S&W Shield Coming in 45 ACP!

[AKsarben]

E Pluribus Unum.... One among many. This is like most of the striker fired. If you feel it's not safe enough, then your best bet is a SIG Sauer with a decocker lever.... or a Glock (as I understand it with it's striker).

[Ron3]

E Pluribus Unum.... One among many. This is like most of the striker fired. If you feel it's not safe enough, then your best bet is a SIG Sauer with a decocker lever.... or a Glock (as I understand it with it's striker).

I think I can live with it. But I'd be pissed if it ever fired without a trigger press. There are tens of thousands of guns like it being carried in holsters, purses and bouncing around in trucks. Doesn't seem to be a problem.

[AKsarben]

Ron, when I get a chance I'll test my Shield with a primed cartridge, no powder, no bullet, and take a big rubber dead blow hammer to it. If It is hit on barrel, rear, sides, etc multiple times HARD and doesn't fire the primer that is indicative of good sear and striker engagement. If after doing all that I can then "fire" the primed round in the chamber, it meant that the sear was always engaged. If it does go off the striker catch, and gt's caught by the striker safety, it may still fire when I pull the trigger even though it is not 100% cocked.

However...that would be for my pistol. Every pistol out there is unique. The only way to test for sure is if "your" pistol withstands the tests above.

[Ron3]

I did something similar. Just dropped it from about 1.5 ft onto a rug at different angles. Using a rubber/plastic malet sounds like a better way to test this. I'll try that myself.

I'll just put a fresh snap cap in it. I'll hear if the striker fires. And I'll make sure by pulling the trigger after the test blows.

[AKsarben]

I believe military (Army) standard is 4 feet drop, from their testing of candidates, before choosing the Sig P320 (among other criteria). Now the P320 is also being adopted by Air Force, Marine, Navy as well Don't know about the Coast Guard. Dead blow is way more jar than 4' drop on the floor and I'm not about to drop my pistol on any hard surface just to prove some point that can be had by other means.

[Big A]

I always thought Shields rested at @60% cocked like Glocks do. I just learned they are more like @98% cocked.

Made me stop and think about that. But empirical data (tens of thousands of Shields out there and no rash of AD's) seems to indicate it's not a problem. Thoughts?

I carry a 9mm Shield with Apex trigger in my pocket 98% of the time and have yet to shoot myself.

[Ron3]

Wolf warning.

While Wolf FMJ steel case has fired and fed for my Shield, and it does not feel like they skimped on powder, I won't get anymore of it despite the savings.
When unloading magazines by thumb a couple mags had the second to top round stick in the magazine. Tapping the mag firmly on an object worked for one but not the other. I had to press on it with a tool to get it to pop up. I tried to reproduce this hand cycling rounds through the gun and I did. The second round was not fed by the magazine.

Brass-cased rounds definitely feel slicker to load (magLula) and unload than the steel-cased rounds. Rounds firmly pop up as one is removed. I think the steel or it's coating creates too much friction with these powerful magazine springs.

Just something I thought I'd pass along.

[nml]

Was in town last week and finally picked one up. first impressions are good, obviously thinner than a double stack and seems to eliminate that extra printing to disapear. Would prefer a longer slide version but seems long enough to get it done.

[Ron3]

Anyone else notice their Shield .45 trigger getting really light with use?

Mine started off a little gritty on take up but then a pretty crisp 4-5 lb pull. (guessing, no scale) Certainly lighter than my old, well used Glock 19 with factory 5.5 lb trigger.

Now after about 650 rnds I notice that while the small amount of grittiness is very reduced, the break itself has become very light. I mean side by side it feels HALF of what the Glock has. Makes me a little nervous. (but helps accuracy! Pistol/trigger/sights make it easy to shoot well)

Unrelated, but I've had trouble getting quick, smooth mag changes from the Shield due to it's shorter grip length. I try to shift my fingers out of the way as a press the mag release but more often than not my little finger or palm rubs the ejecting magazine and it doesn't fall free. Really slows things up.

I'm back to the Beretta Cheetah for daily carry for now.

[Ron3]

I did something similar. Just dropped it from about 1.5 ft onto a rug at different angles. Using a rubber/plastic malet sounds like a better way to test this. I'll try that myself.

I'll just put a fresh snap cap in it. I'll hear if the striker fires. And I'll make sure by pulling the trigger after the test blows.

I did perform the smack-with-rubber-malet test. Hard enough to the point I was concerned about breaking something.

No "discharges". So that's good.