Reviews on gear and courses
The HSP INCOG holster is a very good holster. Out of the five holster I’ve tried to use with my M&P Shield, it is the one I put on my belt the most (with the Phlster Access being a close second). However, one thing that I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the INCOG was the retention. It was a little too loose even when I’ve tightened the retention screw to its max.
I decided to see if I could make some adjustment to get a little bit more retention. Apparently, a very small mod saves the day 🙂
I have previously stippled the detachable backstrap of the M&P9 with a soldering iron. It added some grippiness to the gun, but one a big portion of the M&P9 that is part of my “grip” is still very smooth (e.g., the portion that meets the meaty part of the palm). So I finally went for the full frame with a wood burner (fine tip).
Scale pattern on the backstrap done using soldering iron tip
For the ‘scale’ pattern that was used for the M&P backstrap, the soldering iron did the job alright (picture above). However, I wanted a finer pattern for the actual frame. So I got a wood burner with several interchangeable tips. It is a $18 investment.
Before I decided to stippled the whole frame, I went with GT-5000 grip tapes. It added a bit of grip, but it was prone to shifting a bit and still not as grippy as I would like to be. So I figure I’ll go for stippling the whole gun.
Disclaimer: This is my experience in the installation of the trigger kit. It worked well for me, but there is always a risk in modifying your own gun. Bring it to a gunsmith if you just want a nice trigger. If you enjoy understanding more about you gun, develop skills to diagnose and work on it, this is actually a good progress to go through yourself.
Installing APEX FSS.
So if you are wondering if it is possible to install the Apex Forward Set Sear (FSS) Trigger Kit without any prior gunsmithing experience, I’m going to say yes. If you can be careful, understand instruction, decent with tools (e.g., using a punch, vice), then it should go relatively smooth. Prior to installing the trigger kit, I have zero experience in gunsmithing. The most I’ve done with my gun was simple cleaning and some stippling of the back strap. I have never even detail stripped my gun before thinking about installing the FSS trigger kit into my full size M&P9.
I wanted to make my full-size M&P 9 more “grippy”. Previously, I’ve used grip tape to achieve a more grippy effect. They work fine on flatter surfaces, but the more contour part of the gun is difficult to to make the tape stay in place. A bit of googling led me to the idea of stippling the polymer frame of the gun.
In short, stippling is using hot iron to melt patterns onto the polymer frame of the gun to give it a rougher surface, which increases friction, thus creating a more grippy feel. Stippling the whole frame of the gun is time consuming and irreversible. Since I had no experience in stippling, I was hesitant on making irreversible changes to my gun. The good thing is, the M&P 9 has a removable backstrap, which also happens to be the part of frame that I wanted the most improvement on in terms of adding more grip -over grip tape-.
A cheap investment of $6 gets me an extra backstrap that I can stipple without the fear of irreversible mistakes (I can always get another backstrap and do it again!)
Scale pattern on the backstrap done using soldering iron tip
Spare magazine significantly higher than the end of the slide.
The INCOG mag caddy is a good addition to the INCOG holster for carrying an extra magazine right next to the holster. It essentially fills the “gap” that is created between the pant and your waist beside the holster (see image below).
Gap on the left of the holster between the pants and the body. Perfect spot for a an extra mag.
Since the mag caddy fits between a gap that already existed, it didn’t increase any discomfort on the waist band. However, the height of the magazine riding in the mag caddy is significantly higher than the end of the slide, which digs into your gut when sitting down (see top image).
Solution: Move the caddy down one slot. However, another comfort problem occurred when moving the caddy down. The end of the mag caddy sticks out about half a centimeter and digs into my thigh.
I figure since I really like the height of the magazine with the mag caddy in its 1-lower position. The end of the mag caddy just has to go. Out comes the dremel.
