good selection.
Bit of an old thread. But have any of you had issues with light strikes and failing to recock? I put the FSS set sear kit in my M&P 45 gen 1 and it made my pistol go from reliable to having no idea if you were going to get a bang, a click, or nothing.
twoicebergs
Regular
More than likely your problem is with the USB being out on the timing. I found on some guns the firing pin catches on the USB witch causes the problem you are seeing. Take our the firing pin (striker) and the USB. You will probably see where it is hammering on the edge of the striker. The easy fix is to just remove the USB, but then there is no striker safety. Since you can't carry in Canada this isn't a show-stopper, but the gun could discharge if dropped as the sear connection to the slide is minimal. FWIW, the APEX USB should prevent this problem, but you may need to adjust the grove where the striker is catching. You may also need to get a new striker as the catch can not be fixed once it has been flattened too much.
If this isn't your problem, it may just be the way you bent the wire. Sometime the bend will cause anything from a dead gun to what you are seeing.
Thanks twoicebergs!
I have the USB installed from Apex. I think it was the sheppards loop/candy cane had too much gap (I had not fiddled with it to this point). I closed it down some (APEX customer service suggestion), and it seems to be functioning correctly now. I will have to try it out a bit more to see if everything is ironed out.
I have a list of spares that I am looking to get from Numrich, striker is on the list, as is a slide stop, spare takedown pins (the roll pin type), and a trigger bar.
I have the USB installed from Apex. I think it was the sheppards loop/candy cane had too much gap (I had not fiddled with it to this point). I closed it down some (APEX customer service suggestion), and it seems to be functioning correctly now. I will have to try it out a bit more to see if everything is ironed out.
I have a list of spares that I am looking to get from Numrich, striker is on the list, as is a slide stop, spare takedown pins (the roll pin type), and a trigger bar.
