New S&W M&P Shield 9mm!

[Scrap 4]

So I just got myself a new Shield!  I am pretty happy and excited - they seem to be great guns and it's exactly what I needed and just what I wanted.  I am going to type detailed thoughts so if you're not interested you may choose to skip this thread.

 

 

 

I needed an "every-day-carry" piece for CCW... Obviously back home in Jersey every-day-carry was not a major concern.  I always thought that when I got to FL I would be able to buy all the guns I wanted or needed, and of course I could carry my Glock 23 concealed every day.  In reality, I am a smaller guy at 5'8" and 140-145 lbs... And Florida has a policy that "concealed means concealed" - there is no open carry, and when carrying concealed if a citizen or police officer can tell you're carrying you can have a complaint filed against you and/or citation issued.  So when you figure that I am having trouble concealing the G23, plus it's in the 80s every waking hour here, and in the 90s 6+ months out of the year if not more, shorts and t-shirts are standard-issue attire.  I realized I would need a dedicated, EDC/CCW firearm.

 

Without going into too too many details, I studied the many options, sought after information and experiences, crunched numbers and prices and rounds per/caliber of, etc. And I just kept coming back to the Shield ... especially in 9mm.  It just made a ton of sense, it checked a lot of boxes, so to speak, and it really just continually jumped out at me and repeatedly came back to the forefront of my mind/my search.  Now I am not going to say it's the be-all/end-all or it's the best gun in the world or everyone has to have one etc but I could probably make a pretty convincing argument everyone needs one in their arsenal lineup, and if not NEEDS than pretty seriously WANTS to have... it's really a great gun.

 

It was only in the store for 2 weeks according to the local gun shop owner, and in fact the gun was only made in mid June (they actually list the production date on S&W boxes).  If you're not familiar with these fine firearms structurally , they are 9mm single-stack subcompact striker-fired with a 7rd flush-fitting magazine and an 8rd magazine with a bit of a polymer extension... so while my pinky curls under the bottom of the magazine with the 7rd'er in there, the 8rd'er makes for the absolute perfect size in my hands.  Nice, 3-dot stainless steel sights are standard but I will be definitely replacing with TruGlo TFO when I can spare the cash.  On that note, I'll also want a dedicated holster (also when I can spare that cash as well) but I really lucked out - the Galco Walk-a-bout I had been using for my G23 [which I recently replaced with the Alien Gear IWB Cloak Tuck] is a perfect, tight fit- so I have a perfectly serviceable if temporary holster.

 

All in all I am psyched... it's everything I need in a price I feel is both fair and not too much/not too little.  It's not necessarily a war-fighting pistol but it's not for that role,  but I feel like if I had to get into a shootout with it, as long as you kept feeding it mags it wouldn't have a problem fighting ...but again, it's not the reason I got it.

 

Anyway - so far, so great, highly recommended.

[HBecwithFn7 296]

So I just got myself a new Shield! 

 

I needed an "every-day-carry" piece for CCW...

Anyway - so far, so great, highly recommended.

 

I own one too and for similar reasons... especially the FL part. Let me know what you choose for IWB.

[silverado427 10,680]

Nice. Congrats 

[plode 0]

The Shield 9 is my primary carry gun when back in the United States. 

[ogfarmer 138]

They just came out with a new version that doesn't have the thumb safety

[Scrap 4]

H Becwith - Nice nice, are you also moving/have moved to FL?  As far as the holster- I WOULD go with Alien Gear again because I am very happy with the holster I got, but I am absolutely furious with their company.  There was *ABSOLUTELY NO* mention of any waiting period when I ordered - then I get a confirmation email saying Thanks for your order etc yada yada.. then another email saying, "Thanks- we have charged your credit card, and now please know you can expect a 4-6 week wait as of today."  I think that is ridiculous and I told them so on a Florida forum several times- when a bunch of other people agreed, they apparently changed their website to let you know there will be a wait as soon as you place your order, but still, ridiculous.  PLUS, They offered to rush someone else's order to immediate production (this person agreed with my post about how ridiculous their conduct was and how they could care less et.) for complaining, but not mine lol.  So I have a serious problem with them but I admit their holster is great and it was cheap, dirt cheap.  They start at $30, mine was like $45 with some options and shipping.   EDIT - I am considering the Galco King Tuck - I have used Galco many times before, they make great leather holsters for a lot less than other people.  The King Tuck is exactly like my Alien Gear, leather and Kydex, I think they want $75 but you can get it for $57 or so at MidwayUSA etc.  So either that or I might go with an appendix carry, there are a few reasonable choices.  Please also let me know what you go with etc.

 

Thanks to everyone else, and farmer I am indeed aware of the no-thumb-safety version but I made a conscious decision to choose the Thumb-safety version for several reasons.  I am cool with it.  I know others would not be, my old man for example would not buy that one, he is a big DAO/no manual safety guy.

[buell508 6]

Great gun ,bought one a year ago love it.

[illy 1]

Nice gun. Congrats.

[The_Matrix 105]

Good choice.  Enjoy.

 

I have one and love it.

[HBecwithFn7 296]

H Becwith - Nice nice, are you also moving/have moved to FL? 

 

I will move there, permanently, eventually. For now, I visit at least twice a year for almost a month at at time.

 

I'm more of a Kydex kind of guy than leather. I have a Blade-Tech OWB for my P226 9mm. I also have their speed belt and mag pouches. Now I need an IWB for my Shield, and also for my  "Pro Series 1911"  Sub compact (which I'm having trouble finding)...

[Scrap 4]

If you can wait the wait, I highly recommend Alien Gear.

 

Their IWB holster has just changed apparently. I got one of the last remaining "original" which is a nice leather backer, with a facing of plastic "sandwiched" to the leather backing.  Then it has a Kydex shell to hold the gun - now they have a new 2.0 version which is a whole new "sandwich" ,  which uses a few layers including a neoprene backer rather than leather.  Now mine is basically a Crossbreed SuperTuck, if not a better version, at 20% of the price.

 

 

The only reason I wouldn't go with them for the Shield is because they take so long and I am not real satisfied with the way they talked to me and interacted with me, that's a new story.

 

I did see an appendix-carry kydex holster reviewed on The Truth About Guns which looked intriuging, and I found a guy local in this area of FL who makes Kydex IWB holsters, if I can get a decent deal I might try him too.

 

 

The Alien Gear I got for my G23 really is great, it's just that the Glock 23 (especially when I carry 2 spare 15-rd mags in my pockets) is too heavy, and too big.  It shows big time on me.  If I had one of those IWB for the Shield . I could go in a muscle t and no one would know.  The Shield is that tiny from it's thin profile.

[Burns 16]

Very nice man, this one is on my list of guns I want to pick up.

[remixer 1,645]

Its my favorite Carry / Small Frame semi

[Scrap 4]

So far so good - today being The Day After, I have no regrets that I bought this and am very happy.

 

I am luckily using a Galco Walk-A-Bout holster I have for my Glock 23- basically, back in summer '11, I bought a Galco Leather Gun Holsters "Sto-N-Go" off the shelf at Cabelas for my G23 for like $30 bucks.  It was actually a great little tuckable holster... perfect - but it was incredibly stiff which I didn't realize was desirable.  So I ruined it with Leather Conditioner products ... within 12 hours it was smooth as butter and so soft it was no longer a good holster.  I still used it for carrying around the house for a year or two but I learned my lesson... about 1-1.5 years back, I bought a new Galco "Walk-a-bout" ... which is basically the same holster as the Sto-N-Go but it includes an extra leather pouch for holding a magazine spare.

 

It has been a great holster and I love it but it's designed for appendix carry and especially in the hot Florida summer heat, I have noticed that the G23 was very noticeable with most of my clothes.  That was why I bought the Alien Gear Holsters Cloak Tuck IWB... which is currently what my G23 is in and it made a big difference (But it didn't magically solve the problem - that is why I bought the Shield).

 

I figured, it can't hurt to try - and low-and-behold the Shield slides right into this holster with minimal tightness.  While I don't see it as a permanent, long term solution, it certainly is serviceable for now and until I decide on a new long-term (do I want to wait 7 + weeks for another Alien Gear?  Do I go cross-breed and if so which one... do I go Kydex and if so do I go with a Kydex appendix carry or full-on IWB 4'oclock etc.)    -- But the Shield is definitely concealed and totally perfect for EDC CCW duty.

 

 Very happy!  And basically $400 out the door.

[bignic83 0]

You will love the shield. I have had mine for six months now and love it. It is my everyday carry here in South Texas. I am a big guy, but it fits my hand real nice. Good luck withit Scrap. BTW how's your Benelli doing?

[Scrap 4]

You will love the shield. I have had mine for six months now and love it. It is my everyday carry here in South Texas. I am a big guy, but it fits my hand real nice. Good luck withit Scrap. BTW how's your Benelli doing?

 

Yes sir my brother, so far I do love it.  Obviously even I would not try to convince someone that 24, make that, 30? hours of ownership is enough to render a final opinion but- so far so great.  The size is pretty much tailor-made perfect.  I admit I am not a big guy, and I was specifically looking for something for every-day-carry and while "CCW" is a term applied to many things and many guns, I needed something specifically made for daily carry- small, thin, light, etc. BUT- the thing is, I did not want what I would call a strictly "back up gun" - IE, I didn't buy a NAA mini-revolver because while they may be incredibly popular and absolutely useful etc. it's not the type of thing you can "just carry"... I just wouldn't feel safe and certainly not satisfied going out in public with 5 shots of .22LR in my pocket.  Maybe it would save my life someday but maybe it would get me killed, like the guy who tried to intervene in the Walmart shootout w/ the girl-and-guy-badguys a while back.  I needed something small but I was adamant I would buy something that was "enough gun" - not a war-fighting gun, but "enough gun".  Anything below 9mm was not that for me... I absolutely love the Walther PPK and someday would be psyched to own one but, just the PPK .380 would not make me comfortable.  This gun, with 7+1 and 8+1 of 9mm qualifies as "enough gun", "enough shots', "enough power" etc. for every-day-carry (With the stipulations that I understand it's not the be-all / end-all; I do have a bigger, more powerful, more capacity gun I can carry if and when it's necessary; and again I am small and my body has tough times concealing so while someone else might live and die by a Sig P229 I couldn't carry it the way a bigger guy could.)  In a short, concise statement, the Shield fulfilled every requirement in my list and made me very happy to buy it.

 

 

And bro the Benelli - you never came back to that thread and said how you liked yours.. I am hoping it worked out well, and wonder about that ComfortTech.. I admit I would probably 'prefer' the ComfortTech but I am totally happy... The gun is great, every once in a while you get lucky and I felt that finding that SuperNova Tactical for that price was very lucky (Both those guns, hell, the ComfortTech is a more expensive gun and it was what, $279?  Can't beat that with a stick!)  -  I haven't seen it in a while because I moved to FL and the Benelli stayed with my father for home defense until he himself moves down to FL .. I did buy him a +2 Nordic Comp extension and a LimbSaver precision recoil pad for Father's Day, but I am sure I will be installing them myself ... Can't wait to run it all dolled up.

[HBecwithFn7 296]

I looked and it seems the Shield is not "USPSA approved" for competition.... None of my handguns are, apparently, except the P226 9mm. I have no idea about IDPA.

 

Nick?

[Shocker 150]

The shield would be legal for IDPA but, except for BUG matches, you'd be at a disadvantage from the low capacity and short sight radius

[Scrap 4]

Now that I have spent some time and incidentially, some money, on my Shield, I thought I would give a few updates and some of my experiences with the S&W M&P Shield 9mm.

 

This continues to be an absolutely amazing, awesome "little" firearm that has become my literal and figurative "Shield" - it comes with me every day, nearly all day, yet never is an encumbrance or problem.  I had initially spent up most of my available money on the Shield at the time, and actually bought an $11 Blackhawk pocket holster @ Walmart.  I pocket carried the Shield for a full month, every day, with no problems whatsoever.  And to those who have or will say the Shield is not a pocket gun, while I might agree it is technically not, I can assure you even with shorts and t-shirts, in Florida heat, I pocket carried the Shield all day every day for a month on my 5'8" 140lb. frame.

 

However I am now lucky to own a Galco King Tuk IWB hybrid holster.  This is just an equally amazing, awesome piece of kit.  I had bought myself an Alien Gear Holsters "Cloak Tuck " IWB hybrid holster in June, which took me 7+ weeks to get.  And while it made carrying my Glock 23 easier than before, it didn't resolve the issues of size, weight, and printing ... and when I bought the Shield , I considered another Alien Gear holster but decided to go in another direction.  Big-time win here because while Alien Gear produces very good holsters for $30, the Galco is 5x nicer and better.  Plus, the Alien Gear starts at $30.  You need to pay $5 more for a black piece of leather rather than the tan standard.  $5 more (or more depending) for metal clips  .  And shipping is like $9 bucks.  So I paid basically $50 for the holster for my G23.  Galco makes the King Tuck a $75-$80 MSRP product, on sale most places for $57.99 .. I paid $50 even with free shipping and am happy I did.. it is much more refined yet more rugged than the Alien Gear.  The Kydex shell locks the gun away yet presents no problems at all upon drawing the firearm.  And when you don the holster ,  with it still being new and as-of-yet "not broken in", it still feels incredibly comfortable and the gun disappears.  I carry the Shield in the King Tuk w/ the 7rd flush fitting magazine in the gun, and two 8-rd extended mags in my pockets for backups (I bought a spare 8-rd in addition to the 8-rd they supply with the M&P Shield.) ... Even with my pockets full of every-day-life things, plus two 8-Rd mags, and the Shield/Galco on my hip, I am absolutely comfortable and don't even realize I am carrying.  I have to walk my Aussie Cattle dog many times all over the place, and I'll go for 20 mins before it even crosses my mind I have the Shield back there.  Highly recommended, and I believe the King Tuk is made by Galco for many many pistols.

 

One last part... I decided to have the sights swapped for night sights and went with TruGlo TFO day/night sights.  If you are unfamiliar, TruGlo TFO is a Tritium & Fiber-Optic sight designed to both collect and amplify ambient light during the day, while using the tritium to illuminate the sights at night in low-light or no-light conditions.  I hadn't owned these before, having Trijicon Green/Yellow night sights on my G23 and the factory-supplied SIGLITE Night sights (Green/Green) on my MK25.  While I always love Trijicon, they are not cheap and particularly expensive for the M&Ps/Shields... and I was particularly keen on trying the TFOs ever since i saw how absolutely bright they are on an older Hickok45 video.  My ideas on this are that as my Shield is my dedicated, every-day-carry gun, I could be deploying it in the defense of myself or my family at any time, any place, in any conditions... whereas a target pistol might fare very well with fiber optic sights and a purely home defense gun might use traditional night sights well, I think that the combination of the two is particularly suited to a CCW firearm .  So far so great.  While the LGS that sold me the Shield offered to install any night sights I got for free, he actually declined due to the fact "he doesn't have the M&P Shield tools, sorry" ..  hmm.  This gave me the chance to find out that there was a master gunsmith 10 minutes up the local highway who is actually a really cool dude.  He charged me $40 bucks to drop everything he was doing (a 2 month delay due to his significant backlog, as he builds custom rifles and 1911s in addition to regular "work" on guns) and had them installed by the next morning... I did okay ,because I got the sights for $70 which was the best price on the internet, but another $43 hurts.  But in for a penny, in for a pound, and now they're on and they work great.  My only issue is this: The TruGlo website and the box of the sights indicate yellow is "supposed to be less bright than green" because "they're designed to allow the green brightness to align with the less bright yellow rears" ...  well they are significantly less bright.  This is okay, because truthfully the green is as bright as I have ever seen.  Glowing green ball of Kryptonite.  But the yellow rears are a lot less so.  Again, no big deal, because I prefer this setup, but I might have gone Green Green if I realized how different they'd be.

 

 

All in all I am very happy... I have found the Shield shoots great and as up to now, has been flawless.  It loves the 147gr Winchester Black Talons I carry and is great to shoot, great to conceal, great carrying, just everything is awesome.  And it's an extremely reasonable package, when you can pay less than $400 for this beauty (Stock).  I hope to maybe get some refinishing done one day, personalizing a little bit, with either an NP3/NP3+ slide job or perhaps a colored Cerakote but that takes money I am not ready to dump yet.

 

 

Again- this is one great gun, anyone in need of a CCW firearm (even in NJ lol) or a backup to their bigger guns, etc, I highly highly recommend this.

[david8613 69]

Have you ever thought about a laser for the shield?

[Scrap 4]

Have you ever thought about a laser for the shield?

 

Yes I did in fact I considered it quite a bit.  Without offending anyone with a too-long-answer, please let me attempt to explain my rationale.

 

I am a big fan of three laser/light companies for firearms: Streamlight, whom I'd probably buy exclusively if all things including price were equal; Viridian, whom I believe make the best green laser products there are and also have light/laser combos; and LaserMax, whom I have had success with as well and consider a top player in the industry.  (Their green guide-rod laser is a game-changer and I firmly believe it would be wildly popular if it was less expensive, but apparently it is so difficult to make a green laser in that small of a package with any sense of battery life at all, they have to charge what they do).

 

For the Shield , there were a few options I considered worthwhile: Both were Viridian , a green laser called the Reactor 5 Shield , and a tactical light called the Radiance Shield.  Both were products that attach forward of the trigger guard (The Shield doesn't have a rail).  I liked the idea of a laser but in the Shield I actually considered the light more... For a few reasons: I actually bought an extremely-low-priced-deal on a LaserMax Genesis (a micro-sized ,USB-rechargeable green laser) for my Sig P226 MK25.  It works great but I can basically write-off the idea of carrying it because there is basically no holster options for it.  I put the day/ night sights on the Shield and thought I'd like the idea of these sights plus a tactical light better than a green laser in this carry gun situation.  But you have to buy a specific holster for the gun with these specific lights or lasers, and I Didn't want to limit my options or say, spend the money on the laser, then buy the holster that fits the Shield w/ that specific laser, and be tied down to using it exclusively.

 

 

I still may someday, as I've only owned the Shield for less than 2 months and this holster for 2 weeks.  So far I am extremely happy with the Shield and furthermore I very much enjoy carrying it in the Galco King Tuk, and expect it to get better with breaking-in and conforming to my body etc.  Plus I am extremely happy with the TruGlo TFO sights as they are very bright during the day and still good at night with the tritium.  Now if LaserMax makes a green guide rod laser for the Shield, I will be very likely to want it.  (I am of the opinion that green lasers are the only way to  go; red lasers have been around a long time but when you use a good green laser, you see how amazingly different and better it is and will not want a red one again>)

 

if you get a laser for the Shield, please let me know your experiences.  And if in the future i do I will of course give a review.

[PD2K 115]

Very nice...congrats!