Waiting for a California S&W M&P Shield? I received an email response from S&W
 

I pre-ordered one back in mid October 2012 at Turners in Rancho Cucamonga for $399. At the time of purchase I was told they would have it by late October 2012. Fast forward 3 months later and it is still not in. I have made a once a month call to Turners since then and have received the same answer every time. They have explained that S&W just started to make the California compliant version in December 2012 and that it should be in next month. Wondering if anyone else has any further info. Or if anyone has received their California Shield yet.

http://i1356.photobucket.com/albums/...psf6f2588f.jpg

Nope, I got mine last year! :D

Is it the Cali version?

Nope....shhhhhhh

It wouldn't surprise me if S&W is so swamped trying to keep up with demand for the non-CA version that the CA version has taken a backseat.

Bump

I'm waiting for my .40

I will be picking mine up on wed.

Treb5 also got a non Cali version through a ppt. Please keep this thread for info on the Cali version. Thanks everyone.

Maybe we should badger S&W to give us an updated, accurate availability date. Today their web site still says Dec for the 9mm and Spring for the .40.

Here's the email for product questions qa@smith-wesson.com

I just emailed them asking for a realistic update.

Thanks for the info eldub1950. I will do that as well.

Im waiting for one ... Sales person at my LGS said around march not sure how accurate that is.

I'm still waiting for an opportunity to see one up close.

Im moving to sac county where I actually have a chance to legally defend myself and I will be on the hunt for one of these.

That's nice & all that some of you LEO's got one or some did a SSE, but...

I'd like to see info on this, and not on SSE or LEO purchases that anyone can do if you want to pay a premium for one now.

Is there really a big difference from the shield and the compact model.. Cuz i almost bought the "C" model. I looked online and the trigger was suppose to be better on the shield?

Trigger supposedly better on the Shield, Shield is over a quarter of an inch thinner than the compact, compact has larger mag capacity because it's double stack.

I emailed S&W and I am awaiting a response. I will post it here as soon as I get it. I was in Vegas over the weekend and stopped by a few gun shops. Most of them had very low inventory just like many gun shops in SoCal, but I was pleasantly surprised by the large amount of inventory at discount firearms. I was able to hold the non California compliant shield and it felt good. Much better feel and trigger than the s&w compact in my opinion.

I got an email response just now:

"We have Been shipping CA Shield’s for a few weeks. However we do have a back order on them and are looking at a few months if you have one on order."

So, they're on their way. Guess it just depends on when you ordered it and when your LGS placed their order.

I'm guessing we won't see one on the shelf till summer, after stores fill existing orders.

If they claim to have been shipping for a few weeks and turners still hasn't received any... I bet they haven't sent very many at all.

However, your California Compliant version will look like this: http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps010a94f6.jpg

Great info ElDub1950, I am still waiting for my email response from S&W but I assume it will be similar to yours.

Nothing a dremel tool cant fix.

Turn that bright red shark fin into a shark nub!!:):)

I'm waiting for them to make it here. The two dealers that I have asked won't take a preorder deposit. First come first serve and you know they will be released in limited numbers so unless I'm in there the same morning that they put them out, I'm SOL. Still hopeful though.

Better start getting use to that red indicator if you live in California

Nah. Ill SSE one of these bad boys.

Im not familiar with the steps in that. I understand having it sent to FFL & gunsmithed...

I'm still waiting to even see one. $399? You got a great deal!

Exactly. I did the same already to my LC9's LCI, and its only a 10 min job. Just grind off the notch in the front that touches the bullet, and smooth out the text, then spray on some duracoat and you're all set :)



Now that Springfield finally introduced the XDs 9mm, it'll be interesting to see how that effects the Shield market, since there are people who were waiting for it instead of getting the Shield (me being one of them).

I got a response this morning from S&W...sort of :facepalm:
Below is the conversation we had. I did not edit it in any way.

Me: "To whom it may concern,

My name is David and in mid October 2012, I pre-ordered the California compliant Shield in 9mm from Turner's in Rancho Cucamonga. At the time of purchase I was told by the salesman at Turners that we would receive the gun in late October 2012. Two months later I found out that S&W didnt even start producing the California compliant gun until December of 2012, this is all according to Turners. My question to you is when do you think S&W will send Turners the Shields that have been pre-ordered. If there is no set date that is okay, just an update or a idea would be greatly appreciated. I have also attached a link to a CALGUNS.net forum thread. Thank you for your time."

S&W: (3 Days later, which I think is a pretty good response time) "The cal guns are coming but they are months backordered"

Me: "Have they started to ship any yet?"

S&W: "NO SIR"

Me: "Any idea on when they might start to ship out to stores?"

S&W: "IM sorry they are not giving us production schedules"

Me: "Sorry for all of the questions Mark. I started a forum thread on Calguns.net for all of the other S&W lovers out there that also pre ordered the Shield. Is there any more info that you can add that might be helpfull to the people who are viewing the thread? It has been viewed by over 1200 people and had 30+ replies."

S&W: "Unfortunately I don’t have anything else for you –sorry"

Here is another email response from S&W, but from someone else in customer service.

"We had to design the Loaded chamber indicator flag in order to sell the gun in CA. That seemed to take longer than we expected. We have started to ship the CA guns and are shipping them in the order that we received the orders. We are working at maximum to get out as many as we can every day."

I hope this guy is more accurate than the last.

What is the difference with a CA legal and a non-CA?

Also any help/input on SSE (Single Shot Exemption) why would you do that... new to calguns and still learning the acronyms

The California shield will have a magazine lock out that prevents the gun from being fired without the magazine installed in the weapon. Also it will have that lovely looking red indication of a loaded gun. A gun must be on the DOJ register to be legal to own/possess in California.

If you sse the weapon from another state, you can legally possess and register it in the state of California without the above features. It must be modified by someone to comply with single shot regulations. It is a loop hole in the law. Only law enforcement can purchase the non California models at this time.

I got an e-mail today stating that "Yes that gun is in production but our back orders are very substantial making it difficult to acquire one of those models."

I called Turners today. They have not received any new news from S&W.

The compact is quite a bit fatter than the shield. I have a 9c and have fired a friends shield. I'm growing to love my compact more and more every time I shoot it. I didn't like the trigger pull on it at first, but I did a little work on it and it's much better now.

Sorry, that is not correct. There is nothing in the law that states that a gun must be on the the roster of guns "certified for sale" in order to posses or own.

Just for the sake of clarity, there are many ways you can legally purchase a gun that is not on the gun roster: PPT sale, LEO exemption, intra-familial transfer, bringing one into the state legally, SSE...

Somebody please explain SSE to me Barney style. It makes no sense to me.