My Shield.....

[Silbs]

My new 9mm Shield jammed (stove pipe) right out of the box. Back to factory. Rebuilt the gun. got it back. Has jammed same way x5 in 300 rounds. Love the gun and want S&W to take it back as I do not trust it as my ccw.

 

[CaptRon956]

Well I did it!

I'm the proud new father of a M&P Shield 40.... I went over to my favorite LGS to see if they had any Shields in stock & nope, all sold out but they had 4 coming in later in the day so I told my guy to give me a ring when they came in... So later on this afternoon, I'm out for my jog 3 miles from the house, my cell rings, delivery man just dropped off a new shipment! Needless to say my jog back home was faster than going out...

I was the first to hold my new Shield 40 out of the box since it left the factory, it was shiney wet from whatever oil S&W uses at the factory.. Showed them my CHL, signed the 4473, paid for it & walked out with my new baby. Came home & field stripped it and gave it a good wipe down & look over, lite lube with FP-10 and used my Upula to load up some Zoom snap caps and gave it a workover to check for function.... I'm going back to the range tomorrow and give it a workout.... I have 4 boxes of Freedom Munitions 180 gr, RNFP 40 S&W ready for it. I plan on stopping by Bass Pro & grabbing a Pachmayr slip on grip & Pearce mag extension just like what I have on my Shield 9. That way my wife cant tell the difference between guns, because I didnt tell her I just bought another one..

As a side note... Although my hand strength has indeed improved from loading up the Shield 9 mag's.... I was no match for the 40 mags that came with this pistol... Did S&W use front springs off a '71 Eldorado in these mags or what? LOL...


P.S. My LGS received 4 new Shields, two 9's & two 40's, one each with safety & the other with no safety. The Shield 40 I chose was with the manual thumb safety, just like my Shield 9.

 

[ad5md]

Good shooting, nice grouping at a nice range - South TX Tactical. By the way I'm also a proud owner of a SW Shield in 9mm

 

[adam12]

Capt Ron - NOW I know what you were referring to when you mentioned hand strength. So now I'm going to make your life a lot easier. Invest a small amount of money and buy an UpLULA, made by maglula LTD. I think I got mine from Midway but can't remember exactly. Anyway, I find ALL new magazines that come with guns these days are next to impossible to load. You just don't need that agro in your life. This cheap, well built little tool will allow you to load up a magazine in less than a minute. Save your hands for shooting! Get an UpLULA today!!!

 

[CaptRon956]

Capt Ron - NOW I know what you were referring to when you mentioned hand strength. So now I'm going to make your life a lot easier. Invest a small amount of money and buy an UpLULA, made by maglula LTD. I think I got mine from Midway but can't remember exactly. Anyway, I find ALL new magazines that come with guns these days are next to impossible to load. You just don't need that agro in your life. This cheap, well built little tool will allow you to load up a magazine in less than a minute. Save your hands for shooting! Get an UpLULA today!!!

You mean this? Yeah I bought one last month... There goes my kung fu grip I've been working on....

 

[Mithrandir]

I have had a shield for over a year..... I have over 1000 rnds thru it... 100% reliability....

I am NOT a POLICE OFFICER!!! I do NOT NEED to shoot thru car doors and front doors to homes.... They do... they can justify +p and +P+ ammo.. I cannot...
In actual fact, I have loaded some HP's at the minimum fps as I expect a likely place I may need to shoot a bad guy would be in the middle of the night, in my house, at 7 feet... the last thing I need is a projectile penetrating walls!!

The shield has been called by people much smarter than me "The only Small, Real Fighting Pistol Made"....

I expected the Glock 43 to be more of a contender.... one fewer round and higher price.... fail....

 

[Mithrandir]

Incidentally, I have back problems.. so I carry in a leather Shoulder rig with two spare mags on the opposite side... I have clipped a small tactical flashlight to the left strap....

 

[CaptRon956]

RANGE REPORT!

Took my new Shield 40 to the range this morning & shot 200 flawless rounds of Freedom Munitions 180 gr. RNFP Reman. The pistol functioned perfectly. Recoil was very managable, accuracy is as good as the shooter.
Pic of target was done at 7 yards. Video at 5 yards.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09-e9rBizzk[/ame]

 

[OldNorthState]

The .40 S&W pistol that I have now is a Kahr CW40. I have to admit, it has a scwheeet trigger and the recoil to me at least feels like a hot 9mm round. Its about the same length, width as the Shield and about 1/2" longer in the grip. I can pump off 200 rounds at the range and not get sore or tired in my hand. You know what? Maybe I'll just keep the Kahr & buy the Shield 40 and add it to my growing M&P collection..

Back to the Shield 9, some of the best groups came from Freedom Munitions 124 gr. new man. fmj's & Winchesters Train & defend series. The Federal American Eagle 115 gr. that I was using in the video makes for great range ammo, gave me better results/performance than WWB & Remington's UMC. But I did have the occasional flyer using the Federal, not so much on the Freedom ammo. Freedom & Winchesters Train & defend was by far the most consistant hitting ammo. I'll give the Critical duty a shot next time I go to the range, I heard it was good stuff...

Here is a pic of my Kahr CW40 & the target used... I took 5 shots each at 3 yards, 7 yards, 10 yards and 5 more shots at 15 yards using Freedom Munitions reman 180 gr. fmj...

You might also try Freedom M's. XTP in 124 gr, to complement your FM 124gr FMJ target loads. The XTP is also a truncated defensive bullet by Hornady, similar to the Critical Defense bullet, and comes in at about half the price or less of Hornady's own XTP or Critical Defense loadings. I carry FM 124 XTP's in most of my 9's, and feel quite confident in them.

 

[CaptRon956]

You might also try Freedom M's. XTP in 124 gr, to complement your FM 124gr FMJ target loads. .

Thanks for the input! I've been looking at those on their website & was wondering about them. Some of my best groups with the Shield 9 came from using their 9mm 124. gr RN loads... Overall I've been very happy with Freedom munitions ammo.

Back to the Shield 40, I was using Freedom's 180 gr RNFP reman's and I was getting tighter groups than the cw40 & in all honesty, the recoil was not bad either. The cw40 has more felt recoil than the Shield. I feel confident in carrying my Shield 40... As a matter of fact I went ammo shopping at my local bass pro with it tucked away in my brand spanking new Alien gear cloak tuck 2.0 holster. Holster was more comfortable than I thought it'd be. In fact, on my 5'-11" 165lb frame, it was nowhere to be seen under a tee-shirt & jeans at the 4:00 position, just over my rear pocket. Carry ammo I grabbed for it btw was Hornady's "American gunner" XTP .40s&w.

Of all you Shield 40 users;

Which ammo/brand/bullet weight would you say gave your shield the best performance? I need to stock up on 40S&W.

 

[RandyX]

I absolutely love my Shield 9, shot the 40 and just didn't like the extra recoil, I have to say I shoot this little pistol better than any I have ever owned! A real joy !

 

[scat530]

CaptRon, from all that I've read just about any 40 ammo in self defense works well. I use DPX ether from Corbon or from Barnes itself. Barnes may say +P but velocity advertised or actual isn't. Sometimes the "hype" of super duper sells just like 700 horse power sells cars. Anyway it shoots well in my 9 as well as my 45's. Don't yet have a 40.
For the rubber grip you might try some dish soap as a lubricant to get your grip on.

 

[NCW Ray]

I load all of my M&P's with Federal HST 180 gr (P40HST1) .



)ammo.

 

[andrewcdub]

Love my shield 9. Very accurate and carries like a dream. Hottest round I've pt through it was Corbon DPx Copper 115 +p which is my carry round. Also like the hst in regular and extra strength but people have found the cop shop I get them from so the supply isn't as readily available.

 

[Huntrocketman]

200 flawless rounds with no 600 break in period?

Congrats on the new purchase Ron!

S&W really hit a home run when they came up with the Shield.

 

[Pavia]

I love my Shield 40. It seems the issues were ammo related for the few instances where failures occurred. Mine is one of the most accurate compact handguns I've ever shot. I added Novak style trijicon night sights, Apex DCAEK kit, and Talon rubber grips. It rides in a Multiholster IWB kydex holster.

For carry, I use Speer 180 gr Gold Dots. Same as the local police. They sell bulk packs fairly reasonable. PMC 180 gr TMJ has worked well for practice.

 

[Pavia]

For carrying I have settled on the extended mags. I find the Shield fits my hand better with them. I love having the extra round.

 

[FreedomRocks]

The Shield really does shoot like a much bigger gun. This is from my very first magazine. It took nearly a year before I could shoot my XDs in a group like this.

 

[CaptRon956]

Ahhhhhhh!

I just remembered something!...... I still havent gone over to the Academy to buy extra magazines yet for my new 40 Shield!

P.S. I did sell my Kahr CW40 afterall... Nothing against Kahr arms, they make a fine weapon. It just wasnt my cup of tea... Good part is. I now have a chit load of cash to buy .40 ammo!

 

[WChris]

Shield is my EDC now

I have had a shield for over a year..... I have over 1000 rnds thru it... 100% reliability....

I am NOT a POLICE OFFICER!!! I do NOT NEED to shoot thru car doors and front doors to homes.... They do... they can justify +p and +P+ ammo.. I cannot...
In actual fact, I have loaded some HP's at the minimum fps as I expect a likely place I may need to shoot a bad guy would be in the middle of the night, in my house, at 7 feet... the last thing I need is a projectile penetrating walls!!
The shield has been called by people much smarter than me "The only Small, Real Fighting Pistol Made"....
I expected the Glock 43 to be more of a contender.... one fewer round and higher price.... fail....

I have 300 rds through my new 9mm Shield with no problems. I carry it with 1 in the chamber, the 8 round magazine inserted plus the 7 round mag for a total of 16 rounds. If I need more than that.....well it just wasn't my day. I hoping the accuracy takes care of business.