S&W Shield X

[SG29736]

I've got a couple of the original 9mm Shields. Really like them along with my CZ Compact. SIL has decided he wants something smaller then his full-size M&P 45 for carry. I knew that they have more models now and checked out the X optic ready model. Seems really nice. Anyone have experience with them or the Plus model?

[Capybara]

I carried a V1.0 Shield for 8 years. Supplemented it three years ago with a Shield Plus Performance Center. The Plus is better, more effective grip texture, better trigger and I have read reviews that said the Shield X is even a bit better. The Shields are great guns, super reliable, accurate, affordable, whats not to like?

[Jes]

I carried a V1.0 Shield for 8 years. Supplemented it three years ago with a Shield Plus Performance Center. The Plus is better, more effective grip texture, better trigger and I have read reviews that said the Shield X is even a bit better. The Shields are great guns, super reliable, accurate, affordable, whats not to like?

What he said.

I had the original Sheild and never liked it, too small and slippy for my hands.
That being said, the Sheild plus is fantastic. I actually enjoy shooting it and have over 1000 rounds through mine. The grip is perfect for my hands and the trigger is pretty damn good.
Definitely worth a look.

[SG29736]

Thanks!

[SG29736]

Stopped at another place to do some more checking. I was surprised they call the X model a micro compact. It's not that small. Then I saw the Bodyguard models. That's a micro compact to me. Too small.

[Capybara]

FWIW, I am taking all of my subcompacts off of my CCW (we are allowed five in my county) with the exception of the Shield Plus and replacing the other four with compacts. Subcompacts are easier to carry but much harder to draw with a usable grip to be ready to shoot without repositioning
the gun in your hand, which takes considerable time off of your splits.

And once you have a good grip, subcompacts are harder to shoot as easily or accurately as a compact. Shorter barrel equals worse ballistics. Shorter sight radius equals more precision needed to shoot as accurately as a longer sight radius. I am keeping the Shield Plus on my CCW as I want to have one subcompact choice but I'll daily the G19, Echelon Compact, PDP compact and Langdonized PX4 Storm more than the Shield. I run drills and dry fire train and it is irrefutable that compacts are generally better and easier to shoot than subcompacts. Easier to draw with a shootable grip without repositioning the gun in your hand after drawing it. Easier to shoot faster, more accurately. After ten years of carrying sub compacts, I finally saw the light and am changing it all. Smaller isn't better, its much, much worse, other than comfort.

I honestly think most CCW carriers carry a subcompact because they don't do side by side drills and shooting comparisons to realize that compacts are better, safer, more practical and more accurate to shoot. They just falsely assume smaller is better, slightly more comfortable is better. I know I did. Next time you are in a qualification class and watching other shooters draw from concealment against a timer, REALLY watch what average shooters are doing and you'll see the same results. Difficulty presenting the pistol, extracting it from the holster and getting a good, solid grip before shooting. I've seen several people drop their CCW pistol while doing live fire drills from concealment, simply because the pistol was physically too small for their hands. It takes a better shooter to carry and hit as accurately with a subcompact. Face it, most of us are not "better" shooters, we don't practice enough, we don't try to build our skills enough. I've seen shooters who were amazing with tiny guns like the P365 and the Max 9. But these are people who literally practice weekly, go to the range a ton, do a ton of dry firing. Most of us don't, lets be realistic. If you do, great, stick with the tiny guns. But if you don't, carry a compact over a subcompact.

As far as gun choice, do you carry to be comfortable? Or do you carry to be able to smoothly and accurately place a shot on target?

[SG29736]

True. I primarily carry a CZ Compact all steel gun. It's a little smaller then full size but not much. I shoot CZs in matches a lot along along with 1911s. The standard Shield fits my hand well and is not a gun that I can only get a couple of fingers on the grip. There is a size limit where performance will drop off significantly but it's not the same for everyone. Those Bodyguards are so small I would consider them a last ditch gun. The X model I held did not feel like a micro compact to me although I haven't actually shot one yet, but I can shoot the regular Shield well.
I don't have an optic on a carry gun yet but shoot irons and optics in matches. A lot of newer, younger shooters are starting with optics. Sight radius is less important with optics. Also, being realistic, the best full size gun does little good inside the safe if a shooter won't carry it. You are correct that most shooters don't practice much.

[Gravelman]

The Shield X is called a “Micro-Compact” by S-W, but it handles very well for its size. At least while it’s in the LGS while I’m doing paperwork.. I think it’s on the bigger side of the Micro-Compact category.

By the numbers, it’s pretty close to a G19-G48, except thinner. I’ve wanted a G48 for a while, but just can’t see paying roughly twice retail for a used gun.

I’m buying one as a supplement to my G19, the plan is to have something easier to carry but still a good shooter. Also have a new Bodyguard 2.0 for summertime carry, and agree with Capy the practice is a requirement to accurately shoot that little guy. The BG 2.0 is phenomenal for its size, but it’s still challenging. The Shield X “should” be better, I’ll know more in a few weeks. The reviews are generally very positive, but I always wonder what the reviews would look like if the reviewers had dropped their own cash on the table for the thing..

[Capybara]

It doesn't help either that there really is no standard for micro compact, sub compact, compact and full size. I can say that the smallest pistol I have that is on my CCW is the Ruger Max 9 which is pretty similar in size to the P365. It's a tiny gun and putting it side by side with my Shield Plus, the Shields are definitely on the largest size to be considered sub compact. That's probably why I've carried one for so long. I have shot a friends Hellcat and he loves it, but he has comically small hands. My hands are average size with longer than average length fingers. When I grip the Shield, without a good grip, the thin body can definitely rotate within my palm, which isn't exactly a good way to increase accuracy.

When I have to draw the Shield, or any of my other subcompacts, once I have it out of the holster and am raising it up to shooting level, I usually have to contort my hand to realign it in the palm and heel of the hand to obtain a good enough grip to even roughly aim the pistol because the grip doesn't even come close to filling my hand. When I draw my G17 or G19, upon extracting it from the holster, the grip I removed it with is 100% ready to sight and shoot because the larger grip instantly fills my hand. That's the difference. That extra second to realign the subcompact could conceivably cost you your life.

It's weird, I have rarely, if ever heard of another CCW carrier acknowledge this or mention it as a handicap. Seems strange unless you have Hobbit hands where that small pistol does fill up the palm and allow you to easily grip the gun tightly and accurately. I do see lots written about how shooting subcompacts is very challenging because they are small but once I have the gun out of the holster and get a good grip on it, I can shoot it reasonably accurately, it's just the doing all of that smoothly in one motion while drawing from concealment seems basically unachievable to me. Maybe its just me and nobody else has this issue? But I see a lot of guys with hands much larger than mine so they should be experiencing this even more than I do.

[SG29736]

We know that the chance of having to actually use your ccw gun is small. But, rightfully, many of us choose to carry. With good situational awareness a self defense incident that involves a fast draw response is magnitudes rarer.

A second is a long time. Of course the chance of not initially getting a very good grip increases with a smaller gun. But as you're bringing the gun up it should only be a minor adjustment, if needed, accomplished by the time you're ready to get on target. It shouldn't increase your draw time by a second. If you were to stand behind me and watched me draw from concealment 10 times and fire a shot. If twice in those 10 draws I didn't get an optimal grip had had to slightly adjust I don't think you could tell the difference. If I completely fumbled and missed the draw,sure, that would be noticed.

It's along the lines of people who think disengaging a thumb safety adds time to a shooters draw and first shot. It may for them but not for everyone. Now if we were talking about those Bodyguard sized guns that's a completely different story for me. No way I could draw one of those and shoot at the same level.

[Capybara]

It is very personal as to how it affects each of our response time. The eye opener for me was watching dozens of average shooters draw from concealment under a timer. So just a hint of the adrenaline one would feel in a real self defense shooting situation. What I saw was a lot of bad shooting, awkward drawing and taking far too long to get that first shot off, too much time aiming and not enough point shooting, especially at the closer ranges where point shooting is most effective. Luckily all we really need to do in these situations is to hit center mass, not print tight cloverleafs. But I am always interested in shooting better and more efficiently. I've made the drastic decision to forgo all of my sub compacts, save for one, because based on my own testing, I draw and shoot the compacts so much faster and more accurately compared to my sub compacts.

It reminds me a bit of cell phones. Remember in the flip phone and candy bar cell phone days how phones kept evolving smaller and smaller? Yet here we are a few decades later and nobody wants small phones, most people want the biggest phone they can shove in their pockets. Making calls on those really tiny phones was kind of a nightmare and manipulating those tiny, multi function buttons to enter names and numbers was not fun. I wonder if CCW guns will ever go through a similar evolution where we went super small (P365, Bodyguard, Hellcat, Max 9), but as many people carried and qualified with those guns, it began to dawn on people that there was a better way, carrying larger guns with thicker, easier to grasp grips?

[SG29736]

I too mostly carry my CZ Compact . Not much difference then shooting my full size CZ. But my Shield is not a big drop in performance plus has less capacity. What others are able to shoot and will regularly carry is up to them to determine.

The cell phones got larger because they are basically a person's personal computer and they want the bigger screen. If they were limited to phone calls and texting they'd probably remained on the smaller side.

[Gravelman]

Kind of off topic, but I’m researching steel challenge shooting for learning speed and accuracy. Thinking of running different classes so I can see how much difference there is between a BG 2.0, the Shield X and my G19 with an optic. I habitually carry my smaller stuff, but want to know how much compromise it is.

Looking forward to getting the Shield X in hand, if it handles better than its size would indicate like the BG 2.0, I’ll be good with the purchase.

[SG29736]

Steel Challenge is a great way to track results because the stages are always the same, wherever you shoot. At least as close as you can reasonably get carefully laying out the stages. Other then classifiers in USPSA each stage is unique. You can't look at two matches and think you improved because you shot match B ten seconds faster then match A. There's other data to consider. SC is great practice for transitions between targets that would help USPSA shooting. They also have a ton of divisions. Rimfire very popular.

[Gravelman]

Put about 150 rounds of 115 FMJ through the Shield X today. 100% reliable, less recoil than my G43, and seems to be reasonably accurate. Safety and slide release are very small, but useable. Hoping to get another 250 through it tomorrow so I can call the break-in complete.