Gun: M&P .40 Shield
Purchase Price: $ 399
Magazines: 6+1 and 7+1
Ammo: 50 rds Federal 180 gr FMJ
50 rds Speer Lawman 180 gr TMJ
50 rds Fiocchi 165gr FMJ
20 rds Speer Gold Dot 165gr JHP
A little over 2 weeks ago, I was lucky enough to stumble across a .40 Shield at my local Academy Sports. Since S&W had announced the release of the Shield earlier this year, I’ve been wanting to get my hands on one. Unfortunately, finding one in the Atlanta area was about as easy as finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Somehow, someway, the funds came together just in time for me to come across one that had been held for another customer at Academy, but he/she never came to pick it up, so Academy was in the process of restocking it when I called to check on availability and I was able to immediately put it on hold.
Fast forward to this past weekend, when I decided to take her to the range and give her a bit of a break in to see just how I thought she might work out for me.
Obviously these thoughts are just my opinion…so anyone who also has one, please feel free to add your input as well.
Ergos and Controls
Pros:
I absolutely love the grip angle on the Shield and it’s comparable to the M&P, which I’ve always really loved. It just fits naturally in my hand and gives me a very straight forward shooting position. The controls are easy to use and thankfully, they didn’t make the slide lock ambidextrous this time around like they did on previous M&P models.
Cons:
The one thing I don’t care for is the safety, but luckily it’s flush and isn’t very easy to actuate, so it doesn’t really get in the way and I don’t foresee accidentally engaging it.
Trigger
Pros:
The trigger weight on my Shield came in at around 5.75 lbs., which is about .75 lb less than that of the Shield’s bigger brothers, the M&P Full Size and Compact (this was using my friend’s trigger pull scale, so I don’t know how accurate those things are, so take that into consideration). It has short take up, a good clean break and what felt to me as an average amount of over travel comparable to other guns I’ve shot. IMHO, the reset is about the same as the other M&Ps, just with better tactile feel to it. I’m not a guru on trigger reset and I’ve heard others say that the reset on the Shield is a vast improvement over the other M&Ps, but for me, the most noticeable difference was the feel and sound. I honestly couldn’t tell much difference in the length of travel in the reset, but I’m sure those out there with more experience would notice it (at least from reviews I’ve seen on Youtube concerning this).
The hinge area on the trigger is another area that definitely feels stronger and a tad beefier than my other M&Ps, but that could just be that it hasn’t been thoroughly broken in yet. I guess only time will tell on that one.
Cons:
Honestly, I can’t really think of one. I love the stock M&P trigger, so the Shield was that plus a cherry on top. I will say though that from what S&W had marketed, plus all the hype that has been spread all over the internet, I didn’t think that overall it was that much of a vast improvement. Yes, there is a noticeable improvement, I just don’t think it was as drastic as others have claimed it to be.
Range time
I would be lying if I said that initially, when I put the first few magazines through this gun I was putting nice groups in at 7 and 10 yards. I wasn’t. At first, I had flyers everywhere as I was having some issues adjusting to the new trigger style and just learning how to grip the gun differently than my other M&Ps. I’ve got some large mitts, so getting them around a gun that is less than 1” in width took a bit of adjusting to.
After awhile, things were getting tighter and I was feeling more comfortable. It’s going to take some more trigger time for me to feel as confident in my accuracy with the Shield as I am with my other M&Ps.
At the range, I shot 150 rds of ball ammo through it without a hiccup. I also put a box of Speer Gold Dot through it, to make sure the ammo ran well. I didn’t have any FTFs or FTEs, so I was very pleased.
Recoil
Honestly, I was surprised at how manageable recoil was with the Shield. It has a dual captured double spring guide rod and I’m sure this goes a long way in helping soften things up after each shot. No, it’s not as soft as a 9mm, but honestly, I didn’t notice quite as much snap as I have with my G27.
Overall Impression
Obviously, being an M&P fan, I absolutely love this gun and probably have a bit of a bias towards it. The fit and finish is excellent on the Shield and the ergonomics are top notch and I can honestly say this will be one gun that is never going up for trade/sell. I truly believe this is the cream of the crop in regards to single stack sub compact carry conceal guns as of right now. I’ve owned/shot Kahrs, Kel Tecs and Rugers and IMHO, none of these hold a candle to the Shield. It carries just as well as any of the aforementioned, feels better in hand and overall just feels like better quality. I think if any manufacturer will give S&W a run for their money in this market, it will be Glock….if they ever decide to hop on board.
Purchase Price: $ 399
Magazines: 6+1 and 7+1
Ammo: 50 rds Federal 180 gr FMJ
50 rds Speer Lawman 180 gr TMJ
50 rds Fiocchi 165gr FMJ
20 rds Speer Gold Dot 165gr JHP
A little over 2 weeks ago, I was lucky enough to stumble across a .40 Shield at my local Academy Sports. Since S&W had announced the release of the Shield earlier this year, I’ve been wanting to get my hands on one. Unfortunately, finding one in the Atlanta area was about as easy as finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Somehow, someway, the funds came together just in time for me to come across one that had been held for another customer at Academy, but he/she never came to pick it up, so Academy was in the process of restocking it when I called to check on availability and I was able to immediately put it on hold.
Fast forward to this past weekend, when I decided to take her to the range and give her a bit of a break in to see just how I thought she might work out for me.
Obviously these thoughts are just my opinion…so anyone who also has one, please feel free to add your input as well.
Ergos and Controls
Pros:
I absolutely love the grip angle on the Shield and it’s comparable to the M&P, which I’ve always really loved. It just fits naturally in my hand and gives me a very straight forward shooting position. The controls are easy to use and thankfully, they didn’t make the slide lock ambidextrous this time around like they did on previous M&P models.
Cons:
The one thing I don’t care for is the safety, but luckily it’s flush and isn’t very easy to actuate, so it doesn’t really get in the way and I don’t foresee accidentally engaging it.
Trigger
Pros:
The trigger weight on my Shield came in at around 5.75 lbs., which is about .75 lb less than that of the Shield’s bigger brothers, the M&P Full Size and Compact (this was using my friend’s trigger pull scale, so I don’t know how accurate those things are, so take that into consideration). It has short take up, a good clean break and what felt to me as an average amount of over travel comparable to other guns I’ve shot. IMHO, the reset is about the same as the other M&Ps, just with better tactile feel to it. I’m not a guru on trigger reset and I’ve heard others say that the reset on the Shield is a vast improvement over the other M&Ps, but for me, the most noticeable difference was the feel and sound. I honestly couldn’t tell much difference in the length of travel in the reset, but I’m sure those out there with more experience would notice it (at least from reviews I’ve seen on Youtube concerning this).
The hinge area on the trigger is another area that definitely feels stronger and a tad beefier than my other M&Ps, but that could just be that it hasn’t been thoroughly broken in yet. I guess only time will tell on that one.
Cons:
Honestly, I can’t really think of one. I love the stock M&P trigger, so the Shield was that plus a cherry on top. I will say though that from what S&W had marketed, plus all the hype that has been spread all over the internet, I didn’t think that overall it was that much of a vast improvement. Yes, there is a noticeable improvement, I just don’t think it was as drastic as others have claimed it to be.
Range time
I would be lying if I said that initially, when I put the first few magazines through this gun I was putting nice groups in at 7 and 10 yards. I wasn’t. At first, I had flyers everywhere as I was having some issues adjusting to the new trigger style and just learning how to grip the gun differently than my other M&Ps. I’ve got some large mitts, so getting them around a gun that is less than 1” in width took a bit of adjusting to.
After awhile, things were getting tighter and I was feeling more comfortable. It’s going to take some more trigger time for me to feel as confident in my accuracy with the Shield as I am with my other M&Ps.
At the range, I shot 150 rds of ball ammo through it without a hiccup. I also put a box of Speer Gold Dot through it, to make sure the ammo ran well. I didn’t have any FTFs or FTEs, so I was very pleased.
Recoil
Honestly, I was surprised at how manageable recoil was with the Shield. It has a dual captured double spring guide rod and I’m sure this goes a long way in helping soften things up after each shot. No, it’s not as soft as a 9mm, but honestly, I didn’t notice quite as much snap as I have with my G27.
Overall Impression
Obviously, being an M&P fan, I absolutely love this gun and probably have a bit of a bias towards it. The fit and finish is excellent on the Shield and the ergonomics are top notch and I can honestly say this will be one gun that is never going up for trade/sell. I truly believe this is the cream of the crop in regards to single stack sub compact carry conceal guns as of right now. I’ve owned/shot Kahrs, Kel Tecs and Rugers and IMHO, none of these hold a candle to the Shield. It carries just as well as any of the aforementioned, feels better in hand and overall just feels like better quality. I think if any manufacturer will give S&W a run for their money in this market, it will be Glock….if they ever decide to hop on board.
