[uudl]

I finally got my new Smith & Wessom M&P Shield 45. I took it out the other day and put 100 rounds of various kinds of ammo through it. I did not have any problems and it shot great. It is slightly larger than my Shield 9mm, It handles great and I am really pleased with the results. The recoil is not bad for a small sub compact 45. I will put about another 200 or 300 rounds through It and if everyting is good, it will take its place as my EDC. I was curious how much velocity I was losing through the 3.3 inch Barrel so I shot 2 Factory loads over the chronograph. This was the results:

Federal American Eagle, 230gr FMJ, 775.63 FPS (10 shot average)
Federal Tactical HST, 230 gr HST HP, 818.86 FPS (10 shot average)

 

[Buckeye63]

Handsome firearm !!!

 

[Tundra5.7]

Congrats on the new pistol. The Shield in 45 has been tempting me since my LGS called me and said they had some in back in July.

The holster in your picture looks interesting. Is it a DeSantis? Looks like the Shield would carry well in that.

 

[MB53]

oh yea! NICE

 

[Bandit99]

Currently carry the Shield 40. Am starting to have cravings for the 45. Maybe at the end of the year. Is it legal for Santa to leave a firearm under the tree? :smile:

 

[uudl]

Congrats on the new pistol. The Shield in 45 has been tempting me since my LGS called me and said they had some in back in July.

The holster in your picture looks interesting. Is it a DeSantis? Looks like the Shield would carry well in that.

Yes it is a DeSantis Slim Tuk made for the Shield 45. It is tuckable, ambidextrous, and you can vary the tilt. The Shield 45 carrys very nice in it. I carry AIWB.

 

[Chief1297]

:35: I don't see a drool icon so this will have to do!!!

 

[Litespeed]

Looks good to me. Best of luck with your new Shield.

 

[LuketheDrifter]

Nice OP! Always feels good to add to the family :danceban:

 

[RINGKINGS]

Update for Shield 45 owners: 45shield will fit in most holsters made for the 9/40 especially if the are open at bottom of holster..... the trigger still needs improvement so called Apex Tactical and they are working on a trigger kit for the 45, they
said the kits for the 40 or the 9 will NOT work(I have the duty/carry kit in the 9 and it is great improvement)........ magguts is working on a magazine spring kit that will work for the 45 also
(will increase magazine capacity by 1).

 

[Holmes375]

I have both the 9 & 45 Shields. My 45 will absolutely not fit in any of my high end Kydex 9mm holsters, the slide width is the issue. It will fit less detail formed holsters with the open muzzle.

The sear in the 45 has not changed, the Apex sears works fine in the 45 as will the 9/40 aluminum flat face trigger. The 45 has a different striker block unique unto itself. This is what will be new in the 45 kit when available.

45 Shield striker block:

45 Shield with Apex 9/40 aluminum trigger:

I'll be very surprised if MagGuts is able to get an extra round in there without extension. When I spoke with them the last time about this they were less than hopeful. Maybe they can work some physical magic with the Z-spring but I remain dubious.

The design of the S&W 7 round magazine is just about the sorriest setup I've seen. That little base plate fork clip is just a joy to work with during reassembly. I certainly envision no end user issues with that system

 

[bigpapa]

Congrats! Man that is one bad piece I had one in my hand about three or four weeks ago and love it but I had so many other things to get first, I bought a RV last week so I have to be good for now.

 

[RINGKINGS]

Holmes, did you put the 9/40 sear in along with the flat trigger on the 45? if you did, is there significant improvement? I am not
a gunsmith so do you think it would make more sense to wait until the entire 45 kit is ready or go ahead and install the 9/40 sear
with the flat trigger? thanks in advance for any advice
....... also when I mentioned in previous post about 45 fitting most 9/40
holsters I was referring to leather holsters..... don't have any kydex here.
...... on the MagGuts issue I think they will have a chance to make it work by eliminating the large follower as they did in other
kits, I hope so, but like I said, I am not a gunsmith so just guessing.

 

[Holmes375]

Holmes, did you put the 9/40 sear in along with the flat trigger on the 45? if you did, is there significant improvement? I am not
a gunsmith so do you think it would make more sense to wait until the entire 45 kit is ready or go ahead and install the 9/40 sear
with the flat trigger? thanks in advance for any advice
....... also when I mentioned in previous post about 45 fitting most 9/40
holsters I was referring to leather holsters..... don't have any kydex here.
...... on the MagGuts issue I think they will have a chance to make it work by eliminating the large follower as they did in other
kits, I hope so, but like I said, I am not a gunsmith so just guessing.

I installed the sear and the flat trigger but that resulted in a pull lighter than I care for in a carry gun- 4 lbs. My 45 had a lighter factory pull than any of the Shield 9s I've worked with. The mechanical advantage of the flat face trigger itself reduces the pull weight by 14-17 ounces in my experience. I ended up just polishing the factory trigger bar, sear and striker block and installing the flat face trigger. This gives me a nice clean 5lb-2oz trigger.

If you're interested in the flat trigger I'd surely recommend trying it by itself before you change any other internals. One of the big issues with many of the earlier Shields was the channel that the striker block runs in. The factory bore job was sloppy with a rough surface and often had burrs present. This is where that infamous pre-travel grittiness came from. The Shield 45s I've worked on so far have had none of that grittiness and their striker block bores looked much better done out of the box.

The Apex trigger alone will reduce the pre-travel a little bit as well as the over travel. The latter is important for me as a shooter. Reset remains crisp and tactile.

If you want the sear as well I'd wait for the kit to come out so you get the striker block. Apex will undoubtedly have a noticeably improved version as compared to the factory piece. You will also have Apex warranty and support by doing so.

I imagine the 45 will indeed work in most open muzzle leather holsters thus saving many folks the additional expense of a new holster. Nice to know.

I'm hoping MagGuts can pull a rabbit out of the hat with the 45 mags. I'd love to have them prove me wrong

 

[RINGKINGS]

Holmes, thanks for answering my questions............ think I will take your advice and wait until Apex completes their kit for
the 45...... the stock trigger is workable for now and overall its a very practical carry piece........ I see you're in Wyoming, I have one word for that........... jealous............ have a good day.

 

[Kilowatt3]

Saw & handled a Shield .45 this weekend at the Lake Charles gun show. Very reasonably priced (IMO) at $430. There may be a new favorite EDC in my future! I was really tempted, but decided to hold out for the version w/o the thumb safety. My Shield 9 has the safety, and while it doesn't really bother me, I'd just as soon not have it.

The no-thumb-safety version still looks to be a little hard to come by!

 

[5lima30ret]

Nice review! The chrono results were very impressive as well! This may be tempting me to replace my old trusty G-36! :blink:

 

[drmordo]

$430 strikes me as high. I've seen 9mm Shields sell new for $350ish many times, so I'd expect the .45 to be slightly higher, but not almost 100 bucks.

I'd like to fondle one first, but if I can find one at LE pricing I might be tempted to pick one up.

 

[MurrayNano]

I finally found one without the thumb safety last night at Sportsmans Outdoor Superstore (I was on the notify-me waitlist). The price was around $430... I acknowledge it high relative to the 9mm version, but the upcharge is the cost of being an early adopter. Haven't had a 45ACP in my carry rotation to date. I'll have to provide a range report once I get it.

 

[Rhodie2]

Impressive Chrono Numbers especially when Ballistics by the inch according to their website has a similar bullet 230gr Federal HST coming out of a 4.6" G21 a bit slower than your reported 818fps.