[IrishCop]

Just got one yesterday afternoon. Really like the feel of this little big bore. Got it home, did my usual field strip and inspection and...

...there was NO RIFLING IN THIS BARREL! Swear to God! Some very...and I mean VERY...faint lines where the rifling should have been. As if the bore was oversized or the tooling was way worn down. Thinking it was either a Monday or a Friday gun.

Anyway, the guys at my favorite LGS made it good this morning. They tried to tell me to just use rifled ammo at first, but I was just a little too sharp for that...today, anyway.

In all other aspects, this little gun seems first rate. Amazingly slim, light and easy to carry, especially in the BladeTech Ascent holster I got for it. First BladeTech I ever bought, and I am impressed. Both IWB and OWB, in carries and conceals very well.

Only other issue with the .45 Shield is that I find the magazines really difficult for me to load. I broke down and bought an Uplula, and problem solved. $20 very well spent. :thumbsup:

 

[IrishCop]

Put a half a box of 230 ball through it yesterday afternoon in the back yard. Sights are well regulated, trigger is better than the one on the 9mm Shield I bought years ago. The new texturing on the grip is very nicely done, and really makes the gun stick in your hand. Recoil is not near what I expected. Shooting at 10 yards about as fast as I could acquire the sights, all the shots went in to about two inches, which for me is pretty good.

I ain't getting rid of my Light Weight Commander, but this little S&W is a very reasonable alternative to the S&W 442 I would carry when I didn't want to strap on the Colt.

 

[stand watie]

IrishCop,

Sounds FINE. = I've never shot (or even held) one of those.

yours, sw

 

[IrishCop]

It's very small and slim, SW...3.3 inch barrel, just a hair under an inch wide at it's widest point, under 21 ounces. It is one of those Tupperware things, but that is just the way things are now. Like looking under the hood of my wife's car...they just don't make'em like that anymore.

I will admit that this seems to be a lotta gun in a little package. I liked 9mm version I bought a few years ago. But I always liked bigger bullets better.
(Hmmm...Freud might have something to say about that )

Anyway, fully loaded with 8 230 grainers, and a reload, in a light concealable, shootable package. Hard to argue with, you know?

 

[stand watie]

IrishCop,

Even given my utter distaste for "plastic [email protected]@ds", that looks "pretty OK" on the you-tube video that I just watched.

yours, sw

 

[CaptainGyro]

Hmmm...this is the second Shield problem I've heard about this week. On Monday my neighbor from across the street ambled over for a chat and told me he'd experienced an out-of-battery discharge on his new 9mm (yep, my first question was "factory ammo?"...it was).

Smith & Wesson is sending him a new one, but you have to wonder what's going on up in Springfield.

 

[IrishCop]

I understand that this is only two instances in lord knows how many guns manufactured and shipped during a certain time frame, but it does get you thinking.

My 9mm Shield never gave me a problem. Probably have a thousand rounds through it between plinking, practice and qualifications.

My case was surely an issue which should have been caught in QC, but things like that get by in all manner of things manufactured by human beings.

I know from folks who work in manufacturing that they are at times "directed" in a very broad but understandable way to pass product that doesn't meet established specs. Then there are mechanical or program errors which can occur but maybe aren't caught immediately. Plain old human error. Who knows

I just hope S&W isn't pushing workers to the point that These things become
the norm instead of isolated instances.

 

[WaltGraham]

I have the Compact in .45 - not sure how much diff there is betwixt that and the Shield.

But it's a daily carry now.

 

[IrishCop]

I have the Compact in .45 - not sure how much diff there is betwixt that and the Shield.

But it's a daily carry now.

I remember you saying just how pleased you were with that gun , Walt. The Shield is of the M&P line, and they're at least cousins if not closer. This is just the runt of the family. I like the little gun so far, although it is real early in the game.

The sights are big and eye catching, which I really look for the older I get, the trigger is better than the one on my Shield 9mm, and that new texturing pattern grabs hold of your hand and doesn't let go. It is almost TOO aggressive. Almost.

If mine starts going off by itself or talking like the Son of Sam's neighbor's dog, I'll let y'all know.:-D

 

[Charlie Petty]

you have to wonder what's going on up in Springfield."

All the gun guys retired or got fired

 

[IrishCop]

you have to wonder what's going on up in Springfield."

All the gun guys retired or got fired

 

[GunGeek]

you have to wonder what's going on up in Springfield."

All the gun guys retired or got fired

He's not joking. Last year I toured the factory, met the CFO & CEO and everyone was rather proud of the fact that they got rid of the old guard. They like engineers, product managers, and sales directors. They DON'T really like gun people...at least they don't like them working at S&W.

 

[IrishCop]

He's not joking. Last year I toured the factory, met the CFO & CEO and everyone was rather proud of the fact that they got rid of the old guard. They like engineers, product managers, and sales directors. They DON'T really like gun people...at least they don't like them working at S&W.

Jeez Louise! I honestly thought Charlie was just yanking my (our) chain. Isn't that like trying to make cars without any experienced automotive designers or engineers or marketing specialists? Hell, Kia got Volvo's chief designer to come over to their camp and came up with the (newer) Optima, a design which has been very successful. They didn't hire a guy who designed furniture. They hired a car guy!

 

[stand watie]

IrishCop,

100% SPOT ON.

yours, sw

 

[William R. Moore]

I really have to wonder about the state of QC almost everywhere. Some decades ago, I bought a famous maker .45 barrel for a customers gun and fortunately, gazed through the bore before I started work on it. There were 3 rifling lands, all on 180 degrees of the barrel. Evidently the rifling button broke while passing through the bore of the blank. It seems neither the famous barrel company who made the blank nor the famous gun builder bothered to look down the bore before either shipping or cutting the blank into pistol size blanks. Not to mention QC before shipping the finished product.

I called the famous maker and was told that wasn't possible and I should whizz up a rope. Fortunately, I bought the barrel through Brownells and they exchanged the wonder for one with 6 lands and grooves.

 

[Skeptic49]

For what it's worth in negotiations:
shootersjax.com my local low price large gunstore is sale pricing the M&P Shield Thumb Safety 45 Auto for $384.99

Geoff
Who notes he pair $450 for an early SWaMPy 9c years back.

 

[IrishCop]

...and I got mine, with the holster for a little less than that Geoff.

They didn't even make pay extra for the rifling!

 

[Diamondback]

This crap about "purging the SME's" mean S&W goes back on the Blacklist?

Dammit, and they just bought Battenfeld (Wheeler tools, Caldwell range gear, etc.) too...

 

[spwenger]

From What I've Heard...

Hmmm...this is the second Shield problem I've heard about this week. On Monday my neighbor from across the street ambled over for a chat and told me he'd experienced an out-of-battery discharge on his new 9mm (yep, my first question was "factory ammo?"...it was).

...LASD has seen - both on the larger 9mm M&P and on the Shield - "ovaling" of the hole for the trigger pin. Apparently, when it gets bad enough, with a very deliberate trigger stroke, the pistols won't fire.

Sadly - and I've only heard it from one source - QC on the revolvers has apparently also suffered.

 

[csmkersh]

I only buy old, pre-lock S&W revolvers. Wonder if I should revive my "S&W must die" signature.