The Performance Center Ported M&P9 Shield offers discerning shooters premium features including a factory ported barrel and slide, improved trigger, and Fiber Optic Sights.
Features * Extremely thin and lightweight - can be comfortably carried all day * Polymer frame with embedded stainless steel rigid chassis system * Striker-fired for short consistent trigger pull, every time * Performance Center sear enhanced trigger for a crisp trigger pull * M&P's patented take-down lever and sear deactivation system. * HI-VIZ Fiber Optic Sights * Ported barrel and slide for reduced muzzle flip * Single sided thumb safety * Includes 2 magazines, one with extended capacity for full grip * Weight: 18.2 oz / 516.0g
During my 22 years in the Army, I always smoothed and polished the feed ramps on any weapons I used to reduce FTF (Fail To Feed) problems. I decided to polish the feed ramp on my Shield, and since it does have a stainless steel barrel, I did the complete barrel.
Polishing the Barrel: There are several ways to polish the barrel. This is how I did mine. 1. Remove the barrel, plug the ends of the barrel to keep the vinegar out and soak it in white vinegar for 3 hours, remove it and use a old wash cloth or dish washing pad, and rub the loosened black coating off. Do this a total of 3 times to get most of it off, including in the pores. 2. Use 800 wet dry sand paper, and get all the coating off. Move up to 1200, then 2000 to get it perfectly smooth and no sanding marks showing. 3. Use a good quality metal polish on it, and polish till you have the desired shine. I used Mothers Mag and Wheel Polish. If you have a Dermal tool, you will find this very handy. Note: When doing the feed ramp, only use the sand paper in the direction of the bullet feeding, and only enough to smooth the ramp, then polish.
Holster:
I recommend IWB unless in the Winter, and a long shirt or coat will completely cover it. Carrying a gun exposed does nothing but draw unnecessary attention to you, and makes you the first target of a gunman.
A leather holster will always look nice, but they change there retention of the gun over time, are noisy, and change characteristics with heat and humidity.
Kydex holsters can be molded to fit any pistol, usually have a screw to adjust retention tension to fit your needs, and are not affected by temperature or humidity. They cane be a little uncomfortable against your body or tee shirt on a IWB holster.
My choice is a hybrid, Kydex front and leather rear. This gives great fit and retention, along with more comfort.
I have tried several holsters, and decided on the Raw Dog IWB Holster. It is very easy to put on, or take off, hold the gun very well, are easy to draw you gun from, and make re-holstering the gun easy. I have a few guns
stashed around the house, so I do not carry full time. If I did, I would consider one of the Alien Gear holsters that are comfortable, and great for all day carry. They are not the best for short term since they are a little time consuming putting on and taking off and a tad bulky.
Most people end up purchasing several holsters before finding the one that best suits there needs. A few things to consider are, will you carry it on the belt, outside the waste band (OWB), or inside the Waste band,IWB, all day carry, or a few hours at a time.
Gun Belt:
I have found that Bigfoot Gun Belts offer a very well built gun belt that Will Not Sag, and at a very affordable price. These compare to gun belts costing over $100.
I have tried top of the line 1 1/2 wide, thick leather belts, and they do
ok for a few months, then they start saging. The cure to this is a real
Gun Belt, that has a thin metal strip secured between layers of leather.
These prevent the weight of the gun from causing it to sag, making concealment hard, and not very comfortable.
Ammo:
I have researched, and tried several different brands and types of ammunition, and for just plan range shooting, just about any Brass, Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) will work. What ever is available, and on sale at Wal-Mart. :) Now for Defense Ammo, it is very Important. I chose Federal 147 gr HST to be the best choice for the short barrel Shield. It has Great Expansion, and good penetration, Without Over Penetration. It is best to use some range ammo that is close to the same grain weight as your defense ammo. I use 3 different ammo at the range, Wal-mart's cheapest just to put rounds down range, ant 147 FMJ to go along with my Federal 147 HST Defense Ammo. Using 147 FMJ to train with my 147 HST should give very good training results.
P9HST4 Ammo is +P, and not for regular use, but ok for Winter Defense with heavy clothing.
P9HST2 is standard HST, and perfect for Defense use anytime.
For range plinking, any 9MM ammo is fine, but for Training, you should use
ammo with close to the same grain bullets as your Defense Ammo. If you use
147 HST for Defense, any of these should be good for Training, and help keep the cost down.
1. Range plinking ammo, 2. Affordable Training/SHTF Ammo, and 3. Personal Defense Ammo.
For the 9mm pistol, I pick up what ever Walmart has On Sale for plinking, then for serious training, since I use 147 gr HST for Defense, I use 147 gr for training also. I always end each range session with one magazine of my Defense Ammo.
What ever you do, do not use FMJ ammo as your carry ammo, since it does not expand, it is prone to go through who you are shooting at, and hitting someone else also, plus not having the stopping force of Defense Ammo.
Shooting:
Some people have a problem with shooting it low and to the left. This can be caused by several things, but the most common, is finger placement on the trigger. With the narrow grip, it is easy to place your trigger finger incorrectly on the trigger, causing you to shoot off center.
If you are shooting left, try putting your finger on the trigger resting more towards the center pad, like the below photo.
Shooting the Shield can be a little different for some. The Shield is
built to be a very effective, comfortable, easy to conceal pistol. Part
of this is accomplished by keeping the profile thin.
Below photo shows the most common cause for constantly missing where you aimed, but your shot group is good.
Starting with a one handed grip, take the firing hand and form a salute, separate the thumb from the salute. The meaty web portion between the thumb and index finger should be seated all the way into the top of the back strap. Wrap the lower three fingers around the grip panels and place the index finger down inline with the side of the pistol. Then allow the thumb to naturally rest on the grip panel (preferably inline with the slide).
For a two-handed grip take the non-firing hand and make a salute, separating the thumb from the salute. Take the non-firing hand thumb and palm and slide it into the open area of the grip panel. Rest the non-firing hand thumb directly under the firing hand thumb (pointing inline with the slide towards the target). Wrap the remaining fingers around the firing hand fingers.
Doing the 2 handed method, which is much more precise, you will need to shift the pistol/wrist alignment slightly, and support the pistol equally with both hands.
There are a couple of things that can cause you to constantly shoot off center. Incorrectly holding the pistol, and the sights being out of alignment. With a very slim single stack pistol like the Shield, it is common for the shooters to not grip it properly, and pulling the trigger with the finger in a way that it causes you to twist the gun slightly as you pull it.
The other thing is the sights being off. You can verify your sights easy with a laser bore sight. These are put in the chamber like a regular round, and puts a red dot where the barrel is pointed at, and with perfect sight picture, you can compare them and determine if the problem is sight alignment, or shooter problem.
These are very affordable, running between $10 and $30, and can be found at most gun stores, or on line.
If you use the laser bore sight, you want your sight alignment like this, and if the laser red spot is off center like this, your sights are off. Do not worry about high or low at this point, since that needs to be compensated for with a pistol anyway, depending on distance. If the sights are off, depending on the pistol, you will need to have eiter the front or rear sight shifted, then rechecked. Most Gun Stores have sight pushers, and someone that can adjust them for you.
Loading the Magazines:
I have loaded magazies for several pistols and rifles over the years,
but never have I loaded magazines that were as hard to do, as the Shield.
Trust me on this, get a UpLula Universal Pistol Magazine Loader. These will work on any 9mm through 45 cal single or double stack magazines.
Some add on Grips:
Talon has some Great Grips that are available in both granulate and
rubber texturer. Yhe rubber ones feel great, but the granulate ones are
too agressive for IWB carry. If you order them, make sure you order
the ones for your 8 round magazines also.
Take your time installing these, and read the directions a couple of times. Normal cleaning does not harm these, except CLP, which will loosen them up.
Apex Trigger:
Apex kits for the M&P Shield directly replace the factory hinged trigger with a solid aluminum trigger body featuring a center mounted pivoting safety that maintains factory safety values. The kits reduce pre-travel and over-travel by approximately 20%, and provide the M&P Shield pistol owner a smooth, consistent trigger pull that is approximately 2 lbs lighter (based on variations in factory tolerances) with the advantage of a more detectable trigger reset. If you have a Performance Center Shield, you already have a near perfect trigger, that could only be slightly improved by using a Apex trigger unit only, to replace the S&W hinged polymer one.
Recoil Spring:
The factory Recoil Spring seems to be the only possible weak point in the Shields. My Shield is well over 1 year old, and has Hundreds of rounds through it without a problem. Some have had the recoil spring come apart during cleaning. The most common problems are the end deforms at the small end, and allows it to come apart, and where the two springs join. S&W will send you a replacement with no questions. I emailed them, and requested a replacement, that I put in my gun cleaning kit, to have if/when needed.
Many have ordered a Recoil Spring unit from www.ssguideRods.com If you decide to go that route, you can use Discount Code SWFACEBOOK for a 10% Discount.
Magazines:
The 9MM Shield has a 7 and 8 round magazine. The 7 is the flush fitting one, and is the easiest to carry concealed. The odd thing about the 7 round mag, is it uses the same exact spring. This has been causing problems with loading the 7 round mag, and when loaded, the added pressure has caused the spring to become deformed, and in many cases, broken.
The 8 round mag is easier to load, but still rough if not using one of the Uplula Loaders.
If you have a Shield for a Self Defense gun, you really should have a few extra magazines, and have a couple loaded
with your Defense Ammo, and a couple for range practice with FMJ in them. These magazines retail at over $35, but if you
shop around, you can find them much cheaper on sale. Some places even sale them with Free Shipping, if you buy in quantity.
MagGuts:
Replace your magazine internals with multi-spring system that allows the storage of additional round(s) without
extending the mag while maintaining proper spring pressure and meeting or exceeding original performance.
You can order with or without a new base plate. This allows the option to increase the capacity even more for your carry gun.
Hyve Magazine:
Hyve makes a 10 round complete magazine, that uses a S&W 8 round mag and adds there extension to it, and also a +2 base plate that uses your existing magazine. They are both abailable in several colors.
I think one of either of the MagGuts or Hyve units is a good option for
your 2md magazine that you may carry seperately on your other side, but not
in your conceal holster, as it will only add bulk and weight to your gun.
Spare Magazine Carrier:
These are available everywhere, and I purchased mine at Lowes for $9.
I wanted a Spare Magazine Holder that was light weight, could be carried in any location or position, and be affordable.
I prefer to have my spare magazine on the opposite side as my carry gun so I can be holding the gun in my right hand,
eject the empty mag, and pull the new mag out with my left hand and insert. These Flashlight Holsters are great for this,
since they are extremely light weight, will hold a magazine snug, but allow easy removable, and can be secured to your
belt at any angle.
