Range Report -- S&W Shield and Ruger SR40c with Night Sights

I just had my gunsmith put night sights on my two carry guns that lacked them: my Ruger SR40c and S&W Shield. He did it same day, so you have to love that. So it was off to the range on Sunday to range test both pistols.

SR40c -- On the SR40c I added Meprolight night sights. My review on Amazon can be found here: Amazon.com: Roger J. Buffington's review of Meprolight Ruger Tru-Dot Night Sight for S...@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31gnN9tPnbL.@@AMEPARAM@@31gnN9tPnbL

As always, my SR40c functioned perfectly -- with 150 rounds downrange the gun experienced zero stovepipes or feeding issues. This is a gun I would trust my life to. The Meprolight sights were right on the money as promised by my gunsmith, who laser-boresighted them. I was somewhat concerned about this because the Mep sights, unlike the stock sights, do not feature an elevation screw. Fortunately this was not an issue. The Meprolight sights feature small but fairly bright white dots as opposed to the oversized front sight dot that the Trijicon sights on my S&W Shield provide. In practice I found that I shot the Meprolight sights very well and the sight picture allowed for precise shooting. Count me satisfied.

S&W Shield 9mm (Trijicon sights) -- My review of these sights on Amazon can be found here: Amazon.com: Roger J. Buffington's review of Smith and Wesson Trijicon M&P Shield HD Ni...@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41jlN0vLyUL.@@AMEPARAM@@41jlN0vLyUL

My Shield is the California-compliant model, with slide safety, magazine safety, and LCI -- I vastly prefer having these options. During the shooting the Shield also functioned 100% through about 180 rounds (I had some extra 9mm laying around). The Trijicon sights feature a very large greenish front sight dot and much smaller rear sight dots. This can be an aid to fast target acquisition. At the range, where the lighting is directly overhead, this actually made it difficult to see the rear dots. In most lighting situations this would not occur, (I tested them at home and outdoors in a variety of lighting situations and did not have trouble seeing the rear dots) but at my shooting range at least it was difficult to see the small rear sight dots. The Trijicon sights, like the Meps for the SR40c, were right on the money at ten yards, so again, count me satisfied. The Shield, due to its size, is one of my favorite CCW guns.

Notwithstanding the small rear sight dots on the Trijicon sights, the big front sight dot seems appropriate to me for a CCW sight where fast target acquisition at short range is likely the order of the day.

One interesting factoid is that the Meprolight sights cost a little over half as much as the Trijicons, and I actually like them a tad better. Go figure. Both sights are nice to have.

Anyway, I hope that this range report helps someone somewhere.

Fellow RedLeg! Thanks for the tip on Meprolight sights. I'll check 'em out.

This is a good review for me as I own both pistols. The SR40C is my main range gun and all purpose pistol. I am looking improve the sight picture and Meps might be the way to go. I am thinking about getting a 9mm range gun and it is between the SR9 and the the full size M&P. I just can't find anything I don't like about the Ruger. Is there anything about the M&P that should sway me in its favor?

pyro said:

.... I am thinking about getting a 9mm range gun and it is between the SR9 and the the full size M&P. I just can't find anything I don't like about the Ruger. Is there anything about the M&P that should sway me in its favor?

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Well, I decided in favor of the Ruger when I made my decision for a 40 S&W range/HD gun. For 9mm CCW I obviously went for the Shield, mainly for size and the narrowness of the gun. The same logic would likely cause me to go Ruger for 9mm if it were between the M&P and the SR9. The Ruger has the better trigger and I just like the gun. I outperform myself at the range when I shoot the SR40c.