New Gun Day! Shield 9mm

[Spats McGee]

Woot! We all love New Gun Day, right?

I don't buy and sell much, but I sold the Colt Peacekeeper for which I created a thread in Revolvers and put the funds towards a new Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm. (I'm not going to post pictures, because it's NIB and looks just like every other Shield out there.) I've registered for S&W's Super Summer Hideout giveaway, which should net me 2 extra mags, 2 boxes of ammo and a magazine loader. I also ordered 3 more mags from Sportsman's Outdoor Superstore* for $15 apiece. I also ordered a Stealthgear Revolution IWB mini. All I lack is a mag pouch and a couple of range trips and I'll be ready to start carrying her!

*=I've never dealt with the company before, but compared to other prices, that was a steal. It can be found here. I've created a thread in Retail Deals and intend to report back on how that transaction goes.

[Siggy-06]

Congrats on the shield, I've had 2 before, one in 9mm and the other in .40s&w. I enjoyed my xds a bit more so off they went. I have been looking at the shield in .45 though. SOS has some good deals for sure, I got my 10/22 from them for a great price.

[Spats McGee]

I took the advice I so often give and went and rented an XDs and a Shield and borrowed a G43. I had a devil of a time deciding between the Shield and an XDs, but I just preferred the way the Shield felt in my hand and shot. Glad to hear that someone around here has dealt with SOS before.

[mikejonestkd]

I hope you enjoy the new shield, I went though a similar decision this past winter- flip flopping back and forth between the 9mm shield, XDs, LC9s, and the 43. In the end the shield won the contest.
2000 rounds later and it still functions perfectly, and shoots well.

[Maligator]

Congratulations on your new Shield. I too went to my LGS and handled the Shield, XDS, and Glock 43 and in the end it was the Shield that felt the best for me. Then they had that $75 rebate and that was the tipping point. I bought one in 9mm, 40, & 45.

[Eazyeach]

Congrats Spats. I carry a 9mm shield too. Shoots almost as good as a bigger pistol. If the trigger was better I'd like it more. Still it's a great little gun and they're a great value.

[hubris]

Has been one of my daily carry choices for a couple of years. Santa brought me a CT laser for it in '15 and its even gooder. Absolutely no complaints thus far.

[Hal]

Congrats!
I bought a .45 acp Shield back when S&W had the $75 rebate.
I just shot it this past week.

It's ok, for a non-1911.

I did notice mine was tossing the spent brass to the front a lot and I had to leave a lot of it on the range.

I can foresee this as a gun that gets carried a lot and shot little.

[mete]

I wonder how many have chosen the M&P compact instead of the Shield as they are very close in size ?

[Spats McGee]

Thanks, everyone. I wanted to get a Shield during the $75 rebate, but didn't get to it in time (obviously).

I had an offer of an M&P 45c in trade, and danged near took it.

[Gary Gill]

I chose the compact over the shield because I already own a M&P full size. But, I would like to have a Shield too.

[Spats McGee]

I just finished the first cleaning & lube. Inner lever down, outer lever down, slip the slide off the frame . . . Pretty straightforward. Decided to go ahead and load my mags for my first range trip, which I hope will be soon. Dagnabbit, the last round was hard to get into each magazine! Hopefully leaving those loaded for a week or two will loosen that up a bit, since S&W says it will take 8-10 weeks before I get my mag charger.

[Eazyeach]

Yep, those shield mags are tough. And mine never seemed to weaken up. Had it for a couple years now. Gotta have a mag loader for the last round. Also make sure the mag seats well if you top it off to full capacity. You really have to slap that mag home.

[Eazyeach]

Don't you have a glock? The mag loader that came with that should work ok.

[Spats McGee]

Originally Posted by Easyeach

Yep, those shield mags are tough. And mine never seemed to weaken up. Had it for a couple years now. Gotta have a mag loader for the last round. Also make sure the mag seats well if you top it off to full capacity. You really have to slap that mag home.

Ain't that the truth?!?

Originally Posted by Eazyeach

Don't you have a glock? The mag loader that came with that should work ok.

Yes, indeed I do. I really, really should have thought about that.

[KyJim]

Congratulations Spats! I bought one in May and really like it. Nice trigger for a polymer pistol --- and that's coming from a 1911 guy.

[Nathan]

Good choice. I'm into mine for about $250. I carry it quite a bit. I had to add a Hogue wraparound to shoot it well. That worked and it still carries well. I added a pierce grip extending base plate on the 7rd mag. Next are new sights.

Mine has swam twice and still looks new!

I do like the trigger also. I've got the one with the thumb safety.

[Water-Man]

Another good source for mags.https://gunmagwarehouse.com/

[BOOGIE the oily]

Originally Posted by Spats McGee

Woot! We all love New Gun Day, right?

Yes, we do!
Congratulations on your new "baby".

There is, however, one thing I disagree with you about: I would've loved to see some pics of her.

[Ibmikey]

You might check out the fiber optic sights from Tru glo, my buddy and I installed them and what a difference! We went for green rear and red front....one thing...the rear sight requires a tool to push the old sight out as they are very tight.

[Brit]

Ibmikey.

I have been using TruGlo sights for years, personly I like the all green version.

Did you notice that in order to line up your TruGlo sights, the rear is a bit to the right, to shoot straight?

[Spats McGee]

Thank you, everyone. I think I'm going to like this one.

Boogie, it looks like every other Shield out there, but how about this? I'll post pics after my first range trip.

As for sights, I am most likely going to swap out the sights, but the model that had night sights was an extra $80 at Academy. For that kind of coin, I'd rather pick them and have them installed in this case. I'll check out the Tru Glos.

[BOOGIE the oily]

Boogie, it looks like every other Shield out there, but how about this? I'll post pics after my first range trip.

Sound's good. Enjoy!

[Spats McGee]

I was able to sneak out to the range today. I originally intended to shoot more than I did, but I only had 100 rounds with me, and I didn't feel like paying range prices for ammo when I have ammo I bought in bulk sitting at home. Besides, I hold the Sunday Afternoon Nap to be sacrosanct. Anyway, she's a sweet little shooter. Zero malfunctions, and the recoil is surprisingly mild for such a little pistol. As little as I like mag extensions being used as part of the grip, I was able to definitively determine that I prefer the grip on the Shield with an 8-round mag over its grip with a 7-rouind mags.

If and when I can upload pictures, I will full and sole responsibility for the shooting. I shot a total of 39 rounds into each of the top targets (four 8-round mags and one 7-round mag), and the remaining 22 rounds out of my 100 into the bottom one.

Boogie the Oily, I promised you pictures, but I was unable to upload them, even as attachments. I'll try again from my work computer tomorrow.

ETA: I was able to upload them to THR: https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...#post-10630379

[OldMarksman]

congrats, and have fun.