My Shield was a lemon. A few others have posted on here about theirs FTE in the same way, like the extractor skips off the case rim. Good to hear the Shield are working well for some.
I have one that I purchased from G&R with the full Apex kit, trigger, and upgraded sights. I haven’t had any issues with it. One of my favorite pistols.
Mine is two years old now and has roughly 1500 rounds through it. It has the Apex internals and Ameriglo Pro I-Dot sights installed. Gets carried way more than it gets shot, but has been utterly reliable every time I do shoot it.
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Embarassingly, this mirrors my experience - not because the pistols are more accurate, just that I manage to apply fundamentals better when I’m expecting poor performance.
Mine is mid-year 2012 Shield in 9mm and has run flawless though I only have about 500 rounds through it. To my knowledge these were pretty solid from the get go, which can’t be said for the rest of the M&P lineup…
S&W hit a home run with the Shield.
I’m not sure what tweaking you are referring to, other than the NTS models. I do know all manufacturers generally make modifications over time. From my point of view, there have not been issues with the gun. I have owned two, traded my TS in for a NTS when they came out. We had a T&E of the first run, and put in excess of 8000 rounds through it with no issues. Bought and issued 30 TS models and have had no issues with them either. They have been in service since 2012. Additionally, I have seen about another twenty or so come through personal weapons quals with no issues either. The G43 is still new, so the jury could be out on it as well. I have shot three or four different ones, and have seen a dozen or so of them come through above mentioned personal quals. The G43 has a slight edge in size, but has a diminished capacity over the Shield. Subjectively, the recoil impulse of the G43 is greater than that of the Shield. Both are accurate enough for the task at hand. The question of “Which gun for me?” is the firearm equivalent of “Honey does this dress make me look fat?”
My take on these if you are a Glock fan, get the 43, a S&W fan, get the Shield. If you have no firm opinion/preference, shoot them and then decide. My subjective opinion is for the Shield. I have several M&P guns and Several Glocks. I’ll have another Shield as a spare. I won’t pass up a deal on a G19 or 17. I have no plans on buying a 43 unless I get a smoking good deal like a buddy of mine just got. And then, I would probably sell it.
I have the Shield in 9mm without a thumb safety. It is my EDC and BUG. One of the best pistols I have owned and I’m a “Glock” guy. I have shot most factory loads through it with zero issues. Mine is stock right from the box and I like it that way. Have had it about 6 months now and have approximately 1K rounds through it, (give or take 100). In a side by side I am hard pressed to go over to the G43. Too many improvements for me over the G43 but YMMV.
Fogofwar
Mine is stock and GTG for approx 500rnds to date. I’d say the general consensus is, “bang” for the $$$, damn near impossible to do any better.
Older shield 9 here. No issues. Apex Carry kit and Hackathorne sights. I also removed my thumb safety and had no issues. YMMV.
Newer shiled 300 rounds all good.
Same here, so far no issues and it runs great
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Bought one with the manual safety on the day they were released. Has around 1,400 trouble-free rounds through it. Did some polishing and minor tweaking to improve the trigger about 1,200 rounds ago.
Bought one without the manual safety on the day they were released. Has around 500 trouble-free rounds through it. Added the Apex DCAEK and trigger before I ever even shot it.
The Shield is probably the most shootable (accurate, reliable, low recoil, low flip) of all the single stack 9mm’s. And that includes the G43.
No Thumb Safety, bought new in June, cleaned lubed and fired 70 rounds during the first outing with 3 FTFeeds from the 8 round mag. Replaced it with another 7 round mag and have had no further issues through another 84 rounds. Not a high round count compared to most shooters here, but it is a very forgiving pistol. Very accurate and very controllable. It is much easier to shoot for me than my PPQ. I highly recommend the Pearce Grips (no affiliation) finger groove baseplates for the 7 round mags.
I have one that I bought December 2014 to replace My Colt New Agent as my edc. It is a TS model that came with 2 bonus 8 round mags. I have over 1400 rounds through it with no isssues. My dad bought one way back in April 2012 the week they came out. It is his only handgun so it sees a lot of use and he has over 6,000 rounds through it without any issues.
I should also mention (posted earlier in thread about mine), I taught 3 new shooters on the shield, 2 of them women, and one had a limp wrist twice on first mag, no issues outside of that. I have used 3 different guns, 2 low round( couple hundred) count but no issues with any so far.
600 + trouble free rounds with mine. APEX trigger & Kit installed after 300. Added 10-8 sights and it became my go to EDC over my G19. Less than 2 years old with safety. It shoots like a larger pistol.
I have a older thumb safety shield. Stock except for talon grips. Love that lil gun. Getting ready to put 10-8 sights and apex flat trigger kit in her. Very easy to shoot and conceal. Had one bobble with 124grn xtp hornaday on break in with 8 round mag. But after that no failures at all. I run 135 grn +p critical duty in her. Have shot steel/aluminum/brass through her. My woman likes shooting it more then my fns also.
I have a thumb safety model that is just over a year old at this point. I have put 685 rounds through it with 1 FTE, no explanation for this one. The gun seems to have good accuracy within 25 yards for me. The biggest issue I have had was adjusting my grip and not shooting left. Due to how thin the grip was, I was favoring my shots left. After some practice I am shooting where I should be. I am not a Glock or S&W fanboy, I own both, but I think the Shield is likely the best bang for your buck.
Bumping this one to the top because I am heavily leaning toward a Shield. My girlfriend and I looked at a rack full of pistols this past weekend and I really liked the feel of the shield.
Would love to read some recent eperiences…(seeing how the last post here was Sept. 2015).