I picked up my new 3.1 inch barrel Shield Plus Performance Center the other day and got to the range yesterday. First off I'll say that I really like this little pistol. I was hoping that it would be an improvement for me over my recently purchased Hellcat. It was. The Hellcat worked fine but it wasn't for me. The recoil spring was very stiff and the serrations on the slide are not cut to full depth for the length of the serration. So it sort of gave me a half purchase when I needed a full purchase with the strong spring. Now I know that there will be some folks that love their Hellcats, and that's fine. It just wasn't working for me. Recoil was kind of snappy too. But I had zero issues as far as function of the Hellcat.
So yesterday I took the Hellcat and the new Shield Plus and 100 rounds of 9mm FMJ to the range with me. I ran five rounds through the Hellcat and it reminded me of how snappy it is for me and how poorly I shoot with it. Then five rounds through the M&P. What a difference. The Shield is way more pleasant for me to shoot and I was way more accurate with it. I mainly got the PC version because of the fiber optics, but it also has a ported barrel. I guess that may have contributed some to it's flatter shooting for me than the Hellcat. I ran the remaining 90 rounds through the Shield. My accuracy was about on par with some of my larger pistols, which surprised me. It ran flawlessly through it's 95 rounds until the very last round when the slide did not hold open. I didn't have any more ammo so further testing could not be done.
I'm really liking the Shield and it will probably become my new carry gun. Lately I have been carrying my Springfield XDE which I still like but was hoping to find something a little smaller and lighter for when the warmer weather rolls around and I'm wearing shorts and tee shirts. I think that the shield Plus can fill that roll.
Edited to add that it is the 3.1 inch barrel version that I bought.
So yesterday I took the Hellcat and the new Shield Plus and 100 rounds of 9mm FMJ to the range with me. I ran five rounds through the Hellcat and it reminded me of how snappy it is for me and how poorly I shoot with it. Then five rounds through the M&P. What a difference. The Shield is way more pleasant for me to shoot and I was way more accurate with it. I mainly got the PC version because of the fiber optics, but it also has a ported barrel. I guess that may have contributed some to it's flatter shooting for me than the Hellcat. I ran the remaining 90 rounds through the Shield. My accuracy was about on par with some of my larger pistols, which surprised me. It ran flawlessly through it's 95 rounds until the very last round when the slide did not hold open. I didn't have any more ammo so further testing could not be done.
I'm really liking the Shield and it will probably become my new carry gun. Lately I have been carrying my Springfield XDE which I still like but was hoping to find something a little smaller and lighter for when the warmer weather rolls around and I'm wearing shorts and tee shirts. I think that the shield Plus can fill that roll.
Edited to add that it is the 3.1 inch barrel version that I bought.
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