S&W Shield 9mm Durability

[T2C]

How many rounds have your fired through your 9mm S&W Shield? 2,000? 3,000? 5,000? What issues have you had or have you had no issues at all? How much shooting experience do you have and what kind of accuracy do you see at 25 yards?

I've fired a few .40 caliber Shields owned by friends, but I don't own a Shield. I get questions from students and past students about the durability of the Shield 9mm and would appreciate input. If I purchased one tomorrow and fired 300 rounds through it, I would not be in a position to offer an informed opinion.

I would like to hear your personal experiences please and not something you read on the internet or heard in the local gun shop.

[MJLman]

Just broke 2500 at my last range trip based on my own ammo consumption. I am a CCW instructor (whatever that's worth these days) and have loaned it out to a countless number of students to try in/post class as well as friends giving her a go. I would say in all reality I'm likely north of 3500 down the pipe, and not a single stoppage that I can recall. Accuracy is as good as I can do which is consistent A zone hits at 25 and beyond. Have shot it to 50 & 75 on an IPSC with a little elevation adjustment cover up.
Manufacture date of January of 2013 prior to the trigger recall and the G43 which I wanted bad until I shot it. No mods other than an Ameriglo HD front sight and a self stippling job. Rotation of two 7 rd, and one 8 round magazines.
I consider it reliable to the point that it splits EDC time based on attire with a G19. It just does the single stack 9 concealment gun so well. Always thought this video was funny as he produces parts for the glock but sides with the shield.

https://youtu.be/EdYH2M7CJN4

The trigger bite issue he describes is what kept me from getting rid of my Shield for the G43. Honestly if it suits your needs and your looking to fill in a gap or need in this type of firearm I'd say look no further.
Hope this helps.

[Jaysop]

I shot two range rental Shields yesterday for the first time.

Both had an issue that the slide release took emenace force to drop the slide. Almost like there was something stuck. They both seemed kind of have some rattle compared to the G43 I shot. I don't know if they are like that new or they just had way more rounds on them compared to the G43. If your looking for a carry gun, the 43 was noticeably smaller.

[Ryno12]

Skintop has a good thread about the Shield.

[MegademiC]

I shot two range rental Shields yesterday for the first time.

Both had an issue that the slide release took emenace force to drop the slide. Almost like there was something stuck. They both seemed kind of have some rattle compared to the G43 I shot. I don't know if they are like that new or they just had way more rounds on them compared to the G43. If your looking for a carry gun, the 43 was noticeably smaller.

The slide stop is hard on mine too, I have my gf rack the slide during reloads.

I have a few thousand (less than 3 I think, may be more) rounds through it. 100% reliable. Can't comment on accuracy as I only tried for groups a few times and could not deliver (my fault). It was around 9" at 25yds, I'll try again next time out.

I have shot a full mag into a group covered by a fist at 7 yds, .5 sec splits. The gun is accurate enough for sd, but I wouldn't try for a headshot at 25 without more practice.

My experience: I shoot a bit, I typically get 4" groups at 25yds, but I'm beginning to think it's my reloads. I've shot sub 3" groups at 25yds, this being with my mp40fs. I haven't been consistent going to matches, but I'm ussually ranking with c class shooters. F.a.s.t test is always under 6 sec.

[ritepath]

How many rounds have your fired through your 9mm S&W Shield? 2,000? 3,000? 5,000? What issues have you had or have you had no issues at all? How much shooting experience do you have and what kind of accuracy do you see at 25 yards?

I would like to hear your personal experiences please and not something you read on the internet or heard in the local gun shop.

I have the 9mm Shield that I've run around 6k rounds through right now (124g 5.2gr power pistol) I don't know the "accuracy" at 25 yards, but I normally start at 15 then move the 20 and 25yards at the plate rack. It's not a guaranteed hit every shot but it's 85% or so at 20 and 25. As for experience I suppose I've owned somewhere around 150 pistols and have been shooting pistols since 1980.

A side not, the 100yd gong is pretty easy to hit with the shield also.

I've had a handful of failures where I've screwed up my OAL, for whatever reason my shield requires a shorter length than any of my other 9mm's so I've started loading all my 9's to fit the shield.

BTW it's a slide stop, not release.

[GregP220]

It's a release to those trained to use it as such.

[556A2]

Hit that edge of the slide stop with very fine sandpaper, or an emory board. Fixes the hard to release slide stop issue in 2 minutes instead of waiting 2K+ rounds for it to wear.

[Pappabear]

I Have no desire to run my carry gun super hard to the point of failure. I like to buy them, run them 300 rounds or so and hopefully no malfunctions to confirm reliability. Then I run a couple boxes of AMMO every few months or so make sure it's running well.

I don't want to run that gun to failure and figure that out when I need it.

It's cool to see what abuse these carry guns can take though. Glad folks are running them to test the limits.

PB

[S. Kelly]

NYPD tested the Shield 9 and it passed their tests. I believe it's at least 10K rounds of duty ammo, which is Speer Gold Dot 124 gr +P HP.