Buy a Shield while you can?

[ojisan]

S&W is offering a very nice discount on the Shield 9mm and .40 cal pistols, as I am sure you all know.

Someone in another thread made the observation that S&W may be trying to clear out inventory of all Shields prior to going to a newer version in the near future.
Or
It could be that they over produced a bit expecting Hillary to take the election which would have resulted in yet another gun buying surge.
Now they are discounting just to clear out inventory.
(Note: once the price of a new product goes down, it is really hard to raise that price back up again).

Smith has gone to the next generation of the M&P pistols, the M2.0, seems that they would do that to the Shield, too.

Do you think the current CA on-roster Shields may be discontinued soon?

I know that Smith said they would make them the exact same way to comply with CA law as long as they can.
But with the rest of the country eligible to buy a "M2.0" Shield, and with a competitive marketplace, will Smith just move on with a newer model for the rest of the country?
A newer model that will not be on the CA Roster?

[ElvenSoul]

Ya all the guns on the roster are getting a little long in the tooth.

Best buy while you can.

[Strykeback]

They have the market cornered for the most part with getting that last pistol onto the roster before the last roster rules went into affect. It would be hard to see them just give all that market share up unless an error on the assembly line caused some new changes to come into play like the full size m&p happened. I plan to get one before the rebated expires.

Just hoping my only gun shop around will be stuck sitting on the ones they are trying to sell at 500 bucks a pop

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[beanz2]

I don't know about S&W marketing practices, but other companies tend to display future models during large gun shows like SHOT, NRA Convention, etc. long before the old models are clearanced, so I bet these are just production overruns gearing up for a new anti-gun she president in suit pants.

With that said, I agree with ElvnSoul that soon, if handguns were cars, the CA landscape would look like this:

See those Fiat-looking Ladas in the pictures? Those are the few Off Roster cars!

[Joezamboni]

Do you think the current CA on-roster Shields may be discontinued soon?

It is one of the best selling firearms in the country. However it's been on the market 5 years and the CCW market is getting very competitive. I recently bought one mainly due to the price with the rebate and also worries with the M&P 2.0 line coming. It's a great product, but how long can they justify not making improvements to make it more competitive in other markets and dumping California?

[Clairvaux]

There's been an avalanche of mind-blowing M&P deals lately, for example on Slickguns I just saw:

Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm with thumb safety - $284.99 after code "L9Q" ($209 after $75 MIR) at Brownells

[CandG]

Ya all the guns on the roster are getting a little long in the tooth.

Best buy while you can.

Indeed, there's never a better time than now to buy anything on the roster. The only models I really envision staying on there for a long time are some of the really basic popular 1911's, Beretta 92's, classic sig and CZ models, stuff like that. In free states, polymer pistols come and go all the time, so it's only a matter of time before manufacturers get sick of keeping legacy products available just for us.

Basically, any handgun that isn't a "classic" model is at risk of disappearing any time.

[CandG]

Gen3 glocks, for example, were introduced 19 years ago. We have forum members here who weren't even born yet. Titanic was the most popular movie at the time, and we learned of the Monica Lewinsky affair that year. Windows 98 was the hot new PC operating system. Gen3 Glocks are older than Jaden Smith. "Hit Me Baby One More Time" was gracing all of our radio stations as we drove to pick up our new Gen3's with *gasp* full-capacity magazines which weren't illegal for 2 more years, which was good because we needed the extra ammo in preparation for the Y2K bug. Might as well grab a semi-auto .50BMG rifle with a pistol grip too, since you're already at the store. Unfortunately I couldn't partake, as I wasn't old enough to drive quite yet so I mostly spent my time playing that new Starcraft game on my sweet Gateway2000 desktop.

Even Gen4 came out 7 years ago. Gen5 could make an appearance any time now. Seriously, gen4 could fade into history before it ever even had a chance to be sold in CA stores.

It would surprise nobody if at some point Glock pulled the plug on gen3 in the near future. Same goes for every other manufacturer of modern handguns.

[Clairvaux]

Gen3 glocks, for example, were introduced 19 years ago. We have forum members here who weren't even born yet. Titanic was the most popular movie at the time, and we learned of the Monica Lewinsky affair that year. Windows 98 was the hot new PC operating system. Gen3 Glocks are older than Jaden Smith. "Hit Me Baby One More Time" was gracing all of our radio stations as we drove to pick up our new Gen3's with *gasp* full-capacity magazines which weren't illegal for 2 more years, which was good because we needed the extra ammo in preparation for the Y2K bug. Might as well grab a semi-auto .50BMG rifle with a pistol grip too, since you're already at the store. Unfortunately I couldn't partake, as I wasn't old enough to drive quite yet so I mostly spent my time playing that new Starcraft game on my sweet Gateway2000 desktop.

This was definitely, unquestionably, absolutely, assuredly, indisputably the best Calguns post of the week.

BTW did you know Blizzard just made Starcraft free?

[ulag]

Jesus. Thanks for reminding me i'm old.

I just finished playing Red Alert 2 for 90 minutes

[Killer Bee]

no fear fellas, they'll always be plenty of them in the marketplace for $800

[FalconLair]

great price right now i just can't see myself buying one right now - it's too similar to my FNS-9C, plus my FNS holds 13 rounds

the only reason i would consider one would be for CCW purposes - how do i justify to myself dropping from 13 rounds to 8

it's been on my mind though

[Maximus924]

Gen3 glocks, for example, were introduced 19 years ago. We have forum members here who weren't even born yet. Titanic was the most popular movie at the time, and we learned of the Monica Lewinsky affair that year. Windows 98 was the hot new PC operating system. Gen3 Glocks are older than Jaden Smith. "Hit Me Baby One More Time" was gracing all of our radio stations as we drove to pick up our new Gen3's with *gasp* full-capacity magazines which weren't illegal for 2 more years, which was good because we needed the extra ammo in preparation for the Y2K bug. Might as well grab a semi-auto .50BMG rifle with a pistol grip too, since you're already at the store. Unfortunately I couldn't partake, as I wasn't old enough to drive quite yet so I mostly spent my time playing that new Starcraft game on my sweet Gateway2000 desktop.

Even Gen4 came out 7 years ago. Gen5 could make an appearance any time now. Seriously, gen4 could fade into history before it ever even had a chance to be sold in CA stores.

It would surprise nobody if at some point Glock pulled the plug on gen3 in the near future. Same goes for every other manufacturer of modern handguns.

Starcraft was great, but I was a bit more into Warcraft 2 and Diablo... and remember Windows ME ?! It was SOOO Much better than Win 98. lol. ahhhh where did my youth go.....

In all seriousness though, I wouldnt attribute the sale to a replacement, and even if there was - they will likely keep making the shield as it is to keep the roster guns active.

My question though, If you are on the fence about a shield, the 2.0 (if it exists) wont be for sale in CA, so buy this little guy now. heck, if your tired of it later you wont have an issue selling it for close to what you paid after rebates are factored....

[Dvrjon]

Not just Shields: I suspect the corporate FY results are driving the rebates. From the corporate FY/3 2017 report (http://ir.smith-wesson.com/phoenix.z...e&ID=2251201):

Jeffrey D. Buchanan, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Administrative Officer, said, "During our third quarter, strong November results more than offset late-quarter declines in both NICS background checks and firearm product shipments. That late quarter shift in consumer demand patterns has since carried forward into our fiscal fourth quarter. Accordingly, we have updated our full year guidance."

FY 2017 ended 30 April, so the rebates would provide an April surge to close out and a sales infusion into FY 2018.

Generate income; write-off rebate value at face, reduce inventory to free up capital. Show significant year-over-year profit (difficult to do since sales surged pre-election); Pay out significant dividend in Fall; pay out bonuses to execs. Everybody happy. 'Murica.

[njineermike]

My kid told me they're selling sheilds at $299 and there's $75 rebate offer until June 30th. He said a guy walked out the door with one yesterday for $260.