Shield 2.0 9mm

rburch · December 15, 2018, 07:52 PM

So my wonderful wife told me to buy myself something for Christmas, and I found out that S&W offers their discount to private security officers.

So I picked up a new Shield 2.0 9mm.

I put 100 rounds of FMJ, and 20 rounds of Federal HSTs through it this afternoon when I got off work, mostly just function testing it and getting to know it.

I can say I really liked it, it's been a couple years since I've had a small gun like this, but it was nice.

My only real criticism is the extended mag, during my dry testing I noticed that the 8 round mag tended to hang up on my hand and not drop free when I tried to reload. In addition the sleeve can ride up up the mag making it harder to properly seat the mag, or to pinch your hand when trying.

I experienced both issues just doing dry reloads with snap caps. Making me realize I could not use the stock 8 rounder for defensive use.

Luckily Paul Carlsonfrom Safety Solutions Academy has a solution. It's called MAGFIX, and it is a new baseplate with a captured sleeve.

The new baseplate was extremely easy to install, and made such a difference. Today on the range, the mag dropped free every time.

The only other change I've made is my standard for 3 Dot sights, taking a sharpie to the rear dots.

Amazon had the Blackhawk ARC holster on sale for $9 so I have a starter holster, I still need a Magholder, and eventually night sights.

And after spending the day with just 2 mags (I have a minimum of 8 for every other pistol I own) my thumbs say I need a lot more mags for this gun.

dontcatchmany · December 15, 2018, 08:13 PM

UPLULA will save the fingers....ask me how I know.

I now have three of them.

And I agree on many multiples of mags.

I have the pre 2.0 Shield 40 (also a 9mm barrel and mags). Initially thought it to be the worst pistol purchase ever. The trigger was horrible and it was almost impossible to rack the slide.

Fast forward to an Apex Duty/Carry trigger kit and a different Recoil Spring Assembly and it is a much trusted weapon and is very accurate.

However the Shield 45 2.0 came out of the box plugging the center of the target and is now my daily carry.

rburch · December 15, 2018, 10:16 PM

Oh I love my Uplula.

Seriously if you own a shield, check out the Mag Fix, I already know I’m putting one on all of the 8 rounders I buy.

river251 · December 16, 2018, 01:52 AM

My Shield arrived today, and if I experience the mag release problem, I'll get this.

I don't understand the point of the 7 round magfix though. To get the little lip?

**Spats McGee** · December 16, 2018, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rburch

So my wonderful wife told me to buy myself something for Christmas, and I found out that S&W offers their discount to private security officers.

So I picked up a new Shield 2.0 9mm. . . . .

And after spending the day with just 2 mags (I have a minimum of 8 for every other pistol I own) my thumbs say I need a lot more mags for this gun.

That's a fantastic Christmas gift! I've had a Shield 1.0 in 9mm since about August 2017 (if memory serves, no guarantees). It's a fantastic little pistol for carry, IMHO.

tlm225 · December 16, 2018, 07:46 AM

Congratulations on the new gun. Tell me more about the S&W discount, this is the first I've heard of it.

I've recently been evaluating subcompact 9mm to purchase one as a carry gun and the Shield was on my short list. I have experience with Kahr but none with the Shield or SIG P365. I had the opportunity to test fire both a a local range that has rental guns. For me the P365 was more precise in slow fire. The Shield felt better in the hand and gave more precision and faster shot-to-shot recovery when shooting double taps. I've decided that the Shield will be the one I purchase. The only issue I had was the grip sleeve sliding on the 8 round mag but the Safety Solutions baseplate appears to resolve that. Thanks for that information.

OhioGuy · December 16, 2018, 07:53 AM

Shield 2.0 is a great gun! IMO having shot a lot, there's hardly a bad apple in the bunch for single stack 9s -- Glock doesn't fit my hand as well but it's still good. Shield, PPS, XD-S, P356 are all great. There are plenty more too.

Of them all, I find the P365 hardest to shoot because it's just a bit too small, but the capacity is a hard argument to beat. Found the Walther and the S&W to be easiest for me to shoot. Got the PPS 2 years ago because it was running a great rebate and the Shield 2.0 wasn't released yet. If I did it over again, I just may have gone with the Shield.

Either way, Merry Christmas and enjoy that new present

river251 · December 16, 2018, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioGuy

Shield 2.0 is a great gun! IMO having shot a lot, there's hardly a bad apple in the bunch for single stack 9s -- Glock doesn't fit my hand as well but it's still good. Shield, PPS, XD-S, P356 are all great. There are plenty more too.

Of them all, I find the P365 hardest to shoot because it's just a bit too small, but the capacity is a hard argument to beat. Found the Walther and the S&W to be easiest for me to shoot. Got the PPS 2 years ago because it was running a great rebate and the Shield 2.0 wasn't released yet. If I did it over again, I just may have gone with the Shield.

Either way, Merry Christmas and enjoy that new present

I agree with that sentiment. Having shot the P365, and owning the PPS M2 and now the Shield as of yesterday, the SIG is nice, but I can grip the other two well and with the SIG I feel like I'm partially gripping the gun, partially gripping my grip. As to which I like best between the Walther and the Shield, I can not say. To me the Walther just feels like a higher quality gun, though the Shield feels high quality. The butter creamy slide on the Walther is a joy. But the Walther just does not have the clean break of the Shield. Anyway, today I will take both to the range, first time for the Shield, and see which I prefer shooting.

Though they are the same size, the Shield feels smaller than the Walther. The SIG really feels small, but the grip length is significantly no different than the Shield with flush mag or with the Magguts +2, which makes it a 9+1, plenty close to P365's 10+1.

I had a Ruger EC9s but sold it because the trigger cants so forward it's pointy end bugged my finger. If it had the Shield trigger and break it would be my top choice. The body of the Ruger is just a much better pocket gun. Equal quality to the Shield.

rt11002003 · December 16, 2018, 02:01 PM

Tried the 9mm with the Apex trigger, it belonged to my buddy. Bought myself the .45ACP model. Great with standard trigger.

IdaD · December 16, 2018, 03:11 PM

It’s a great little pistol, I really like my original version. It’s so easy to carry and conceal, but still shoots pretty well even with hotter ammo.

WyMark · December 16, 2018, 10:19 PM

I carry my 9mm Shield 1.0 with the 7 round mag, fitted with a Pearce pinky base and a Mag-guts +1 spring. Far as I'm concerned it's as close as I'll likely get to the perfect EDC.

OhioGuy · December 17, 2018, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by river251

I agree with that sentiment. Having shot the P365, and owning the PPS M2 and now the Shield as of yesterday, the SIG is nice, but I can grip the other two well and with the SIG I feel like I'm partially gripping the gun, partially gripping my grip. As to which I like best between the Walther and the Shield, I can not say. To me the Walther just feels like a higher quality gun, though the Shield feels high quality. The butter creamy slide on the Walther is a joy. But the Walther just does not have the clean break of the Shield. Anyway, today I will take both to the range, first time for the Shield, and see which I prefer shooting.

Though they are the same size, the Shield feels smaller than the Walther. The SIG really feels small, but the grip length is significantly no different than the Shield with flush mag or with the Magguts +2, which makes it a 9+1, plenty close to P365's 10+1.

I had a Ruger EC9s but sold it because the trigger cants so forward it's pointy end bugged my finger. If it had the Shield trigger and break it would be my top choice. The body of the Ruger is just a much better pocket gun. Equal quality to the Shield.

I've noticed on P365 forums that a good number of people put Hogue rubber on the grip to improve handling. I've never shot a P365 with that grip, but I have shot similar sized guns with similar grips. They help a good deal, but also widen the grip to be close to double-stack width. In that case, your P365 has kinda become a G26 grip with a G43 slide on it. Still slimmer overall, but not terribly so.

That's not to knock the Sig, I think it's a really neat gun. I do hope they've kicked off an arms race and we'll eventually start seeing all the other brands running similar capacities as the new normal.

Totally different tangent -- can't speak for Magguts on Shield -- but on my PPS the Magguts kits DO work perfectly on the flush 6 round magazine but DO NOT work reliably on the 7 or 8 round. This is because the metal body of the magazine is the same length as the flush mag and only the plastic grip extender adds height. The metal follower of Magguts can and does get snagged down inside the hollow extender, under the metal body of the magazine, resulting in a jammed magazine spring. Multiple people on the Walther forum have had this same problem. And not to their credit, Magguts has responded by saying "we can't replicate the problem" and "it should work perfectly."

river251 · December 18, 2018, 02:19 PM

Thanks for that info, Ohioguy. That's info I needed to know, because I have the PPS M2 and probably will keep it, and was wondering about that. So you can turn the 6 round into a 7 round, but can't turn the 7 and 8 rounders into 8 and 9 rounders. Very good to know this.

I don't know of any mag extensions for the PPS M2 either. For that matter I can't think of a single aftermarket product for the M2 except the magguts and a few sights (not the ones I want). But it's a magnificent pistol as is.

I sure wonder why S&W M&P took off and captured the aftermarket like Glock, though smaller, and Walther, Ruger, H&K, and the rest have not.

river251 · December 18, 2018, 02:20 PM

Well, I spent the morning cleaning my PPS M2, and new Shield M2.0, and am about to go out to the range and compare them.

TunnelRat · December 18, 2018, 02:36 PM

Marketing. The original PPS was out before the Shield. Granted it had the paddle release and the weird feature of the pistol being disabled without the backstrap, but it was still a solid pistol. Walther doesn't have the market presence of S&W. They're very popular with enthusiasts, but they pale in sales numbers next to Glock and S&W. Of course back when Walther was being imported by S&W there wasn't exactly a ton of motivation for S&W to push Walther products through their dealers. Walther has had a stateside operation for some time now and is better than where they were, but not at the larger levels of awareness yet. The Shield is also a very good pistol in its own right.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

rburch · December 18, 2018, 09:00 PM

Quote:

I don't understand the point of the 7 round magfix though. To get the little lip?

Yeah, it's set up to help malfunction clearing. To be honest, I'm not sure if I'll get that one or not.

Quote:

Tell me more about the S&W discount, this is the first I've heard of it.

It's similar to the First Responder discounts from other manufacturers. In S&W's case they don't sell directly but have certain shops that are law enforcement dealers.

If you have the proper credentials (in my case they asked for my Armed Security License and Employee ID) you can buy at a discounted price.

Check this link, it's a list of them by state.

S&W LEO Distributors

tlm225 · December 19, 2018, 11:03 PM

Quote:

It's similar to the First Responder discounts from other manufacturers. In S&W's case they don't sell directly but have certain shops that are law enforcement dealers.

If you have the proper credentials (in my case they asked for my Armed Security License and Employee ID) you can buy at a discounted price.

Check this link, it's a list of them by state.

Thanks, Looks like RSR covers my state. I'll contact them tomorrow.

claydoctor · December 21, 2018, 11:14 AM

I have the original 9mm Shield as well as the .45. What is the advantage of the 2.0 version?

The Happy kaboomer · December 21, 2018, 06:12 PM

On the 8 rd Shield clip......Just glue the spacer down.....Problem solved.

OhioGuy · December 24, 2018, 07:37 AM

I can say "yes" from personal experience to what you said about the 6 and 8 rounders -- haven't tried the 7 but imagine it could suffer from the same problem.

The bad part of it is Magguts' response to me. I made a video illustrating the problem and everything. The only response was "we can't replicate the problem, we'll send you a refund." There's a clear-cut explanation for why it happens, too. Seems like something a company should fix immediately before people buy more of a product that may lead to their rounds getting jammed down inside a magazine.

rburch · January 8, 2019, 07:45 PM

Quote:

On the 8 rd Shield clip......Just glue the spacer down.....Problem solved.

It solves a problem, but not the main one.

The bigger issue is the spacer not allowing the mag to drop free.

HighValleyRanch · January 8, 2019, 08:17 PM

Quote:

The bigger issue is the spacer not allowing the mag to drop free.

That what a dremel is for. Just relieve the portion that is dragging!

December 15, 2018, 07:52 PM	#1
rburch Senior Member Join Date: July 15, 2007 Location: Blacksburg VA Posts: 750	Shield 2.0 9mm So my wonderful wife told me to buy myself something for Christmas, and I found out that S&W offers their discount to private security officers. So I picked up a new Shield 2.0 9mm. I put 100 rounds of FMJ, and 20 rounds of Federal HSTs through it this afternoon when I got off work, mostly just function testing it and getting to know it. I can say I really liked it, it's been a couple years since I've had a small gun like this, but it was nice. My only real criticism is the extended mag, during my dry testing I noticed that the 8 round mag tended to hang up on my hand and not drop free when I tried to reload. In addition the sleeve can ride up up the mag making it harder to properly seat the mag, or to pinch your hand when trying. I experienced both issues just doing dry reloads with snap caps. Making me realize I could not use the stock 8 rounder for defensive use. Luckily Paul Carlsonfrom Safety Solutions Academy has a solution. It's called MAGFIX, and it is a new baseplate with a captured sleeve. The new baseplate was extremely easy to install, and made such a difference. Today on the range, the mag dropped free every time. The only other change I've made is my standard for 3 Dot sights, taking a sharpie to the rear dots. Amazon had the Blackhawk ARC holster on sale for $9 so I have a starter holster, I still need a Magholder, and eventually night sights. And after spending the day with just 2 mags (I have a minimum of 8 for every other pistol I own) my thumbs say I need a lot more mags for this gun. __________________ I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

December 15, 2018, 10:16 PM	#3
rburch Senior Member Join Date: July 15, 2007 Location: Blacksburg VA Posts: 750	Oh I love my Uplula. Seriously if you own a shield, check out the Mag Fix, I already know I’m putting one on all of the 8 rounders I buy. __________________ I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

December 16, 2018, 07:46 AM	#6
tlm225 Senior Member Join Date: December 21, 2004 Location: Arkansas Posts: 962	Congratulations on the new gun. Tell me more about the S&W discount, this is the first I've heard of it. I've recently been evaluating subcompact 9mm to purchase one as a carry gun and the Shield was on my short list. I have experience with Kahr but none with the Shield or SIG P365. I had the opportunity to test fire both a a local range that has rental guns. For me the P365 was more precise in slow fire. The Shield felt better in the hand and gave more precision and faster shot-to-shot recovery when shooting double taps. I've decided that the Shield will be the one I purchase. The only issue I had was the grip sleeve sliding on the 8 round mag but the Safety Solutions baseplate appears to resolve that. Thanks for that information. __________________ All that is neccessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

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December 15, 2018, 08:13 PM	#2
dontcatchmany Senior Member Join Date: July 19, 2010 Posts: 460	UPLULA will save the fingers....ask me how I know. I now have three of them. And I agree on many multiples of mags. I have the pre 2.0 Shield 40 (also a 9mm barrel and mags). Initially thought it to be the worst pistol purchase ever. The trigger was horrible and it was almost impossible to rack the slide. Fast forward to an Apex Duty/Carry trigger kit and a different Recoil Spring Assembly and it is a much trusted weapon and is very accurate. However the Shield 45 2.0 came out of the box plugging the center of the target and is now my daily carry.

December 16, 2018, 01:52 AM	#4
river251 Member Join Date: July 12, 2018 Posts: 27	My Shield arrived today, and if I experience the mag release problem, I'll get this. I don't understand the point of the 7 round magfix though. To get the little lip?

December 16, 2018, 07:53 AM	#7
OhioGuy Senior Member Join Date: August 11, 2016 Posts: 1,089	Shield 2.0 is a great gun! IMO having shot a lot, there's hardly a bad apple in the bunch for single stack 9s -- Glock doesn't fit my hand as well but it's still good. Shield, PPS, XD-S, P356 are all great. There are plenty more too. Of them all, I find the P365 hardest to shoot because it's just a bit too small, but the capacity is a hard argument to beat. Found the Walther and the S&W to be easiest for me to shoot. Got the PPS 2 years ago because it was running a great rebate and the Shield 2.0 wasn't released yet. If I did it over again, I just may have gone with the Shield. Either way, Merry Christmas and enjoy that new present

December 16, 2018, 02:01 PM	#9
rt11002003 Senior Member Join Date: June 25, 2014 Posts: 524	Tried the 9mm with the Apex trigger, it belonged to my buddy. Bought myself the .45ACP model. Great with standard trigger.

December 16, 2018, 03:11 PM	#10
IdaD Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2018 Location: Idaho Posts: 107	It’s a great little pistol, I really like my original version. It’s so easy to carry and conceal, but still shoots pretty well even with hotter ammo.

December 16, 2018, 10:19 PM	#11
WyMark Senior Member Join Date: January 10, 2011 Location: Wyoming Posts: 647	I carry my 9mm Shield 1.0 with the 7 round mag, fitted with a Pearce pinky base and a Mag-guts +1 spring. Far as I'm concerned it's as close as I'll likely get to the perfect EDC.

December 18, 2018, 02:19 PM	#13
river251 Member Join Date: July 12, 2018 Posts: 27	Thanks for that info, Ohioguy. That's info I needed to know, because I have the PPS M2 and probably will keep it, and was wondering about that. So you can turn the 6 round into a 7 round, but can't turn the 7 and 8 rounders into 8 and 9 rounders. Very good to know this. I don't know of any mag extensions for the PPS M2 either. For that matter I can't think of a single aftermarket product for the M2 except the magguts and a few sights (not the ones I want). But it's a magnificent pistol as is. I sure wonder why S&W M&P took off and captured the aftermarket like Glock, though smaller, and Walther, Ruger, H&K, and the rest have not.

December 18, 2018, 02:20 PM	#14
river251 Member Join Date: July 12, 2018 Posts: 27	Well, I spent the morning cleaning my PPS M2, and new Shield M2.0, and am about to go out to the range and compare them.

December 18, 2018, 02:36 PM	#15
TunnelRat Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2011 Posts: 12,205	Marketing. The original PPS was out before the Shield. Granted it had the paddle release and the weird feature of the pistol being disabled without the backstrap, but it was still a solid pistol. Walther doesn't have the market presence of S&W. They're very popular with enthusiasts, but they pale in sales numbers next to Glock and S&W. Of course back when Walther was being imported by S&W there wasn't exactly a ton of motivation for S&W to push Walther products through their dealers. Walther has had a stateside operation for some time now and is better than where they were, but not at the larger levels of awareness yet. The Shield is also a very good pistol in its own right. Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

December 21, 2018, 11:14 AM	#18
claydoctor Senior Member Join Date: August 26, 2010 Location: Virginia Posts: 450	I have the original 9mm Shield as well as the .45. What is the advantage of the 2.0 version?

December 21, 2018, 06:12 PM	#19
The Happy kaboomer Senior Member Join Date: October 14, 2009 Posts: 224	On the 8 rd Shield clip......Just glue the spacer down.....Problem solved.

December 24, 2018, 07:37 AM	#20
OhioGuy Senior Member Join Date: August 11, 2016 Posts: 1,089	I can say "yes" from personal experience to what you said about the 6 and 8 rounders -- haven't tried the 7 but imagine it could suffer from the same problem. The bad part of it is Magguts' response to me. I made a video illustrating the problem and everything. The only response was "we can't replicate the problem, we'll send you a refund." There's a clear-cut explanation for why it happens, too. Seems like something a company should fix immediately before people buy more of a product that may lead to their rounds getting jammed down inside a magazine.