I didn't even want a Shield....

[Hillbilly77]

...and I wasn't going to buy one.
Until yesterday.

I've had a 9c (which I love) for a while now. I consider it to be a perfect carry gun. I put an Apex sear & USB in it and topped it off with TFO's. I had a custom OWB holster made for it, and I have a KingTuk IWB for it.
All in all, I love that gun.

I recently decided to start re-loading. Cash is a bit short this time of year, so to fund it, I decided to sell the handgun I shot the least - a Taurus .22 Mag revolver.
I sold the gun and a bunch of ammo and I was going to buy the Hornady kit I've been looking at.

Well, one thing led to another, and I found myself standing at an LGS with a Shield in my hand.
They had a 9MM and a .40S&W on the shelf. Since I already have a healthy supply of 9MM ammo, the choice was obvious.

I wound up buying the Shield instead of the re-loading kit, and at the end of it all, after sales tax I ended up with $0.84 left over.

So, I got rid of a Taurus, (which is a great gun - shoots good and trouble-free) and added another S&W to the fold, and even came away with a little change left over.

I brought it home today.

Before:

After:

I've already put 100 rounds through it today, and I LIKE it.
I think some Apex & TFO will be added, and after that, I'm nervous about the fate of my 9c.
If this thing proves itself, it just may become my CCW. I am impressed with this gun.

Now that I've fired one, I can see the attraction to the M&P Shield.


Here's the first target:
As you can see, it took a few shots to learn the trigger, but after that, it punched out the bulls-eye with ease.

Sometimes I can't even shoot that good with my 9c.

 

[BobbyLee666]

Nice grouping

 

[Doublea17]

Congrats on the new purchase it is a great gun. Nice grouping

 

[RobzGuns]

The Shield is basically S&W's 'Dark Side'.
Welcome... Have a Cookie.

 

[GregoryJ]

Amazing the power a Shield has over us isn't it. Once they get you to pick them up the darn thing just will NOT let go.

Congrats and welcome to the Shield club. Now over ???? members strong and growing.

Don't worry about your 9c, I have both and have no intention of letting either one go.

 

[bufford]

The power is scary. I had one, traded it, then picked up another immediately....

 

[Smitty357]

And this whole time those 9c guys tried to tell us that the 9c was perfect for CC and the Shield was useless with less rounds.

Congrats man, that 9c has a fate that doesnt look pretty for it. Its hard to bring it out of the safe, except for a good range trip. Aside from the range, my compact models never got any attention after I brought home the Shield.

Needless to say now days I focus so much on CC and self defense while at the range. That i really wouldnt use the compact at all anymore. The Shield is just a fun little weapon that gets more and more fun as time goes by.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

It's an interesting question to me as tio why my Shields, and it sounds like everybody else's too; seem to be so much more accurate than the compacts and the FSs. It's the darnedest thing I've ever seen, especially at SD range.

Anybody have any theories as to why this phenomenon is true?

 

[Doug M.]

The barrels and slides are probably not made on the same tooling, and there was a report on a hard user forum (pistol-forum.com, IIRC) that there was at least some evidence of problems with the manufacture and fit of both on at least the FS 9.

Another advantage of the Shield in NYS is you don't have to use reduced capacity mags and download them with the Shield. Last time I went back for a visit I had 2 revolvers with me instead of my default G33.

 

[TheMystro]

That's not unusual. I passed over the Shield when shopping for a pocket 9mm for the P938. The Sig is the better pocket pistol. The Shield did impress me enough as a general handgun that I was going to buy one eventually to replace a G26. I eventually bought one, it just was pushed down the gun shopping list. The Shield is one of those guns every gun collector should have. Very versatile.

 

[WilliamG]

That's not unusual. I passed over the Shield when shopping for a pocket 9mm for the P938. The Sig is the better pocket pistol. The Shield did impress me enough as a general handgun that I was going to buy one eventually to replace a G26. I eventually bought one, it just was pushed down the gun shopping list. The Shield is one of those guns every gun collector should have. Very versatile.

I'm not a fan of the trigger on the Shield (or any M&P save the .22 which is a single-action..), but it's a VERY sweet pistol nonetheless. Personally, I think the best pocket pistol is the Kahr PM9. The M&P Shield is just outside pocket-size for me. Still a really nice little gun, though, and the magazine design is light years ahead of Kahr's.