Smith & Wesson unveiled the Shield yesterday and there has been a lot written about it already. Including a review and a video by Caleb at gunnuts.net
WTBGU! is not yet privileged enough to be able to get pre-release access to firearms (or post release access actually since I have never received a T&E gun, although I requested 2 from S&W today) so I can’t say how well it carries, functions or shoots. Additionally, I can’t say “they shocked the world” either, as they are oddly late to the polymer single stack game (which is odd since the 3919 was so great.)
So what I can do, is give you a bunch of numbers and let you compare them.
| S&W Shield |
Wather PPS |
Kahr CM9 |
Kahr CW9 |
Ruger LC9 |
Taurus 709B |
Kel-Tec PF9 |
|
| MSRP | $449.00 | $599.00 | $517.00 | $485.00 | $443.00 | $483.00 | $333.00 |
| Caliber | 9mm | 9mm | 9mm | 9mm | 9mm | 9mm | 9mm |
| Barrel Length | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| Length | 6.0 | 6.3 | 5.4 | 5.8 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 5.9 |
| Height | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.3 |
| Width | 0.95 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.08 | 0.88 |
| Trigger | 6.5 | 6.1 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 6.3 | 7.0 | 5.5 |
| Weight (Oz) | 19.0 | 19.4 | 14 | 15.8 | 17.1 | 19.0 | 12.7 |
| Std Capacity | 7+1 | 6+1 | 6+1 | 7+1 | 7+1 | 7+1 | 7+1 |
| Safety | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
The best I can tell the Shield is priced competitively with all of the guns I would carry and the Taurus. It is sized with all of the other 7+1 single stacks in height, width and length and is too big pocket carry (even in cargo pockets). Personally I think this is great, because it eliminates the question if it should be pocket carried or not and allows for a full grip.
In Caleb’s review he mentioned that the surprise reset traditionally found on M&P’s has been fixed, but I’m not sure how I feel about that. If S&W plans on changing the triggers on future M&P’s (Please start with a newly released 15rd version) then I am happy they are listening to their customers and I feel bad for Apex Tactical. If however, they are only changing the trigger for this one model… um, why?
I think the missing niche in the carry gun market is for the Mid Sized (15+1) Double Stack/Slim Single Stack (7+1) combination with the SAME trigger and manual of arms. (Ruger may have it, I don’t know, I never cared enough to overlook the warning labels and shoot them). If S&W or Glock would come out with this arrangement I think they would be unbeatable.
Glock won’t do it until Gaston steps down and in Smith & Wesson’s 1st attempt is appears they have added an unnecessary safety and changed the trigger. (Doh!)
I have asked for a M&P9 and a Shield to T&E, with which I want to test the following.
- How closely do the 2 guns feel for training purposes
- Am I being overly critical of the size difference between the M&P9 and my Glock 19
- How does the Shield compare against my PM9
If you are like me and haven’t shot it yet, what do you think of the concept of this gun? If you are Caleb or someone else lucky enough to have some trigger time on the gun, what do you think about my “by the numbers” evaluation of the execution?
Lastly, here is the 1st Shield marketing video, just for fun…
Ron is the Founder and President of When the Balloon Goes Up! He competes regularly in IDPA as an ESP/Expert, his focus is on concealed carry, home defense and analyzing equipment to find “Gear that Just Works!”
