Apex Competition Action Enhancement Kit

[ZackJones]

I've sold some stuff and now have the money to by the Apex CAEK for my M&P Pro. Before buying it I just wanted to double check that it's what you guys recommend/run or would I be better off to take that $100 and have a gun smith do a trigger job? FWIW any mods would have to remain production division legal.

[StealthyBlagga]

What division are you shooting? For Production, I prefer the DCAEK - heavier but smoother. For Limited/3-Gun, I prefer the aluminum FSS kit, which rivals the 1911 for trigger movement and pull weight.

[Nick S]

I have the Apex CAEK in my M&PL. I do use the stock trigger return spring. It's a great kit. A friend has a Burwell trigger in his M&P. It's really nice and probably better. If you can handle the wait the Burwell trigger is really nice and less expensive minus the shipping. I'm just not sure it's that much better if you factor in the wait time and shipping both ways.

[ZackJones]

What division are you shooting? For Production, I prefer the DCAEK - heavier but smoother. For Limited/3-Gun, I prefer the aluminum FSS kit, which rivals the 1911 for trigger movement and pull weight.

I'm shooting production and plan to stay in that division for a while.

[ZackJones]

I have the Apex CAEK in my M&PL. I do use the stock trigger return spring. It's a great kit. A friend has a Burwell trigger in his M&P. It's really nice and probably better. If you can handle the wait the Burwell trigger is really nice and less expensive minus the shipping. I'm just not sure it's that much better if you factor in the wait time and shipping both ways.

The guy I bought the M&P from is a gunsmith. He did a trigger job on a S&W 638 revolver and we (my wife and I) really like it. I'm going to ask him for his opinion to see which route he'd rather take since he'll be doing the work regardless.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Studlee]

I also use the CAEK kit for my 9 Pro. Huge difference. I did keep the stock striker spring though. I was getting some light primer hits. Was told to put the stock back in, and now no more issues.

[basman]

I have 2 m&p's. One with a Burwell trigger and one with the Apex kit. On a trigger pull gauge the Apex is lighter, but the Burwell feels SO much better!

[ZackJones]

I contacted the gunsmith I bought the gun from and asked him about doing a trigger job his way and doing with with Apex. He said he would gladly do Apex kit for the cost of the kit plus $35 or I could let him work his magic without the Apex kit for a whole lot less. I decided to let him work his magic. I'm going to drop the pistol off to him next week after the match this weekend. I may end up with some Apex goodies at some point for but for now I'll save the $$$ so I can put those in the "M&P CORE Purchase" Fund .

[bthoefer]

I have shot my M&P's (2 pros, 1 full size, 1 compact) with both of the apex kits.

With the Duty AEK , The trigger is around 5 lbs without doing any other polishing. Good smooth trigger with an improved reset over stock.

With the Comp AEK and stock trigger return spring the trigger is about 4 lbs. The trigger is very smooth with good reset. This is without polishing.

With the Comp AEK with all the comp springs the trigger does not feel as smooth. With the lighter springs you can feel the roughness of the trigger bar. I polished all the contact areas of the trigger bar using flitz and the felt wheel on a dremel. This is completely smooth and the trigger is just over 2.5 lbs. The reset is very soft.

The reset on all of the apex kits is very short. I do not run the RAM since I don't shoot off of reset, I'm OK with the soft reset.

I run the apex striker spring on my pros, and the stock striker spring on my full size and compact. There was no measurable difference on trigger weight between the stock and apex striker springs.

Edited April 30, 2014 by bthoefer

[rrickysee]

+ 1 on the Burwell Trigger

[mcracco]

I think the appeal of the Apex kit is it is a simple cookie cutter solution; pay $100, throw it in, and you have a very shootable trigger. With the gunsmith solution you are probably able to get a better trigger but you usually have to deal with shipping the gun out and waiting.

The other thing is the practical end result. If I had Dan Burwell rework my eight M&P's I don't doubt they would come back smoother, crisper, better. But I'd bet dollars to donuts I would not shoot any of them better. Maybe better if I shot bullseye, but for action pistol the Apex kit makes the trigger a non issue.

[ZackJones]

The other thing is the practical end result. If I had Dan Burwell rework my eight M&P's I don't doubt they would come back smoother, crisper, better. But I'd bet dollars to donuts I would not shoot any of them better. Maybe better if I shot bullseye, but for action pistol the Apex kit makes the trigger a non issue.

8 M&P's man I'm jealous! I will be dropping my M&P off with the gunsmith early next week to let him do the trigger job on it. He did one on my 638 revolver and I've been very pleased with the results so I'm sure I'll be pleased with his work on the M&P. I also have a lead for a gunsmith in Savannah, GA that's very good with M&P's and there's a possibility he'll be shooting the match at our club this coming weekend. If he's there I'm planning to talk to him about M&P's as I want to buy another one pretty soon.

[myproverb]

I purchased a pro on this forum; and it came with apex kit. But I still ended-up asking dan to do a trigger job on my gun. I know it's just my preference; but i'd really rather shoot the set-up that i want.

Try them both, if you can; it will make it easier for you to decide. Good luck!

[ZackJones]

Just to close the loop on this one - I picked up my new M&P CORE along with my M&P Pro that I had the trigger job done on and it (the Pro) feels amazing! If I had any idea that the trigger job would have made that much of a difference I would have done it shortly after I bought the pistol. I almost left the CORE with him to have him do a trigger job on it but he said he wouldn't touch it until next week so I brought it home and will shoot it this weekend and then will get the trigger job done.

[Chucky]

My Pro has the full apex competition kit in it and my 45 midsize has the standard factory kit in it. Every time I pull my pro out of the safe I end up dry firing it for at least a few minutes and the 45 just gets moved to the side. The Apex kit is a great improvement to the factory and like everyone already said you can replace it in a few minutes and not have to leave it with a smith for a week.

[SeanN]

I tried running the full competition kit, it just didn't work for me. The transition from "take up" to where it starts to break was so big that it often caused me to "slap" the trigger. It just didn't feel smooth. I imagine with a lot of practice I could have finally gotten it but I found, for me, using a S&W factory striker spring and trigger spring was the right mix with the rest of the Apex competition kit parts.

You can use the Duty trigger spring from Apex but keep in mind that it is a full pound heavier than the factory spring.