APEX TACTICAL SPECIALTIES INC SHIELD CARRY KIT

Excellent addition to the S&W Shield. Easy to install after watching the Apex Tactical video on their website or U-Tube.

Removing the rear sight for the USB & spring is the only downfall, but this is easy if you do it right. Anyone can do it. Forget the heat gun, freezing the slide, or sight pusher. The sight pusher will not work for this job (Usually). Remember what your Dad told you? Use the right tool for the job. I used Kroil on the sights overnight while I got the proper tools ready. A good vice with jaw protectors. I C clamped it to a table. Also a piece of duct tape on the sides of the slide or jaw protectors for added protection. Put the slide in the vice with the sights just above the jaws and not past the end of the jaws. Snug it up in the vice. Snug but not too tight. Now you are going to doubt me, but lets continue. I used a cold chisle slightly narrower than the dovetail. Square up the end with a file and cover with masking tape. Carefully line it up on the ledge of the sight and drive it out. I used a ball peen 8oz. hammer. No scratches. no dents, no dings. Drive it out left to right just like the video and put it back in left to right, also like the video. I did this twice because I decided to use the factory spring rather than the kit spring. No damage at all. As with a previous reviewer, I also elected to leave the factory trigger return spring installed. This is a great trigger.

Everything in the kit works. The YouTube video is excellent as you can go step by step with the video as you install the product. One major problem is not with the kit but with the rear sight removal. Kevin from Arizona mentions, as a tool to assemble, a heat gun. Applying heat to the rear sight could cause problems. The washer under the rear sight might be stainless steel or it may be polymer. According to the package on Red Loctite, it takes 300 degrees to dislodge. Then there is what the rear sight is made of as one of Brownell's expert mentioned with the use of heat. Now go to the MGW Semi-auto Sight Mover. The instructions say not to use this to remove original factory sights. One of Brownell's experts suggested using the Meprolight Universal Sight Installation Tool. Most shooters find this too much of a price ($679.99) to pay for a possible one-time installation. Someone needs to address this issue as it will make sales of this product skyrocket. Especially as people are looking for a powerful and compact pistol which this pistol is and that this product makes even better.

This has made all the difference with my satisfaction with my Shield 9mm. I struggled to say the least with the gritty long travel of the factory trigger and this solves all the issues. Some may find the installation difficult but it is worth it. Be patient and watch the youtube videos.

With the help of a YouTube video I installed this very easily in my shield. Be aware you DO need to remove and re-install the rear sight to install the complete kit! The factory trigger return spring is softer than the Apex one so I left it alone, which gave me a lighter trigger pull than with the stronger Apex trigger return spring!

Had this installed and it is a huge difference. Before I had a stiff tough trigger pull, now it is nice and smooth. Nice audible reset. Was considering selling my 40 shield because it was so difficult to shoot, now I have a keeper.

I'll admit that my utter lack of mechanical aptitude made me nervous about installing this trigger, but the fact is, if you have the right tools (Worklight, punches, polymer hammer, heat gun, allen wrenches), it installs in less than an hour. It dropped the trigger weight on my 9mm Shield from 8.5 lbs to less than 5, and it's now got a HECK of a reset. Buy it, you won't regret it.

Never liked M&P pistols due to the trigger. The Shield offered an improvement over those, but was still not quite there. The Apex Kit put the Shield right in the sweet spot with feel, break, and reset. Along with the XS Big Dot sights I installed at the same time, this makes this little gun a serious fighting firearm and not just a last ditch back up! The first set I ordered went on the Wife's daily carry Shield. First outing at the range I dumped a mag at 10 yards fast enough that it stopped the civilian range I was on. Then at the "apex" of the silence my Wife exclaimed, "wow, all in the 10 ring!" We left due to all the questions after she got ample trigger time and shot well herself. What a great kit.

Found a video on Youtube and the install was pretty easy. I was looking to take some of the lbs off of trigger and I think that has been accomplished. I don't have a trigger scale, but can notice a difference in the pull. On a larger note, the trigger reset has definetly been reduced to just under 1/8th of an inch. The only thing that I don't like about the shield is the 2 stage plastic trigger, and would have preferred this kit to include a 1 piece steel trigger as the full size M&P kits do. On a side note, I intend to use this as a carry gun, and since the safety has to be removed from the sear housing to install the new sear, I just left the safety off. Everything functions just fine so far. Overall fairly easy to install and I am satisfied with the results.