NacsMXer
Member
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2013
- Messages
- 38
- Reaction score
- 130
I got a new Shield 9mm a couple of months ago and I absolutely love it. However, my Shield came with these two weird circles ghosted into the side of the slide. I also wanted to give the gun a unique look, as it's only available in all black. So I sent my slide off to Accurate Plating and Weaponry (aka APW Cogan) to be refinished in matte hard chrome. Benefits of a hard chrome finish include wear/scratch resistance due to high surface hardness (70+ on Rockwell scale), very slick/reduces friction, easy cleanup (fouling won't stick), corrosion resistance, and good looks.
How my Shield looked before, with weird circles surrounding the M&P logo
APW is also a full service gunsmithing facility, so while they had my slide I had them install new sights for me. While they were doing the sights I also had them install an Apex Ultimate Striker Block. For the sights I went with a unique combo i've never seen anybody use before: An Ameriglo SW-212-230-G ProGlo tritium front sight with "lime lumi" photoluminescent ring (glows bright green when charged with light), and the new Shield-specific 10-8 performance plain black U-notch rear sight. The idea with this setup is that the fluorescent green front sight is visible under pretty much any lighting condition. In low to no light, the Trijicon tritium insert takes over.
Ameriglo ProGlo front sight, same dimension as factory with .230" height x .140" width.
10-8 Performance Shield rear sight. Same height as factory rear with .160" height. I went with the wider .156" U-notch width to have more light on either side of the front sight blade and it worked out perfect. It also features a corrosion-resistant black nitrocarburized coating.
APW quoted a 4-6 week turnaround and while being very busy, they held to their promise and had my completed slide sent back in just under 6 weeks. The hard chrome job came out absolutely awesome and much better than I had anticipated. The sights and striker block were installed perfectly as well without a single mark on them.
Here's what it looked like just as I had unwrapped it, sweet!
Hard Chromed!
Detail shots of the sights. Notice the unique rounded no-snag edges of the 10-8 Shield specific rear, with glare-reducing serrated face and cocking ledge.
Old distracting white 3 dot sight picture we are all used to.
New "clean" sight picture. Plain black rear sight draws your focus naturally to the front sight where it belongs. The U-notch and front ring are extremely fast to acquire. Just put the big circle in the U-shape and press! You can still line up the top of the front blade with the top edges of the rear for precision shooting if you wish.
This sucker is bright at night. When the glow from the ring wears off you still have a Trijicon tritium insert in the center to rely on.
I had also installed an Apex Competition AEK kit in the lower half of my Shield while I was waiting to get the slide back. The factory trigger pull weight in my Shield was a bit heavy for my liking at 6 lbs 4 oz. No matter how hard I tried, I could never get the trigger to break without making the front sight move.
Out of the Competition AEK kit, I only installed the competition sear spring, hard sear, and ultimate striker block. I left the trigger return spring and striker spring factory. For good measure, I polished the foot of the striker, the nub on the trigger bar that contacts the striker block, as well as the loop on the trigger bar that contacts the sear. The final trigger pull came out just as I had wanted with a lighter/smoother pull, slightly reduced pre and overtravel, and a much shorter reset. Final pull weight consistently breaks at 3 lbs 10 oz, and I can now break the trigger without moving the sights.
Some more eye candy, for your viewing pleasure
Thanks for reading
How my Shield looked before, with weird circles surrounding the M&P logo
APW is also a full service gunsmithing facility, so while they had my slide I had them install new sights for me. While they were doing the sights I also had them install an Apex Ultimate Striker Block. For the sights I went with a unique combo i've never seen anybody use before: An Ameriglo SW-212-230-G ProGlo tritium front sight with "lime lumi" photoluminescent ring (glows bright green when charged with light), and the new Shield-specific 10-8 performance plain black U-notch rear sight. The idea with this setup is that the fluorescent green front sight is visible under pretty much any lighting condition. In low to no light, the Trijicon tritium insert takes over.
Ameriglo ProGlo front sight, same dimension as factory with .230" height x .140" width.
10-8 Performance Shield rear sight. Same height as factory rear with .160" height. I went with the wider .156" U-notch width to have more light on either side of the front sight blade and it worked out perfect. It also features a corrosion-resistant black nitrocarburized coating.
APW quoted a 4-6 week turnaround and while being very busy, they held to their promise and had my completed slide sent back in just under 6 weeks. The hard chrome job came out absolutely awesome and much better than I had anticipated. The sights and striker block were installed perfectly as well without a single mark on them.
Here's what it looked like just as I had unwrapped it, sweet!
Hard Chromed!
Detail shots of the sights. Notice the unique rounded no-snag edges of the 10-8 Shield specific rear, with glare-reducing serrated face and cocking ledge.
Old distracting white 3 dot sight picture we are all used to.
New "clean" sight picture. Plain black rear sight draws your focus naturally to the front sight where it belongs. The U-notch and front ring are extremely fast to acquire. Just put the big circle in the U-shape and press! You can still line up the top of the front blade with the top edges of the rear for precision shooting if you wish.
This sucker is bright at night. When the glow from the ring wears off you still have a Trijicon tritium insert in the center to rely on.
I had also installed an Apex Competition AEK kit in the lower half of my Shield while I was waiting to get the slide back. The factory trigger pull weight in my Shield was a bit heavy for my liking at 6 lbs 4 oz. No matter how hard I tried, I could never get the trigger to break without making the front sight move.
Out of the Competition AEK kit, I only installed the competition sear spring, hard sear, and ultimate striker block. I left the trigger return spring and striker spring factory. For good measure, I polished the foot of the striker, the nub on the trigger bar that contacts the striker block, as well as the loop on the trigger bar that contacts the sear. The final trigger pull came out just as I had wanted with a lighter/smoother pull, slightly reduced pre and overtravel, and a much shorter reset. Final pull weight consistently breaks at 3 lbs 10 oz, and I can now break the trigger without moving the sights.
Some more eye candy, for your viewing pleasure
Thanks for reading
