This is my first review here - apologies if this has been hashed to death.
I picked up a S&W M&P Shield in .40 S&W. My other primary carry guns are the Glock 30, Glock 26 (both Gen 3) and S&W 642 airweight. I was looking to find the Shield in 9mm, but only came accross the .40. I paid full MSRP - $449.
The Shield is clearly thinner than the double stack Glock 26. It is about 1/4" shorter and 1/4" taller than the 26. Using the +1 capacity magazine should allow you a full 3 finger grip, but increases the grip height accordingly. The bore axis is higher than than on the 26. The grip is comfortable, but due to the thinness, there are more pronounced pressure points in the webbing of my hand and on the inside of the fingers that are gripping the pistol.
The sights are not bad for a small pistol. I'm used to the Glock sight profile as opposed to the recessed 3-dots. The Glock white appears brighter than the dots on the S&W, mainly because it is painted on the surface of the sight rather than into a recessed cavity.
I'm not sure why they've included the safety. Fortunately, it is small enough that it can be left off with little risk of it accidentally being engaged. But because the lever is so small, if you prefer to use the safety, it will take some practice to reliably move it with the side of your thumb.
The trigger is similar to the Glocks. If I had to guess, I would say that it is *slightly* heavier out of the box. The take-up is short and the break is very clean. The reset is audible. As I alternated shots between the 26 and the Shield, I found the triggers comparable. The M&P does not have the split trigger, so it feels a bit wider under the finger.
The Shield weighs 0.75 ounces less than the 26, so I ould expect recoil on the 9mm version to be similar to the Glock. I found the .40 to be only modestly snappier than the 26 and quite frankly, less to deal with than the 642 revolver shooting standard .38 special loads.
Accuracy was good. My groups were tighter with the Glock, but I have a lot more time with it. I shot 50 standard Federal target loads and consistently had 3-4" groupings at 7 yards with a few fliers. The pistol cycled perfectly and I had no problems loading all 6 rounds into the factory magazine.
Take down is marginally easier than a Glock because the takedown pin can be rotated while the slide is locked back. With the Glock you need to simultaneously hold the slide back and lower the takedown lever.
Safety, slide and magazine releases are all set for right handed shooters - no ambidextrous controls here.
The only problems that I had was that the front white dot fell out of the sight. My LGS wanted to send it back to S&W. I called S&W and the customer service rep said he'd be happy to send out a replacement sight, but they are running 3 shifts, 7 days a week making these and he did not know when he would be able to get one to me. He gave me instructions to fix/retouch the sight that I have, which so far, looks good.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this purchase for the price. I like my Glocks a lot, but wanted something more concealable but without a long, heavy DA trigger. Time will tell on reliability/durability, but this appears to be a nice little pistol from S&W.
I picked up a S&W M&P Shield in .40 S&W. My other primary carry guns are the Glock 30, Glock 26 (both Gen 3) and S&W 642 airweight. I was looking to find the Shield in 9mm, but only came accross the .40. I paid full MSRP - $449.
The Shield is clearly thinner than the double stack Glock 26. It is about 1/4" shorter and 1/4" taller than the 26. Using the +1 capacity magazine should allow you a full 3 finger grip, but increases the grip height accordingly. The bore axis is higher than than on the 26. The grip is comfortable, but due to the thinness, there are more pronounced pressure points in the webbing of my hand and on the inside of the fingers that are gripping the pistol.
The sights are not bad for a small pistol. I'm used to the Glock sight profile as opposed to the recessed 3-dots. The Glock white appears brighter than the dots on the S&W, mainly because it is painted on the surface of the sight rather than into a recessed cavity.
I'm not sure why they've included the safety. Fortunately, it is small enough that it can be left off with little risk of it accidentally being engaged. But because the lever is so small, if you prefer to use the safety, it will take some practice to reliably move it with the side of your thumb.
The trigger is similar to the Glocks. If I had to guess, I would say that it is *slightly* heavier out of the box. The take-up is short and the break is very clean. The reset is audible. As I alternated shots between the 26 and the Shield, I found the triggers comparable. The M&P does not have the split trigger, so it feels a bit wider under the finger.
The Shield weighs 0.75 ounces less than the 26, so I ould expect recoil on the 9mm version to be similar to the Glock. I found the .40 to be only modestly snappier than the 26 and quite frankly, less to deal with than the 642 revolver shooting standard .38 special loads.
Accuracy was good. My groups were tighter with the Glock, but I have a lot more time with it. I shot 50 standard Federal target loads and consistently had 3-4" groupings at 7 yards with a few fliers. The pistol cycled perfectly and I had no problems loading all 6 rounds into the factory magazine.
Take down is marginally easier than a Glock because the takedown pin can be rotated while the slide is locked back. With the Glock you need to simultaneously hold the slide back and lower the takedown lever.
Safety, slide and magazine releases are all set for right handed shooters - no ambidextrous controls here.
The only problems that I had was that the front white dot fell out of the sight. My LGS wanted to send it back to S&W. I called S&W and the customer service rep said he'd be happy to send out a replacement sight, but they are running 3 shifts, 7 days a week making these and he did not know when he would be able to get one to me. He gave me instructions to fix/retouch the sight that I have, which so far, looks good.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this purchase for the price. I like my Glocks a lot, but wanted something more concealable but without a long, heavy DA trigger. Time will tell on reliability/durability, but this appears to be a nice little pistol from S&W.
