New High Capacity Shield

[Crow Hunter]

I took my 43X and shield plus to the range today. I fired Lawman 115 9mm and Federal 115 +P+ out of both. I shot the shield first with a 13 round magazine of the Lawman. I had a regular shield a long time ago and did not care for it. I would describe the recoil as Soft. After 13 rounds of Lawman I loaded 10 rounds of the Federal +P+. It didn't feel much different. Then I shot the 43X. I felt the 43X had more recoil with both types of 9mm. I reloaded the shield with Lawmen and tried again.............Soft. I re-shot the 43X and again it felt like it had more recoil.

Wanting to be scientific I grabbed the nearest non-shooter I could find........The wife. She never shoots, doesn't like to shoot but I asked her to fire both and tell me how she felt. Shot shot the Shield and then the 43X. She said the Shield felt better and was easier to shoot. At 15 yards she put all her rounds on target. She keeps a Glock 48 as her home defense gun because of the thin grip. It just got replaced with the Shield Plus.

I am interested to hear more about the recoil difference between them. I had a 43x for a short time. I did a "shoot off" between it, my old 19.3 and a 19.5. I had planned on shooting at 100 rounds each as part of the comparison. I found that around round 60 out of the 43x I my hand started to fatigue/shake and it started becoming uncomfortable to fire. So I stopped shooting it and sold it, kept the 19.5.

How does it compare to a g19?

How much reduction in felt recoil did your wife notice?

If you have time.

[steve]

I am interested to hear more about the recoil difference between them. I had a 43x for a short time. I did a "shoot off" between it, my old 19.3 and a 19.5. I had planned on shooting at 100 rounds each as part of the comparison. I found that around round 60 out of the 43x I my hand started to fatigue/shake and it started becoming uncomfortable to fire. So I stopped shooting it and sold it, kept the 19.5.

How does it compare to a g19?

How much reduction in felt recoil did your wife notice?

If you have time.

The Shield Plus shot softer than the 43X. My guess is the Shield weighs a little more and absorbs the recoil better. My wife liked it better than the 43X and she felt the Shield Plus was comfortable to shoot. As far as comparing it to the 19, I don't think it is even a comparison. The 19 is more of a full size gun. I believe a lot of females shoot handguns that are probably too big in the grip/trigger reach arena, the Shield Plus, especially the 4 inch model, might be an answer to solve that problem.

[FPS]

Rented a Shield Plus today along with a P365 (small size). Hadn't shot either before. Greatly preferred the shooting characteristics of the Shield Plus. P365 had better sights that tracked better under recoil. Shield Plus had that big gap between the extended mag finger thingy and the frame which made it look cheap. Small safety still sucks and not sure i would want to rely on swiping it off after drawing for carrying appendix (biggest drawback for me). Otherwise, I don't really have any other complaints. Grip is definitely better for me than the original (which I used to carry but gave to my wife some years ago) but not as good as my P30SK but that is the size tradeoff at work. Mag release is more positive and ejects mag better than P365. Wish I could have practiced drawing from concealment to test grip but I can't see the P365 beating the Shield in that department.

Triggers were both fine and in rapid fire, didn't really see much of a difference. Slow fire, the Shield Plus trigger hit the wall quick with an immediate clean break and I liked it a bit better. Sights were a bit harder to track in rapid fire but could be due to 3 all white dots which doesn't work well for me.

I am basically looking for a replacement for my Sig P938 which I really only use in a belly band when running. Shield is a bit bigger but due to how much better I felt it shot for me, I would make due. Might even prefer it to carry with tucked in shirts since I am doing a great job at getting fat these days. I actually preferred the Hogue grip P938 better than the P365 which didn't fit my hand that well.

This is a very nice market to unload used guns so I can tolerate the higher retail price of the Shield Plus atm. This thing is going to sell and I don't see them needing to drop the price anytime soon. As long as it stays reliable, there is no reason it won't be a massive hit. Two thumbs up and definitely a major step up from the original if you are not price sensitive. Would love to talk my wife into upgrading hers for the better capacity.

[Dcowboyscr]

My S&W Shield Plus purchased NIB on 4/2/21 serial number JLA37XX from my local Shoot Point Blank is DOA !!!!! Fired 149 rounds in 2 range trips. Consisted of 22 rounds of FMJ Blazer Brass, 116 rounds of Ammo Incorporated FMJ, 11 rounds of Federal HST 124 standard pressure.

Then today 4/9/21 I went for a third range visit and proceeded to fire 4 rounds of Ammo Incorporated FMJ without issue, next pull of the trigger “click” no “boom”. Checked to make sure the slide was in battery and it was. Checked the chamber and there was a round in it. After waiting 30 seconds in case it was a possibly hangfire I ejected the round and there was no mark on the primer at all.

Chambered a new round from the magazine same thing! No mark on the primer. At this point I figure I might have a broken firing pin so I locked the slide back, rotate the takedown lever, bring the slide back into battery and attempt to pull the trigger and release the striker so I could take the slide off. However, the trigger went all the way back to the break point them I encountered significant resistance and couldn’t completely pull the trigger! Locked the slide back and tried to push the yellow lever that releases the sear and that would only come down 3/4 of the way. Gun was jammed!

Put the takedown lever up and manipulated the slide several times and now the trigger works like normal and I was able to field strip the gun. Took the slide off and pushed the firing pin safety and pushed the firing pin forward and its intact.

Dry firing it for 10 minutes everything is back to normal then all of a sudden something jams up the trigger again and it inoperative!

Called Smith & Wesson and got a return shipping label. Will let the forum know what the outcome is. I think my Shield experiment is over.

[Dcowboyscr]

Further developments! After dry firing some more I managed to field strip the gun again. This time if I push in the firing pin safety button it won’t go it enough to let me push the firing pin forward. In addition, I tried taking off the rear slide plate and despite me pushing the locking plastic liner down the plate won’t budge. Something is messed up with the firing pin or firing pin spring.

[Dcowboyscr]

Just managed to remove the slide backplate. The firing pin is stuck in the slide. I can pull it back to where it’s almost even with the back of the slide but it won’t come out. And there is a small section of firing pin spring at the rear end of the firing pin moving freely. Somehow the firing pin spring has broken and jammed everything. Amazingly enough it still works 75% of the time.

[steve]

Just managed to remove the slide backplate. The firing pin is stuck in the slide. I can pull it back to where it’s almost even with the back of the slide but it won’t come out. And there is a small section of firing pin spring at the rear end of the firing pin moving freely. Somehow the firing pin spring has broken and jammed everything. Amazingly enough it still works 75% of the time.

That sucks, hopefully they will fix it right and you will get your faith back in it.

[Dcowboyscr]

[ccmdfd]

What’s the availability of spare mags? I’ve not seen any listed at my normal sources. If I buy one, I’d like to have at least a half dozen.

I'd love to know the answer to this myself.

[Pit]

Stopped in my LGS to get this year's hunting license. My buddy showed me the new Shield Plus / 3.1" barrel. He knows I carry my old Kahr PM9 in my front pocket as a back up. I've looked at the Shield's in the past but the size vs capacity did not do enough to sway me from my trusty PM9. Now the Plus with it's extra capacity, the size makes more sense. I slipped it in my pocket for a bit. Slightly bigger but doable. He had both with and without a safety. I fiddle with both. Not a big fan of the S&W safety design. The Kahr doesn't have a safety either. I will not be drawing it from my pocket as a primary unless things are really F-ed up.

He looked over my PM9 and offered an even trade. I can see the Shield Plus a more versatile pistol, including carrying it solo Off Duty with an extra mag, something I rarely do with the Kahr. I'd have to get a Pocket Concealment Systems holster before I'd carry it in my pocket at work but the old fall back 442 is available for duty.

Have to ponder on it a little. Of course Dcowboyscr's post don't help. All machines can break tho.

JW