Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Recommend a SW Shield caliber

I just ordered a 9 from PSA. With the low price plus the rebate you can hardly afford not to. Will be nice to compare it to the 40 in the same platform.

I got my Shield 40 yesterday. Must admit, I am impressed with the quality. I'll probably take it out ant fire it today. I am a little disappointed in the Slide, though. Very very stiff. From what I hear it takes a couple of hundred rounds to free it up. Don't know how S&W can make a gun for so little with so many features and quality. I only paid $245 with the rebate. I should pick up a 9 also, but I have three 9's that I am happy with. An SD9VE, a SCCY CPX-1, and a Taurus Millenium G2. I can see why the Shield is a hot seller. Even without the rebate, it would be fairly priced.

Yep. And I don't understand the complaints about the trigger.

I never thought of a Shield in an ankle holster; that's good to know. I'm a fan of an ankle holster in certain circumstances, or as a BUG. I have a Renegade ankle holster for my J & D frame revolvers...Maybe I should re-visit that.

Then you'd be surprised to learn that the M&P line of Tupperware pistols are their highest margin guns.

They can thank Glock for that, in fact, everyone can. But those pistols, no matter how great they are, don’t cost much to manufacture at all. The slide is milled from barstock, which isn’t cheap and does take some time. But one guy can run multiple CNC machines which is the equivalent of only paying one machinist when 5 or more are working. Barrels are made on the CNC machine, but the rifling is done by wire EDM which is a very slick way to rifle a barrel. Not only is it cheap & fast, but you end up with barrels that tend to be very consistent right out of the EDM machine. Normal barrels will leave you with some grooves a little deeper than others, high spots, low spots in the bore, and rough spots that have to be lapped smooth. S&W’s process is still a barrel made from barstock, but after external machining is done, the rifling process takes a fraction of the hand labor that other traditional processes did. The frame is injection molded and cost next to nothing to make; yet specs are held very tight and frames are very high quality. Several internal parts are stamped which is a very cost effective method of manufacture. Others are MIM which, while not necessarily cheap, nets a part that is strong and dimensionally perfect, so it drops in every time. All of the striker fired polymer pistols are designed in such a way that mass production is fast, cheap, and very precise. AND, these processes which don’t require the human Mk-1 eyeball for precision are all so precise, that the gun goes together with pretty much no hand fitting, and once together, the failure/return rate is extremely low, which is another factor that markedly reduces their costs.

Glocks invention was brilliant on so many levels. When he brought his pistol to the US, he intended to sell it for a fraction of what semi-auto pistols sold for. He thought he would just radically under-cut every other maker out there and own the market. What he didn’t get was perceived value, and pricing to meet what the market would bear. When he hired a sales director for the US market (can’t remember his name off the top of my head), he VERY WISELY advised Gaston to NOT price his pistol at 1/3 the price of the competition because it would be immediately perceived as “cheap junk”. He was right, and the rest is history. Those are the most profitable pistols probably ever made. So that $245 Shield probably still netted them as much cash in their pocket as an $800 686.

It's a win/win. You’re delighted to get a fantastic pocket pistol on the cheap, and S&W moves another pistol and makes a decent sum.

GG, I actually modified a DeSantis Shield holster I found on sale so I can also use it for a J-frame, by adding a second snap. However, the Shield 40 gets the call now if I ever think I need a BUG in a very discreet ankle carry. It still happens from time to time when the waistband might create social anxiety in a crowded venue. Not my favorite style, but it beats going bare.

I would love to try one in 40SW but think the G27 may be less snappy.

I shot the 9 and the 40. Bought the 9. An extra round and the recoil is less snappy. My only issue is mine hits pretty low. I've ordered a taller front sight to resolve that.

Taller front sight will make you shoot lower still. You want a shorter front sight, not taller.

The Shield in 40 S&W is the best carry option offered in this pistol

or taller rear sights.

#1 Son has the Shield in .40 S&W. He likes the gun, for sure. However- after owning and shooting it for a year or so, and having shot mine in .45ACP, his is now for sale. Both of us agree that the recoil and noise of the .40 over the .45 is noticeable, and the availability of ammo for the .45 is not an issue, anywhere.

I wonder if the cartridge case is supported better in the 40 shield than in the glock 27? It might be worth the extra recoil if the case was better supported.

Update, received my .45 Shield back from S&W with laundry list of what they said they fixed on it. Took it to the range with 4 different types of ammo and mix them in each magazine. Could not get it to jam, shot flawless, very accurate.

After my experience with the Springfield XDS 45, I would likely choose the Shield in 9mm. My split-times are noticeably faster with 9mm than with 45--the muzzle rise and recoil of the heavier round are not unmanageable with practice, but they do cut down on speed and sight-recovery.

Just got the 45, haven't shot it yet. Had an XDS, nothing wrong with that one but the S&W feels better in the hand.

If you go .40SW the good thing about the gun is the chamber is fully supported and it has traditional rifling in the barrel which enhances the versatility, again my 45 is a cream puff the 9 shield is a tad snappier in my perception to a G43 but its still an outstanding gun for the money.

I don't know what I was thinking when I typed that. The pistol hit 6" higher than POA. Installed a Dawson Precision .190" front sight. That brought the POI down. Just need to drift the front sight a little now to correct windage.

I love the .40 in full-sized pistols. In abbreviated ones, not so much. I just recently shot an M&P .40 Shield and decided that I'll get a compact M&P instead since I'm required to carry .40 S&W. If I get a Shield, it will be in 9mm.

By the time your at the MP Compact 40SW you may as well buy the G27, honesty carrying one or the other IWB might be uncomfortable for me.