As promised here's a range report on the Shield 40.

I was able to fire 50 rounds of Winchester white box 165gr. and 20 rounds of Winchester SXT 180gr. Flawless, except for one failure to return to battery early on with one of the white boxes. The slide was only 1mm from being completely closed and tapping it forward corrected the stoppage. I'll report any other issues as I get to put more rounds through it but my confidence in the Shields reliability was not diminished. No other hitches from that point forward, including the SXTs.

Recoil is manageable and quick follow up shots are possible. I'm comfortable admitting fatigue was setting in toward the end of my session. This is not a criticism, the Shield 40 is a very compact concealed carry/back up piece chambered in a relatively powerful round. I'm sure the designers didn't put much weight into the criteria of making a comfortable pistol for extended range sessions. I'll start to sound like the other reviews out there from this point forward. These guns are accurate! The build quality is impressive, doubly so when you factor in the price point. The small size and light weight will surely make this my favorite carry piece once I get some more rounds down the pipe.

To balance the review, I need to find something to criticize so here it is. The trigger is indeed very nice, but if I could change one thing I'd take a shorter reset. As a recent convert to the Walther P99 / Smith SW99 I've become spoiled by their quick reset. Admittedly, I'm nitpicking and also comparing an ultra compact to a full size design.

Overall, the Shield 40 is an excellent pistol! No doubt the Shield can be considered the best in its class. Based on the product and the way they handled the launch Smith deserves to sell a ton of these and they will!


Now that that's out of the way, how about making a Shield 45 Smith?