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It can be had with or without a thumb safety and I suspect that's why it has a grip safety. For some reason, S&W didn't ask me how to design it, but if they had, I would have said to skip the grip safety and offer it only with a thumb safety. I suspect they were worried about people not engaging the thumb safety and would thus be carrying it with the hammer cocked and not locked.

It's been funny watching videos of people describing the gun as a striker-fired pistol only to be embarrassed when they field strip and have to admit it hammer-fired.

Chas.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:For some reason, S&W didn't ask me how to design it.....

Me neither. If they had, I’d have told them to make it a 9mm.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

Charles L. Cotton wrote:For some reason, S&W didn't ask me how to design it.....

Me neither. If they had, I’d have told them to make it a 9mm.

Uhm, TAM, .380 is 9mm. It's 9mm Kurz but I knew what you meant.

Oldgringo wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:

Charles L. Cotton wrote:For some reason, S&W didn't ask me how to design it.....

Me neither. If they had, I’d have told them to make it a 9mm.

Uhm, TAM, .380 is 9mm. It's 9mm Kurz but I knew what you meant.

And I know what you mean. And 10mm is .40 caliber .......but not the other way around.

Oldgringo wrote:

Jusme wrote:We got some in our store. I haven't had a chance to shoot one yet, but I'm not sure why S&W added a grip safety to the gun. It seems unnecessary, given that it has a thumb safety. It gives the gun a different feel from the other ones in the shield line. The slide is extremely easy to manipulate, but the trigger is grittier, and heavier than the ones they put in their 2.0 models. I know the ones I held were brand new and the trigger may smooth out with use, but first impressions for me are not that good, so far. JMHO

Where is your store?

PM sent

Got one yesterday with the thumb safety. Now, I've got to find me some .380 range bullets.

I've filled out many 4473's but yesterday was a first with a 4473 on an electronic tablet. What'll they think of next?

Ok I really like this pistol. Went out this morning and put 50 rounds if Sig 380 FMJ 100 grain through it and about 25 rounds of Remington 380 FMJ 95 grain through it. No miscues at all. Recoil is light. The 3 dot white sights are easy to see. The trigger is fairly smooth. Very accurate out to 15 yards. The ladies are going to love it. It’s also a lot lighter than I expected. It feels a lot like the S&W M&P 22 semiauto. The magazines are easy to load as well. The little tabs on both side make easy to move the rounds down in to the magazine. You get 2 mags with the pistol. Grabagun has them for $369 wth or without the thumb safety. Very nice pistol for that price.

gtolbert09 wrote:Ok I really like this pistol. Went out this morning and put 50 rounds if Sig 380 FMJ 100 grain through it and about 25 rounds of Remington 380 FMJ 95 grain through it. No miscues at all. Recoil is light. The 3 dot white sights are easy to see. The trigger is fairly smooth. Very accurate out to 15 yards. The ladies are going to love it. It’s also a lot lighter than I expected. It feels a lot like the S&W M&P 22 semiauto. The magazines are easy to load as well. The little tabs on both side make easy to move the rounds down in to the magazine. You get 2 mags with the pistol. Grabagun has them for $369 wth or without the thumb safety. Very nice pistol for that price.

Thanks for the range report.

Chas.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:

gtolbert09 wrote:Ok I really like this pistol. Went out this morning and put 50 rounds if Sig 380 FMJ 100 grain through it and about 25 rounds of Remington 380 FMJ 95 grain through it. No miscues at all. Recoil is light. The 3 dot white sights are easy to see. The trigger is fairly smooth. Very accurate out to 15 yards. The ladies are going to love it. It’s also a lot lighter than I expected. It feels a lot like the S&W M&P 22 semiauto. The magazines are easy to load as well. The little tabs on both side make easy to move the rounds down in to the magazine. You get 2 mags with the pistol. Grabagun has them for $369 wth or without the thumb safety. Very nice pistol for that price.

Thanks for the range report.

Chas.

We were talking about this thread at breakfast this morning. Looking forward to more range reports.

Took mine out today. It worked flawlessly with Win. and Fiochi range ammo as well as with Federal Personal Defense. I had some really old reloads that didn't do so well. It dented the primer but there was no ignition on many of them. Was it the old primer or was it the firing pin? As for my pistol accuracy, I can usually hit the side of a barn if I'm standing in it. I intend to practice with it more tomorrow and perhaps adjust the rear sight a tad.

All in all, it's a light, easy loading little pistol that is a lot easier to handle/load than my SA Compact 1911. I expect it to become my 'little CC buddy'.

This pistol has got my interest.

For those interested in this gun.

http://youtu.be/eXfmlh27iY0

I have one that I use with students. Surprisingly, it is sligbtly bigger than the Shield 9mm. It is, probably, the easiest-to-rack semi-auto on the planet, at least as easy as the PK-380 or the P-238. Recoil is mild, the sights are good, accuracy is very acceptable, the trigger is decent. Not like a CZ, but then neither is a Glock. The build quality is better than the PK-380; you can feel it in the slide.

There are two minor issues, which should not be a problem for someone who shoots this all the time, but ARE for students just trying out the gun:

1. students new to shooting often let their strong hand grip slip slightly, and the gun stops working (grip safety locks the action). This could be seen as a training reinforcement, but it also takes up more of the instructor's time staying on top of it. It seems to require a very assertive grip to engage the grip safety.

2. similar to my 1911, it is very easy for the strong-side thumb to nudge the thumb safety on, and the gun locks up. My solution, just like my DW 1911, is to use a high-thumb hold, where the thumb rides on top of the safety. I dislike having to teach that to students the first day. I would prefer they think the grip is (mostly) the same for all guns, at least until they have more experience.

However, S&W issued a recall on this gun almost as soon as it hit the shelves. They said the thumb safety had a tendency to slip to on unexpectedly. Just what I said above, except they said it was caused by firing +P ammo. I have never fired +P in this gun, so I think they got that wrong. However, they wanted to replace the safety, so I sent it in. I have not shot it enough to see if that fixed the problem.

All in all, the pros for this gun are very strong, and the cons fairly minor.

Oldgringo wrote:I've filled out many 4473's but yesterday was a first with a 4473 on an electronic tablet. What'll they think of next?

Streamlines the process.... this way they can collect all of your info for the registry and it will be 2-3 years before anyone figures out that there is one. It will be reported in the news as a simple a software glitch.


On a more seriousl note, I think the Shield EZ may be in the cards for my wife... haven't seen one locally yet though.

Although friends don't let friends carry .380 (kidding!), I'm glad to know there's a potentially viable option now for those who really need the lighter slide action.