Would you trust your LIFE to a new Shield?

[kmanick]

I've put 100 rounds through mine but so far no problems. Do I 100% trust it yet? No not yet.
I trust my FS .40. I've put about 1000 rounds through that without a single issue. I need to put about 300 more rounds though it before I feel "safe" depending on it.

 

[Plazzman]

Seems like this is one of their biggest problems, the RSA, would this make it anymore trust worthy? Oh and for the record I own a Shield as well as some of my friends. For me I would trust it with my life, but not right out of the box that is for sure.

 

[Pointblank2U]

NO and I would not buy another. We have two sitting in the safe because Smith can't provide RSAs and won't let you backorder them.

 

[MyDads38]

I own both a Shield 9 and a Shield 40. Both are very accurate, reliable and dependable; and have been since day one. I carry my Shield 9 daily. Only reason I haven't carried the 40 is I haven't tested any SD ammo through it yet. Once I find it's preferred ammo, it will also go into rotation. Neither of my Shields have had the RSA problem others have experienced. My guns are all stock, and I personally see no reason to change anything-If it's not broke.....

So yes, I trust my life to my Shield; along with all the other guns that I carry.

 

[Stu Honea]

Paladin,I bought the first Shield for my wife. I intended to make it a test piece. I bought it in Sept.2014 and took it out of the box loaded it up and started shooting it.I fired Federal 124 and 147 gr.ball,the same weights in the HST's along with Ranger loads and various other cheap 9mm ball.I shot it this way until the week of Christmas with no cleaning or lube.
We spent the week of Christmas in the Smokies and upon returning I continued shooting it this way until April when I left with our church's Mission Builders team to help work on a new sanctuary for a Church in Coushatta,La. Upon return i shot it for another week,then broke it down and thoroughly cleaned and lubed it. I then started all over again,along with my wife and shot it through the summer the same way.

Satisfied,I went in August and bought my own.Same story on this one. I had no malfunctions with the wife's gun. I had exactly one malf with mine when the slide locked back and failed to feed a round into the chamber. I slingshotted it and continued with no other problems.

I carry the Shield more than any other pistol these days and my wife carries hers exclusively.She won't touch anything else these days.Her other two handguns stay in the safe.

My answer is yes.We do trust our life with the Shields,and we both trust ourselves with the guns. The Shields are very,very tight when new,with strong recoil and mag springs and I believe a lot of shooting is required to get them to a point of "easy" operation. Reliability has been as good as it gets with any semi auto pistol. One point of view,but I hope it helps to answer your question. I shoot all new pistols as described above. I require that my own guns pass this test and are vetted before will rely on them for defense.

 

[326MOD10]

Up until a week ago I thought I knew the answer to this question and that would have been a yes, with the obvious disclaimer of putting about 500 rounds through it to get it broken in. I had some initial issues but they worked themselves out, so I guess I wouldn't trust it out of the box.

Last week I took it out and toward the end of my shooting session had two instances where the slide went shut on an empty magazine (different magazines) and one failure to extract. Now I am starting to question my choice.

I also have a Glock 43 which has been 100% reliable out of the box but I have not cycled 500 rounds through it yet. I like the feel of the Shield, due to the grip angle, a little better but did qualify with the Glock last time out.

Used to carry a 642 off duty and have gone back to that on occasion lately and just picked up one of the new 442 Performance Center models. Not sure which way I am going to go but may be phasing out the Shield for now.

 

[DartonJager]

Yes I own one and trust it with my life as well as those I love. Also mine is a two 1/2 year old model and I have disassembled reassembled it many many times no issues what so ever with the all steel RSA, I was not aware there was even a special way it needed to be reinstalled except for not backwards. I disassemble every hand gun I own after every trip to the range just to insure all internals I can see are A OK, so I have as I said, disassembled/reassembled my Shield quite a few times. And will continue to do so. I have fired almost every type of commercial ammo out of mine as well as quite a few SD loads, zero problems.

 

[Bozz10mm]

I did have a few fte's with my brand new, out of the box Shield 9mm in the first 200 rounds. So no I wouldn't. In fact, I wouldn't trust any firearm right out of the box.

I would trust it now. With over 1500 rounds, it hasn't missed a lick since.

 

[Motorsporting]

If you mean "straight out of the box" and into my holster, without firing it past the 200 round mark, then no way. I wouldn't trust that with any gun (Glock, Sig, HK, S/W, Wilson Combat, etc.). If you mean "straight out of the box" after a few hundred rounds - then YES! My Shield has treated me well.

 

[BigDog48]

Yes, and I do every day.

 

[RobzGuns]

Ok, guys and gals. Let's blow the foam off the beer and get really honest. First off, I'm a S&W fan and collector. I don't own a Shield, although I have a 39, a 59, and a 3913. All of these work like a marble rolling down a child's slide.

Okay... To be honest, I've never been an M&P fan, although my 1st Carry handgun was a S&W 19-3. The 'Factory Out of the Box' Shield is the only M&P I'd trust from Day 1. Mine is almost 4yrs old now. I test fired it against the XD-S and bought it before it got Hard to Find (and gained Unicorn status back in 2012).

I also have a couple of (may I say the word?) Glocks. They work and have always worked 100% for me, right out of the factory box.

My first CC pistol, after the 19-3 was a brand new Gen2 G19 in '90. Since then, I've added a G26 to the mix. They've both been flawless and would have any issues trusting a G-Word new out of box either.

I enjoy browsing on the forum, and I note a proliferation of complaints about problems with the Shield of one form or another. So I want to ask a question of you Shield owners, and I know I will get completely honest answers from you.

You've been a forum member long enough to know that complaints will proliferate, even with an exceptionally great firearm (or car, or boat, or motorcycle).

If you research the complaints and tally the unique individuals posting complaints (as opposed to REcounting all the 'Repeat Posters'), you'll see that out of the 1 Million + Shields sold, there are only a couple Dozen instances of 'Problem Shields'.
Yup... There were a couple real instances of Tolerance Stacking causing accuracy problems, 5 or 6 documented Shield40 Kabooms attributed to Ammo rather than construction and a couple dozen individual instances of RSA problems, but definitely nowhere near the problems that other manufacturers have had with newly intruduced handguns (ie: Gen4 Glock RSAs, XD-S Full-Auto recall, LC9 RSAs, etc)

The question is: Would you trust a brand-new, out-of-the-box Shield with your life?

Yup... Even if it were to have an RSA issue, it wouldn't effect its ability to go Bang every time... Even if the RSA came apart, it wouldn't "Sproing!!" until you field strip the pistol. It would indeed fire every time (unless you hit a 'Dud' primer).

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

I would never choose to carry a firearm that I was not familiar with. Not knowing the feel of the receiver, operation of the safety or trigger and how the sights work in relation to placement can be fatal. Why risk it unnecessarily? If I had time to familiarize myself with a new shield, I would carry it and use it, but frankly I prefer to carry 357 revolvers as I get older.

 

[loeman]

No, I would not. I certainly love auto-loaders and I have a ton of them, but I have far more confidence and faith in my J frame .357. If I was forced to EDC an auto-loader I'd have to figure out a rig for my 4516 or maybe my 39-2. And to be fair, I've never owned a Shield but I think I would like one.

 

[pyro]

Don't buy a gun unless the manufacturer has an overall good reputation. If it is a new model and you want to be a beta tester, then have at it. Regardless, go to the range and shoot the **** out of it. If it behaves, you are good to go.
That is what I did with my Shield and I now have no reason to not trust it.

 

[Whitwabit]

Don't own a Shield either .. But I wouldn't trust any pistol straight out of the box with out putting 4-500 rounds through it with no FTE's or FTF's ..

 

[hoc9sw]

It took me 4 trips back to the factory, 2 RSAs, 2 barrels, and 2200 rounds to get to the point of running correctly. 800 rounds since the last trip with 1 FTE.

So I believe it is possible to make it run right.

But out of the box, no. Not a chance.

 

[TechJunkie]

My Shield 9 has performed just as well as my Glock 26. Not an issue between them. No bent RSA and not one issue firing any ammo I have fed it. I trust my life to it every day but only after proper testing and training.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

No.......Since I don't or use any plastomatics.

 

[rock_castle]

Why would this situation ever happen?

 

[Pointblank2U]

Seems like this is one of their biggest problems, the RSA, would this make it anymore trust worthy? Oh and for the record I own a Shield as well as some of my friends. For me I would trust it with my life, but not right out of the box that is for sure.

Thanks for the reference. I bought two of those and the Shields work fine now. Too bad the manufacturer can't provide them.