I'm wAiting for my apex fully polished sear to come in so I'm prepping my frame for its arrival. I wanted to get the slide rails and contact points polished and slippery as to remove grittiness.
I'm also going to polish my barrel which is currently sitting in distillers white vinegar to remove the finish and make polishing easier. I didn't want to do this but after only a few hundred rounds the barrel in marked up and finish fading, so I said why not.
Also my gun was built in 2013 and I find the progression of M&P sears to be interesting. This later model I must say is very good with a nice audible reset. I hope the apex makes it feel primitive though. Here's a couple pictures of the sear from the factory.
I will be updating as I progress. Next step polish barrel and I will post pictures as we'll so stay tuned! And please any advice or help please Chime in!! Thanks guys--ryan
Good point. But I honestly enjoy tinkering/ cleaning/ polishing anything just as much as I enjoy shooting. But I can't wait to shoot it after I get the sear in.
Will polishing the slide contact points offer any upgrade?
Barrel is done, so that will be All for polishing. Sear should be here this week so I'll post the install with pics very shortly. I need to order a few mag extensions next, I'm looking aT the plus 5 arrondo (I think I slaughtered the spelling) mag extensions. If anyone could post a link I'd love it! But here's the barrel.
I used mothers mag and aluminum polish for $4 from a local hardware store. No Dremel used, soaked in vinegar for 4 hours, wax on, wax off. A good four hours later it's almost mirror finish. Another hour of buffing it would reach that mirror finish but I'm more than pleased with the outcome. Love it!
Nice, if it improves the gun your ahead, if it doesn't you just killed some time doing something you enjoy. Get the USB out and polish the $%#@ out of it.
I'll tell you what, after re-polishing the trigger bar "candy cane" and contact points trigger pull feels amazing. I can't imagine what it will feel like with the apex sear.
And yes the USB is next on my list, I'm debating just buying the rounded off polished USB kit from two brothers tactical (apex unit). That will probably make an unreal improvement.
But the apex sear is scheduled for Thursday delivery so stay tuned for instal and pics!!
Give the Apex sear some polishing as well, it will make it a bit smoother before the break. The thing that will make the single biggest improvement smoothing out the trigger pull is modifying the striker block or swapping in the apex part.
Thank you I appreciate the feedback!! I continued to polish last night and will again tonight while watching tv. It's seriously turning into a mirror it looks awesome.
First off I have NOT used either one of these. That said I did a bunch of research and the Tatran Tactical Aluminum extensions appear superior to the Arredondo plastic ones. Of course the TT ones are more expensive. Just make sure you get the extended springs.
Ok gents my Apex fully polished sear arrived while I was at work! I got home and got busy. Here's some pics,
Woohoo!
There she is in all her polished glory atop my barrel I'm still polishing to get a true mirror finish.
Apex on left, stock on right. Differences are pretty immense in the geometry. But smith really has stepped it up with their new production sears.
Another apex left stock right.
There she is installed! Overall it feels amazing, the reset is soo pronounced and positive it juts my finger forward like my glock. The break is insane and super light I would estimate with all the polishing around 4lbs. All in all I'm so happy with my purchase and it really is a plus over stock. We'll worth the 45$ for the polished version and free shipping from two brothers tactical.
I know what you mean. Unfortunately my M&P 9 is the only gun I own that I haven't completely taken apart and 'tinkered' with. I just got done cleaning my neighbors Browning Gold shotgun that hadn't been cleaned in over 10 years. My guess it's the first time it's ever been cleaned. It's a semi auto and wouldn't cycle. Complete teardown and good cleaning and now ot functions. What a great feeling.
That's awesome. That's what I'm talking about! It's just a great feeling and especially because it's a hobby we love as well. Now I cannot imagine how dirty that browning shotgun was.. But you definitely saved its life! Great work sir.
One problem I am having I'm hoping to get some guidance on during this project is the rear roll pin used to secure the sear block in the frame is getting deformed from my rookie use of a punch and hammer. Is this a part you can obtain at a local gun store or do you have to order it from smith and Wesson specifically? Or would it be ok to just file down the edges that are deforming from being smacked in and out soo much.
If you are in a hurry for a temp fix, you would be surprised to find a nice selection of roll pins at ACE hardware. I do not know what size you'll need but take your pin with you for sizing. And yes a roll pin punch set will help a lot, and yes as a temp fix file the damaged one down but be really, REALLY, careful not to stretch your hole in the frame.
Awesome info guys thanks a lot. As a temp fix I'm def gonna check my local ace out for sure. Here's a photo you can see how deformed it is. In my inexperience I didn't even know roll pin punches existed. But now thanks to you guys I do. And I won't try and push this damaged one in any further than it is here.
And a better shot..
U can see it's royally fudged up. I'm embarrassed to post this picture but that's how I learn. Thanks guys for all your help again!
No sweat bro. I kittened up a $50 rear sight using the wrong tools once. Sometimes the painful lessons teach us the most. Hit up amazon for that roll pin punch set. I have a steel grace set that I use and is awesome.
Look into the apex armorer's block set. They have two separate ones. A top and a bottom. It comes with the punch included. Can be had for less than 30 a piece.
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