S&W M&P Shield 40 Range Report

Greetings from San Antonio.

First off, sorry for the lack of pictures-I forgot my camera (really).

I decided to get a S&W M&P Shield 40 to replace my Kel-Tec PF9 as my daily carry weapon.

The PF9 is a great carry weapon-light, disappears under a t-shirt, and reliable. My only beef with it was that it was very snappy-to the point that I simply couldn't get two rounds on target quickly enough for my liking. Also,
the snappiness was enough that my hand hurt like hell after 50 rounds. I wanted to get a carry weapon that was the same caliber as my Glock 23 (which I looooove, but that's another story).

So I picked up the Shield 40 at a local gun store a couple of weeks ago and took it to the outdoor range the same day.

I shot (in order):
20 rounds of 180g Speer Gold Dot JHP,
50 rounds of 180g Federal FMJ, and
200 rounds of 165g Winchester White Box FMJ.

No problems whatsoever-no failures to feed or extract, stovepipes, jams, etc. I over-oiled it and, like a complete NUG, dropped it in the dirt (empty, slide locked to the rear) about halfway through my range day. I kicked a little
dirt into it, shook it out, and picked up where I left off.

My accuracy was better with the Shield 40 than with the PF9. My groups weren't great-I'm an average shooter-at 7-ish yards they were 3-5" and at 25-ish yards I was at least hitting the target. The Shield 40's recoil was
noticeably less than the PF9 and I could get two rounds on target with no problems.

What I liked about the Shield 40 over the PF9:
Better trigger pull-the PF9's trigger pull was looooooong
Manageable recoil for a .40
Slide release (kind of tight) instead of having to rack slide on PF9
Thumb safety

Right now I can imagine the scene from Black Hawk Down with the the Delta guy wagging his index finger and saying "This is MY safety, sir." I prefer the safety because, like the PF9, I carry the Shield using a belt clip-my normal
summer attire* is shorts and a t-shirt, and I may throw a polo shirt on-even the smallest holsters are a bit too bulky (I'm about 5'6"). I carried the PF9 without a round chambered and didn't want to take the chance on my
clothing pulling the trigger. Now I carry the Shield with a round chambered all the time.

The safety will not accidentally engage. Likewise, it won't accidentally disengage, either. It took me less than five draws to master disengaging it while preparing to fire. I think of it like carrying/shooting a 1911-type gun

(I know...it's not a 1911...nothing else is).

So far I haven't noticed the Shield 40's extra 6 ounces in daily carry (23oz vs. 17oz).

Magazines...I almost forgot. They are much sturdier than the PF9's-they insert without problems and drop just as easily. The Shield 40 comes with one 6- and one 7-round magazine. The latter has an extended baseplate. My accuracy with the 7-rounder was better because I had somewhere to wrap my pinky finger. The extended magazine has a spacer-type deal that slides up and down...I glued it down when I got home.

Now for the one thing I didn't like:
Supposedly Glocks are "more dangerous" because you have to pull the trigger in order to disassemble them. If properly cleared (being sober, doing it three times, both visually and sticking your finger in both the chamber and
magazine well, as well as pointing it in a safe direction) this shouldn't be a problem. Anyway, I digress-the Shield has a magazine disconnect sear near the top of the magazine well that needs to be physically rotated 90
degrees using a small screwdriver (or something like it) before the gun can be disassembled.

All in all I prefer the Shield 40 over the PF9-my likes far outnumber my dislikes.

One final note...someone asked me why I didn't get a Glock 27. Good question-here's the answer: price, gun size/weight, and grip size.

Regards,

Mike

* The seasons in South Texas are :
Almost Summer
Summer
Super Summer
Still Summer
Fall (a few weeks, but not necessarily consecutively)

If it is like other M&Ps, that lever allows you to remove the slide without pulling the trigger, but you can still do it the Glock way. Try it, let us know.

On my full size m&p's I'm a little nervous about sticking my finger into the action to flip the lever. I usually pull the post that holds the backstrap in and use that or even the tail on my wire pull through is enough to push it.

Thanks for the write-up.

A lot of members seem to be looking at these right now so this should prove to be very helpful.

I took it apart last night using the Glock method. Worked fine, and I didn't shoot myself. Worked much better than rotating the magazine disconnect sear (I can see those breaking or wearing out).

Good advice - thanks!