A few days ago I ordered a brand new M&P40 Shield 1.0 Performance Center online for the excellent price of only $359.99! Yesterday it arrived at my LGS and I picked it up in the afternoon. At first glance, the M&P40 Shield 1.0 PC was obviously "new old stock" by it's very appearance both on the surface of the box and within. The box had some tell-tale signs that it had just been sitting somewhere collecting dust for awhile, (DoB = 01/2017) and the pistol itself was bone dry, it's preservative apparently having long since dried out. However, the tritium inserts on the sights are still nice and bright.









Being a Performance Center model, it has a ported barrel/slide as well as tritium night sights, both of which should come in handy since I do intend to carry this pistol in the future. Typically I'm not fond of porting, but my opinions of porting are largely based on hearsay, as I have never owned nor shot a firearm with a ported barrel pistol. However, for the price I paid, I don't care, if I end up shooting it and disliking the porting, then I can always buy a replacement barrel sans porting dow the line, but I think it might actually come in handy on such a lightweight .40cal pistol, and based on what I've seen, when fired at night the flash from the porting appears impressive/potentially intimidating, yet not at all blinding.

My only problem now is that all of my range ammo is CCI Blazer Brass, which has a warning printed on the box against shooting it out of ported barrels. I tried to buy a box of ammo at my LGS when I picked it up, but all they had in stock was Armscor ammo priced at $36 a box, so I had to pass. I didn't check, but I doubt that cheap Armscor ammo is any safer out of a ported barrel than CCI Blazer, and at $36 for a box of 50 rounds, forget it. It's a Performance Center model anyway, so odds are it's 100% reliable right out of the box, and I don't plan on carrying it right away anyhow because it's so cold that I can still easily carry my SW40VE without issue, which holds twice the ammo in the magazine.

Needless to say, I am most pleased with my purchase. Folks around here may recall that I have been seeking a new lightweight subcompact carry gun for hot Summer days as well as concerns over the possibility that my state of residence may adopt restrictions on magazine capacity in the future, and this M&P40 Shield PC fits the bill quite nicely.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

Congrats on your new handgun... Wow, the price was awesome !

If you want to do test shooting, just go to online stores (GunBroker has ammo all the time) and buy something branded. Yes, I know, it will cost more than usual... but it's better to find out if the handgun is ok now...

Good luck ! Have a great time with M&P40 Sheld PC

Hi OP, I used to have a PC Shield (1.0 9mm) that overall was a great gun. I also used Blazer Brass as my main range ammo and happened to notice the non-ported labeling due to thinner plating that could flake off. Seems other manus were the same, no to Blazer but ok with Lawman. No to Fed champ but ok to use Am Eagle, and so on. Wasnt an issue at the time as i could find plenty of ammo that was ok and was inexpensive. Understood that these days are different and one has fewer affordable options.
I did follow the labeling but would guess others do not. Just something to potentially deal with in what I felt was an overall solid gun choice and I had zero issues with it. I just moved on to an EZ Shield as my arthritic thumb was preferring an easier slide to handle. The joys of aging lol.

Thanks Forte Smitten Wesson for better pictures

Nice looking PC version. The only what is missing - M2.0 grip texture.
I had this slippy grip on my M&P22C and couldn't keep it steady
I invested $9 on Ebay and bought soldering iron to make stipplings by myself.
Not perfect, like on M2.0, but made the grip solid and handgun very steady.
It may work for you if you want a quite good texture.

Congrats on your PC Shield. I'm sure you will really enjoy it. The Shield is a great pistol. I currently own three, two 9's and a .40. It may not be as popular as some of the latest offerings but in my humble opinion the Shield continues to be one of the best single stack, striker fired pistols on the market.

Good reasoning on the porting of the barrel.

On shavings coming through the ports from plated bullets, I have read that this is an issue only while holding the gun in retention position, in other words, very close to you. If you hold it out in front of your face at arms length either single-handed or double handed this probably won’t make any difference for breaking it in and current range shooting. For safety, stay separated from nearby shooters.

I'm glad that you liked the pictures, as it was actually pretty hard to get some good pics with the overcast weather outdoors, but I wanted to do it justice with some proper pics, so once the skies cleared I took the opportunity to snap a few pics with my phone.

I actually don't care for the 2.0 grip texture, it seems too abrasive for me. Something about rough, gritty textured things rubbing against my skin makes me extremely uncomfortable, (the palms of my hands are one thing, but the tough of it rubbing against my side while riding inside an IWB Holster makes my skin crawl) so I prefer more conventional checkering or otherwise rubber grips. I plan on possibly outfitting my Shield with a rubber grip sleeve should the stock grip texture prove too slippery.

Oh, one thing that I forget to mention which really surprised me is just how well the Shield fits my hands. Initially I thought that the grip was going to be either too short or too thin, but surprisingly I can get a pretty firm, secure grip on the Shield, even with the flush-fitting magazine I can get a mostly full-finger grip on the handle. I thought for certain that my little finger was going to hang off the bottom, but it actually fits about 3/4 of the way onto the grip with the flush magazine, and then some with the extended magazine.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

I had a Hogue grip on my PC and really liked it. Better texture and a little thicker. A pain in the ........ to get on though.

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My brother has that exact same grip sleeve on his Ruger LC9S, and he had trouble getting it on too. The trick is to stretch the sleeve out first by puting it over increasingly larger diameter objectives before fitting it on the grip. My brother stretched out the grip sleeve by streching it over an old cell phone followed by a TV remote control, then he put it on his gun and it went on easily, so if I go that route then I'll just do the same.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

Rubber slip on grip application:

1. Place rubber grip in microwave bowl.
2. Cover grip with water and add a generous drop of dish soap.
3. Heat until very hot, but definitely not boiling.
4. Heat gun handle with hair dryer.
5. Use tongue depressors to slip rubber grip up on gun.

congrats and happy shooting

Good score Forte. A PC .40 was my first Shield. I soon acquired a .45 Shield and liked the PC .40 a tad bit better, so I carried the PC the last 4 years.
I added Talon grip tape, TFO's and a TRL-6. This spring I got a ported 9mm conversion barrel for it, so I can shoot both.

My favorite carry now is the Shield .45, but the PC .40/9mm is a close second.
I never found any downside to the porting, the ports are small and don't cause any of the problems some will say are issues.
The porting maybe reduced the snap of the .40 somewhat.

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U. S. Army Veteran

That's a really nice looking Shield.

As my username suggests, I'm really into .40 S&W, but I'll probably end up getting a 9mm Conversion Barrel for my Shield somewhere down the line for the sake of versatility. It's basically like having two guns in one, and a Conversion Barrel is about 1/3rd if not 1/4th the cost of a new 9mm, so why not?
Heck, I'd get a .357 SIG barrel too, but I doubt that a lightweight subcompact pistol like the Shield would hold up very well to .357 SIG which goes well beyond 10mm, let alone .40 S&W/9mm in terms of peak operating pressure.

I can already tell that I'm going to enjoy carrying the Shield because it's just so lightweight, slim, and fits my hands so well. As for the recoil, I'm not too concerned because I tend to enjoy a bit of recoil, I find it reassuring to carry as well as invigorating to shoot, so I'll probably be alright.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

I personally wouldn't worry about shooting the blaser is it.

The Remsport 9mm barrel I got is quality stuff.
They are one of the few (maybe the only) that make a ported Shield conversion barrel.
A bit different hood profile, and a more square feed ramp, but it locks up tighter than the factory .40 barrel.

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U. S. Army Veteran

Take a look at the rubberized Talon for your Shield. I have had three of them on my Shield. Didn't care for the granulated version but really like the rubber one and they are cheap!