A couple of weeks ago, S&W posted a press release about a new line of pistols, the SD series (the SD9 and SD40). These piqued my interest for a few reasons; first, I was interested in getting a .40 as I've somehow collected a pile of it with nothing to feed it to. Second, who doesn't love high quality beater pistols you can throw in the truck (secured!) and forget about? Finally, I am constantly asked by folks what a good quality, reasonably priced, easy to shoot, one and only self defense gun they should buy.
The local store had one sitting in the case for $405. Though I put it on the debit card, they offer a 5% discount for cash purchases, meaning you can walk out of the store for less than $400 with a new SD40 in most places. At that price, the SD is undercutting the 4" XD pistols by about $30 in most places, and undercutting the XD with night sights by a good $100. It is priced on par with the Ruger SR9 (but the SR9 has no night sights). So street price wise, the SD seems to be undercutting all the other major, reliable brand's value priced pistols by a slim margin. This is good.
The first thing I noticed about the S&W SD is that it is an extremely well made weapon. Where as everything else in the class clearly pales in comparison when measured up against a SIG or Glock, the SD series clearly displays the same materials, fit and finish as the M&P series. The polymer is dense and very well molded, the slide machining is fantastic, the surface finish on internal components is clean and consistent. The barrel quality is (visually) up there with the best. So often with value priced products, you don't just give up features compared to paying more, brands cut down on core quality. NOT with the SD.
The fact of the matter is though, we all know what the SD is - Sigma version 3.0. S&W have struggled with the albatross of the Sigma line since it was produced to compete with Glock back in 1994. Every attempt that S&W has made to create a competitive polymer firearm has been met by keyboard commandos writing it off as "Oh, that is just a gussied up Sigma!" When the M&P came out, that is exactly what most of the firearm community said. On some level, this is true - the M&P and the new SD clearly feature an operating system that is directly descended from the Sigma. Given that that OS has proven to work extraordinarily well in the M&P lineup AND the fact that current production Sigmas are reliable (though saddled with heavy triggers and a proprietary rail), I don't really see how the "It's just a Sigma!" line of argument can really carry much weight anymore.
So if it is basically a Sigma 3.0 with a name that S&W hopes will escape the tarnished Sigma brand, what has changed? Putting the two side by side at the counter (I am an M&P Compact .45 owner, but don't have a Sigma), here is what I see:
- Lots of external differences. Hoping to cash in on the fact that the M&P pistols are probably the most highly regarded, successful new pistols released in the last decade (with lots of LE contracts under their belt in a very short time), S&W clearly sought to mimic the M&P design language in the SD. Personally, I think this has been extremely successful and I find the SD to be a quite good looking pistol. Simple, with good details and quality execution out of excellent materials.
- Great ergonomic. The value pistol lines will probably never feature the sort of modular adjustable back straps of the latest gen offerings. What S&W did was to strike a balance by making the length of pull on the short side and swelling the palm area a little bit in the back. This is smart - it is easier for people with larger hands to deal with a smaller grip than it is for people with small hands to deal with a big grip (see: the Beretta M9 training issues with females). The slide stop is big and easy to manipulate. The magazine release is checkered and positive to engage. Textured dimples above the trigger are excellent references for new pistol shooters to know exactly where their booger hook is supposed to live 95% of the time they have the SD in their hands. Downside - not ambidextrous at all. If you are one of the devil's own, step up to an M&P or learn how to live with right handed controls like lefties have done for the last 50 years up until recently.
- The trigger is halfway between the Sigma (long, gritty and heavy) and the M&P (short, a touch gritty at first, and about 5lbs). Of course, the engineering behind these triggers is essentially the same. The difference is in the spring weights S&W uses (weight), geometry differences (pull length) and metal finishing (grittyness). For the intended market, I think the SD trigger is excellent. Far superior to the Sigma trigger. More positive than the XD trigger and I'm not even going to discuss the Ruger SR9 trigger. This is not a gun-game gun or Les Baer. As a functional, utilitarian trigger, the SD does the job. I had no problems getting my normal .25s splits with it.
- Reliability. I put 250 rounds down the pipe with it, zero malfunctions. Over about 50 of those rounds, I attempted limp wristing or otherwise trying to produce a shooter error failure of the weapon with no joy. Long term, I would say this - there is nothing ground breaking about what is going on inside this weapon. The newest Sigmas are reported to be reliable. The M&P is noted for being Glock levels of reliable. There is zero reason to suspect the SD will be any different.
- Shootability. I found the SD to be right up there with a Glock and the M&P in this department, with the caveat that I am not a .40 shooter. To my mind, it feels a touch snappier than the M&P 40s I've shot before (perhaps a function of the lack of insert molded metal frame re-enforcement?). Just like the M&P though, the low bore axis translates to a straight pushback recoil impulse that is easy to control and get back on target. The sights are straight off the M&P (in fact, they are marked "M&P"). The use of a tritium front sight with non-tritium rears is interesting; a lot of professionals prefer this sort of setup for real world use. Having tritium sights on a weapon at this price is a distinct advantage compared to everything else. At $400, it might actually be the least expensive factory night sight pistol offered for sale.
- Size. My favorite thing about the SD; it is the exact same dimensions as a Glock 19. Those of us who are M&P fans have been clamoring for a G19 size M&P for some time now. Well, this isn't exactly an M&P, but the SD9 is essentially Glock 19 size, and holds an extra round in the magazine to boot. Interesting. I would also call the SD's ergonomics superior to the Glock's (but the Gen 4 G19 is a beast I haven't gotten to play with yet, it'll be interesting to see how it stacks up).
Overall:
I am hugely impressed with with S&W has done here. The SD series is an extremely high quality weapon at a price typically plagued by rough finished pot metal pieces. The ergonomics are excellent, the feature set is perfectly acceptable for 95% of users, the trigger is good enough, the shootability is up there with much higher priced pistols. The only unknown is long term reliability, but there is no reason to think the SD is going to do poorly in that area.
I suspect S&W has the SD's price padded a bit high while they try to poop the rest of the Sigmas out of the retail channel. I suspect that within 18 months, you'll see the street price on these hit the $380 point, vastly undercutting everything else out there. Here is the thing - this is not a cheap and chintzy weapon. Put simply, I don't think there is a better value going on in the firearms industry today. I would not hesitate to recommend an SD to people. I wouldn't even hesitate to make one my EDC pistol!
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Originally Posted by Magsz
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