Is the Shield considered to be a reliable carry pistol now that the factory has tweaked it? Soon I will buy either a Shield or Glock 43 and would like to hear opinions from current or previous Shield owners about recent experiences with this pistol. What test fire date marks the advent of improved guns? Thank you.
I have an older shield and have had zero issues in the 800-900 rounds I have through it.
I have a newer Shield with about 400 rounds through it with no issues.
I have two one in 9 and 40 both with apex upgrades. I bought these back when they first came out and I haven’t had any issues. I carry the 40 all the time
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Got mine new in early 2013. Put the DCAEK kit in it. Great shooter for it’s size and have had zero issues. Goes with me pretty much everywhere.
The only time I have had issues with mine is using federal aluminum, fte. This was after about a thousand rounds. No issues otherwise prior or after using different ammo. Also just recently added DCAEK, makes it smooth and light. I don’t see the apex kit as essential to making the shield a quality edc, but it certainly makes a great pistol perfect in my eyes.
Fairly new shield owner. Had several failure to extracts in the first few hundred rounds. Sent it back to S&W I think they opened up the chamber a bit and I haven’t had any issues since.
I bought my daughter a newer one last Christmas, it has been a good reliable pistol for her. The Shield will handle more like a full size gun while the Glock 43 is more pocketable.
My daughter has had a shield for about two years now, she has taken 3 HG classes and has only had one issue in about 1k rds, due to ‘limp wristing’. Its been a great edc pistol for her. Gave her the option of a new glock 43, she declined. The shield has proven to be accurate and reliable.
I have two, a thumb safety model that is about a year old, and a two month old non safety model, both in 9mm. I put Apex sears in both, and the newer one also got an Apex striker block/spring.
Both are very accurate for the size/sight radius, and have been 100 percent reliable with about 1K rounds between them. I usually use the seven round mags with the Pearce finger extensions and they conceal very well while still allowing a full grip. I have Ameriglo sights on both and have been very happy with them as off duty carrys.
Great pistol and a much better value than the G43 IMHO.
C4
I recently bought a Shield from Grant and had him add the APEX kit and trigger, excellent so far. More accurate at 20 yards than some of my older M&P’s were.
I had an older Shield .40. Only put about 600 rounds through it, carried it for a year. No problems, carried well, much better trigger than my other full sized M&Ps. Just got rid of it because there wasn’t really a situation I could carry it and couldn’t carry my G26.
I noticed that at smith-wessonforum.com there are several active threads with various folks reporting issues with the recoil spring assembly of the Shield. Some are reporting deformation of the rear end of the assembly; others are reporting the RSA disassembling itself. Many of those reporting problems also state that S&W is backordered on replacement RSAs. Anyone here noticing any issues with Shield RSAs?
By far on my wife’s 9mm. Hers printed a 2" 12 shot group at 25 yards from a rest with Federal 124gr HST. We have about 250 rounds through hers with no issues.
It’s always been a reliable carry pistol from day one.
Mine will be 2yo next month, I only have around 5000 trouble free rounds at this moment. At 15 yards on the plates it runs with my 75 and 220. Going back to 20&25 and it starts to give up a little but I’m sure it’s just me. It shoots like a larger gun and for some reason it’s easy to run fast and be accurate.
Reliable and very soft shooting. My shield seems to recoil lighter than my G19, or at least it feels that way. Their are good upgrades available from Apex Tactical for trigger work and from others for sights.
My spring has deformed a bit and sometimes causes problems with reassembly, nothing bad, just makes it difficult. It hasn’t caused any reliability issues.
New 9 mm shield. I’ve fired 200 rounds of various factory ammo, including Hor. & Fed. hp’s. Absolutely no issues.
I have an old shield. I’ve run it with many types ammo, no issues. Shoots great feels great. I have full Apex trigger and trijicon HD’s with orange front dot. Good luck