So I have a Shield 40 and am tempted to add a 9 to my collection. No reason other than want one really. I went to the LGS and handled the new Shield 9 they had and have to say that it felt totally different than my son's Shield 9 and my 40. The slide cycled super easy for one thing. So much so that I thought it must have bound up halfway through the travel when it stopped. It was actually locked back but I didn't think I had used enough muscle to get it there. Literally day and night. The other major difference was the trigger. A lot more takeup and then a nice break. My son's is supposed to be Mass compliant but has a lighter trigger pull than my non-Mass compliant 40. His had a crisper break than mine. They are both better now after shooting them a while.
I am wondering if folks with access to multiple Shields find as much difference in them as I do. While I understand that mass produced products from different lots, years, etc can be different I also don't think they should feel like a totally different gun. Our Shields were bought in December of last year and had fairly recent build dates (don't remember exactly) so I wouldn't think there would be that much difference.
I really loved that 9 with the easier slide and better (to me) trigger though! Not tooling on S&W or Shields. Love them both, just curious if anyone else has experienced this.