My first time shooting the M&P shield 9mm

[CaptRon956]

Recently I became interested in obtaining a CCW permit and began shopping around for a decent quaility compact pistol. After watching countless reviews on You tube I decided on the S&W shield M&P in 9mm. I'm glad I chose the M&P as it surpassed my expectations. This is my first semiauto pistol so I was kinda apprehensive about being accurate with it on the range since my previous experience was with a S&W 686 plus with a 6" barrel. It was more accurate than I thought it would be, the trigger IMO is excellent, nice & crisp and the overall feel of the grip in my medium sized hands with the 8 rnd extended magazine is perfect. The grips are a lil' bit too slick for my tastes so I ordered some Talon grips for it. The gun is kinda tight at first and getting that last round or two in the magazines is hard on the fingers however after an hr or so at the range I noticed that it was getting a little bit easier on my digits reloading the magazines. Out of 125 rounds I fired that day only 2 got caught in the slide while chambering a round. Once was with a flat nosed Winchester "Train & defend" 147 grain bullet & the other was with a Hornady "Critcal Defense" hollowpoint. Not sure if it was because it was new & breaking in or if it simply didnt "like" those rounds. I had no problems at all with Regular Winchester FMJ ball ammo. My guess is that it's gonna take a couple hundred more rounds for it to fully break in. here's a pic of my target set at 10 yards.

 

[whittsailor]

Congratulations on the purchase and permit. Good post. I too like my 9MM Shield and the Talon Grips really make a difference.

 

[Bob O]

Nice post.

I just bought a .40 Shield last week. The mags have gotten easier to load the last round into. I've not had any feeding problems so far using three different brands of ammo.

Keep shootin'!

Sent via phone

 

[CaptRon956]

UPDATE!

1 month and 400 rounds later I believe I found the culprit to the occasional FTF. (1 out of 100 rounds)

The pistol comes with 2 magazines, a 7rnd & a 8rnd. I also bought an additional 8rnd mag and one of the 8rnd mag's is noticably tighter than the others... What I mean is when holding the mag in my hand & using my thumb to depress the follower, one of them is more stiffer than the others. And only when I use that one, that is when I get the occasional FTF. So screw it, I disassembled (disassembly is a breeze) all of my magazine's & cleaned them with Hoppes #9 and dried them off real good & reassembled them and now they feel much smoother...

Accuracy has either improved or maybe my aim has but I'm consistantly hitting inside the 6 circle @ 15 yards using a NRA B-16 target. (12"x12" target)

Other observations, well the trigger has smoothed out & still getting better. Reassembly after takedown has gotten easier in that when putting the slide back on the slidelock actually locks the slide back, but that is in part due to both the super stiff recoil spring and not racking the slide back enough... I did install the talon granulated grips & liked them but after a couple outings I peeled them off because they are a bit too rough. (Think 80 grit sandpaper, but hey my palms are real smooth) Maybe I'll try the rubber ones later on...
Lately I've been feeding it Monarch brand ammo from my local Academy store. Made in Serbia its headstamped PPU, its cheap, it's good stuff & its brass!

Overall I'm very impressed with this pistol & I can understand why it's so popular...

 

[ad5md]

Congratulations on your new pistol. I carry the same one and I love it. Looks like you were in South TX Tactical indoor range

 

[volosong]

Love my 9 Shield, but can't hit the broad side of a barn with the thing. Not sure why. No problems getting a tight group with my Mark II or even my Single Six.

No! I'm not selling it. Just need some more practice, I suspect. It is my first shooter that takes a shell larger than a .22

 

[growr]

Why isn't your new Shield is shooting low and left like so many other newer shooters seem to think is happening? (small attempt at humor here)

Good job with a great gun!!

Randy

 

[CaptRon956]

Why isn't your new Shield is shooting low and left like so many other newer shooters seem to think is happening? (small attempt at humor here)

Good job with a great gun!!

Randy

Couldn't answer that.... I've started shooting revolvers when I turned 21 in 1990 until around '02 when I sold my 686. Fast forward to 2014 & I find myself to be a pround new owner of a Shield M&P 9... My first semi auto. I'm no William Tell but this is a NRA B-16 Target and this was back at 15 yards.... slow, aimed shots.. Sure I had a few fliers but this is a 12"x12" target......"Aim small, miss small"