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Table of Contents
The big caveat.
This is the original M&P Shield. It isn’t the 2.0 nor is it the Plus. This is my gun that I’ve had for over a decade. So why am I writing a review on a gun you can’t even buy new anymore?
- I can.
- I have some calipers and a Lyman trigger gauge I want to try out.
- I recently did a review of one of the holsters I’ve used with this gun for years.
- I may do gun reviews later of things you can go get. Perhaps reading this will give you some idea of how much weight you should give those reviews.
The basics.
As I said, the original Shield in 9mm. 7 + 1 with the flush magazine, 8+1 with the extended magazine. It was one of the early sub-compacts in a useful caliber. No, I’m not really a .380 fan even though I own one. It came with basic 3-dot white sights that were perfectly adequate.
Specifications.
- Height with flush mag: 4.8”
- Height with extended mag: 5.2”
- Length: 6.5”
- Width at the slide: 1.3”
- Width at the grip: 1.3”
- Empty weight: 18.27 oz
- Loaded weight (7 round mag and one in the chamber): 24.02 oz
- Trigger pull weight: 5 lbs, 12 oz. (average of five pulls)
So why the Shield?
I decided on this size gun because of where I lived at the time: Florida. It’s hot and humid. When I went to work I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt/polo shirt. 90% of the year when I wasn’t at work I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt/polo shirt. At the time it was also literally illegal to allow your gun to print. I believe they’ve relaxed that now but then you had to be careful.
When I bought this there were two main options: the Shield and the Springfield XD-S. The gun store I frequented happened to have both for rent. I shot them back-to-back and was slightly better with the Shield so that was my choice. It originally came with one flush fit, 7 round magazine and one extended, 8 round magazine; I believe the newer versions still come with those two magazines. I ended up buying three more extended at some point so I technically can shoot 40 rounds without reloading magazines. Can’t remember the last time I carried more than one spare magazine but they’re there if I need them.
Mine has the manual safety. I like manual safeties but I have to say I’m not all that fond of this particular one. It’s very small. When I first got the gun, I had a few times when I missed the damn thing when I tried to deactivate it. That is a training issue and it hasn’t happened in years. The trick is reactivating the safety. The shape of the lever is well suited to flicking it down (off) with the thumb joint. Flicking it back up, however, is much harder. It works best with the tip of the thumb. I normally use my off-hand thumb to reactivate it but I can use my strong hand thumb easily enough.
I also shot the .40 version of the Shield and frankly considered it a bit too snappy in a gun this size. I’m fine with the .40 in a bigger gun but this one’s just too small.
Does it carry well?
Oh, yes. It’s a full pound lighter than the Sig P229 I sometimes carry. It rides easily and the holster I use can move around to pretty much anywhere on my belt that I want. It disappears under any shirt that’s not too tight.
If you want to use a belly or chest band it would work fine. Shoulder holster is also good. As for an ankle holster, well, maybe if bell bottoms come back. I think it’s a little too big for that.
I know it’s too big for pocket carry. That was my first choice for carrying this because I like to tuck my shirt in. Oh, well. It didn’t work. I put the gun in a DeSantis Nemesis holster in my right front pocket. When I was standing I was fine. When I was walking I was fine half the time and not fine the other half. That is, when my left leg was forward all was well. When my right leg came forward I was pretty clearly carrying a gun there so that idea was right out.
Sights.
As I said, it came with basic white, 3-dot sights. At that time fiber optic and tritium were both a little pricey and I don’t think they were even an option. Nevertheless, I was perfectly happy with them until the white dots faded into nothingness. Then I was less happy. I mean, it took 10 years of me carrying the gun to get there so it’s not like I felt ripped off or anything; I just wanted to be able to see the sights again. I spent some time looking around for new sights and trying to decide if I wanted to spend over $100 on a 10-year-old gun. In the end I took a different approach: sight paint. It only took about 20 minutes or so then I was back in business.
Note that the sights are now multi-colored. I honestly was testing the paint as much as I was trying to fix the sights. I really like this combination, though.
How does it shoot?
Always one of its strengths. It’s accurate and reliable. When I say “accurate” I mean I can consistently hit a 9” paper plate at 25 yards with deliberate fire. I’ve never tried to shoot it farther than that because I don’t see the point. At the three-to-seven-yard range I generally consider more useful for this gun I can hit that same plate with an entire magazine in about four seconds (not including a draw.) The gun is capable of better than that, I think. The limitation is me.
When I first got it there were a few malfunctions with 115 grain ammunition. I solved that problem by going to 124 grain ammo and have had only a few failures in all the years and several thousand rounds since. FMJ, JHP, whatever. It just runs them. I normally use Federal HST’s but it’s also run through Sig V-Crown without a hitch.
I’ve heard complaints about the trigger on it and seen the articles about getting this or that after-market trigger. Personal preference. I’m not all that worried about having a great trigger on a carry gun. Consistent, yes. Great? Meh. As long as I can hit that paper plate in the way I’ve described I’m good. Having said that, I believe the 2.0 versions have better triggers.
These guns have a two-piece trigger that performs the same function as Glock’s famous blade. I have some bladed trigger guns and if there’s a significant difference in how well they work I can’t feel it.
I did have one real challenge with it: recoil management. Not the muzzle flip part. That was expected and I never had any real issues. The catch was that it wanted to twist to the right. That caught me off guard and still will if I forget. The solution: a death grip. I’ve seen articles and such about gentle grips so your poor snowflake trigger finger doesn’t get upset or tense, and 60/40 this way or 40/60 that way or whatever. I grab that thing like my life depends on it. Because it may and when I do that it doesn’t twist and can get good, fast shots on the target.
The only Shield I’ve handled since I got this was one of the M&P Shield EZ .380 guns. The texture of the grip is clearly superior to mine so I can only assume that the newer 9mm versions are also better. I expect that to help with the twisting.
Conclusion.
This was really my first daily carry gun. At that time I basically carried to work but couldn’t take the gun inside so I had to secure it in the car. Then I’d put it on while going home. Most of my errands were run while headed home after work so I was wearing it then. I’d wear it any time I left the house on weekends.
I still specific situations where I’ll take it but it’s not really my daily carry anymore. There’s nothing wrong with it; I have developed a preference for hammer fired guns over striker and prefer a higher capacity. I still sometimes think about the Shield Plus with its 10+ and 13+ capacity but for now I’ll just keep this around for when I need a solid, reliable, sub-compact 9mm.
Update, 7/21/2023. I recently took a road trip to Illinois. That is not exactly a concealed carry friendly state, but I had to go for a few days. This is the gun I took. It still works fine, and I was positive it wouldn’t offend any laws that Illinois may have in place.
I did use a different holster, though, than the old Desantis: a Versacarry I picked up a while back.
You can get the 2.0 version of the Shield or the Plus at guns.com.
