Here is a quick Shield review that I wasn't going to originally do since there are so many out there already.
No comparison pics really except the Shield next to my Kimber Ultra Carry and probably for the first time on the internet, next to a/my Colt 1903.
I bought this used for $320 before tax. It honestly looked as though it had a box or two put through it max from the almost unfired condition inside and out.
Ammo shot
Federal Maroon colored box 115gr.
Winchester generic 115gr. HP ammo
Federal HST 124gr. +P
Winchester PDX-1 124gr. +P
Speer Gold Dot 147gr.
Total rounds shot: 200
All of the above ammo fed, fired and ejected perfectly. There was barely any difference in perceived recoil from one type of ammo to the next, although I could tell when I was shooting +P. IMO, this stays planted in the hand with less recoil than any of the other slim 9mm offerings that I've shot or owned out there.
Accuracy was pretty good. All shooting was done at 15 yards which is the minimum distance my closest range allows target.
First picture shows the first 5 shots I put through it. Ammo was the 115gr. Federal ball ammo.
This is the last target of the day. I decided to shoot whatever ammo I had left in the 3 magazines I brought as quickly as I could pull the trigger and reload. It's somewhere around 17-19rds. Not really sure since I just loaded up two full mags and whatever else in the last.
The only 2 modifications I did to the gun was the Apex hard sear and a DIY round and polish job on the striker block. Both mods helped the trigger and over travel, although it wasn't bad at all in it's stock configuration.
I thought I'd mention the thumb safety. Although it's easy to flick on an off, it's still not as easy as my BG380 thumb safety.
When I was putting in the Apex sear, I compared the Shield thumb safety with the larger thumb safety in my FS M&P 9mm. If the widths were the same, I'll bet that a little tweeking and filing here and there would have them interchange quite easily. I'm used to thumb safeties on other firearms which I ride with my grip thumb so having an extended version for the Shield would be a huge plus. Considering it's just bent metal, if someone dosn't make an extended single sided thumb safety for the Shield, I may try and make one myself. I'd like to modify it to click into position more positively like I did with my FS but not in it's flush configuration.
Final verdict is, if you have doubts about the Shield and why it's so popular, try and rent one or shoot somebody else's sometime. It's defiantly a keeper in my book. I have a holster kit coming from Old Faithful holsters soon so I'll have to wait for it to show up to give comments about carrying it. I did carry it once with a cheap universal IWB holster which was almost like carrying nothing at all.
A small Shield review I wasn't going to do....
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