M&P Shield (gen1) to Shield Plus transition

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palmetto99

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I have had an original Shield 9mm for 6+ years and it has been my summer carry for most of that time. I like the form factor and consider the capacity good. (I use to carry a j-frame a lot during the summer).

I was lucky recently to win a Shield Plus (still waiting on the transfer) and was wondering if anyone here had made the switch from the original (or 2.0) to the Plus and what your observations might be?

Thanks.
 
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I just did the same thing, although the Shield Plus was a birthday gift, but "free" nonetheless. Now outfitted with tritium night sights and is thumb safety free. The most noticeable thing aside from the additional capacity is the flat trigger (with trigger safety) which is way smoother than the 1.0. I like it a lot and quickly sold the old one to a friend.
 
I made that same switch last summer.

I came for the extra capacity, but I stayed for the better ergonomics and trigger.

My 1.0 hasn't left the safe since.
 
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After a year of debating myself on the swap an opportunity came to get the "bug out bag" that came with five magazines and night sights. That pushed me over the edge.

I didn't make the swap for the capacity (that was just icing on the cake) but because I liked the fit of the grip better. The 2.0 was and is a good gun, the plus is just a bit better for me.
 
I have the Shield9 v1 w/safety. EXCEPT for capacity, it's the perfect gun for me. People can complain about the trigger all they want but the bottom line is I can shoot with great accuracy. That's the purpose of any gun, to be reliable and hit whatever you're aiming at.

I got the Shield9 Plus /no safety when it came out. I didn't like the sandpaper-like grip and it was bigger in my hand than the Shield although not by much.

I then got a second Shield9 /no safety with the bugout Bag bundle. It has tritium night sights which I really like and I am tricking it out with a pic rail to hold an Olight Baldr min, 600 lumen light with integrated green laser.

The first Shield Plus will be my EDC, the tricked out Shield Plus a nightstand gun. I am selling the original Shield9. I want two guns with the same mags so I don't can't get confused.
 
I have the Shield9 v1 w/safety. EXCEPT for capacity, it's the perfect gun for me. People can complain about the trigger all they want but the bottom line is I can shoot with great accuracy. That's the purpose of any gun, to be reliable and hit whatever you're aiming at.

I got the Shield9 Plus /no safety when it came out. I didn't like the sandpaper-like grip and it was bigger in my hand than the Shield although not by much.

I then got a second Shield9 /no safety with the bugout Bag bundle. It has tritium night sights which I really like and I am tricking it out with a pic rail to hold an Olight Baldr min, 600 lumen light with integrated green laser.


The first Shield Plus will be my EDC, the tricked out Shield Plus a nightstand gun. I am selling the original Shield9. I want two guns with the same mags so I don't can't get confused.
 

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m&p 2.0 3.6 inch optics ready is probably better than the shield, nearly same size, a bit thicker, but 15 rounds native capacity and a full 3 finger purchase on the grip with no fear of jamming your palm between the magazine and the grip like in those segmented grip magazines used by the shield
 
Goldstar225 said:
After a year of debating myself on the swap
an opportunity came to get the "bug out bag" that came with five magazines and night sights. That pushed me over the edge.

(snip).
Click to expand...

Me too, for all the same reasons. :cool:
 
So far, the Shield Plus has managed to avoid my grasp. I've owned the original Shield 9, the Shield .45, a Shield EZ in .380, several different original M&P's in 9, .40, and .45, the Bodyguard .380, an M2.0 Shield 9mm, and an M2.0 Compact 4 inch 9mm. In my experience there isn't a bad one in the bunch. Those with an "M2.0" designation have been a bit better than those without in my opinion.

In terms of handling, the biggest differences between the original Shield and the Shield Plus are going to be a slightly larger diameter grip frame and a significantly improved trigger. Some would say that the texture of the grip on the M2.0 Shield is pretty aggressive but as someone who owns the M2.0 Compact I don't even consider the grip on the Shield to be mildly abrasive.

Grab the currently available package deal that comes with the optics ready Shield Plus, factory night sights, five magazines, and a nylon carrying bag then let us know what your thoughts are. I strongly suspect that you'll be pleased with the purchase.
 
I purchased a V-1 early on when they were much more than they were later on, I think $428ist out the door. I then put an Apex carry kit in it and night sights on it. I also have eight mags for it because I got some cheap and some for free. It also has a Talon Grip. I have handled the Plus and like it better for both the capacity and the slightly larger grip but have not made the switch since I have so much in my Shield and would loose a bunch if I sold it. Mine also has the safety that I don't use and would have preferred one without if I had had the option at time of purchase.
 
Well, I picked up my PLUS model from my FFL a couple of nights ago and so far, I'm impressed. I won it as as part of a drawing for a match I participated in a couple of weeks ago and all I knew was that it was a Shield Plus. no other info. Turned out to be the optics ready slide, factory night sights, factory FDE cerakote and two extra 13 rd magazines. I do like the sights and the texture on the grip frame is much better than my original (which has a Talon grip tape on it). The grip does fill the hand much better. Will run it this weekend to see if it's a keeper. Thanks for the input.
 
palmetto99 said:
Well, I picked up my PLUS model from my FFL a couple of nights ago and so far, I'm impressed. I won it as as part of a drawing for a match I participated in a couple of weeks ago and all I knew was that it was a Shield Plus. no other info. Turned out to be the optics ready slide, factory night sights, factory FDE cerakote and two extra 13 rd magazines. I do like the sights and the texture on the grip frame is much better than my original (which has a Talon grip tape on it). The grip does fill the hand much better. Will run it this weekend to see if it's a keeper. Thanks for the input.
Click to expand...

Congrats on what sounds like a fantastic score. I've yet to try the Shield Plus but unless they really did something wrong when increasing the capacity, I can't think of anything not to like. It also sounds like the setup you got is a primo specimen with all the bells and whistles. Toss a red dot and a light on that pistol and I'd say you'd have an ultimate carry/night stand gun.
 
I am very much considering a bug out package. I have a v1 .40, and a Plus that's not OR. I like the Plus very much, but I also like my little .40 with the Hogue sleeve. I have previously owned 2 Glock 27's and the little Shield tames the .40 so much better!
Now, for you guys that have put a RDS on their Plus, which one did you go with?
Looking at S&W's site is kind of confusing on which RDS' will fit!
 
Shield 9 WV said:
...I didn't like the sandpaper-like grip...
Click to expand...

Although the Shield Plus is my EDC, I'd almost forgotten how much I hated the grip texture. Before carrying I added a Traction Grip (similar to Talon grip) and it feels much better to me. YMMV
 
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I inherited the first gen Shield 9. After years of mostly shooting and carrying revolvers, I decided to give it a try. I was impressed and added it to my carry rotation. It came with Two 8 round mags and a 7. That and a J-Frame with reloads for backup is plenty of ammo for me.
 

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Instructor9 said:
I am very much considering a bug out package. I have a v1 .40, and a Plus that's not OR. I like the Plus very much, but I also like my little .40 with the Hogue sleeve. I have previously owned 2 Glock 27's and the little Shield tames the .40 so much better!
Now, for you guys that have put a RDS on their Plus, which one did you go with?
Looking at S&W's site is kind of confusing on which RDS' will fit!
Click to expand...

I have started looking into an RDS for the PLUS. From what I gather, the S&W Shield PLUS and earlier versions use a cut format for a specific brand (which I think is ironically branded shield) and that foot print may be carried over in the new Crimson Trace RDS. That said, it appears that you can purchase adapter plates for different foot prints. I have had good luck with C+H plates for Glocks.
 
Ok, a follow up. I was able to get out with the new PLUS and the original V.1 to run them side by side and I like the PLUS a bit better. Why?
1. The slightly wider grip frame. Fills my had better. That was always a bit of a complaint about the V.1. A little narrow, in particular at he top of the grip.
2. Grip texture. Sooo much better. The V.1 needed some grip tape. The PLUS texture is aggressive as some have reviewed, but what I noticed was that there is actually more aggressive texturing on the front and back straps which really aids in gripping this little sub-compact.
3. While I'm not a fan of night sight, the PLUS has a factory NS's and the red front dot is very easy to pick up in the daylight. I never changed the factory white 3-dot sights on the V.1. That's on me and not the V.1
4. The PLUS has more booolets. I never felt the V.1 was deficient on capacity (I have in the past and do carry a J-frame), but more capacity is nothing to turn ones nose up at.
Another observation, I don't think I'll be using +p rated ammo. This thing is snappy enough, why add more.
I ran about 250 rounds of various brands and weights and I think the 147 grn JHP standard pressure may be best suited for this sub-compact.
While I always liked the original version of the Shield 9mm, it was never a favorite, but if filled a great slot for the summer.
 
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Oh, I forgot to mention the triggers.
While I always thought the trigger on the V.1 was very serviceable, it was never stellar. The trigger on the PLUS is an improvement.
It has a shorter take up and a good clean break (at least compared to the V.1) and a good reset.
I do appreciate the flat face trigger when compared to the middle hinge of the S&W trigger. I've got a thousands of rounds through Glocks with flat triggers and I like them a little better.
All that said, if I had not won the PLUS, I would still carry the original and not think about it, but the PLUS has tweaked the original enough that I do find it to an improvement.
 
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I've had a 1.0 Shield since 2017. It came with a relatively decent trigger, but I had already ordered an Apex sear when the pistol arrived, which I installed. The sear brought the trigger pull weight down to about 3 3/4 lb.

I've only put about 1400 rounds through the 1.0 to date. However, it has only had one malfunction that was caused by a case mouth that hadn't been crimped quite enough (was an abnormally short case). I use mixed brass of varying ages with dozens of different headstamps.

I recently extended the frustratingly small thumb safety (should have done this earlier - very helpful) and added material behind the trigger to reduce overtravel - both done with JB weld after prepping the surfaces. The Shield 1.0 has a very nice trigger pull now for being striker fired.

Last month I was gifted a Shield Plus (optic ready with night sights), which is currently back at S&W mostly due to a dead front night sight. Also, the optic cover didn't sit flush with the slide. I fired 58 rounds through it before sending it back for warranty work. S&W didn't want to send me a new front sight to install myself. From searching, apparently a fair number of these have left the factory with dead front night sights, so if you're buying one be sure to check this. Also watch out for stripped optic cover screws, though mine seemed ok.

I'm well aware of how easy it is to accidentally depress the slide stop when shooting these pistols, but the Plus' 10 round magazine did not want to consistently lock the slide back after the last round. I fired a lot of singles to test. It seemed to lock more often after some break in, but still wasn't consistent. No problems with the 13 round magazine. I noticed that the slide stop was much easier to disengage than my 1.0. I don't know if this change is intentional or not.

The factory trigger pull on my Plus is what I would call "good" for a factory striker fired pistol. It's better than the few Glocks I've felt and better than a friend's Hellcat even after some upgrades. The best I've felt on striker factory guns are the newer Caniks (Rival and Mete, Rival better.) The Plus' trigger isn't as light or as short-breaking as my 1.0 with the Apex sear, but it's ok. I don't plan to change it. I like the solid design of the trigger itself better than the dinky hinged trigger on my 1.0. I also like the flat trigger face.

For me, the grip texture of the Shield Plus is just about perfect. My 1.0 is too slick, and full size M&P 2.0's are way too prickly to ride against my skin. The Shield Plus is in between, being just a little more aggressive than the 1.0. BTW, a Springfield Hellcat grip texture is also too aggressive to be carried against skin, only slightly less bad than the 2.0 S&W pistols. I don't think the Plus will irritate my skin with IWB carry, but it provides a noticeably better hold compared to the 1.0, particularly with sweaty hands. I live in the desert, so I sweat a lot and don't wear an undershirt.

I have medium-sized hands and don't notice a huge difference in grip feel between my 1.0 and Plus. The Plus feels better. The little bit of extra size helps fill the hand better. To me, it's a subtle difference, but an improvement.

Of course, the higher capacity is the biggest difference. Time will tell how the magazine springs hold up or what other magazine issues may arise. Back in 2017-18 or so there were issues with some factory 1.0 magazine springs kinking. Search here and find posts. That also happened to a friend who bought his Shield about the same time I did. We both switched to using Wolff magazine springs. I haven't found complaints of this more recently, so maybe it was a bad batch or several of factory springs. Or maybe people have just stopped talking about it.

I have read a report of the 13 round Plus magazine grip extensions splitting at the molding seam, which apparently due to the new design causes the baseplate itself to fall off and dump all of the rounds. The guy had this happen to multiple magazines that he had used in classes where they had been dropped on the floor. Just something to keep in mind and watch for. Personally, I intend to carry the 10 round magazine. The longer ones feel nicer in the hand, but IMO defeat the purpose of this type of pistol. I joke that a Shield is what I carry when I'm not carrying a pistol. I may have to revise that now that the Plus holds so many rounds. It's really amazing to look at such a small pistol and consider how many rounds it contains. Of course, the same holds true for competing models.

Overall, I think my Shield 1.0 and the Plus are both good for what they are. They shoot remarkably well for their size. I was surprised when I first got my 1.0 how well I could shoot it compared to bigger pistols. It's not all that far behind them and way ahead of other smaller handguns like a Ruger LCP or J-frame revolver.
 
flyingbrass said:
I've had a 1.0 Shield since 2017.

Me too.

Last month I was gifted a Shield Plus (optic ready with night sights), which is currently back at S&W mostly due to a dead front night sight.

My second Shield9 Plus is optic ready w/night sights.

S&W didn't want to send me a new front sight to install myself.

Odd, just after I sent them an email regarding my non-working front tritium sight they didn't even reply, they just sent one in the mail almost immediately. A buddy of mine installed it but I would have preferred that S&W would have offered to install as I have no tools and no skills for such things. They would not have needed the gun back, just the slide.

From searching, apparently a fair number of these have left the factory with dead front night sights, so if you're buying one be sure to check this.

Yep, mine was DOA. The new one matches perfectly with the rear sights.

For me, the grip texture of the Shield Plus is just about perfect.

I thought the Shield9 v1 was perfect. The Plus has a 120 grit sandpaper feel to them according to my delicate girly hands.

For the record most people agree with you.

I have read a report of the 13 round Plus magazine grip extensions splitting at the molding seam, which apparently due to the new design causes the baseplate itself to fall off and dump all of the rounds. Just something to keep in mind and watch for.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep an eye out. I have five total 13 round mags now thanks to the Bugout Bag bundle.

Personally, I intend to carry the 10 round magazine.

I use the 13 rounder because I don't carry a spare mag. That's why I went to the Plus over my v1, I didn't like carrying the spare mag.

Overall, I think my Shield 1.0 and the Plus are both good for what they are. (snip!)[/QUOTE

Nice review. Thanks for writing that.
Click to expand...
 
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Shield9 WV - for what it's worth & respectfully, your comments in red? are virtually impossible for this interested reader to decipher due to my lack of normal color perception. I'm not being critical - this is why the U. S. Air Force sent me to supply school rather than Aircraft Electrical Repairman technical training because of wire color identification requirement. I would have really messed up an airplane! Ten % of the male population has some form of colorblindness. Best Regards...I am interested in what you have to say.
 
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Shield 9 WV said:
Odd, just after I sent them an email regarding my non-working front tritium sight they didn't even reply, they just sent one in the mail almost immediately. A buddy of mine installed it but I would have preferred that S&W would have offered to install as I have no tools and no skills for such things. They would not have needed the gun back, just the slide.
Click to expand...

I called, told them my front sight was dead, and asked if they would send me a new front sight. The guy I spoke to asked if I was a gunsmith. I said no, but I've done some work on pistol sights. He said the Shield sights are in very tight, and even some gunsmiths have had trouble with them. I asked if I could send in only the slide. He said they needed the whole pistol.

I do have experience replacing iron sights, enough to realize that some can be a major PITA. Sights vary from simple as can be to awful. Still, if the dead front sight had been the only thing I had found wrong with my pistol I would have pressed harder for them to send me a new sight to install myself.

My optic cover plate wasn't quite right either, which I didn't mention during the call but included in my note with the pistol. The front of the plate didn't sit flush with the top of the slide, and light was visible under that front part of the plate. This was concerning because I don't know if the problem is with the cover plate or the mounting slot. I'd hate to try to attach an optic and find that the slot is out of whack. I thought it best to send my pistol in. I was told it would take around 6 weeks. I haven't heard a peep from them since tracking showed that they received it about 3.5 weeks ago. I'll probably call before long to find out if they even show as having received it. It doesn't take much searching to discover that S&W's service is quite poor, at least concerning the time involved, compared to Ruger and some others.

Since this thread is about comparing early Shields to Plus models, overall I prefer the simple painted white dots on the 1.0 to the Plus' night sights. The night sights aren't as visible to me in room lighting, daylight or shaded daylight as the plain white dots. With the night sights only the outline of the dot is colored. The middle is blank. There isn't as much colored surface area to catch my eye.

Fiber optic front sights seem like a better way to go, at least for me. I don't have any FO front sights yet myself, but I've handled several pistols from others at the range with them and have been impressed.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep an eye out. I have five total 13 round mags now thanks to the Bugout Bag bundle.
Click to expand...

I tried to paste a link to the forum thread discussing this 13 round Shield Plus magazine issue, but censorship is present everywhere these days, including here. The thread is on a different forum. When I hit "preview post" here I noticed that the forum is obscuring the link, which I find really sad. If a person enters "Shield Plus Magazine's Falling Apart / Design Flaw" (include the quotes) into a Google web search, the current first search result displayed is what I'm referring to.

Apparently, some electrical tape around the bottom of the basepad can help hold things together. This may not be an issue for those not dropping magazines on a hard floor, but it's something to be aware of.
 
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Dead front sight on new shield plus

Got my shield plus optics ready Thursday and didn't notice until today that the front side is also dead. Calling Smith and Wesson in the morning. I wonder if they will upgrade me to FO sights or even give me the option to for $?

I could not resist the bundle package with 3 extra magazines!
 
I carried a Shield 9, 1.0, for almost 4 years. It was flawless. The trigger wasn't great, but it wasn't bad, and it didn't stop me from shooting it decently. Better, in fact, than I had ever shot the G19 it replaced. That 1.0 was also 100% flawless in operation. When the Plus came out, I couldn't resist. More bullets, fits all the same holsters, what wasn't to love? I'm not normally one to rush out and buy the latest gadgets, but I did on the Shield. It took it about 100 rounds to break in, but it's been flawless since then.

My Shield 1.0 was an outstanding pistol, and I would have been perfectly happy with it, but . . . . the Shield Plus is amazing.
 
Posted a comment re: purchase of new Shield Plus when my search for bugout package was unsuccessful. Was seeking a Plus as my early First Model Shield limitations - trigger and capacity - finally convinced me the new Plus advantages might be worth a try. So, I took my new Shield Plus to the range today. The new Plus met every expectation - 13 round mag, great trigger, great grip & flawless operation. New Plus works for me.
 
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