Review/range report/observations of .45 Shield

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Sorry for the long post - hope it is of interest.
Background - I have owned several of the 9mm Shields, and my current EDC is a no-safety Shield with Novak sights and Apex carry kit. Many of my training group bought one after handing mine.

Pre range: Trigger is even better than my Shield's, both out of the box. The Apex 9mm is better, 'natch. In hand cycling the slide, I noticed it did not always go completely into battery, and putting a thumb on the back of the slide didn't fix it. I observed that the disc at the end of the recoil guide system was slightly off center. Closer examination of the slide shows that the hole for the guide rod was nicely beveled, so it shouldn't be hanging up. I had Novak Mega dot tritium front/plain black wide notch rear sights installed at Novak's. In fact, my friend Wayne Novak recently acquired one, and did the same sights.

At the range: Boy, those mag springs are STIFF !. I have 8 - two extended, six regular length. For my hand, the flat mags and grip frame are a smidge longer than the 9mm, and I can get a full grip. While it feels longer front-to-back than the 9mm, the new stippling and shape feels great. When compared to the 9mm, it is just barely bigger.
Shot it with Speer Lawman 230 gr. ball, and W-W 230 JHP.
While you know you are shooting something bigger than the 9mm, it has a solid thump that is not unmanageable. I have a great Detonics, which is similar, yet different (and a lot heavier). Groups at 7 yds were excellent, but really - if a gun won't group at 7 yds, something is wrong with either the gun or the shooter ! One failure to go into battery, as I have described pre-range.
When I got home from the range, my Apex kit was delivered.

More to follow...
 
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Installed the Apex Carry Kit tonight. I have probably installed a half-dozen or so in 9mm Shields, so no big surprises. Boy, those roll-ons can be difficult to reinstall !

As a credit to S&W, the kit only slightly improved mine. This is far different from my experience with the 9mm Shields.
 
Follow up

Update of a sort:

Called S&W and explained the failure to go into battery/recoil guide rod to slide opening interface issue I described in my first post. Very nice guy I spoke with. They are sending out a new guide rod assembly.

More to follow...
 
.45 Shield

Here's a picture of the muzzle and guide rod area. I spoke with S&W Customer Service, and they are sending another guide rod assembly.

As a side note, I tried to purchase a spare striker assembly, extractor/pin/spring. I have been a certified S&W, Glock and Sig armorer, and like to keep what I consider operating parts on hand. Needless to say, no go. Need to find a certified S&W dealer/repair center or ?? to sell these parts to me.
 

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