Smith & Wesson has shipped 3Millionth M&P Shield

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Jonesy814

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https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2019/6/20/smith-wesson-ships-3-millionth-mp-shield-pistol/
The S&W Shield was released in spring of 2012. In spite of having nearly 8,000 in distributor and dealer hands at the time of announcement, demand quickly outweighed supply. By late summer and early fall the guns were often selling well above MSRP of $449.99, and many shops had a waiting list for one. I decided to start looking and found 2 right away in my area. The closer shop had one for $599.99. The other which is a bit over an hour away had one for $439.95. I took the drive
It was my EDC for a while and I shot a good 1000 rounds that first year, and again the second. Still carry it sometimes and shot it quite a bit. I figure I have fired around 4000 trouble free rounds through it and everything is tight. The exterior has held up really well. It's hard to tell its not a new gun.
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I had one when they first came out. Nice gun. A little too big for me for what I liked. But they have sold a bundle. I bet the way the number of shooters that do not shoot very often have some that would be great buys on the second hand market. Nice pic.
 
I’m a believer, originally I bought a Shield9 to bridge the gap between my beloved LCP and G23.

But now after a year I find the Shield9 the gun I want on me all the time, LCP is reduced to inside carry and the G23 sits in the safe.
 
I purchased a pair of shield45s when there was a rebate, 1 has been shot about 5 or 6 hundred rounds the other about half that, some were +P golden sabers, I've never had a problem with them. If there was any minuses it is the grip will rub your skin but a good holster corrects that.
 
My buddy has two. I've shot them and I'm impressed. Real nice little 9mm compact.

I just can't drive myself to buy one tho. Plastic and striker all in the same sentence.:thumbdown:
 
My buddy has two. I've shot them and I'm impressed. Real nice little 9mm compact.

I just can't drive myself to buy one tho. Plastic and striker all in the same sentence.:thumbdown:

Do you own any synthetic stock bolt actions?
 
Do you own any synthetic stock bolt actions?

Yes. I don't mind synthetic that much but will choose wood if I have a choice in the rifle I want to buy. Sometimes you can't do that. I've come around on plastic stocks. B&C makes some nice ones. The ones that come on rifles are usually pretty bad.
 
Yes. I don't mind synthetic that much but will choose wood if I have a choice in the rifle I want to buy. Sometimes you can't do that. I've come around on plastic stocks. B&C makes some nice ones. The ones that come on rifles are usually pretty bad.

I was just curious because a lot of current bolt action rifles combine both plastic and striker fired and the other half is wood and striker fired. Not trying to press buttons just was curious.
 
I've got the Shield in 9, 40 and 45, and have never had an issue with any of them.
I shoot the .45 better, probably because it's a tick bigger and it has that 2.0 grip, but they all shoot great.
Thinking about doing the Apex trigger kit to the 9 just for fun.
 
I can't say this comes as a huge surprise to me. The Shield has been insanely popular since it was introduced. Mine drove my G19 into retirement, at least as far as daily carry goes.
 
They had plenty of time after that not so great SMVE came out to get it right. I’m glad they did actually.
 
I have an original version 9mm Shield and I like it a lot. The 2.0 is probably a better pistol but wasn't available when I got mine. I carry it AIWB in a Vanguard 2 and it's a really slick setup.
 
I have a Shield 45, which easily displaced Kahr P45 and Springfield XD-S. Kahr wasn't reliable, and XD-S was painful to shoot. The Shield is excellent all around, with a couple of small trouble spots. First, for some reason S&W made a small screw-up with the .45 magazines that caused the gun drop magazines when firing. They rectified it by adding notches to the followers. AFAIK, the 9mm and 40 versions were not affected. Second, the locking surface on the barrel's hood looks awful, peened all to heck. But the peening area does not seem to be growing with time, so maybe it's all right. Overall I can easily see why Shield is so popular. I don't think I would swap mine out for a gigantic P365 in .45 even if SIG comes out with it :)
 
The 45 Shield is a surprisingly sweet shooter. Recoil to me is not snappy and accuracy is good enough. The grip is sand paper like and that gives good purchase when firing but rough on the skin to carry.
I put on the rubber type Talon grips and problem solved. For an economical small lightweight CCW 45 I think the Shield is an excellent option.
 
I was contemplating doing the lock work swap, but then I read about keeping one's carry gun stock to avoid giving the DA more reasons to get tough.

Good point. There's also the view that one should learn how to shoot the gun stock so you can pick up the same stock gun and shoot.
 
I was contemplating doing the lock work swap, but then I read about keeping one's carry gun stock to avoid giving the DA more reasons to get tough.

I agree. Plus the chance of adding parts that hinder reliability on a carry gun.

I never change anything but the sights on a carry gun. Plenty of options out there to find the "right" set of features for your CCW
 
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