Okay I've been stalking this forum for a quite some time. I registered just because I wanted to post a reply to your quest for feedback. I know you feel you've already made your decision. However, I feel anyone looking at small pocket 9mm should seriously consider the Sig P290RS (NOT the regular Sig P290). For the record, I own a S&W M&P PSX AR-15, a Smith and Wesson MOE AR15-22, 2 M&P 9c's, one of which has an upgraded trigger. The M&P is my daily carry weapon, so I'm a big Smith & Wesson fan. That said, I didn't purchase one of these guns based on the fact that it was a Smith and Wesson alone. I did my research and in the end I decided the PSX was the best Piston Driven AR for the money. Same with my AR 15-22. Did my research and again, best AR-22 for the money. And the same held true for my Pistols.

The reason I have two M&P 9c's one is supposed to be my wife's daily carry, but as a petite woman she struggles carrying it and only does if she's going out somewhere alone in her purse. I'm not a big fan of purse carry, and neither is she (you know off the body and all, and the purse itself is a target for theft).

She's been looking at smaller guns, and considering a .380. Initially, when researching I found the Sig P290. So, we went to a local range that had one and I had her shoot it. The experience was not good. The trigger was awful, and it had several malfunctions. That was my first experience with a Sig, and I was not impressed. She liked the gun in her hand, but the experience was a big turn off. I also found way too many bad reviews and just shut it out of my research. I have a buddy who has a Shield and she loved it, but it was still a little on the big side for her. I was really turned off by the manual safety on the Shield (personal preference I know). But, it was definitely easier than the 9c to conceal, so we started looking but we just couldn't find one to purchase anywhere.

Well fast forward a few months and after more research and seeing that Sig has released an updated P290RS model that had positive reviews; hesitantly, I purchased a two tone Sig P290RS two weeks ago. I got a pretty good deal on it so I figured I wouldn't loose much if I needed to sell it. I got it brand new with a laser for just under $475 out the door from a LGS. The guy there basically sold it to me for a hair over cost as I've been a good customer.

Fit and finish are impeccable. Tear down was a pain in the butt at first. It's not exactly an easy process, but now I can remove the slide and barrel in just a few seconds. It's really not hard once you get used to it. I cleaned everything, and applied frog lube throughout. The gun was a bit "stiff" at first. So, I took some time and worked the slide and trigger action probably a 200-300 times with dummy rounds. Basically I figured I'd loosen it up good before actually firing it. I also wanted to make sure there were no manufacturing burs & such left over. I really wanted this thing working perfect for her when she gets it (also a good excuse to fire it :-D).

I finally took it the a range the other day and let me tell you this is one sweet little 9mm pocket gun. I am this close to just keeping this gun for myself. I fired 100 rounds through it with no malfunctions whatsoever. 40 hollow points and the rest a mix of Brass and Steel cased FMJ rounds. It fed everything awesome, the slide lock functioned perfectly, the magazine ejects easily, rounds fed, fired and ejected awesome.

There is one negative I feel I need to mention though. The ejected brass is leaving scrape marks on the brass. I know brass gets a little beat up just by nature of cycling, but this is definitely more marks than my M&P 9c's leave for sure. I didn't notice this till after the first 20 rounds after I'd picked up some of the brass. So, I took the gun apart and cleaned it again. Fired a few more rounds and the empty cases started looking a little better. All in all it's very comfortable to shoot.

For my final rounds I limp wristed the gun and it still kept firing without any issues. Also, the trigger is long, but on the RS model it's also very smooth. I had no issues getting several shots in a nice hand sized group from 7 yards. It's weight makes it feel like you are shooting a bigger gun. Since firing it, I have installed a Hogue sleeve grip on it because she loves those on other guns she handled. I am a little worried what it will do for the grip, but I feel she'll really like that on it and it's easily removed if she doesn't.

Now, I've got it all cleaned and put back in the box. I'm just waiting for Chrismas to come around. I've already contacted the LGS and asked if he can get another one as I'd love it for deep concealment days when it would be a lot easier to carry than my 9c. So far, it's not looking like I'll be able to get another one for that price :-(. But, I may just fork over the extra dough for one, and maybe forgo the laser this time around for myself. I've got a local guy making a custom pancake holster for it tomorrow, and I'm thinking I may just have him make two of them lol.

What I like about the Sig P290RS:

Build quality is very good.
Laser works well and is easy to activate (I have read reports of these having issues, but no issues here).
Excellent factory night sights.
Grip is excellent (some complain about it being too rough.) I found the grip was awesome. It felt like it was part of my hand. Pretty cool for such a small little nine. It was a dream to shoot.
Nice smooth trigger.
Reliable so far.
Very small pocket 9mm. This just disappears in a pocket.

What I don't like about the Sig P290RS:

Tear down is not intuitive. I highly doubt my wife will be able to tear it down as easily as I can.
Some scraped up brass (maybe I'm just being picky?)

What I like about the Shield:

What I like about the shield. It's so similar to my other pistols.
Awesome trigger
Excellent grip
Reliable
Easy to shoot
Bigger grip for larger hands

What I don't like about the Shield:

A little on the big side as compared to the Sig. Not truly pocketable in my opinion.
Manual Safety
Availability (though this will improve eventually)

Anyway, in my opinion, the Sig P290RS is well worth considering. Don't let it out of your radar screen just yet. I know I'm personally having a hard time letting myself give it to my wife. But, I care about her being armed more of course.