Traded my Shield 40 for a Shield 9 - finally at peace

[Nomadic Vagabond]

I'm a fan of 40S&W, in my FS40. Did not care for the cartridge in a subcompact though.

Traded it at Cabelas yesterday for +$149. Should have gotten the 9 from the start but lesson learned and I'm much happier now. +1 round and noticeably quicker follow up shots were the deciding factors.

Anyhow, now I have 3 spare 6-round Shield 40 mags that are paperweights :sigh: ...at least I didn't install my new Trijicon Bright & Tough night sights on the old gun! Definitely re-ordered the Talon rubberized grip though...

 

[gunny4053]

Congrats on the Shield 9mm. The 40 seems to have a love/hate following, so obviously not for everyone. My brother has a .40 and loves it.

Good Luck and good shooting.

 

[M&Pmeister]

For the Compact, the key is to get a good grip. I have small hands and even I have problem with the grip slipping a bit on rapid fire consecutive shots... mainly with the no-extension mag. Only wish S&W would make the texture more aggressive, like on the PROs. Anyhow, I stuck pieces of skateboard tape to the front and rear of the grip - voila! - what a difference.

As for the recoil, I shoot back to back with the Stormlake 9mm conversion barrel in either of my 40FS and 40C. The difference is there, but nowhere significant enough to bother me.

 

[Mcwsky09]

I'm a fan of 40S&W, in my FS40. Did not care for the cartridge in a subcompact though.

Traded it at Cabelas yesterday for +$149. Should have gotten the 9 from the start but lesson learned and I'm much happier now. +1 round and noticeably quicker follow up shots were the deciding factors.

Anyhow, now I have 3 spare 6-round Shield 40 mags that are paperweights :sigh: ...at least I didn't install my new Trijicon Bright & Tough night sights on the old gun! Definitely re-ordered the Talon rubberized grip though...

My son in law has a Shield 40 - can't recall if it is full size of compact - would have to check - took him a few visits to the range to get himself to a point where he is consistently accurate. If you were looking to get rid of your paperweights I am sure there are plenty of people who would like to have them. Every gun show I have been to has had at least one vendor who buys and sells magazines.

 

[bmb96mus]

I'm a fan of 40S&W, in my FS40. Did not care for the cartridge in a subcompact though.

Traded it at Cabelas yesterday for +$149. Should have gotten the 9 from the start but lesson learned and I'm much happier now. +1 round and noticeably quicker follow up shots were the deciding factors.

Anyhow, now I have 3 spare 6-round Shield 40 mags that are paperweights :sigh: ...at least I didn't install my new Trijicon Bright & Tough night sights on the old gun! Definitely re-ordered the Talon rubberized grip though...

I love my shield 40. Never find it hard to shoot. I've only shot one 9mm before and found that somewhat snappy, if that's possible lol. If u want to sell the mags let me know. I'd be interested! Thanks and Goodluck with the 9

 

[Nomadic Vagabond]

For the Compact, the key is to get a good grip. I have small hands and even I have problem with the grip slipping a bit on rapid fire consecutive shots... mainly with the no-extension mag. Only wish S&W would make the texture more aggressive, like on the PROs. Anyhow, I stuck pieces of skateboard tape to the front and rear of the grip - voila! - what a difference.

As for the recoil, I shoot back to back with the Stormlake 9mm conversion barrel in either of my 40FS and 40C. The difference is there, but nowhere significant enough to bother me.

I have small hands too and needed to add the Talon rubber grip to the Shield 40 to get a better handle on it. You absolutely need an NDZ or Pearce mag base plate with a 40 - not so much on the 9. In fact, I can shoot the Shield 9 a lot better with the flush baseplate without any pinky grip so that's great for me.

I really wanted to keep the Shield 40 and simply get a conversion barrel but since it's for CCW I didn't want to have any mods that might impact any probability of the firearm working as it's intended to. Besides, I already had some FTF issues early in its life so I was a little put off by it from the start.

 

[Redlegvzv]

I like the 40S&W round and one of my carry guns is the Ruger SR40c. However, my main carry gun is the S&W Shield 9mm. I have not fired the Shield in 40S&W. I have to say though, the Shield in 9mm is one sweet shooting gun. The recoil is extremely mannerly for a gun this small, and I can get back on target after each shot superlatively well with the Shield. The Shield in 9mm just seems to be "just right."

My $.015.

 

[tedburns3]

I love my shield 40. Never find it hard to shoot. I've only shot one 9mm before and found that somewhat snappy, if that's possible lol. If u want to sell the mags let me know. I'd be interested! Thanks and Goodluck with the 9

Gotta be joking.

 

[andrewcdub]

Gotta be joking.

I've read a few posts with people saying that the 9mm shield's recoil really isn't that much less then the 40 shield. Of course, recoil is subject to the shooter.

 

[M&Pmeister]

I have small hands too and needed to add the Talon rubber grip to the Shield 40 to get a better handle on it. You absolutely need an NDZ or Pearce mag base plate with a 40 - not so much on the 9. In fact, I can shoot the Shield 9 a lot better with the flush baseplate without any pinky grip so that's great for me.

I really wanted to keep the Shield 40 and simply get a conversion barrel but since it's for CCW I didn't want to have any mods that might impact any probability of the firearm working as it's intended to. Besides, I already had some FTF issues early in its life so I was a little put off by it from the start.

At the end of the day, you need to find one that you are comfortable with. Sounds like your 40Shield got off with a bad start. No sense wearing something that rubs you the wrong way. I myself have traded in CCWs precisely because of that.

For me, the longer but slimmer grip of my 40Shield actually fits me better than the shorter but wider 40C. Out of the box, I actually prefer shooting the 40 Shield than the 40C. I've since added skateboard tape to the Shield, since it worked so well on the Compact.

But again... that's me. Everybody's perception is different.

 

[mustangman]

My Shield 40 has been flawless, and I love it, so no trading for me. Glad you see that you're happy now though, and that's all that matters.

 

[robkarrob]

I have the Shield 40 with an extra 9mm barrel, so it is easy to compare the two different calibers. Using low powered target ammo, the 40 has slightly more felt recoil and snap, but to me only marginally more than the 9mm. It should as the 40 is the more powerful cartridge. I have also run some powerful SD ammo through both barrels, and again the 40 has just slightly more felt recoil than the 9mm. However the difference between standard pressure target ammo and high powered SD ammo is considerably more in both calibers, but still manageable for me. I always carry my Shield as a 40 S&W.

Bob

 

[Nomadic Vagabond]

I have the Shield 40 with an extra 9mm barrel, so it is easy to compare the two different calibers. Using low powered target ammo, the 40 has slightly more felt recoil and snap, but to me only marginally more than the 9mm. It should as the 40 is the more powerful cartridge. I have also run some powerful SD ammo through both barrels, and again the 40 has just slightly more felt recoil than the 9mm. However the difference between standard pressure target ammo and high powered SD ammo is considerably more in both calibers, but still manageable for me. I always carry my Shield as a 40 S&W.

Bob

I do wish I could have gotten my hands on a 9mm barrel for the Shield 40. I really wanted to like 40 in the Shield - I believe in using the most powerful cartridge you can handle.

The Shield 9 did shoot only marginally better but that gave me way more confidence with follow-up shots plus an extra round.

I knew I didn't want two of the same gun which is why I traded.

 

[kannonvaggon]

I thought everyone KNEW the Shield 9MM is FAR superior to the .40SW version....

Was there ever any question?




nevermind ;-)

 

[Well Armed]

I thought everyone KNEW the Shield 9MM is FAR superior to the .40SW version....

Was there ever any question?




nevermind ;-)

Superior? No! Better for recoil sensitive metrosexuals who are bad shots so they will definitely NEED that extra round? Maybe?

 

[Texas40]

Too bad the extra mags you have aren't 7 rd I'd take um off your hands if they were. Sell the 6 rd mags I did with both the ones from my two 40 shields. I'm one of the love 40 guys all my semi auto hand guns are 40. 9mm is for girls. Oops wait my 120lb 5'6" wife carries and shoots a 40 shield I guess not all girls need small guns.

 

[Well Armed]

Too bad the extra mags you have aren't 7 rd I'd take um off your hands if they were. Sell the 6 rd mags I did with both the ones from my two 40 shields. I'm one of the love 40 guys all my semi auto hand guns are 40. 9mm is for girls. Oops wait my 120lb 5'6" wife carries and shoots a 40 shield I guess not all girls need small guns.

Apparently kannonvaggon does though

 

[GTJacket]

I'm one of the love 40 guys all my semi auto hand guns are 40. 9mm is for girls. Oops wait my 120lb 5'6" wife carries and shoots a 40 shield I guess not all girls need small guns.

I also am a big fan of the .40 Shield. My 5'4" 115 lb wife also loves it (she was hooked after one range session with it) and now carries my (her) .40 Shield daily. Hence, I now have another .40 Shield on order, this one without the safety.

 

[Well Armed]

I will take those mags.

Me first lol

 

[kannonvaggon]

Somehow I just KNEW I'd get thrashed over that one ....



Those .40 guys are a tough crowd indeed!