new M&PShield 45 .. WOW

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I'll start this off by saying, WOW, .. again!! I'm an M&P fan, always have been, since my 1st purchase of an M&P40FS, loved it out of the box. Had no problem with the trigger, but kept hearing about the new Apex sear coming out at the time, so I purchased one, again, WOW, what a difference. But the reality is I shot the gun fine before finding out about the 10lb trigger. By practicing trigger control out of the box, I was able to be proficient with the factory trigger. Since that 1st M&P, I have purchased just about every M&P model made. When the Shields were coming out, I had to get the 1st one available.... same result as the M&P's... loved em. 1st the 9mm then the 40 Shield, which I have been pretty much carrying since they came out.

Fast forward to talk about a 45acp Shield coming out, I knew I had to have one... well, I picked it up this morning, couldn't get to the range fast enough. So I go home, give it a quick clean, lots of oil inside and out. Load up my gear and off I go... let me tell you, right out of the box, it was a tac driver at 10yds... I shot 100 flawless rounds. The mags were a lot tight loading up for the 1st few times but loosened up after several mags. The trigger was the typical 10lbs, but seemed to break better than other stock Shields with an audible reset if you are a reset guy.. makes no difference to me.. As for the target, when I took my time resting my arm on the bench, I shot the 1" bullseye out. Bottom line, this gun shoots way better than me, and the recoil, kick was dam good and manageable, no problems there.

To sum it up, I just cleaned it, looking for a holster it fits .. cause I just acquired a new carry gun!! Then I'll give the 40 Shield a quick clean up and in the vault it goes next to it's brothers, a 40 FDE Shield and a 9 Shield. Anyone looking for a 45acp to carry would be missing out if they bypass taking a run at this amazing little gun. It cost me $440 plus tax out the door and a paper to fill out and send into S&W for a $75.00 cash rebate!!!!

Oh ya, I don't think I'm going to do an Apex kit either, no doubt I can get the trigger pull down to 4-5lbs with it, but I think I'm going to put 4-500 rds through it 1st and see how it performs..

I knew there was a reason for buying 500rds of 45acp ammo, besides it being a good price .. last week
 
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I grabbed one yesterday as well. I'm more of a 1911 guy at heart, but have a couple of striker fired types as well. 45 acp is my go-to caliber. We were purchasing a Lady Smith for my wife yesterday and Dave at Baystate Trading in Rehoboth had some in stock, not to mention the $75 rebate that started yesterday, so.......................................as we all know, a man and his money are soon parted.
 
Love my 45! As far as holsters, try your other shield holsters. Mine fit in a N82Tactical and a generic leather IWB holster from my shield 9mm.
 
Here's a quick pic of my 1st trip to the range..... with the POS, broken Ma 10lb trigger .... :)

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Sold the savage model 42, and bought the shield 45. No second one have a shield 9mm as well, oh yea a S&W 45 compact and an E series....... to name a few!

I have a problem.
 
Cool little rifle, was tempted to keep it, but knew it would be a safe queen. Sold it and then I was standing in a gun shop with cash in my hand, well you know what happens then.

Yup .... I'm lovin my 45, no safe queen for this one. Looks like the 40 get a break though. Maybe I'll pack em both..
 
despite my lack of enthusiasm for the M&P line, I got to shoot the M&P 45 shield a few weeks back and was impressed. for whatever reason I just couldn't miss even though I had no practice with it. while the shield 9 is a great pistol, part of my issue with the 9mm was the length of grip. it was too short for me to get 3 finger grip and oddly too long for a 2 finger grip. so tucking my pinky under the grip caused my whole hand to slide down on the grip. an easy fix was the pearce pinky extension but I didn't like the idea of having to extend the grip on a gun where whole point is to stay as small/thin as possible. while I sold my shield 9, my wife kept hers so I still get to shoot it occasionally. it's a great gun but doesn't fit me correctly. in contrast the G43 and G26 are natural fits to my hand with a 2 finger grip. so once the G43 showed up I really had no need for the shield 9 anymore.

in terms of recoil, I keep hearing that the shield 45 is either a soft shooter or hand cannon and everything in between. having shot various loads through it, I can say with certainty that it simply depends on the load being fired. most range FMJ 230gr ammo is nice and soft, easy to shoot. however I ran some HST 230gr +P loads and they are noticeably heavy on the recoil and slow down my followup shots. it will require some practice. the upside is that even from this short barrel the muzzle flash is minimal. whatever powders they use in the HST are impressive for minimizing flash. the underwood 230gr +P are straight up unpleasant to shoot from this little gun.

my shield 45 is now at ~250 rds without any stoppages. it's such a sweet shooter. I picked it up for $360 with $75 rebate ends up at $285 which is just crazy. if you're in the market for this pistol and a fan of 45 acp you'll likely be impressed by it.

mine is the MA model without thumb safety. the trigger pulls at 7.5# on my digital gauge. break and reset are excellent (although I do not shoot with a reset). it needs no trigger work just 1-2k rounds of ammo to help it smooth out nicely.
 
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Just returned from club after blasting away with the 45 Shield. It's a keeper, no doubt about it. I backed myself up 15 yds, shot a little to the left but groups were excellent. Like others have said, the gun is better then the shooter. Fired off 150 rds factory and my home made reloads, not a single problem. Rapid fired the sucker without a hitch. The trigger is not gritty @ all, don't know where that came from. No Apex in the near future for this the trigger, feels fine to me, after all its a CCW weapon not a bulls eye shredder. Conceals very well inside the trousers, the price is right no regrets from this guy.
 
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