Swapping Slides on Shields

WK1025 · Jul 28, 2021

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone has swapped the slides on the Shield 2.0 and Shield plus and fired it. I have a Shield 2.0 PC 4" and a regular Shield Plus 3.1 and love both guns a lot. I put the slide from the 2.0 on the Plus and it fits and seems to work fine but am hesitant to shoot it- I don't want to damage either gun. It just makes the perfect gun for me. I called Smith and Wesson and they said it wasn't recommended but that's what Glock said about the G43X and G48 and that works perfectly. I guess I'm trying to not order a Shield Plus PC 4" but I will if necessary. These things are like rabbits, every time I go in the safe I find another one. Now my wife is looking at the 380 EZ (has little hand strength) and I thought the Glocks were bad.
Thanks for any info.
WK

jurek · Jul 28, 2021

There was a discussion about it already and nobody gave clear answer.
Yes, you can swap slides between Shield M2.0 and Shield Plus. You can rack it, load to the chamber, eject without single issue.
But that was the max that anyone went so far.
I'm not sure what would be bad if striker hits the primer properly. To test it, you can use laser cartridge and see if does it work. If yes, you may try to fire the live round...and be the first person who make it.

Neal · Jul 29, 2021

Not a Shield Plus, but here is a photo of my 4 inch Shield
40 2.0 top end on a 2.0 frame from a standard size Shield 40.
Shoots and functions fine, even though a woman at S&W
customer service told me it could not be done.

jurek · Jul 29, 2021

I called Smith and Wesson and they said it wasn't recommended

even though a woman at S&W customer service told me it could not be done.

Unfortunately S&W has no interest to test these conversions and will never take responsibility for telling if that can be done or not.
All this is on us.

N4KVE · Jul 29, 2021

jurek said:
Unfortunately S&W has no interest to test these conversions and will never take responsibility for telling if that can be done or not.
All this is on us.

In today's sue happy world where every TV show has slip & fall lawyer's commercials telling you they can get you millions for somebody's negligence, any company would be wise to not recommend anything that hasn't been fully tested. And by the OP being hesitant to test his creation proves I'm right. Just leave well enough alone. GARY

Neal · Jul 29, 2021

In my case it was because the factory did not make what I wanted. I had the short barrel Shield 40 with thumb safety and integral green laser. Then they brought out the PC 4 inch, but without the thumb safety. To get the gun with the features I wanted required the purchase of the 4 inch model and swap the top ends. I am very satisfied with the result. I tried it with the red dot sight, but was not impressed, so I removed it. I like the gun better with the fiber optic sights on top with the option of the laser. So now I have a one of a kind gun that no holster maker has a gun mold for it, which they need to form a holster. No problem- Clipdraw works fine.

Edit: I forget there is a local kydex holster maker that can make a holster
for odd configurations like mine. Leave the gun with him for a while and
he molds the holster around the customer's gun.

Pics from the Clipdraw website:

WK1025 · Jul 31, 2021

Thank you for the responses. I realize that Smith and Wesson (as all manufacturers) has legal issues to deal with so I decided to take a chance and went to the range ( no one else was there just in case) and tried both configurations. The short 3.1 Plus barrel worked fine on the 2.0 frame with no issues in 3 magazines. The 4 inch slide on the Plus frame had 2 failures to eject in one 10 round magazine so I didn't test further. I shot Blazer Brass ammo that ran perfectly in both stock guns before and after switching slides so I don't think the problems are ammo related.
I am off to the LGS to order the Shield Plus PC 4" as I really like that configuration.
Thanks again,
WK

jurek · Jul 31, 2021

WK1025 said:
[...]
I decided to take a chance and went to the range ( no one else was there just in case) and tried both configurations.
The short 3.1 Plus barrel worked fine on the 2.0 frame with no issues in 3 magazines.
The 4 inch slide on the Plus frame had 2 failures to eject in one 10 round magazine so I didn't test further.
I shot Blazer Brass ammo that ran perfectly in both stock guns before and after switching slides so I don't think the problems are ammo related.
I am off to the LGS to order the Shield Plus PC 4" as I really like that configuration.
Thanks again,
WK

Thx for the info. You are the first person who shared LIVE ammo experience!

gfb46 · Jun 18, 2025

I've taken a used M&P 9 Shield M2.0 slide (that is just butt ass ugly from some idiot "customizing it's appearance) I won on Ebay for $66 along with a barrel I bought online and shot both on my M&P Shield Plus 30 Super Carry. Now I have two calibers shooting from the same grip frame. It sure is cheaper shooting 9mm than the 30 super carry at the range. Even the recoil spring for the super carry works on the M2.0 slide when shooting 9mm, it's actually easier to rack the slide with the 30 super carry guide rod and spring. In the photos the green spring is the 30 super carry and the copper one is the 9mm. Wanting to see the same sights when using each of the different slides I changed out both sets of sights to night sights. S&W sights are hard to install, at least to me they are.

Beju · Jun 18, 2025

gfb46 said:
Wanting to see the same sights when using each of the different slides I changed out both sets of sights to night sights. S&W sights are hard to install, at least to me they are.

If the experience I had while changing sights on a Shield is indicative of the norm, I wouldn't tell anyone to try without a sight pusher tool. Even then, it would be best to have the MGW Sight Pro that I have where the correct shoe interfaces with the slide rails. It took more force than I'd be comfortable with applying via punches and the slide in a vise.

M1A4ME · Jun 18, 2025

My original Shield Plus 9MM frame with a 2.0 Shield 9MM slide/barrel/recoil spring on it. Bought the slide stripped (2 of them actually) from CDNN a couple years ago. Barrels are hard to find, recoil spring assemblies seem to be only at S&W if you call customer service.

It's had a few hundred rounds through it and has been my concealed carry pistol for over a year.

Then I bought (great deal, too) one of the Shield Plus .30 SC pistols and removed the top end so I could install the 2nd 4" Shield 9MM slide I'd built up. It works great and is a back up for the first one.

I recently bought two stripped Shield Plus 9MM frames and built those up with Shield parts. One is now running the original Shield Plus 3.1" 9MM OR top end from my first Shield Plus purchase.

The second one has a Shield .40 S&W slide/recoil spring assembly with an aftermarket .40 to .357 SIG threaded barrel with a Samson compensator screwed on the end of it. Worked great and shot nice groups the only time I had it to the range (being perfectly honest the top end was tested on one of my original Shield Plus 9MM frames before I bought the two stripped frames to build up.) I know it worked on the first frame so I'm pretty sure it'll work on this frame, too. Magazines are a bit of a pain but but so far two of the converted 9MM magazines have worked fine with .357 SIG or .40 S&W ammo. You just don't get the -2 drop from 9MM to .40 you get in the big M&P pistols/magazines. A 13 round 9MM mag. converted to .40 only gets about 9 or 10 rounds in it and it's pretty well stuffed.

The Shield/Shield Plus pistols are a lot of fun to tinker with and take to the range.

Swapping Slides on Shields

WK1025

Member

jurek

Member

Neal

Absent Comrade

Attachments

jurek

Member

N4KVE

Member

Neal

Absent Comrade

Attachments

WK1025

Member

jurek

Member

gfb46

Member

Beju

M1A4ME

Similar threads

Latest posts