I suspect that it will be a while before they are available.
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Very interested in your impressions.
My only recollection of a rental Shield I shot once (1.0 probably, at the time, this was maybe 6 years ago?) was how squirmy it felt in the hand. Mind you I didn't have a lot of experience with pistols other than my (at the time) full size M&P 1.0. I also wasn't keen on the S&W hinged trigger, which has been addressed by the new flat face trigger in the Shield Plus, looking at the trigger shoe (I think this is correct?) Sorry for 20 questions, my LGS does not have one in stock to handle. I'm just very curious; I've owned/sold a G43X, P365XL, and a G48, and my wife bought then sold a P365 (did not enjoy) over the last two years. I'm currently back in a double stack Glock but am open to the idea down the road of a optics-capable Shield plus, either milled or factory.
Last edited by RJ; 07-09-2021 at 06:05 AM.
I have been looking for a while and none are out there that I can see. S&W said they would be available in April if I remember correctly when they first came out. I think they are putting all the mags into production guns until they catch up. They also have a shortage of the M&P 15-22 magazines, they are very hard to find.
It's mind-boggling to me that they don't have mags available. I just bought an lcp max and was immediately able to purchase 6 extra mags. The shield plus has been out far longer than the lcp max but I can't find a mag to save my life... it's probably mec-car's fault lol
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Sorry for the delay in testing. I did get sights installed on my wife's pistol, however the postal service decided to send my sights back to their hub after they were at my local post office. Supposed to have them and our 147gr. HST delivered today. We didn't get to do any firing as I didn't want to waste ammo until I installed both sets of sights. Add to that my wife had surgery on her shoulder the other day, so her impressions won't be available for a while. (Never be the caregiver for a Nurse) JK LOL. She's actually been pretty good...
In dry fire, I really like the flat triggers. They are a great improvement over the old hinged trigger. The grip is a huge improvement as they fill the hand and don't feel like your holding a 1x2 piece of wood. Hopefully I can get to the range tomorrow. I've owned 2 G43 snd the Shield Plus is a vast improvement in fit of the grip to my hand. I can't comment on the 365 or G48. Hope this helps a bit.
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I’m really interested in this gun. Frankly there’s a lot of good micro 9s or whatever they’re called now.
Personally, I don’t get on with the 43X/48 because they’re too close in size to a 19. I do see an argument for those guns for people who struggle with trigger reach on the full sized glocks though.
The Sigs…man I want to like them but I just can’t make myself trust them. I had an early one that went down hard on me, but I think that issue has been fixed. And I don’t know if I trust them to be drop safe.
No experience with the Ruger or hellcat. Not really interested in them either for some reason.
I haven’t shot a Shield since the very first 1.0s came out. I don’t really remember it. I may give one of these a try though.
I’ve got maybe 120 rounds through my Shield Plus. As a reference, I also own a Glock 43x and a Sig P365. I’ve also owned 3 Shield gen1 guns. Still one one Shield.
For my hand size, the 365 is just TOO small. I can say the same for the 43x, it’s not as difficult for me to hold as the 365, but it’s not ideal. The Shield Plus hits that sweet spot for my hands.
I have large hands with long fingers. Which I feel hand size needs to be considered when talking about micro 9mm’s. Your hands may interface with guns like the 365 better than mine.
When comparing the original Shield to the Shield Plus, you have to look really hard to see any size difference. But it is there. The slight increase in size of the Shield Plus grip is just enough to get a solid grip and to prevent the gun from squirming when I shoot it. I can get about half of my pinky finger on the gun when using the flush magazine. Enough to not notice or be hindered by shooting with the flush magazine. The new flat faced trigger is a huge improvement over the original triggers. Not only do I not like the S&W hinge triggers, I really don’t like how curved the Shield triggers were. The new flat faced trigger fixed all that. And mine has a better trigger out of the box than any Gen 1 Shield I’ve ever messed with.
I installed a set of Ameriglo orange sights, because my mature eyes really need them. Other than that, mine is stock, and will most likely stay that way.
The more I shoot this gun, the more I really like it.
They just need to make spare magazines available…
Fuller details are in my training journal, but in few words:
365 - too small
Glock 43X - too snappy
365XL - not robust enough
Glock 48 - did not run reliably (4 ftf in <200 rounds post optic install)
Back to the Shield Plus: I did handle a non-TS non-PC one today at my LGS. Very nice. I see what you guys are talking about. Flat trigger felt much, much better than the hinged. Grip surface was good (did they rework that on the plus?). I did one press and reset, trigger felt firm and solid, reset was audible. I would defer any further comments until shooting one, but I was favorably impressed.
Anybody pocket carrying a Shield plus with the 10+1 mag?
If you have a kitchen scale handy, would someone mind weighing one loaded 10+1?
Also, any issues in Speer GD 124+p or Federal 147 HST through it? (I know it's a short barrel, but the way things are, that is what I have for SD ammo without donating an arm or a leg.)
Last edited by RJ; 07-09-2021 at 12:07 PM.