The shield 9 does require a break-in period.Depending on where I am going to be,my EDC will be either the shield 9 or aM&P compact .22.Working around the house or ranch,its the .22,mostly because its a bunch lighter.When ever I leave home,the carry is the 9.Regarding the 9 though,both the mags and the pistol require break in.I kept the 9 heavily lubed and ran 1000 rnds of blazer through it.This really smoothed it up.I have 8 mags and they are always kept fully loaded,with the intent of relaxing the mag springs a bit.I cannot load the mags by hand due to my 73 yr old arthritic hands. I cannot pull the slide back either without a tac-rac and I use a uplula to load the mags.In the EDC mode,I keep a 115gr fmj in the pipe,and 3 mags alternatly loaded with jhp and fmj rounds.The idea being that when I switch to paper punching or clay busting,I use only fmj loaded in the other 5 mags.This keeps me from burning thru the expensive jhp's and still allows me to keep a fmj in the gun w/o slide racking. My "lube" is a mix of Rotella T-6 and Moly-coat in a 1 to 1 ratio.The moly becomes part of the surface weather its steel,aluminum,or plastic and significantly reduces friction.