Sig P290 vs Shield?

I'm getting a little impatient waiting for a reasonable priced Shield and now I'm considering a P290 instead. Anybody out there with hands on experience with both pistols?

I like the trigger better on the Shield

I had a P290 once.....My experience with it wasn't so good. First was the feel. For a dimensionally small gun it felt very heavy and fat, which wasn't helped by its super stubby 1 1/2 finger(in my hand) grip. The trigger has an odd feel to it also. The worst part was the trigger broke(failed to reset) in the first 100 rounds. It was sent back to Sig and when returned from the repair the pistol had a 50% light strike rate At this point the dealer took it back and that was the end of that.
Honestly, hang in there for a Shield..
The Shield is best sub-compact carry pistol available, believe me I have tried them all
No other subbie offers the total package of reliability, proper dimensions, weight, capacity, trigger feel and value that the Shield does.

I have not seen an Shield, and have only handled and dry fired the 290. I thought the trigger stroke on the Sig was rather long for such a small pistol with a short sight radius. I've also handled and fired the Kahr and Ruger LC9. I found the long trigger stroke to be a detriment to good accuracy. As I have read, the Shield has the same trigger as the others in the M&P pistol line, which should make it a much better shooter. The DA only triggers on these really small semis cannot even be compared to the DA trigger of a S&W J-frame either. The J-frame is better.

walkin' trails said:

As I have read, the Shield has the same trigger as the others in the M&P pistol line

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Actually the Shield does not have the same trigger as the previous M&Ps.
The Shield has an improved trigger, with better pull/break characteristics and most importantly a tactile and audible reset point. The Shield's trigger is supposedly going be incorporated into the future full size and compact M&Ps.

I own a Shield and have shot the P290. I passed on the P290.

If you want a comparable sized Sig, check out the P938.
A bit smaller in all dimensions than the Shield (just a hair bigger than the p238 380), 16oz empty (as opposed to 19oz empty) and a single action trigger... Basically a mini 1911 9mm.

The 938's recoil is a bit snappier than the Shield (the Shield's recoil is about even with the G26) and costs about $650, as opposed to the Shield being about $400.

And yes... The Shield DOES have a different (and better) trigger than than the other M&Ps. I don't know where 'walkin trails' read that it was the same, but those articles/sites are greatly mistaken.

RobzGuns said:

I own a Shield and have shot the P290. I passed on the P290.

If you want a comparable sized Sig, check out the P938.

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The Sig P290 is about 0.5" smaller than the Shield in height and length. I've never been a big fan of small frame sub-compacts that you can only fit at most 2 fingers on the grip.

The Kahr PM9 is closer in size to the Sig P290. I would go to a LGS and get a feel for these firearms and see which fits YOU better. Some places will even let you rent firearms with a box of ammo. Good luck finding a Shield in stock to try though.
The Kahr is the lightest of the 3, weighing only 15.9oz

I have the P290RS and it has a much better trigger than the nonRS had, (so beware old news about the P290, it's not the same weapon)
The P290 is a 9mm, easy to be accurate with, weighs 20oz, delivers 7rds, 8w/extended mag,has EXCELLENT night sights, comes with a laser if you want to use one, and I like it more than the shield, the nano or the ruger, hands down. It is the same manual of arms as my S&WJframe and CZ. No safety. Excellent conceled/BUG. Good house gun too.

Be patient my friend. I recently purchased a Glock 26 and love it, the wifey did not...grip to wide for her small hands. Did a lot looking around and decided on the Shield 9mm for her (found and bought one Thursday). I really like it...shot 125 rds and recoil very comparable to my G26. However, its not as accurate IMHO. The Shield is a great pistol for the price and I think its worth the wait if you really want one. Just don't buy something and then end up regretting your decision...thats basically what I'm trying to say. Good Luck!

I surrender! I'll wait for the Shield; the supply is bound to catch up with the demand eventually.

Okay I've been stalking this forum for a quite some time. I registered just because I wanted to post a reply to your quest for feedback. I know you feel you've already made your decision. However, I feel anyone looking at small pocket 9mm should seriously consider the Sig P290RS (NOT the regular Sig P290). For the record, I own a S&W M&P PSX AR-15, a Smith and Wesson MOE AR15-22, 2 M&P 9c's, one of which has an upgraded trigger. The M&P is my daily carry weapon, so I'm a big Smith & Wesson fan. That said, I didn't purchase one of these guns based on the fact that it was a Smith and Wesson alone. I did my research and in the end I decided the PSX was the best Piston Driven AR for the money. Same with my AR 15-22. Did my research and again, best AR-22 for the money. And the same held true for my Pistols.

The reason I have two M&P 9c's one is supposed to be my wife's daily carry, but as a petite woman she struggles carrying it and only does if she's going out somewhere alone in her purse. I'm not a big fan of purse carry, and neither is she (you know off the body and all, and the purse itself is a target for theft).

She's been looking at smaller guns, and considering a .380. Initially, when researching I found the Sig P290. So, we went to a local range that had one and I had her shoot it. The experience was not good. The trigger was awful, and it had several malfunctions. That was my first experience with a Sig, and I was not impressed. She liked the gun in her hand, but the experience was a big turn off. I also found way too many bad reviews and just shut it out of my research. I have a buddy who has a Shield and she loved it, but it was still a little on the big side for her. I was really turned off by the manual safety on the Shield (personal preference I know). But, it was definitely easier than the 9c to conceal, so we started looking but we just couldn't find one to purchase anywhere.

Well fast forward a few months and after more research and seeing that Sig has released an updated P290RS model that had positive reviews; hesitantly, I purchased a two tone Sig P290RS two weeks ago. I got a pretty good deal on it so I figured I wouldn't loose much if I needed to sell it. I got it brand new with a laser for just under $475 out the door from a LGS. The guy there basically sold it to me for a hair over cost as I've been a good customer.

Fit and finish are impeccable. Tear down was a pain in the butt at first. It's not exactly an easy process, but now I can remove the slide and barrel in just a few seconds. It's really not hard once you get used to it. I cleaned everything, and applied frog lube throughout. The gun was a bit "stiff" at first. So, I took some time and worked the slide and trigger action probably a 200-300 times with dummy rounds. Basically I figured I'd loosen it up good before actually firing it. I also wanted to make sure there were no manufacturing burs & such left over. I really wanted this thing working perfect for her when she gets it (also a good excuse to fire it :-D).

I finally took it the a range the other day and let me tell you this is one sweet little 9mm pocket gun. I am this close to just keeping this gun for myself. I fired 100 rounds through it with no malfunctions whatsoever. 40 hollow points and the rest a mix of Brass and Steel cased FMJ rounds. It fed everything awesome, the slide lock functioned perfectly, the magazine ejects easily, rounds fed, fired and ejected awesome.

There is one negative I feel I need to mention though. The ejected brass is leaving scrape marks on the brass. I know brass gets a little beat up just by nature of cycling, but this is definitely more marks than my M&P 9c's leave for sure. I didn't notice this till after the first 20 rounds after I'd picked up some of the brass. So, I took the gun apart and cleaned it again. Fired a few more rounds and the empty cases started looking a little better. All in all it's very comfortable to shoot.

For my final rounds I limp wristed the gun and it still kept firing without any issues. Also, the trigger is long, but on the RS model it's also very smooth. I had no issues getting several shots in a nice hand sized group from 7 yards. It's weight makes it feel like you are shooting a bigger gun. Since firing it, I have installed a Hogue sleeve grip on it because she loves those on other guns she handled. I am a little worried what it will do for the grip, but I feel she'll really like that on it and it's easily removed if she doesn't.

Now, I've got it all cleaned and put back in the box. I'm just waiting for Chrismas to come around. I've already contacted the LGS and asked if he can get another one as I'd love it for deep concealment days when it would be a lot easier to carry than my 9c. So far, it's not looking like I'll be able to get another one for that price :-(. But, I may just fork over the extra dough for one, and maybe forgo the laser this time around for myself. I've got a local guy making a custom pancake holster for it tomorrow, and I'm thinking I may just have him make two of them lol.

What I like about the Sig P290RS:

Build quality is very good.
Laser works well and is easy to activate (I have read reports of these having issues, but no issues here).
Excellent factory night sights.
Grip is excellent (some complain about it being too rough.) I found the grip was awesome. It felt like it was part of my hand. Pretty cool for such a small little nine. It was a dream to shoot.
Nice smooth trigger.
Reliable so far.
Very small pocket 9mm. This just disappears in a pocket.

What I don't like about the Sig P290RS:

Tear down is not intuitive. I highly doubt my wife will be able to tear it down as easily as I can.
Some scraped up brass (maybe I'm just being picky?)

What I like about the Shield:

What I like about the shield. It's so similar to my other pistols.
Awesome trigger
Excellent grip
Reliable
Easy to shoot
Bigger grip for larger hands

What I don't like about the Shield:

A little on the big side as compared to the Sig. Not truly pocketable in my opinion.
Manual Safety
Availability (though this will improve eventually)

Anyway, in my opinion, the Sig P290RS is well worth considering. Don't let it out of your radar screen just yet. I know I'm personally having a hard time letting myself give it to my wife. But, I care about her being armed more of course.

I'll second the Sig P938. I have 3 Shield and recently acquired a gently used P938 Nightmare. Great little gun, super accurate and with the extended mag good grip.

I've got +300 rounds through it and no malfunctions. Feeds everything.

Offhand @ 21'. 25 + rounds.

I have had a 9mm Shield for most of 2012. I just ordered a P290RS two tone with laser as a backup to the Shield. When it arrives in a few days Ill post a comparison. I have no doubt Ill like them both.

I rarely put down my Shield long enough to carry my Colt 1911. And yes, i do carry the Colt from time to time. More often when im only gone for a few hours. But man it sure is hard to leave my Shield at home knowing how great of a weapon it is.

I can only imagine how miserable my Shield would feel if i left it home because i wanted to carry a Sig. Matter of fact, my Shield would probably jump up and start beating my evil black rifles up just to take out some frustration.

skip4309 said:

I really like it...shot 125 rds and recoil very comparable to my G26. However, its not as accurate IMHO. !

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i had the same impression after handling G26 and Shield for the first time. But we are talking about SD guns and not range guns. G26 is harder to conceal and hard to shoot with one hand (mine).
On the first image attached is my first ever try with rented G26 (25 rounds). The second image with the shield right after i bought it (first 100-200 rounds) - group in center was using longer 8 rd mag and group a bit out of center is using shorter 7rd mag (15 rounds all together). AT THAT TIME I WAS USING STOCK SIGHTS, which are quite good. The third image is my Shield after 2,500-3,000 rounds. it feels naturally now - 4 mags (30 rounds) at the rate 1 shot/sec. The only difference between 2nd and 3rd images is i replaces stock sights with XS Big Dot night sights, which are NOT range sights, but quick acquisition self-defense sights. all targets at 21-22 feet.

The more i own Shield the more and more i like it. BTW, the B&W target on the last image is Shield as well somewhere between 21 and 25 yards (after 20 yards mark but before end of range). It's life-size target and i missed only some shots into the head. I believe i nailed all shots into the body.

mlapaglia said:

I have had a 9mm Shield for most of 2012. I just ordered a P290RS two tone with laser as a backup to the Shield.

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I ordered LCP and XDm compact as backup for my Shield. but i like Shield most for CC

Pain said:

I had a P290 once.....My experience with it wasn't so good. First was the feel. For a dimensionally small gun it felt very heavy and fat, which wasn't helped by its super stubby 1 1/2 finger(in my hand) grip. The trigger has an odd feel to it also. The worst part was the trigger broke(failed to reset) in the first 100 rounds. It was sent back to Sig and when returned from the repair the pistol had a 50% light strike rate At this point the dealer took it back and that was the end of that.
Honestly, hang in there for a Shield..
The Shield is best sub-compact carry pistol available, believe me I have tried them all
No other subbie offers the total package of reliability, proper dimensions, weight, capacity, trigger feel and value that the Shield does.

Click to expand...

Pain

I agree. I have owned a Kahr CM9 and Beretta Nano and shot every major brand sub compact in 9 mm and S&W got it right with the Shield 9mm.

Shoots straight, feels good in the hand, reliable, excellent trigger, sturdy build, durable finish and backed with a lifetime warranty. What else can you ask for in a weapon?

Russ

I have read mostly positive reviews on the newer P290RS (don't confuse it with a similar looking older P290 fail and the reason for the P290RS)...I haven't been able to try all of these next to each other but I passed on the Shield just because of the thumb safety (I'm a Southpaw)...

I know some will say "just leave the safety off" but I am a devotee of Murphy's Law so I passed...

I also considered a Springfield XDs in 9mm but also passed as I don't own any XD pistols and don't know that I trust the grip safety on a pistol so small...

Bill

Old TexMex said:

I have the P290RS and it has a much better trigger than the nonRS had, (so beware old news about the P290, it's not the same weapon)
The P290 is a 9mm, easy to be accurate with, weighs 20oz, delivers 7rds, 8w/extended mag,has EXCELLENT night sights, comes with a laser if you want to use one, and I like it more than the shield, the nano or the ruger, hands down. It is the same manual of arms as my S&WJframe and CZ. No safety. Excellent conceled/BUG. Good house gun too.

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I own a 290RS also and I love it. It does have a long trigger pull but it's not hard to get used to. Very accurate out of the box. Absolutely love the night sights. It is my summer carry pistol. 9c for jacket weather.

Also, there is a company selling a trigger spring kit to lighten the pull on the Sig. They also have 22 lb. recoil springs, stainless recoil spring rods and just came out with an adjustable trigger.

OP is 6 1/2 months old!