For those interested, it appears the 45 Shield does share some common parts with the shield 9/40. I broke mine down to bare bones, installed a Shield apex trigger and set of Shield Ameriglo night sights. The striker block is unique to the Shield 45 and is longer than a standard Apex USB. Wasn't a big deal to stone and polish the stock SB and the action is very smooth. I polished the sear and adjusted the loop. Breaks clean ~4.5 lbs with very little over travel. Won't need an apex sear.

A couple things to remember, the sear pin head has to be rotated until if fits flush. It's not round but fitted to clear a couple edges on the sear block. The sear pin has to be flush else the safety won't be in the proper position.

When removing the take down lever, the Shield 45 has the same little tab as the Shield 9/40 that has to be rotated to a matching cut out in the frame. I believe there's an Apex video that illustrates this. The Apex trigger pretty much dropped right in, but did require the same minor fitting I had to do with my Shield 9.

The shield MGW sight tool WON'T work for the Shield 45. The 45 slide is too wide and won't fit. Good news is the sights we're as tight as most 9/40s. I have a universal sight tool, which worked just fine for both removing/installing the Ameriglos. For those that have removed/replaced sights on a Shield 9/40, the 45 is MUCH easier, at least for my Shield 45.

Looking forward to putting some rounds down range tomorrow.

On mine I left the stock trigger in place. I removed the sear and polished it in two different places, polished the firing pin block and polished the striker. These things yielded a measured 4 1/2# trigger pull with absolutely no creep or overtravel. In time I will put night sights on it. I have no need for the Apex parts although I do think they are a good company.

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To be forgiven, I must forgive

That's what I want to do to mine............just smooth out the trigger.
Any pictures/videos on doing this?

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S&W Shield 45
S&W 500 Magnum

It breaks down like any M&P, so there are plenty of videos our there showing how to do so and also where to polish. The Burwell sight used to have some instructions and I know Apex has some videos showing how to break down an M&P. On my Shield 45 the sear housing roll pin was very tight and preferred coming out right to left for some reason. I polished the roll pin a bit. Still pretty tight but manageable.

The striker block comes out like any M&P. I believe there are two ways to remove it, one doesn't involve removing the rear sight. Never did the latter being most of the time the sights were being replaced with tritiums from the start and I waited until then to either replace/polish the striker block.

Does anyone know if the Apex kit - Details works with the Shield 45?
I emailed Apex but haven't received a reply yet.

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S&W Shield 45
S&W 500 Magnum

Thanks to the OP for this info. I was getting ready to do this this weekend.

Interesting about the different striker block. Good to know the Apex trigger will work. Sounds like all I'll be adding to mine along with the obligatory polishing.

Mine is done. I've put ~200 rounds through it, mostly doing accuracy and functional checks. Not one issue. Trigger breaks clean and crisp. For a compact 45, it is very shooter friendly. I stuck a silhouette target out at 25 yards to see how well it could hold a group off hand. My full size M&P 45s have no problem eating up the center. The Shield 45 kept 95% in a 5" circle, all center mass. Not bad for a subcompact. The fliers were me, not the gun. It loves PMC 185 gr HPs.

Totally happy with the ameriglo night sights. Typically get the 3 dot system but decided on the two dot after installing a set on my friends M&P40FS. The two dot is really easy to line up in low light conditions, just put one on top of the other.

Other than getting a couple spare mags, it's ready to go.

Did the sear appear to be the same in the 45 vs the 9/40?

I called Brownells a few hours before I found your post and they said that the trigger from the 9/40 would not fit the 45 but the Sear and USB would fit. Glad I found your post indicating that the Striker Block was different and that the trigger does in fact fit.

I replaced the sights on my Shield 45 with the same sights that are on the Shield 9 PC. HiViz fiber optics. Looks great and man do they pick up the light. Thought about night sights but I have great night stand guns and really have trouble picking up night sights in the pure dark anyway, plus in a situation they will probably be to close to sight the gun in and if they weren't most of the time you should be heading the other way.
Yes the sights were a pain to get off, definitely need a pusher. My generic pusher did just fine.

If it is so dark that all you can see is the night sights it would be hard to ID your target and unless the target has Id'ed himself as a bad guy I wouldn't be pulling the trigger. My friends wife nearly shot him when he came home late one night. Gun as aimed and he turned on the bedroom light before she pulled the trigger. Good thing he trained her to Id the target before shooting. Get a hand held light and learn to use it properly.

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USN Retired/VN VET
M&P X5

Magload,
You are correct ( I have Streamlight TLR-2 on all my Bedside guns. Laser Light Combo) most shootings with home defense guns are family members or someone you know. A light is a must. I really like the light laser combo that Streamlight provides. I just really don't care for night sights, because when you try to use them they are really not bright enough to pick up quickly enough anyway. So I always have the light laser combo.

Was this the "flatty" trigger that you put in? Was there any fitment issues? How has it been holding up?

Just saw this...

I did use the Shield MGW sight tool. Had to do a small bit of filing, but all worked well. If I need to change my 9mm sights someday, I might need to shim.