Shield .45

Gotta save that money for dat Harley....
Haha, yeah, not a money issue. I have the money. This will never be on the list of approved handguns in CA. :( I have a line item in my budget for guns. Save a little out of every paycheck. This way, when the "deal of the century" or the "I've always wanted one of those" comes along, I'm ready.

My closest LGS is getting them in, but will be charging the full MSRP of $479. :rolleyes: Looks like I'll check it out there and then buy it online.
I would never do that. Unless I will save more than $100, I'm buying locally. If you don't buy locally, then you'll never be able to "check it out" because they won't be there. Isn't that service worth something?

Besides, how much do you expect to save? $50? $75? Due to the popularity of the Shield, I don't expect to see this one at much of a discount for quite some time; if you can even find one.

Also, at $475 this is a good deal already. Yeah, I'd pay the full retail and not look back.
 
Ever sense I got rid of my XDS I have been wanting another single stack polymer striker fired 45ACP carry gun.

Doesn't the Glock 36 fall into the single stack polymer striker fired .45acp carry gun category? Kahr also makes 2 quality levels in this category.

I'm ready to buy a .45 carry pistol and will be looking closely at the new Shield, the Glock and the Kahr. Not liking the XDS.
 
Doesn't the Glock 36 fall into the single stack polymer striker fired .45acp carry gun category? Kahr also makes 2 quality levels in this category.



I'm ready to buy a .45 carry pistol and will be looking closely at the new Shield, the Glock and the Kahr. Not liking the XDS.


The G36 is not a true single stack 45ACP, the bullets are not stacked straight up and down inside the magazine like a standard 1911 is. Plus the width difference is drastic between it and even the XDS. Here is a picture for comparison.

Image1464142674.372081.jpg

To me it's like comparing a G26 to a G43... no contest on width and thickness of the slide.

Kahr puts out a great product but I would shy away from their lower tier CM and CW series, they are not made as well nor do they have the features of their other lines. But if you love a smooth double action revolver trigger pull it is hard to beat the triggers on any Kahr pistol no matter what tier or caliber you go with.


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I think there would be more cons than pros with a 45 Shield.
The size and handling chacteristics with the 9mm and the.40, seem to work out pretty well,but I see a 45 version as too much of a good thing,and there is no way to keep the overall size as compact as the 9 and 40.
I don't know why anyone would even want one for what you'd give up,but that's just me.

ETA:What I'd really like to see is a nice .22 LR Shield for same size gun training on the cheap,and it would be a nice pest gun too.
M&P 22compact is about the same size

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Haha, yeah, not a money issue. I have the money. This will never be on the list of approved handguns in CA. :( I have a line item in my budget for guns. Save a little out of every paycheck. This way, when the "deal of the century" or the "I've always wanted one of those" comes along, I'm ready.

I would never do that. Unless I will save more than $100, I'm buying locally. If you don't buy locally, then you'll never be able to "check it out" because they won't be there. Isn't that service worth something?

Besides, how much do you expect to save? $50? $75? Due to the popularity of the Shield, I don't expect to see this one at much of a discount for quite some time; if you can even find one.

Also, at $475 this is a good deal already. Yeah, I'd pay the full retail and not look back.

I have a few LGSs near me, but the closest one with a range I go to has been stupid with prices for the last few years. I've bought quite a few guns online and I've managed to always save $100 or more. Not only are the county taxes high, but there is an automatic $25 tax on each gun what I call "the gang banger tax" so "gunshot victims" hospital bills can be paid. They always have the newest guns for rent so I'll be able to check it out and fire it. I'm guessing the total price with taxes at this LGS would be about $550 otd. I'm sure I'll find it cheaper online and I don't mind being late to the game with a new model.

Even without all of the taxes I'm not paying full MSRP. Never have for a gun and never will. I know this will be popular, but I doubt tons of people are going to be trading in their Shield 9s and 40s for this due to the cost of 45 ammo alone. Right now there are many 9mm fans out there because of the price of ammo and that's fine by me. This is good for someone like me who has 9mm handguns, likes 9mm handguns, but prefers 45s.
 
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The G36 is not a true single stack 45ACP, the bullets are not stacked straight up and down inside the magazine like a standard 1911 is. Plus the width difference is drastic between it and even the XDS. Here is a picture for comparison.

View attachment 238595

To me it's like comparing a G26 to a G43... no contest on width and thickness of the slide.

Kahr puts out a great product but I would shy away from their lower tier CM and CW series, they are not made as well nor do they have the features of their other lines. But if you love a smooth double action revolver trigger pull it is hard to beat the triggers on any Kahr pistol no matter what tier or caliber you go with.


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I had a CM9 and after doing research it seemed the only difference with the PM9 was polygonal rifling and a bar stock slide stop. For the price I paid for the CM9, I could buy a PM9 barrel and slide stop directly from Kahr and it would still be cheaper. If I was okay with regular rifling like what most guns come with then a cheap slide stop upgrade would be all that's needed to get to PM9 status. This is all from when I had a CM9. They might have changed more since then.
 
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I have the 9mm, never cared for the .40 cartridge, but this - I might just have to get one.:D
 
My thing is that all these people like to say the .40 is snappy. So thats why they bought a 9mm. Now all of a sudden these people want a .45 ACP.

Maybe they will make their mind up one day lol.

Shield in .22lr, now that would be one heck of training weapon. I'd personally be all over that idea.

Give S&W another 5 years, they'll make it for us. =-)
 
My thing is that all these people like to say the .40 is snappy. So thats why they bought a 9mm. Now all of a sudden these people want a .45 ACP.

That's just the thing - I don't find .45 ACP to be more snappy than .40. I never cared for .40 and I owned an M&P 40FS - and I sold it and bought a 45C. I'm still going to wait and see what people think of this Shield before I make a purchase though.
 
I own and have carried a great many Glocks for duty and off-duty use. I prefer the Shield 9mm to the Glock 43 for a number of reasons. First, the Shield comes with metal sights rather than plastic. The magazine capacity is one - two rounds more. Finally, the Shield feels better in my hand. I shoot mine quite accurately and have always qualified very high with it.

I was a police officer for 37 years. During most of those, I was also a range master/firearms instructor. Based on my experience, I'll be getting a Shield .45 as soon as they are available and I have the ability to buy one. I've owned two XDs .45 pistols. Both were very good guns, but they had a 5 round magazine capacity that I found insufficient. The 7 round magazines made the gun less concealable and weird looking to me. The same is true of the Kahr pistols I've owned in .45 ACP.

I've owned every model of .45 ACP pistol made by Glock. I've also owned both the M&P .45 FS and compact models. I found the M&P to feel much better in my hand. The M&P also shot on par with, or superior to the Glocks.

Finally, based on my experience and opinion, I'll say that the .40 S&W is snappier than either 9mm or .45 ACP. Further, it offers little if any advantage over the 9mm with modern HP ammunition. Even so, as an old 1911 and .45 ACP proponent, I'll take the Shield .45 over any .40 or 9mm compact currently out there, assuming they don't develop any unforeseen problems.
 
Shield in .22lr, now that would be one heck of training weapon. I'd personally be all over that idea.

Give S&W another 5 years, they'll make it for us. =-)

I would buy a true Shield in .22lr in a heartbeat! ;) The .22 compact is close, but would prefer the real thing.
 
Has anyone squeezed the trigger yet? I'm wondering if S&W improved the trigger pull on the .45 or if an APEX kit is needed.

I would consider swapping my 45C for one of these if they feel good to me.
 
So I guess the questions of the day what dealer will get them first?

How much will the charge?

Edit; I answered my own questions, I put one on order with Quantico Tactical
 
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That's just the thing - I don't find .45 ACP to be more snappy than .40. I never cared for .40 and I owned an M&P 40FS - and I sold it and bought a 45C. I'm still going to wait and see what people think of this Shield before I make a purchase though.

And thats the thing.....it still is just as snappy as a .40. BUt yet all these guys who said the .40 was too snappy, and they bought a 9mm. Now all of a sudden they cant wait to get their hands on a snappy .45.

Makes no sense to me. Aside from the .45 being a better round than either of the other 2.
 
Recoil is a very generic term that really doesn't do justice when we're making comparisons amongst cartridges. The nature of recoil can vary noticeably in the way the shooter perceives it.

For instance, I shoot a single shot 500 Nitro Express (converted Ruger #1) and enjoy the big bruiser but I absolutely hate the high pressure high velocity magnums. I'd rather shoot a 375 H&H than a 300 Win mag. I don't even like shooting most 7mm mags.

The difference is the nature of the recoil. I like the more rearward thump of the larger slower bullets than the muzzle jump and bark of the higher velocity smaller projectiles.

My experience with the 40s is they lift the muzzle more for me where the 45s push back more. I don't really know if one has definitively more or less recoil than the other but they are a different kind of felt recoil, at least in my hands. Some shooters find one more manageable than the other while other shooters feel little difference.

People are very different from one another in these kinds of subjective perceptions. Nothing wrong with that.
 
Recoil

There's a lot of truth in that.

We say 'recoil' without differentiating between muzzle rise and the impact force in the web of our hand. Or the rate of either. Every gun is different. Weight of bullets and burn rates of powder will change that as well.

For me I find most .45s have slower more manageable recoil vs .40s which have more muzzle rise and 'faster' recoil. But that's the price you pay for a round with more energy & penetration.
 
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I think there would be more cons than pros with a 45 Shield.
The size and handling chacteristics with the 9mm and the.40, seem to work out pretty well,but I see a 45 version as too much of a good thing,and there is no way to keep the overall size as compact as the 9 and 40.
I don't know why anyone would even want one for what you'd give up,but that's just me.

ETA:What I'd really like to see is a nice .22 LR Shield for same size gun training on the cheap,and it would be a nice pest gun too.

I have a Gen4 Glock 30 and it holds 10 rounds and shoots very well. It also conceals easily apendex carry wise. The G36 is the single stack 6 round magazine version, have not shot it but feels good in the hand. The Shield 45 I would imagine would need grip tape to be of any use to me and the quality build does not seem to be as good as an XDS. I would even venture to argue the Glock is also better made.
 

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