I went to a gun show in Greensboro today and had a chance to handle a Shield 9 Vs the Ruger lc9s. My friend is a big fan of Ruger and he said I should look at the lc9s.The Ruger was very nice I must say. The couple of ounces difference between the two for me was noticable. The Ruger seemed to me that it would be easier to conceal. But even with the mag extension on the Ruger the Shield had a better feel in my hand with the larger magazine in place. The Ruger has one less magazine and that also would matter to me. Lowest price I saw today was $349.00 plus tax, on the Shield, and that seemed like a great price since every time I walked past the table one more as gone. If I was going to carry an automatic the Shield would be my choice over the Ruger.

The LC9S's trigger does feel a bit nicer than my Shield's, but the proof is in the shooting. I broke my dominant wrist's nevicular bone a long time ago and it never healed properly, which makes me a bit more 'recoil sensitive' than many.
The perceived recoil of the Shield makes it MUCH nicer (to me anyway) to shoot than any of the LC9 variants out there. I don't know for certain, but I believe that's due to the difference in their bore axis (the Shield's is lower?)
Anyway, for me and my old wrist, the Shield is an 'All-Day-Shooter', while I need to put the LC9 (any variant) down after 30 rounds.

I like your Gun Shows Dealers. Everyone at my Local Gun Show last week wanted right around $400 (or more) for Shields.

$349.00 plus tax was the best price there. I saw others at $369.00 up to $399.00. So you just had to hit all the tables before you bought anything. It was a very large show. And the biggest I've been at around here. First one I got nailed for parking though. $10.00 for the show and $5.00 parking.

I own two 9mm Shields and one LC9s Shields are thicker and heavier,
LC9s thin and light . All shoot very well . That said I would go with the LC9s Pro No mag safety, or thumb safety- I have no problem with the thumb safety on any of these three pistols All feed everything, Factory or my reloads. One Shield is my BBQ gun-FTO NS, OD green frame, APEX sear other Shield has XS BD front sight and APEX sear. LC9s has FTO NS also.

From Ruger's site they indicate the LC9s has a manual safety. If all do then it's not a SD pistol for me. Some may freely choose one, however.

Retired cop.

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
-- George Orwell

Ruger LC9s Pro - no thumb safety and no magazine safety.

Correct... From their site:
#3248 - Pro Model: Integrated Trigger Safety Only
They came out with their NTS "Pro" model about a Month or so ago.

I bought a LC9s-Pro about a month ago. Ruger finally got it right...this is what they should have come out with in the first place. The trigger is better than my M&P9c and the gun is easy and fun to shoot. It has replaced my 9c as my daily carry gun. It fits easily in the front pocket of my Jeans, or in my White Hat IWB. I installed the CT Laser Guard about a week ago and now I carry it everywhere.

The only downside is that it only comes with one 7 round magazine, but they included a finger rest end cap. I ordered another mag from Ruger using my 20% discount for filling out the Owner's Card.

I have shot 40 rounds of Hornady Critical Defense ammo without any issues, and have put about 200 rounds of Winchester White box ammo through it without one failure.

Easy to carry, easy to shoot, easy to conceal....my kind of gun.

Guess I should note that I did buy a Shield when they first came out. I only kept if for about 4 months and got rid of it. I didn't like the thumb safety to begin with, liked even less after I started carrying it. I could never get used to the stiff recoil spring and had difficulty racking the slide because of some arthritis in my hands. The Ruger is much easier to operate in my opinion.

Thanks for the feedback. I bought a LC9s last year and am satisfied with it. However, I will look over the new model my next trip to my LGS.

You will be pleased with the LC9, I was between that and the shield but the LC9 fit the bill better when it came to concealment, and it plain shot better. Shield is long gone, LC9 goes everywhere I do.

good luck

__________________
Shoot Straight and Shoot often

Not disputing how it worked out for you but I think this is one that, well, YMMV. I had both the LC9S Pro and the Shield but ended up keeping the Shield and trading the Pro. Very subjective, but while the Pro was easier to conceal it wasn't by much (and I have other concealable choices) but the Shield just felt better more solid and shot a little better for me too.

I bought the LC9s as a present to myself. I loved how smooth the trigger felt in the store. But then I shot it and it was killing my finger. I haven't had that sort of problem with my M&P Shield. I traded off the LC9s. I really wanted to love it but I couldn't. I couldn't shoot it for more than a few rounds before it really started to hurt my trigger finger. I can shoot my Shield all day and it doesn't bother me a bit. That was my experience with it.

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G21C,Shield.40,LCP

LC9s here.

Nicest trigger by far (IMO) in the single stack 9mm pistol class.

Design makes it easy to carry, light weight, and great ergos.

Picking up a LC9s Pro ASAP.

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Molon Labe!

That was part of my decision too. Want lots of practice time with the primary carry and the Shield just seemed better suited.

The Shield and LC9 are great guns at a price point but the King of the Hill is the Sig P938 maybe heavier but really accurate.

My only Shield experience was with a 40, but I was impressed with the way it shot. I haven't seen the LC9s, but have fired the LC9 and can leave it. I don't know if +P in a Shield is recommended, but it is a big no-no in the LC9. I saw the ill effects of one that had fired probably 500-600 rounds of it over its short fe span. For me, the Shield is a better choice. It is a surprisingly good shooter.

LC9s has an incredible trigger. It might be next on my list as a grab and go gun.

The Owner's Manual for both pistols say the same thing. Both can fire +P, but +P+ is not to be used.

From the Ruger LC9S-Pro Owners Manual:

Although the RUGER® LC9s PRO™ pistol is capable of functioning with +P
ammunition, a steady diet of +P ammunition will shorten the endurance life of
this pistol. You should never shoot 9mm +P+ ammunition in your RUGER®
LC9s PRO™. There are no SAAMI or CIP pressure limits on 9mm +P+ and
use of this ammunition could result in serious injury. Do not use “+P+”
ammunition.
Note on theLC9s PRO™: Do not use “+P+” ammunition.


From the Shield Owners Manual:

“Plus-P” (+P) ammunition generates pressures in excess of the
pressures associated with standard ammunition. Such pressures
may affect the wear characteristics or exceed the margin of safety.
Use of “Plus-P” ammunition may result in the need for more
frequent service.

“Plus-P-Plus” (+P+) ammunition must not be used in Smith &
Wesson firearms. This marking on the ammunition designates that
it exceeds established industry standards, but the designation
does not represent defined pressure limits and therefore such
ammunition may vary significantly as to the pressures generated
and could be DANGEROUS.

Both S&W & Ruger are good quaility arms manuafactuers.

I just checked out a new Ruger LC9s and its about as close to a competitor to the shield as one can get. It has a nice robust feel to it that screams quality and priced right. Would I put my Shield down & buy a Ruger LC9S now? No because in my hand, the Shield feels better and besides, I already own a Shield... In your hand the Ruger may feel better. They are both so similar in size/weight/feel it really boils down to what feels right in your hand...

Recently had the chance to shoot/compare a stock LC9S with my stock Shield 9mm. The Ruger had a very nice trigger with a sweet crisp break for stock compared to my Shield's heavy 7.75lb pull & stiff break. I did like the ergos/fit of my Shield better so hopefully the Apex Sear on its way to me will sweeten up the trigger of my Shield.

Sent via my Nokia Lumia 520 with Tapatalk

I liked the fatter grip on the Shield. I liked the trigger(very much) and the smaller size and better concealablilty(is that a word?) of the LC9s. As long as it has the finger grip on the clip, I can keep it under control. LC9s came home with me and I'm quite happy with it.

I question the durability of the lc9s. My wife has one, and after about 500 rounds, the guide rod snapped. It appears to be a flimsy, swaged two piece affair. I'm trying to talk her into a shield. I have three other S&W pieces, and they are all made to last.

If you search this Forum for Shield Guide Rod you will find the Shield has had its own issues.
For just a few Threads on the subject:

M&P Shield.. Is this an issue??

Shield RSA one more time

recoil guide failure mp shield 9mm

My LC9s, as well as my M&P's, have been flawless after years of use. My LC9s has had over 2000 rounds through it without an issue.

I purchased one of the original Ruger LC9 pistols a few years ago. Like most, I wasn't happy with the long trigger pull, but got used to it when Ruger began offering 9-round magazines for the pistol. With practice, the pistol shot tight groups at 10 yards. My carry ammo is 147gr std velocity JHPs.
I bought the 9mm Shield about a year ago and immediately noticed the larger frame and slide size as compared to the Ruger pistol. I also purchased the mag-guts magazine inserts which increased my 8-round magazines' capacity to 9 rounds.
Both will now carry 9+1 up the tube for a CCW carry of 19 rounds with a spare magazine in my weak-side front pocket.
The Ruger has a true single-stack magazine so it is easier to grip than the Shield, although I alternate both for CCW on a weekly basis, but hadn't settled on a preference.
In the interim, I sent the Ruger to Galloway for their trigger bar conversion (which significantly shortens the trigger pull). Striker actions are OK, but I'm now leaning toward the smoother trigger pull and predictable let-off of the hammered Ruger when I 'A-B' the two pistols at the gun range.
Just my .02 from an old retiree with lots of free time to spend at the gun range.
Echo47