Does anyone have a good comparison of recoil between the SHIELD 9 vs 40 ?

[SavageSmoker]

Last week I shot my Shield .40, Glock 19 (9mm) and my wife's new Shield 9mm all side-by-side.

I must first say that I, to, was apprehensive about the recoil of the Shield .40. It seems to be the main concern for those "on the fence" b/t the 9 and 40. I try to keep in mind that perceived recoil is very subjective from shooter to shooter. Personally, I was very surprised at how well the Shield 40 handled. The recoil is very manageable and actually less then the Taurus 605 I use to own. My wife was a bit intimidated by the recoil of the 40 so I got her a Shield 9. The bite is less and I can tell she just feels more comfortable with it. I found the Shield 9 to handle more smoothly and with less recoil then my G19.

As for me, I am very happy I decided to go with the 40 for myself. HTH...Brian

 

[coachpan]

I have both the Shield 9mm and M&P 40c. There is a noticeable difference in recoil . The Shield is much less!

 

[TMAXXII]

I purchased the Shield 40 and shoot 180 gr rounds. I bought it because my main carry is the Glock 27 and used it to get my CCW. I have the Walther PPS9, LC9, Ruger SR9C, Glock 23, Glock 26. This is my first M&P and it shoots better than the Walther PPS, I would have to debate the Glock 27 is more to handle. Granted the 9mm ammo cheaper, but I like the 40s for knock down power and the recoil is not bad seeing I use 149 gr in the 9mms. I'll probably buy the 9mm for my wife using 115 gr ammo. If this is your first sub compact get 9mm. Final note, the manual does not recommend the use of +P or +P+ in the Shield 40 or 9.

 

[Raising Cain]

Honestly, I feel like my LCP.380 bites harder than my .40 Shield.
If you're on the fence, go big. If you don't like it, you'll be able to make your money back within 10 minutes.
Then you can wait out the 9mm.
There's a pretty good chance you'll be happy if you decide to go with the .40.

Good Luck.

 

[SMMAssociates]

TMAXXII:

I got rid of a PPS40.... (The 9 would have been OK, I think.) My pudgy fingers wrapped around the trigger and got bit with every shot.... The narrow back didn't help, but I could live with that. Both the full size and Compact M&P 40's here are very comfortable to shoot, bearing in mind that I'm a 1911 guy.

Funds are short now, but I hope to grab a Shield 40 around the first of the year. Might get lucky sooner if a gun I've got out on consignment sells well.

IMHO, just about all the "tiny" .380's are going to bite harder than the .40 Shield.... I can barely stand to fire my PPK/S, and I'd sell the P3-AT if I didn't occasionally want something that tiny. It's taken a lot of work, but it's now occasionally getting through a full magazine before breaking down. (The PPK/S, OTOH, is very reliable. Just heavy, and unpleasant to shoot. I switched to the 40C for "around the house".)

Regards,

 

[vigil617]

I've owned a Shield 40 for a couple of months and have shot it regularly at an outdoor range that permits rapid fire. (I'm lucky to live 20 minutes from a facility that does special-ops training for military and civilian contractors, including many from SOC at Fort Bragg.) I can't give you a comparison with a 9mm but I can tell you this as far as recoil is concerned:

1. I can shoot 100 to 150 rounds of .40 from my Shield comfortably and enjoyably, and the only reason I stop there is ammo budget.

2. At self-defense ranges (for me, three to five yards), and using point shooting technique, I can empty my 7+1 magazine about as fast as I can pull the trigger, and all rounds impact in the torso on a silhouette target. Yes, they are scattered, but they would do a world of hurt on a live target.

3. With practice, I am getting better at a "double tap" to place both rounds close together mid-chest with point shooting technique. I'm starting to experiment with chest-head combinations, but that's been a bit tougher.

I hope I never I have do this in a real-life encounter, of course. But I know without a shadow that .40 recoil in my Shield, would not be an issue in placing lethal, multiple rounds to stop a threat, and that's primarily what I bought this pistol for. I have about 800 rounds through it so far, no issues, no mag-drop problems, and I love the pistol.

The best part is, my Shield is just darn fun to shoot! A blast, really (no pun intended!)

 

[Gauger]

I have several small pistols. Started with the M&P40c. This is a nice gun but it was too thick for my tast for concealled carry. I am reasonably accurate out to 50' with it. I then bought the Nano. This was my first 9mm gun. I was reasonably accurate with it to 30'. Had too many initial failures to use it as concealled carry gun. After 2000 rounds it has not had any failures in the last 500 but it still doesn't like 115 grain ammo. So at this point I went with a revolver and got the M&P 360, a nice little .357, but man it kicks like a mule. I am only good with it to about 21'. So that is when they released the shield. Since I have several 40's I opted for the shield 40. I really like the gun but I had the magazine eject problem with both magazines with a few FTE's with the magazine failures. Sent the gun to Smith and since then have had zero failures. I am accurate out to 40' with it. A friends wife bought the XDs and decided it was too snappy for her. I agreed to purchase it from her. I have only run about 100 rounds through it so far but I am more accurate with it than any of the others at a distance of 21'. I think it may have something to do with that bright red front site, makes target aquisition very quick.

So I now have a nice group of conceallable firearms that cover the range of ammo from 9mm to 45acp. I can recommend all of them but the Nano and the Shield both had issues to work out.

 

[Houdini1953]

Ah man...after hearing all these positive comments from Shield .40 shooters, now i'm leaning back that way. (I think) Got my M&P40c, which of course is awesome. Got my PPS 9mm, and Kahr CM9.hmmmm decisions decisions...

So not get me wrong but I did carry my Shield40 for about a month and now EDC my 40compact with two 15 rounder magazines and XGrips in a Blackhawk pouch, I just like the extra firepower plus the conceal ability is about the same also I can not get extra magazines for the Shield and have been waiting for since May but they are like hen's teeth (I wonder f the even make them).

 

[Smitty357]

So not get me wrong but I did carry my Shield40 for about a month and now EDC my 40compact with two 15 rounder magazines and XGrips in a Blackhawk pouch, I just like the extra firepower plus the conceal ability is about the same also I can not get extra magazines for the Shield and have been waiting for since May but they are like hen's teeth (I wonder f the even make them).

The mags for the shield are fairly easy to get ur hands on. Just about every place on the web has them for order. Granted they will cost u a little over $30 a piece. But u shouldnt have a hard time finding them at all.

I'm liking the .40 Shield converted to 9mm for playing around at the range. And its pretty sweet knowing on any given day u can shoot .40 or 9mm, which ever u prefer.

To the OP, there isnt much difference between the 9mm and 40 as far are recoil. Yes the 40 has a tiny bit more, but keep in mind the new design of the dual recoil spring seems to help it. The 40 handles recoil pretty damn good compared to other small frame weapons.

 

[Dean1818]

I have put 150 rounds through the Shield 40

It has a lighter recoil than other 40s I have shot, by some margin

 

[RussC]

just interested in some real life range expierences

thanks

Dr g

I own the Shield 9mm. I have read if you shoot +P through your 9mm you will experience a comparable recoil to a 40 caliber.

If a correct statement, I'll stick with my 9 mm. +P in my opinion is not fun for target shooting 100 + rounds per session.

Russ

 

[pazzo]

I own both a Shield .40 and 9mm. The difference is slight in felt recoil and frankly could only be measured with a stop watch. Yes, you can tell the difference, but the Shield 40 and 9 for that matter, recoil less than other pistols I've had in the same size envelop.

 

[Tomkat]

I agree with others that the Shield handles the 40 round very well for its size. From my personal perspective, owning both, the 40 has significantly more recoil than the 9. How to compare to answer the OP's original post, I don't know. The best I can do is as follows. If I shoot a couple of magazines through my 9 and then shoot the 40, I am a good shot with the 40 for the first round only and then I wonder why I can't shoot as accurately as I used to. If I shoot the 40 first and then the 9, I wonder why the 9 has zero recoil and how come I am now "magically" a better shot than I was a couple of minutes ago.