Trying a Shield 9mm Again

[S&W-Admirer]

I came across a new Shield 9mm without a manual thumb safety last night for $339. I couldn't get it off my mind. Went back today and it was priced at $399. I asked about the price increase and the salesman said they had found a labeling mistake. I asked if he would sell it to me for $400 out the door ($369 +tax), and he agreed since there was a pricing mistake and I had driven 30 miles back to the store. I am also a frequent customer.

I was an early Shield 9 owner. I liked it okay but did not like the impossible slide release and manual thumb safety. I think the Shield is safe without a manual safety and afraid I would forget to turn it off in a threat situation. The mags were difficult to load. A friend was dying to have it and they were scarce, so I sold it to him.

When I saw S&W had come out with Shield model without a thumb safety, I thought I might try it again if I found one at a really good price. I have a Glock 43 and like it but think the Shield is a really good value and recommend it to people often. So, I bought another one today to carry some and use in my Texas LTC/CHL classes.

This new Shield 9 seems to have some improvements: 1. No thumb safety! 2. The slide release lever works much easier. 3. The magazines seem to load easier. I fired around 80 WWB rounds through it pretty quickly today without any malfunctions.

I still don't like the Shield's trigger quite as much as a Glock, but the Shield is a high quality handgun at a great price when under $400. Actually, the Shield's trigger is about as heavy as the Glock 43's heavier trigger.

Now I need to pick up a few more 7 round magazines and a Pearce grip or two. Anyone want to trade the new 8 round mag for a like new 7? I just prefer the 7 round mags.

 

[mustangman]

Congrats on the new Shield. Hope you have better luck this time around.
Have fun and be safe.

 

[DamnYankee]

The slide stop on the Shield is not really designed to be a slide release. I just rack the slide.
Congratulations on the new Shield. Welcome back!

 

[epj]

Just pull back slightly on the slide after inserting a loaded mag and release it. No need to use the slide stop for a release.

 

[S&W-Admirer]

The slide stop on the Shield is not really designed to be a slide release. I just rack the slide.
Congratulations on the new Shield. Welcome back!

I agree. It is nice for it to work if needed, though. The one on the early Shield I had was impossible.

 

[DamnYankee]

I have a recent production Shield and it's next to impossible to use the stop as a release.

 

[CB3]

Congrats on coming back to a great pistol. A lot of people agree with your assessment of the extra safety, but having choices is nice.

Recoil and mag springs are tight on new Shields. A few hundred rounds will soften the recoil springs, and using a Maglula loader for the mags makes them easier to load than by hand. Eventually they soften some too.

As far as the slide stop(/release) is concerned, we have had a few threads over the past couple of months addressing that problem. Many Shields seem to have it, but some don't. It's simple to fix by polishing the two mating surfaces to reduce the friction. Also, as the recoil springs soften, there will be less pressure on the slide stop. I like to be able to use a slide stop as a finger release, and there is no reason not to have that capability.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-...top-hard-release.html?highlight=slide+release

 

[S&W-Admirer]

I put another 65 rounds through my Shield after teaching my Texas LTC class today (150 total rounds). It ran flawlessly as I tested 3 new magazines. I put Pearce Grips on two of the newest mags and really like them with the grips installed. It is harder to shoot this pistol accurately with the heavy factory trigger but my accuracy is improving. I gotta say I'm liking the Shield much more this time around. I'm glad I bought a second.

 

[BriPhil]

Regarding the trigger, what about doing an Apex kit? Haven't tried one myself; maybe someone who has will chime in. Supposed to be a great improvement over the stock trigger.

 

[S. Kelly]

I grabbed a Shield 9 again for the same reasons as the OP. It's a great little gun!

 

[MyDads38]

I have a Shield 9 (NTS) and 40 (TS-don't use). Both are extremely accurate and reliable. Both are stock. Maybe I'm just too old school, but unless one of my firearms had a horrible trigger, I left them stock. I always learned how to shoot each gun "as is", so I just don't see the Shield or any of my FS M&P's as having "bad" triggers. That's just me and everyone is different.

Glad you picked up another Shield and hope you enjoy/keep this one!

 

[EdJG]

I'm also a new owner of a Shield and I'm very happy with it. I'm OK with the trigger as-is, just debating if I should put on night sites.

 

[donmontalvo]

When I saw S&W had come out with Shield model without a thumb safety, I thought I might try it again if I found one at a really good price.

This new Shield 9 seems to have some improvements: 1. No thumb safety!

This is the number one reason I bought the Shield 9.

Plus, having owned a Glock, and a Kel-Tek, IMHO the Shield 9 is the most comfy and easy to shoot concealable handgun on the market.

 

[redwing57]

Amusingly, the reason I bought the Shield is because mine HAS a thumb safety! Sure are two schools of thought on that one. I'd have carried a G19 otherwise if it came with a factory thumb safety. It's great the Shield has this as an option, with or without, because people really do have pretty strong preferences about it.

So in brief, I like a thumb safety because of my personal risk assessment. To me, my risk of a negligent discharge is orders of magnitude higher than ever using it in self defense, and further not getting the safety released in the moment though I practice with it regularly. I'm not perfect, and I don't want a relatively minor wardrobe malfunction to have life-altering consequences. A draw string in the trigger guard, or some such, is a non-zero risk. "Glock leg" is a real thing. Google will find many instances.

My pistol gets a lot of administrative handling; loading/unloading multiple times a week, even per day. It's already loaded when I start the day (from nightstand duty), and maybe I go to the range that day. Unload SD ammo. Load range ammo, have fun, then reload with SD and reholster. Go home, unload, clean the pistol, reload SD, and reholster again. Place on nightstand, still in holster.

That's a lot of handling, and careful as one may be, mishaps can happen.

My risk of actual self defense? Something like 1 in 500,000 statistically is what I've read. The actuality would be so awful that I carry even though the eventuality is vanishingly small.

Anyway, that's just my personal calculus.

 

[S&W-Admirer]

I shot the Shield a little more last week (10 rounds) and gotta say I still like it more this time around. Although, the first one was also completely reliable. I still like the clean frame with no thumb safety better. It irritates me that the 7rd mag is difficult to insert on a closed slide. I would be hard pressed to pay $100 more for a Glock 43 if I didn't already have one.