9mm Shield

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KYregular

KYregular

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I have had it with my daughter's Ruger 380, and convinced her it's time for a 9. Staying small for her carry, seriously considering the Shield 9mm, but also the Springfield XDS. Any owners out there with recommendations on either, as well as experiences? Thanks
 
the shield has a moderately small grip so if she has small hands it might be a good thing for her. I find it slips a little in my hand when I shoot mine. Might just be me. The trigger is not the greatest either.

is she having trouble with her current gun?

personally I would get several examples of guns for her to shoot and let her pick the one that she likes.
 
She should definitely shoot one to make sure she's comfortable with it. The Shield 9 feels great in the hands and the thin grips make carrying it comfortable. Realize this is a small gun shooting a more recoiling round than the .380 so it will get tiring after 50-100 rounds. I feel less fatigued shooting 200 rounds through my 1911 or M&P 40 than I do with 50 through the Shield. Then again, this is not a 50 yard target gun, you only need to practice with it enough to feel competent with it on a regular basis. 3-4 magazines worth is enough for a range session.
 
KYregular said:
I have had it with my daughter's Ruger 380, and convinced her it's time for a 9. Staying small for her carry, seriously considering the Shield 9mm, but also the Springfield XDS. Any owners out there with recommendations on either, as well as experiences? Thanks
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Is a Ruger out of the question ? There are a lot of LC9 fans.

I have a Shield in 9mm. I've had mine 3 or 4 years. Not sure if the new are different or not, is there a 2.0 ? I really like my Shield. It conceals well. The trigger is long, and heavy, but it a concealed carry pistol so I'm ok with that. The grip is a little short and small, but if it is for your daughter she'll probably be ok with that. There is a little muzzle flip due to the light weight and short barrel, but I find it is very accurate for what it is. Very happy with my Shield. I cannot say one bad thing about it.

-Jeff
 
rskent said:
How does she feel about it?
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She's fine with it. I told her not to get a 380 in the first place, everyone I know has problems with them. She handled recoil very well, just liked it because it was small.
 
Bartojc said:
Is a Ruger out of the question ? There are a lot of LC9 fans.

I have a Shield in 9mm. I've had mine 3 or 4 years. Not sure if the new are different or not, is there a 2.0 ? I really like my Shield. It conceals well. The trigger is long, and heavy, but it a concealed carry pistol so I'm ok with that. The grip is a little short and small, but if it is for your daughter she'll probably be ok with that. There is a little muzzle flip due to the light weight and short barrel, but I find it is very accurate for what it is. Very happy with my Shield. I cannot say one bad thing about it.

-Jeff
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Son in law has a Shield 40 and she handled it well. Me personally with Ruger, love their revolvers, but latest seminautos dont care for.
 
rsrocket1 said:
She should definitely shoot one to make sure she's comfortable with it. The Shield 9 feels great in the hands and the thin grips make carrying it comfortable. Realize this is a small gun shooting a more recoiling round than the .380 so it will get tiring after 50-100 rounds. I feel less fatigued shooting 200 rounds through my 1911 or M&P 40 than I do with 50 through the Shield. Then again, this is not a 50 yard target gun, you only need to practice with it enough to feel competent with it on a regular basis. 3-4 magazines worth is enough for a range session.
Click to expand...
She's good with 9mm recoil. She can shoot a couple hundred 45 and not be bothered
 
Size should fit her carry carry style and not print. If it fits your hand too then all the best but that is not the point of carrying. It’s not a target gun and not being used as “just a range gun” as I’ve gathered from the OPs feedback.
Next should be a caliber that will do more than just piss someone off when you shoot them. A 9mm though I prefer and recommend the .45 over is as commonly know...sufficient. That includes the ability to be able to efficiently use it. If she shoots a .45 well, then a 9mm shouldn’t be all that extreme. The smallness and just 9mm in general will have a snappy recoil to it, not better or worst...just snappy.
The rest is training and practice. That is really the only thing that matters for carry. Expect to lose about 75% of all relevenant training and accuracy in the event of a pucker factor.
 
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KYregular said:
...I have had it with my daughter's Ruger 380, and convinced her it's time for a 9...I told her not to get a 380 in the first place, everyone I know has problems with them...
Click to expand...

Everyone I know, including myself, are big fans of pocket .380s for what they are.

What kind of problems? You were not specific. Does it jam, does she not like shooting it, accuracy issues, the myth of not enough "knock down power"? Does she actually want to change guns or are you just putting your own bias on what she uses to defend herself?

Besides those topics, I would look at the S&W Shields or Ruger LC9s (or the new budget EC9). I would stay away from the XDS just because I don't really trust them after all their recalls and I think they are overpriced (and I love regular XD and XDm firearms).
 
I have a Shields in .40 and an XDS in 45. While I have carried both, and have no issues with either, for me the XDS gets the nod. Just a touch smaller and the grip texture feels better for me. Best bet is to go to a localrange with rental guns, let her shoot both, and see which feels better for her.
 
Bartojc said:
Is a Ruger out of the question ? There are a lot of LC9 fans.

I have a Shield in 9mm. I've had mine 3 or 4 years. Not sure if the new are different or not, is there a 2.0 ? I really like my Shield. It conceals well. The trigger is long, and heavy, but it a concealed carry pistol so I'm ok with that. The grip is a little short and small, but if it is for your daughter she'll probably be ok with that. There is a little muzzle flip due to the light weight and short barrel, but I find it is very accurate for what it is. Very happy with my Shield. I cannot say one bad thing about it.

-Jeff
Click to expand...


I was not a big fan of the LC9 but I love my LC9s. I actually bought one for my daughter as a graduation gift and liked it so much that I bought one for myself. I was sold on the shield until I handled the LC9s. IMO, the trigger is much better and I have smaller hands so it fits very well. Because of clothing restrictions I pocket carry more often than not and it has been my primary carry weapon since I bought it.
 
I have not shot the XDs, but did dry fire one and the trigger is nicer than the Shield.

I bought a Shield and like it a lot. Dry firing it a bunch helped smooth the trigger a little. Once I got used to the thin grip and the trigger I actually shoot it pretty well. The more I shoot it, the better I like it.
 
I don't know if it's just mine, but my Shield has a very stiff recoil spring. I'm a bit weaker than I was a few years ago because of medical issues but I can easily lock the slides back on my M&P compact and my wife's G26. I struggle to lock the slide back on the Shield. And loading the magazines is not easy. I'm very grateful to have a magazine loader when I need to load them.

Again, this could be just the one I have but I'd have her check to see how she does with those things. Otherwise, I really like it.
 
As stated above, let her try different guns. I took my daughter to the range to shoot some of my pistols: Taurus 738 in .380, 9mm Shield, Feg PA63 (Walther copy) in 9mm MAK, and a SA 1911. She liked the PA63 the best because the recoil wasn't as noticeable because of the pistol's design, the Taurus .380 was too small and more felt recoil, the Shield just didn't feel good in her hand and the 1911 was too heavy. What you think she should have isn't necessarily going to work for her, she has to be the final decision maker.
 
I carry the Shield 95% of the time. I have found it extremely easy to conceal and very reliable. It's my go to gun even thought I have others. I just bought my wife the Shield 380 EZ today. Her arthritis is making it harder for her to pull the trigger on her Taurus 85UL. It's pretty close to the size of my M&P 22 Compact and she enjoys shooting it. Will try to get to shoot it as soon as the cold and snow stops flying.
 
JeeperCreeper said:
Everyone I know, including myself, are big fans of pocket .380s for what they are.

What kind of problems? You were not specific. Does it jam, does she not like shooting it, accuracy issues, the myth of not enough "knock down power"? Does she actually want to change guns or are you just putting your own bias on what she uses to defend herself?

Besides those topics, I would look at the S&W Shields or Ruger LC9s (or the new budget EC9). I would stay away from the XDS just because I don't really trust them after all their recalls and I think they are overpriced (and I love regular XD and XDm firearms).
Click to expand...

Problems are, failing to chamber occasionally, stove piping even when I put a death grip on it, picky about ammo, mag problems. If I have to bend on more tab on a .380 I think I'll cuss. Everyone I know has problems with them. On top of that, ammo is more expensive, even though I load my own. Got a buddy with the little Taurus who bought it because someone told him he would save money, and has spent more trying to find ammo that would shoot thru it than he did on the gun, true story. Love my old school XD 45 as well, sucker eats anything I put thru it.
 
KYregular said:
Problems are, failing to chamber occasionally, stove piping even when I put a death grip on it, picky about ammo, mag problems. If I have to bend on more tab on a .380 I think I'll cuss. Everyone I know has problems with them. On top of that, ammo is more expensive, even though I load my own. Got a buddy with the little Taurus who bought it because someone told him he would save money, and has spent more trying to find ammo that would shoot thru it than he did on the gun, true story. Love my old school XD 45 as well, sucker eats anything I put thru it.
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Well in that case, I would def offload it. My LCP, my brother's LCP, future-father-in-law's LCP, my Father's bodyguard, buddy's taurus have all been pretty good in .380. No failures on us since I've shot all of them.

But I would really look at one of the discounted Rugers such as the EC9 or an LC9s on sale. It's cheap enough not to be a huge issue if it doesn't work out.

I also great luck with SCCY pistols, even though they are a little fat compared to others.
 
KYregular said:
LCP
Click to expand...

I recently picked up a pocket 380. My wife picked it up and didn't like it because of the size. She said she still prefers her Shield she has had for the past couple of years. But, due to her aging arthritis, she has begun having trouble racking the slide due to the Shields stiff recoil spring. The 9mm recoil was also starting to bother her. She liked the size of my Glock 42 and its recoil, but did not like the feel of the gun overall.

So, I started looking around and found a Ruger LC380. She really likes it so far. Easy to shoot, soft recoil and she has no problems with racking the slide.
 
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