ditto1958

Well, I went out and got a 9mm semi-automatic yesterday. I bought a Smith & Wesson SD9 I found on sale for $399. The gun itself appears to be really nice. Very "Glock-like." Haven't fired it yet, will hopefully get to do that this evening.

I read all the reviews on it and Jeff Quinn did one at gunblast.com. His review gun came in a hard plastic case. Mine just came in a blue S & W box. Not even a rug like Ruger is doing.

The SD series is positioned above the old Sigmas and below the M & P's so I know they are trying to stay at a price point. But still, that really seems a bit cheap of S & W.

gwnorth

You bought a companies bargain priced gun and you got bargain priced packaging. I'm not saying its a bad gun nor a bad deal. But these days, $400 doesn't get you much more than the gun and a magazine, especially from one of the big player manufacturers.

You see the same thing with long guns - seems more are opting for very plain cardboard boxes and fewer accessories.

Benemorte

Every gun purchase that I have ever made, new or used, that came in a box, plastic or cardboard, always ended up in the case/box "pile", never to be seen or used again unless the gun was traded or sold anyways, the only reason to save them at all.

Even though I have a few firearms that came in a factory made "case", none of them are ever used for long. I am quite particular about how my guns are stored and transported, and factory cases just are not up to par for me.

I no longer own or have any intentions of buying any S&W firearms, but if I did, the cardboard box would not be a concern to me, just the quality of what is inside.

Regardless, since you are the owner of the gun, if it tugs at you I would drop S&W a line and express your displeasure. Perhaps you can get them to send you some freebies or something.

bearcatter

Not so great. The LCR is the first Ruger rug I've gotten. Looks neat, but thin padding and big enough to put 2 1/2 LCRs in. I use Plano hard cases anyway........

ditto1958

Well, yes and no. I guess what gets me is that they apparently originally packaged it with the case, but some bean counter must have decided saving money on packaging was a great idea. To me it just makes the company seem a little cheap.

I don't want to seem as though I'm having a hissy fit about this. The gun itself seems very nice. It's not a bargain basement model at all, just a little more affordable than the M&P line which they say is really marketed most for LEO's.

jaxrider14

You got the lowest price point gun package from S&W (in a cardboard box). I got the same when I bought my S&W snub nose 38 Airweight on sale. Considering what you paid, it is a fair deal.

I bought a Springfield XD40 in a package deal that was almost $100 less than their "upgraded" package. At that price point I didn't get a plastic magazine pouch a cheap mag loader, and a plastic holster. Considering how much I saved, I was very happy to get the same gun with two magazines for a bargain price. With the money I saved, I bought a better quality mag loader and a holster that better fits my needs.

charlie9280

Hi ditto,
Even my M&P Shield 40 came in a cardboard box. My M&P .45 and .40c both came in the plastic boxes, but those were purchased a while back. But like others have already said, the plastic cases just sit in my closet collecting dust.

One thing to consider, the nice platic case probably will not pass TSA requirements for airline travel. You might consider one of the hard-shell cases by Pellican or similar makers. I bought a TZ Case at a gun show which is on par with a Pellican case, but a little bit cheaper. But mostly my guns stay locked in my small gun safe or wall rack, or in my CCW holster. I use a range bag for carrying to the range.

Yes, the M&P line is marketed for Military and LEO, but they are extremely popular with civilians as well. I have 3 M&P autos and an M&P AR15. I'm neither Military or LEO.

BTW, the plastic case for the AR15 is very flimsy and not much better than cardboard anyway. I bought a nice zippered nylon case for that one.

ditto1958

Well, it still seems to be a good value for the money. Also came with two magazines, and of course the obligatory lock. For $399? Not bad.

I also see that the SD line has now been replaced by the SD VE's and they have apparently lost the standard tritium front sight- another cost cutting move. Perhaps I am fortunate to have gotten the last SD9 the store had.

cowboy85306

Howdy-
Simple truth is that s&w needs to stay open so it's employees stay employed, and to do that, they need to sell guns. If they can make products more affordable by going to lower cost packaging ( do you shoot the gun, or the box it came in? ) , which allows better value to the consumer, then bravo. They sell more guns, and they stay in business.
For my part, I have had to send a gun back to S&W for warranty work once, and they did fix it just fine. I own , well, lets say more than one.
Not trying to flame, just my 0.02

kingpins9

Many gun manufacturers are headed back to cardboard boxes due to inflation, even SIG.

ExArmy11b

$400 could have bought you a nice 5906

I'm just kidding, but I did get a Sheriff trade in 5906 for about $400 that looked like it had very few rounds through it, and the 5906 is considered one of the very best pistols S&W ever made. It's a shame they dropped it.

The SD line is what it is, made for people who want a solid gun for Home Defense but don't want to spend a ton of money. The Bodyguard is also S&W's "budget" CC gun. I'm sure the SD is a fine gun, but I don't think it's made to hold up to 10's of thousands of rounds.

IMO, which is worth about what you pay for it, Ruger has the P95 9mm and my dealer sells them for less than $300 OTD and Bud's has them for $330 with free shipping, with dealer transfer you're at maybe $350 or so. It's something to think about, it does the same job as the S&W SD and no doubt will hold up better if you actually plan to shoot it.

RAC55

I have several S&W revolvers that I like very much, but most of them I bought back in the 80s when plastic cases were unheard of except for Glock. All my Smiths are in cardboard boxes which makes it easy to stow them in my gun safe. Even my Colt Python came in a cardboard box, and I'm sure not going to fault that gun for the box it came in...

VietVet68

Problem is that when you buy on the cheap you'll always kick yourself in the buttinsky for not spending another $150 & getting a G19 or for another $50 you could get a S&W M&P Shield.
I'm not that familiar with the Ruger line up to make a reccomendation from them.

computerdynamics

Every gun should come with the rug at least. When I'm at the range I lay the gun on it so it's not on the wood, and the bullets that I'm loading on it to keep everything clean and free of somebody else's crud. It just seems like it's part of what should be part of the package? I relined the Ruger rugs with felt to beef them up a little? At the very least it's a little cushion in my range bag.
Tony
PS Please ignore Mama's lady bug........ ; )

j3rd

ditto: Jeff Quinn liked it? Hhmmm... has Jeff ever reviewed a gun he didn't like? But yeah, that's how bargain guns go. I wasn't in the market for a .380 but when my LGS had the Taurus TCP 738 on sale for $185 I snatched one up. Didn't get the carry case or extra mag but like it was said before you get what you pay for. And it has functioned almost perfectly, which is the most important feature of any SD product.