M&P Shield = The new Glock 26

[jfrey]

I own 2 Shields and love them. Wouldn't have a G26. I have 2 G19's and a G36. They are better guns than the G26 for carry. The grip is fat and short on the G26 and hard to hold on to with hot rounds. The grip on the Shield is much better and slimmer for concealed carry. The 8+1 mag gives you a very secure, full hold on the gun. I wish folks who don't own a Shield would stop griping about the safety. The way it is set up you can use it if you want and don't use it if you don't want to. I find it easy to use and a good design to reduce those "AD's" in Glocks and other striker guns. The safety only stops the travel of the trigger bar and all other operations are uneffected. Those of us who shoot 1911's a lot won't find it a problem as we are used to a similiar setup. I like the cantilevered trigger on the Shield much better than the Glock set up. I always have to work the Glock triggers over with a Dremel so they don't bite my trigger finger. The fit and finish on the Shield is far superior to most plastic guns on the market today, even Glocks.

 

[KTXdm9]

The G26 is a fine pistol, but the grip just didn't do it for me. The Shield is quite comfortable in the hand with the 8 round mag. I prefer it's trigger over the Glock, as well. It's a good choice if you are looking for for a single stack 9mm for EDC.

 

[FMF Doc]

I love my Shield. I love the G26 too. Even though on paper, the Shield isn't drastically smaller than the G26, I find it "carries smaller." I can carry my Shield owb, let my untucked shirt fall over it, and no one knows it's there. I could never do this with any double stack. They stick out just a little too much and end up printing. I do agree with the OP that the Shield feels and shoots more like a full-size "combat pistol."

 

[Al Thompson]

IMHO, the Shield replaces my J frame for pocket carry, not the G19 for holster carry.

As for the safety, use it or ignore it.

FWIW, I was running the 5x5 drill with a friend who had a Shield. Asked to shoot it, mistake. Now I have one. Last week, I was getting consistent (5 for 6) hits on 8 inch steel plates at 40 yards with the Shield. That's tough for me to do with my 340.

 

[vic bastige]

Been said a bazillion times already: Let's have a Glock single stack 9 and end all of this.

 

[gym]

Great gun, I have the 26, many for years, the shield for 7 days and the xds today, I feel at ease with any of them over the hundreds of small cary guns in the 500 to 750 range. My Emp 40 dosen't do anything different for twice the amount. For active carry, "like working out at the gym" I keep my Shield in my pocket with the safety on. It's nice to have at least one small gun with a safety.
After decades of carrying, there are activities that you may want to partake in that are best done with a safety on. Weather you skate or dance, or play with the kids and dogs, sometimes I want to make sure my gun is there, but that it won't fire if a grandkid grabs my belt of sticks their hand someware that you didn't expect. Safetys can be used or not used, so no one is forcing anyone to use the safety if you don't care for it.
Sometimes when I read about the dislike of safeties, it feels like some guys think the safety is going to go on by itself, I havent had that ever happen yet in 43 years.
Safetys have saved many lives when a woman sticks her hand in her purse or console and accidentlly hits the trigger, it's far better she had the safety on than not. So please unless you are a professional gunfighter don't knock what may be a life saving useful tool. Now that said 3 out of 4 of my guns don't have any, that's about the right ratio for me, if I want one I have it. If my wife needs to be armed she can be, without the fear that "because she is hyper" that she may accidentlly fire the weapon when not ready to.
A little crazy glue and you can remove the safety if it bothers anyone so much, and if needed you can always remove the glue down the road. Not an issue worth not getting what be one of the best new guns on the market.
Also many folks don't like to admit that they actually like the safety, "it's not macho", but being they are selling so fast you can't find one, a lot of folks who may openlly criticize the gun, are buying it.