Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Shield or XD-S 3.3, 9mm for daily carry?

I've been thinking about buying one of these two for a daily carry weapon. I thought I had my mind made up on the Shield but now I've re-fondled an XD-S and I'm back to square one with my decision.

What are your opinions on the two?

Thanks in advance!

I ALWAYS have my XD-S with me!!

Which ever one you like best. I have both and a G43. My wife liked the Shield the best and took it (after I put Trijicon HD's and an APEX trigger in it). When I carry a small gun, it's usually the G43 now. But, I still carry a G19 90% of the time.

manual of arms with the XDs, I see the grip safety as problematic. I have a 43 and two shields, I can find no fault with any of them. I had a PM9, very accurate but long trigger pull and reset was long. Go shoot them all before you buy anything.

I had an XDs .45, and the grip safety was problematic for me. It was not as ergonomic and positive as the 1911 grip safeties that I used back in the day.

My experience also. I really thought I was going to like the XD but just couldn't warm up to it. I like Glock, but really like the M&P line up the best. I carry a Shield 9mm.

Shield over the XD, and Glock 43 over the Shield.

I've had a XDS .45 ever since they came out and carry it almost daily. Never had any problem whatsoever with the grip safety. And I prefer it over my Glock 43.

That's like me ... Glock 17 the vast majority of the time, and occasionally the Glock 43. Examples of when I'd carry the 43 were like a couple of weeks ago when I had to take my dog to the vet. Lots of bending down or sitting on the floor to help the techs and the vet handle my dog.

Exactly. Who needs one more thing that could potentially go wrong.

The grip safety is a big problem for women with small hands. My girlfriend bought an XDS before we started dating on the advice of a gun counter comando. She is small in statue with small hands and has difficulty keeping the grip safety engaged 10% of the time; no matter how much I work with her. I ended up buying her a Shield and that was the end of the story.

I have both, and love both. I will say the XDS is a tad heavier by about 1.5 oz if that matters to you. I am however capable of concealing the XDS 45 (same as the 9mm) better than my shield. I would say whatever you like better its a wash. get what fits your hand.

my personal opinion is, XDS in 45 and Shield in 9mm. So if you want a 9, then its the shield. If you want a 45, then its XDS over the shield.

Neither, both are too big for optimal CC, and too small for firepower.

PF9 REVIEW

Kel-Tec has iffy quality, IMO. For a handgun the same size, but better quality and reliability, I'd recommend the Ruger P9S Pro. But the Glock and Shield are both almost as compact as the Ruger and the Kel-Tec, and both have simpler take down procedures than either of them.

My 1911 is "almost" the same size as a G43 too.

Reality is that the PF-9 is lighter, thinner,higher capacity than all of them. And none of them are a good 1st pistol.

Can't argue with that.

Thanks for the replies everyone.


Leaning back towards the Shield.

Why is this? I am intrigued by these statements.

Why is this? I am intrigued by these statements.

Nothing particularly wrong with it as a first handgun. It's just not what first comes to mind as a good first handgun. Usually, it's something more ideally shootable, rather than something that's designed for maximum concealed carry ease. The two purposes generally don't exactly parallel.

An analogy to revolvers would be comparing a J-Frame to a K-Frame .38 Special. The J is great for concealed carry, but the K is more what you'd want a newbie to initially learn to shoot on.