The Shield 9mm and mags

M

Mastrogiacomo

New member
Hi folks,

Question for those that have the gun; I'm interested in possibly acquiring the 9mm version, but I was watching Youtube to see a review by another lady shooter, and a comment for made the 7 round flush mag was harder to insert than the 8 round with the extension. Is this the case for the current gun or for those just newly released? I had no idea watching the Vid if that was a older issue or if this problem has since been corrected by the company. Thank you.

Laura
 
I had a shield for a while. There wasn't an issue inserting either magazine style. I wouldn't worry about it at all. The Shield is a great gun and I want to get another one, especially now that the models without a safety are available.
 
The issue of 7 round being tougher to insert than the 8 round with extension likely stems from the small size of the 7 round mag and the lesser finger purchase that the extended 8 rounder.

I have a lot of rounds through both the .40 S&W and the 9mm models. With the later I spent 3 days at Gunsite with an out-of-the-box pistol on a S&W 'gun writer' trip and sent about 600 rounds downrange (Fed 124 American Eagle) without a malf. The Shield is a very good gun.

One thing to consider. The Shield has a 'drop free' magazine design and the 7 rounders drop clean. The 8 rounders with the finger extension don't because the palm contacts the polymer extension and stops it from falling free.

This drove the Gunsite instructors nuts because they insisted that we use the Tactical Reload... spent a great deal of time educating us on how to do it.... and then we found the extended Shield mags didn't drop free ... which kills the Tac Load. I just did RWRs and made them quite angry because it was beating the Tac Reload times of the other writers who were still trying to pound "square pegs into round holes" by a lot. So, they seemed to feel like I made them look like idiots for advocating a technique that the gun wasn't suited for. And, they were idiots for trying to force us to drive square pegs into round holes.

The solution, which I choose not to do since the gun & mags were S&W property, is to remove the polymer extension from the 8 round mag (it just slides off the mag to the top). It now drops free, has plenty of grip surface to guide it in correctly, and doesn't affect the reliability of the pistol at all. You can do Jeff Cooper's Tactical Reload that way.

There's nothing wrong with the Shield. It's a darned good gun.... if you tweak it a bit regarding that polymer mag extension sleeve.
 
I've had a no safety 9mm Shield for a few months now and haven't really noticed one mag easier to seat than the other. I will say both mags are tough to get seated if the slide is forward. It requires a good smack on the bottom of the magazine. If at the gun is at slide lock they are easy to get seated.
 
if you chamber a round then top the mag back off it is kinda hard to seat the 7 rounder but a solid bump will seat it,I myself don't bother with the +1
 
I load +1, and find both the 7 and 8 take about the same amount of effort to seat. It just seems a little bit easier to apply that "bump" to the 8, mostly due to the extra length.
 
Theoretically, this could be the case with any gun when comparing a flush fitting mag to an extended mag, everything else being equal. An extended mag just makes it easier to ensure it's seated because there is more sticking out. It's a non-issue IMO.
 
I have and carry a 9mm shield, if you're loading +1 then you have to seat it firmly but its not really an issue. Seating 7 or 8 rounder is the same for me. YMMV
 
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Both the wife and I EDC Shield 9's. The mags are a little stiff to load and insert when new. They smooth out very quickly. The Shield is one of the best choices available for CC, IMHO.
 
I appreciate everyone's comment. Looks like when I'm ready to buy, I'll probably get the Shield, sans safety. I have a few guns first at the top of my list I'd like to get...when I do pick this up, I'll probably send it to Business End Customs for a trigger job and get some Big Dot sights installed. Thanks again people....

Laura
 
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