I've replaced several factory M&P 1.0 sears with the Apex sear and never had a problem.

 

I considered an Apex trigger for my 4” Shield 45 (2.0). FWIW, I intended to CC that pistol from time to time. I searched pretty widely on the internet to see if I was just buying problems. From what I could tell, problems are pretty rare. I never got around to making the swap. That’s not to say that I won’t, though. As long as the pistol remains reliable (and I have no reason to think it wouldn’t) and doesn’t take me into “hair trigger” territory, it's probably a pretty good plan.

 

I recently read a year-old thread on the Glock 43X vs. the Shield. Very informative. However, rather than revive an old thread that's a year old, I thought I would start anew.
Here is the old thread, to refresh any memories: 43X vs M&P Shield
Those of you in the thread who liked your Shields (and there were many), or any other Shield 1.0 or 2.0 owners, feel free to respond to my question. (The Shield Plus has a better trigger, so that would not be relevant here.)
Here is my question: I have a Shield 1.0, and I am considering replacing the factory sear with the Apex "Fully Machined Sear." (Description here: Fully Machined Sear)
The only reason is to lighten the trigger pull a bit. I don't hate the Shield trigger pull (it's coming in at ~ 6 1/2 pounds), but if I could knock a pound or two off, I wouldn't mind.
The Apex sear has an excellent reputation; I honestly could not find anyone posting negative things about it.
However, I am always hesitant to replace internal parts with aftermarket parts on a self-defense/EDC gun, being concerned about reliability.
Any thoughts, esp. from those who might have done so?
Thanks

My review on Brownell's website after I replaced my S&W Shield 1.0 9mm sear with an Apex sear in 2018:

APEX TACTICAL SPECIALTIES INC S&W M&P FULLY MACHINED SEAR | Brownells

*It was a great outcome for me.

 

Thanks all, great info so far.

 

No problems with the Apex in my 1.0 Shield. Be aware if you do this yourself and decide to do the slide portion (replaces the striker interlock plunger and spring), the rear sight on these pistols are installed incredibly tight and can get easily buggered up if not removed with the right tools and methods.

I couldn't detect that great of a difference after doing the slide portion. The Apex kit gives you a slightly lighter plunger safety spring and the plunger itself is more radiused, but that's about it. In the future I would probably just leave the slide parts as-is.

 

Get it. You won't regret it.

 

Thanks again all.

 

OK, now to the next related question. I have the Apex sear, but I am having a tough time removing the roll pin holding in the sear housing. In all the videos I watch, the person takes a small hammer and taps it right out. Mine will not budge.

I even tried a 16 oz hammer, but I don't really want to wail on it. Or is that what you have to do remove this roll pin?

Thanks

It's been a while since I did mine and while snug, it wasn't that difficult. I want to remember an 1/8" roll pin punch should be about right. If it's not moving at all I would try from the opposite side to see if it will at least move that way. Be sure your punch is not flared on the face from past use and trying to catch on the frame material. If you get it to start and then it hangs up, you may need to downsize to a slightly smaller diameter punch, that's what happened to me.

 

Thanks Lane, that's exactly what I did. I put some Kroil on the top of the pin, hoping it would seep a bit down. Then I put the frame on a Wheeler plastic bench block, and put everything on my concrete garage floor, to avoid any cushioning effect. The pin finally got started with the 1/8 roll pin punch, and then I downsized to the 3/32 roll pin punch to get it all the way out.

I wasn't able to entirely remove the sear assembly, for reasons I can't figure out. It was hanging up on the trigger bar and I didn't want to force anything. And I didn't want to remove the trigger pins to pull the trigger out. (The video from Apex seems in indicate that you can remove the sear assembly by just removing the sear pin, but maybe that video is for another model M&P.)

I was able to lift the sear assembly up enough to get to the sear pin, remove it, and replace the sear. No big deal there.
Getting the sear assembly back down into the frame was another challenge, but it finally dropped in.

Trigger pull is somewhat improved, from ~ 6 1/2 - 7 pounds factory down to ~ 5 1/2 pounds with the Apex sear. Which is where I wanted to end up anyway. In fact, it feels almost exactly the same now as my factory Glock 26 trigger pull.

Thanks again.