Guns & Ammo – October 2019

56 G&A october 2019 |shields up

to load than I remembered with
earlier Shield models. I’ve seen
many shooters struggle with
inserting the last round into
their magazines, but this wasn’t
the case with the new Shield.
I fired two magazines
totalling 15 rounds of practice
ammunition offhand at 25
yards on a steel torso target.
All hit their mark. Recoil man-
agement was easier with the
M2.0 textured grip, also.
I was curious to see if I
could shoot the Shield better
with iron sights or the red
dot. Whatever my misgivings about them in comparison to night
sights, I found the HiViz sights just as accurate as the red dot in
daylight firing at a variety of targets.
While I got the sort of groups you’d expect with a defensive
pistol, I didn’t find it easy to use in bench testing. It seemed two
shots of every-five-shot group tended to stray from the other
three. The best groups were with the Barnes Tac-X 115-grain
defensive load. Accuracy was remarkably more consistent, and I
could not fathom why.
When the gun was locked, with the striker cocked and no

round in the chamber, I could

manually manipulate the

muzzle end of the barrel in the

slide. Compared to another

manufacturer’s single-stack

9mm, this play seemed exces-

sive. I shook the gun and the

barrel rattled within the slide.

After accuracy testing was

complete, I wanted to shoot the

Shield hard and fast with the

red dot sight. My intention was

to see how easy it was to track

and how quickly I could obtain

accuracy. Rapid magazine

dumps were simple at 25 yards

on steel. I attribute this to the long slide’s weight and the grip.

This is a slender gun. Even with the red dot mounted, it’s a

slim line pistol that could comfortably fit in a waistline for daily

carry. I generally favor longer guns, and the 4-inch-slide model is

one I prefer. I shoot and train with my carry guns, and a longer

sight radius is faster to use and feeds my accuracy obsession.

There is no singular, magic pistol that everyone loves. The

M&P line comes close, but when considering personal defense

and carry guns, people need choices. Smith & Wesson offers a

lot of choices. From barrel lengths to grip sizes, sight styles and

Fieldstripping the shield M2.0 mimics other M&p models.