What purpose does this piece serve?

 

I just picked up a 5" 9mm M2.0 and the trigger feels pretty gritty. I never had or shot the 1.0 to compare it to. I've heard it was a big improvement and I figured worse comes to worse, Apex. But after fondling the trigger here and there for 2 days, I don't think it would be fixed by a new trigger. 

 

It seems that as the hook at the end of the trigger bar rides across that button I get the gritty feeling. With a light, I can kind of see it happening as I press the trigger.

 

Is this normal or is something bent? I still consider myself new to firearms.

 

 

Looks like the firing pin block. You can polish the contact surfaces but IMHO the M&P trigger leaves a lot to be desired.

Yes the firing pin block safety. Needs to be polished and possibly 'break' the hard edge between the bottom and sides with a polished chamfer. Google chamfering FPBS.  Possibly a rough part, most likely MIM'd.

Yeah, striker safety plunger. Prevents the striker from moving forward until there is a deliberate trigger press where the trigger bar hits the plunger and moves it out of the way.

 

It may just be dirty in there. Hold the slide muzzlemdown sonthe ejection port is in your sight line. Press that plunger in, you should see the tip of the striker fall down through the firing pin hole. Then holding the plunger in, shake the slide up and down. You should hear the striker rattle in its chamber. If not, you likely need to detail strip the pistol.

 

If you are going to polish or attempt to reshape the plunger or trigger bar - Be careful! Too much polishing or reshaping can alter your internal safety and you can end up deactivating it. A female shooter was recently shot in the leg with a holstered gun (she was in the surrender position when it discharged) and the reason came back to - crappy trigger job by the previous owner. I'll try and find the video on it.

 

Anyway, The APEX DCAEK has a replacement plunger and smooths the trigger press significantly without altering any of the safeties.

 

https://store.apextactical.com/WebDirect/Products/Details/191851

 

Worth every penny.

 

They also make one for Glock pistols.

 

Great replacement part.

Here's the article I was talking about -

 

The trigger bar is stamped so you get a rough edge. IDK how they make the striker block (MIM?) but surface finish is clearly not a concern. Then on top of it all the plunger rides up and down a hole that is drilled before final surface treatment so that's rough too. If the "grittiness" is in the first stage of the trigger pull then that's what you're feeling.

 

If it's in the second stage then the grit is from the trigger bow sliding on the bottom of the sear, or the MIM sear camming the striker back.

 

APEX machines their sears and striker blocks to solve each of these issues.

A. Don't do this yourself unless you are a real gunsmith. Watch the video.

 

B. If you order the Apex FSS Trigger it comes with a new plunger.

 

C. If you don't want to order the Apex trigger, it should smooth out on its own from use.

Hey guys, stop scaring people with that video. smoothing out the edges of a striker safety is not going to cause any safety issues. In fact the worst you can do is make the gun NOT fire, instead of making it unsafe. 

 

The gun in that video was jacked up as it had that safety disabled completely and the sear mangled. Those are completely different conversations from smoothing the transition edge on a plunger. Sure, if someone doesn't know which part does what then maybe they shouldn't muck with it, but not every home project is a "death on the range!!!" waiting to happen. 

Thanks guys!

 

I have found a video explaining how this part works and how to fix the issue. I feel that I could probably do it myself. Since this pistols purpose is IDPA and not just for the range, i would rather not. I was planning on cerekoting the slide black at some point, anyways. I will deal with it until then, see if it gets any better, and have the APEX part installed at time of color changing.

 

Thank you guys for such quick responses!

 

Here is the video: https://youtu.be/Grwxd16TcUM

Here's the article I was talking about -

 

https://youtu.be/KPxQsP7_ZQw

This is why I don't "modify" guns I would use for self defense or matches.

Leave it alone!

Hey guys, stop scaring people with that video. smoothing out the edges of a striker safety is not going to cause any safety issues. In fact the worst you can do is make the gun NOT fire, instead of making it unsafe. 

 

The gun in that video was jacked up as it had that safety disabled completely and the sear mangled. Those are completely different conversations from smoothing the transition edge on a plunger. Sure, if someone doesn't know which part does what then maybe they shouldn't muck with it, but not every home project is a "death on the range!!!" waiting to happen. 

Vlad. Your thoughts please. I took a Apex sear that I had in my 40 Pro, and put it in my 9 Pro. I shouldn't have any issues with this, correct?

Vlad. Your thoughts please. I took a Apex sear that I had in my 40 Pro, and put it in my 9 Pro. I shouldn't have any issues with this, correct?

 

Assuming that is the only part you had moved around yes. The caveat is that Apex has 2 different sears, the forward set and the standard, and the forward set is supposed to be used with the forward set trigger and the other with the factory trigger. Assuming you are using the same trigger in both you should be fine. 

 

If you are talking M2, who the hell knows, he new two part sear is something I have not played with. 

Assuming that is the only part you had moved around yes. The caveat is that Apex has 2 different sears, the forward set and the standard, and the forward set is supposed to be used with the forward set trigger and the other with the factory trigger. Assuming you are using the same trigger in both you should be fine. 

 

If you are talking M2, who the hell knows, he new two part sear is something I have not played with. 

I'm using the standard sear on 1.0. The only difference is that the 40, which I took the apex sear out of, has an apex striker block as well. The 9, which now has the apex sear I took out of the 40, has the factory striker block. Thanks for the confirmation that I should be good!

Striker safety definitely contributes to the trigger feel.  I've got a M&P 9L with a Burwell trigger job and that striker safety is smoothed out.  Swapping out to the .40 S&W Slide/Barrel with the same trigger work done, the feel is definitely a lot more spongy and the trigger pull is heavier.

Hey guys, stop scaring people with that video. smoothing out the edges of a striker safety is not going to cause any safety issues. In fact the worst you can do is make the gun NOT fire, instead of making it unsafe.

 

The gun in that video was jacked up as it had that safety disabled completely and the sear mangled. Those are completely different conversations from smoothing the transition edge on a plunger. Sure, if someone doesn't know which part does what then maybe they shouldn't muck with it, but not every home project is a "death on the range!!!" waiting to happen.

Not trying to scare anyone - just stating be careful and sharing some info regarding WECSOG improvements on your firearms.

 

I understand that there was more wrong with that gun than a striker block being polished.

 

I also know that in the everlasting struggle to make a striker fired gun feel like a tuned 1911 (Here's a hint: it's never going to happen) this is occurring more and more.

 

Again, a cautionary tale, not a prohibition.

 

If you don't feel comfortable, bring the gun to a certified gunsmith for the work, or by quality parts that have already been tuned by a reputable manufacturer and have been tested to be safe.

Not trying to scare anyone - just stating be careful and sharing some info regarding WECSOG improvements on your firearms.

 

I understand that there was more wrong with that gun than a striker block being polished.

 

I also know that in the everlasting struggle to make a striker fired gun feel like a tuned 1911 (Here's a hint: it's never going to happen) this is occurring more and more.

 

Again, a cautionary tale, not a prohibition.

 

If you don't feel comfortable, bring the gun to a certified gunsmith for the work, or by quality parts that have already been tuned by a reputable manufacturer and have been tested to be safe.

 

And that is precisely why I decided to buy Apex drop in parts, instead of polishing or removing materials. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I wasn't comfortable with my skill set to do something like that.

Not trying to scare anyone - just stating be careful and sharing some info regarding WECSOG improvements on your firearms.

 

I understand that there was more wrong with that gun than a striker block being polished.

 

I also know that in the everlasting struggle to make a striker fired gun feel like a tuned 1911 (Here's a hint: it's never going to happen) this is occurring more and more.

 

Again, a cautionary tale, not a prohibition.

 

If you don't feel comfortable, bring the gun to a certified gunsmith for the work, or by quality parts that have already been tuned by a reputable manufacturer and have been tested to be safe.

In the video I shared, it was from the burring in the stainless steel slide that was causing the problem. Wouldn't it cause the same problem with the Apex drop in parts?

Burring is rarely an issue. It is possible but not every likely, you won't know until you look. Most often it is the transition of the trigger bar to plunger and depressing the plunger that people notice. The factory radius is not very forgiving. Polishing that improves the fill a bit and re-profiling it (or buying an aftermarket one) makes the a large difference. Obviously if you have a burr inside the channel, fix that while the plunger is out of the gun, but personally I never seen one on the 4 or so MPs I've messed with. Anything is possible, S&W QA is not exactly legendary.