Shield on the Rocks

[Emptymag]

Don't think I posted pics of this yet. I guess I figured it's sort of like a Glock - they all look the same, so why bother.
Oh well, here it is anyway.

I know these have been out for several years now and there's not much I can say that everyone doesn't already know about them.
I bought it because it was affordable. I bought it because I've always carried small handguns in .380ACP or 32ACP inside the waistband, or with an ankle holster, and I wanted to carry something in 9mm, OWB and the overall size sounded good on paper.

I have owned a G19 for damned near 20 years, but couldn't imagine carrying it IWB and even OWB just seemed "clunky" with that gun. Granted, I have a Blackhawk SERPA holster for it which is a terrible concealment holster, but either way, it just feels too big, so it retains it's role as a house gun.
I crossed my fingers and ordered one without ever having seen one, and hoped for the best. I figured at $199 shipped after rebate, I couldn't go wrong, and if I didn't like it, I could sell it without losing anything.

I like the overall size and especially the narrow width. I haven't shot it a ton yet, but I like it well enough to know that I'm keeping it.
Hopefully it will carry well OWB!

Several months went by before I ordered a holster. I'll post pics and info, but I just got it, and haven't carried with it yet, so I can't really comment on carry yet.

Considering I didn't have the luxury of looking around and picking from several handguns because I was mostly buying based on price, I think I did OK. I can see why these are such good sellers - nice little handgun.

[Krichardson]

Nice shots and,I'm guessing you got the gun from PSA?

[KCJones]

My wife's gun, so I've shot it quite a lot. I think you'll be very pleased and have made a great choice. There's a -reason- so many folks have these.

Bottom line: it's a good gun. Everything about it is good. Nothing about it is bad.

But I'd also say nothing about it is 'excellent' or 'perfect'. It's an all-good gun. I don't mean that in a bad way at all. I'd sooner have an "all good" gun than a "excellent ____, but terrible ____" gun... and I know precious-few guns that achieve true "excellence" in one area without compromise in another.

Maybe that's the best way to put it. The Shield is a no-compromise gun: Nothing about it is 'wrong', nothing about it is 'bad'. In short it's a fantastic, affordable compact gun for everyday carry.

My advice on shooting it? Give it some time and plenty of rounds. When I first shot my wife's, I shot horrible... I do a lot of 25' practice (figuring that's a typical 'range of engagement' indoors or other likely SHTF scenario) and my benchmark is my Kimber 1911. At 25' I can pretty much put a whole magazine through the inmost circle with that every time. When I started with the Shield, I was all over the freakin' target. It took quite a lot (500 rounds?) of getting used to before the accuracy really came in. Not sure how much of that was me vs. the gun. Just saying I can normally get the 'feel' of a gun in 100 rounds and be shooting it at my best potential within 200, but this one took quite a bit more for some reason.

In fact, I'm getting one for myself - I recently got rid of my Ruger LC9S that just didn't work out for me, and need a compact EDC gun that'll 'hide' nicely with just jeans and a t-shirt before spring comes and I can't take advantage of coats and layers to conceal my winter-carry double-stack (a VP9).

My only debate is whether to get the 9 or the .45 version of this one. Need to head to a good store and spend some hand-time with them to decide. I'd prefer the .45 all else being equal, but it -is- a bit bigger and I want to make sure I don't end up with something that doesn't conceal well enough for my taste. I suspect I'll end up with the 9.

[KCJones]

PS - FWIW, when I shoot it, I -always- use the larger mag. For me with bigger hands, that's part of the appeal - that I can get my pinkie on it. I've never been quite comfortable shooting compacts that make me go "3-finger".

[Emptymag]

I like the extended mag as well and I have girl hands.
Even with small hands, I wouldn't say the Shield has the most comfortable grip width, but it's not bad either.
It's a compromise. You can't have big, comfy grips and be compact at the same time.
My concern was having something "thin".

[Emptymag]

9mm Shield and 9mm G19.

Mrs EM likes the Glock, or I'd have ditched it years ago.
It "works", but I don't like it. Almost any other handgun I've picked up I've been able to shoot better.

[KCJones]

9mm Shield and 9mm G19.

Mrs EM likes the Glock, or I'd have ditched it years ago.
It "works", but I don't like it. Almost any other handgun I've picked up I've been able to shoot better.

Lord knows I've tried to follow the herd and like Glocks. I really have. But I just don't.

Partly aesthetic. I just find them ugly.

But mostly practical. No matter how mechanically solid/good they are, I've yet to have one 'feel good' in my hands. And not feeling good in my hand means, as you say, I don't shoot them well either.

I 100% support all you Glock fans out there. You like 'em, you enjoy 'em, you shoot 'em well. More power to you. I just don't.

Then again, I admit I'm a dinosaur. To me any gun that isn't a 1911 doesn't feel 'perfect' in my hand. It's a question of how much 'worse' it is. A few guns (my VP9, e.g.) feel 'almost as good'. A few more feel 'not much worse'. But most of them feel, to me, simply like 'not my 1911'... AKA bad.

I know. Heresy. He said Glocks aren't awesome... Let the thrashing begin.

[dkraver007]

I bought a Shield 40 last summer so I could conceal it more easily with T-shirt than I can my SIG 229R 40 and was thoroughly impressed by how well it performed even to 25 yds. The ergos were good as-is but I added a Hogue hand-all thingy to it and now it's absolutely perfect. I also added a full-length stainless guide rod and spring and that really made it a LOT nicer to rack, tho there wasn't really an issue before (I have to monkey around with every gun I own). And like you two, I can't find a Glock that works well for me; guess that's one of the hazards of growing up on 1911s

[SIGFAN86]

Great choice. I have the performance center version and I love this little pistol.
If you are going to reload for it, remember it has an extremely short chamber compared to other pistols. I learned that the hard way

[Knightshift]

Since some people reading this thread also have this handgun and since not everyone reads the deals thread, I thought I'd mention that PSA has the 5 mags and 5 boxes of ammo deal back in stock.

Five 8 rd 9mm Shield mags and five boxes of PMC Bronze ammo for $99.99 - FREE SHIPPING

I got more work hours than I expected this week so I ordered today. They ran this deal months ago and I missed out back then.
link

Wow, that is a good deal. Also makes the range visits easier with the extra mags, soon to be Empty Mags, get it?