S&W M&P Shield Plus

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I have dragged my heels on newer subcompacts like the Sig P365 and Springfield Armory Hellcat, given that while I will sometimes carry a subcompact (a six-year-old 9mm Shield), I often opt for my Glock 19 or CZ-75 P01. However, this new offering does come off as tempting, given that from what I have gathered, the Shield Plus will fit in current Shield holsters, has better capacity (10+1 with a flush magazine and 13+1 with an extended magazine), and is only around 1/10 of an inch thicker than the older models.

I will take S&W’s word that the trigger is an improvement (granted, I haven’t even tried an M&P 2.0 trigger), but how much of an improvement is it? I have extra cash from tax returns, a stimulus check, and from not being able to buy ammunition, so a modest handgun purchase shouldn’t divert too much from building up savings (for a modest house after the latest housing bubble finally bursts).


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Re: S&W M&P Shield Plus

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7N6Wolf wrote: Mon Apr 12, 2021 10:10 pm I have dragged my heels on newer subcompacts like the Sig P365 and Springfield Armory Hellcat, given that while I will sometimes carry a subcompact (a six-year-old 9mm Shield), I often opt for my Glock 19 or CZ-75 P01. However, this new offering does come off as tempting, given that from what I have gathered, the Shield Plus will fit in current Shield holsters, has better capacity (10+1 with a flush magazine and 13+1 with an extended magazine), and is only around 1/10 of an inch thicker than the older models.

I will take S&W’s word that the trigger is an improvement (granted, I haven’t even tried an M&P 2.0 trigger), but how much of an improvement is it? I have extra cash from tax returns, a stimulus check, and from not being able to buy ammunition, so a modest handgun purchase shouldn’t divert too much from building up savings (for a modest house after the latest housing bubble finally bursts).


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This is what you 'need'..I have one..traded my Glock 26 with a Glock 19 magazine with sleeve for it. I carry it with a ShieldArms 15R magazine..
Glock-48-9mm_main-01.jpg
Glock-48-9mm_main-01.jpg (8.59 KiB) Viewed 9802 times

Re: S&W M&P Shield Plus

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I seriously wish they wouldn’t have messed with the trigger. One of the things I prefer about the M&P line over Glocks, others, is the trigger. I like the articulation In The M&P over the blade type trigger safety. Other than that, it looks like a winner.

I’ve been very pleased with the M&P line over all - when the prices come down to semi reasonable I may get another shield.


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Re: S&W M&P Shield Plus

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I played with the Performance Center version at one of my local shops a week ago...and it is one nice piece.

The grip is a little longer, but not a lot thicker than a regular Shield; and that trigger is nice, really nice. Felt better to me than a Hellcat or a 365.

I don’t care for striker fired pistols for carry (well, besides P7’s), but if I did...this would be worthy of serious consideration.

Re: S&W M&P Shield Plus

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Smith & Wesson and M&P have so many similar nomenclatures I haven't been able to feel "caught up" to the point that I recognize each model.

I have an M&P 9 M2.0 compact (12+1 rounds). It was my first "n+1" pistol (the first three were a CZ P10F, a CZ P10S, and a SigSauer P365XL) as I started buying pistols last year. I have an M&P Shield 9 (promo deal from my LGS--pistol plus five magazines (four 8-round, one 7-round) plus a "bug out bag" (yeah, no, it's a small range bag for someone going to the range for an hour or less with a holstered pistol) and a couple other odds and ends).

I have handled a Shield 9 EZ, and it's an intriguing piece. If a certain relative ever decides to be comfortable owning a pistol, I would probably get it for that relative. The lighter slide action and magazine loading is neat for certain demographics.

The Shield is narrower than my usual EDC (CZ P10S), and only a little narrower than my wife's EDC (P365XL with Romeo Zero red dot sight). I carry it at times, but carry two extra magazines to account for the lower magazine capacity (I sincerely hope I never need more than a couple of bullets if I ever need the pistol at all).

Since I've only had striker-fired pistols in recent history (last pistol I fired before 2020 was a .22 LR pistol in high school ROTC), it's what I'm used to carrying. I recognize that some prefer DA/SA or want that hammer, but I haven't had experience with them to decide one is better than the other. I suppose that "different" is a better term than "better/worse," although I'm sure that could be a big can of worms...
Eventually I'll figure out this signature thing and decide what I want to put here.

Re: S&W M&P Shield Plus

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I have the new M&P Shield Plus and it shoots great, fits my hand perfectly and so far has proved to be absolutely reliable. I do have two negative comments, however. The gun I have has a safety on it and it is practically impossible to use. The safety lever is very small and rather stiff so that a "brush" of the thumb across it won't move it. For this reason I just don't use the safety. The second problem I have with the gun is the grip. Of course it is a double stack and it feels a bit fatter in the hand compared to the single stack shield. It is also a tad longer. Maybe it's just me and my unfortunate body shape, but I have a hard time concealing this gun. The grip prints more than I like. I carry my gun appendix cross draw. That makes the grip stick out frontwards and I realize that is part of the problem. Besides these two points it's a great shooting gun.

Re: S&W M&P Shield Plus

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Skeptilius wrote: Fri Nov 19, 2021 10:37 am Well, I'm sure the Max 9 has to be double stack since it carries 10+1 rounds. That gun interest me but based on the price on Ruger's website I would have to consider the new Taurus Gx4 which is almost identical to the Ruger and has a lower price.
They all seem to look alike to me. I can get to Ruger in Prescott in three hours If I wanted to run up there. I was also looking at the Walther PDP. Never had a ruger anything fail me.
Sorry for hijacking the thread.
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Re: S&W M&P Shield Plus

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Skeptilius wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 11:54 am I have the new M&P Shield Plus and it shoots great, fits my hand perfectly and so far has proved to be absolutely reliable. I do have two negative comments, however. The gun I have has a safety on it and it is practically impossible to use. The safety lever is very small and rather stiff so that a "brush" of the thumb across it won't move it. For this reason I just don't use the safety. The second problem I have with the gun is the grip. Of course it is a double stack and it feels a bit fatter in the hand compared to the single stack shield. It is also a tad longer. Maybe it's just me and my unfortunate body shape, but I have a hard time concealing this gun. The grip prints more than I like. I carry my gun appendix cross draw. That makes the grip stick out frontwards and I realize that is part of the problem. Besides these two points it's a great shooting gun.
Thanks for the review. I just got a Shield Plus but haven’t shot it yet. I agree that the thumb safety is kind of stiff. I’ve been playing with it, and to me it feels like it’s loosened up a bit. Admittedly, it’s still stiffer than my 1911 safety, though, but it doesn’t feel as stiff as before. It could also be that my thumb has just gotten “stronger” or more used to disengaging it. The grip feels great in my hand, though. And while I haven’t shot it yet, the trigger also feels great, especialy for a striker.

As for concealability, I’m coming from a fullsize 1911 and a S&W 3913, both of which are bigger and heavier. So not really a fair comparison. I don’t know how it compares to concealing a P365 or a Hellcat. I also only have one holster for it at the moment, an Amberide IWB, which I carry strong side.

Aside from the stiff thumb safety, my only other complaint is the aggressive grip texture chafes my skin somewhat.

Re: S&W M&P Shield Plus

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Finally got a chance to shoot the Shield Plus. What an awesome shooter! Great trigger. Nice, crisp reset. Very accurate. I'm really impressed with how well it shoots. I took my 1911 and my 3rd gen S&W 3913 single stack to compare. From 5 to 15 yards it was just as accurate as my 1911, but I admit I'm not the best shot, and my 1911 is a .45, so not exactly apples to apples. It easily shot better than my 3913, but that's a DA/SA, and while I first learned with a DA/SA Beretta 92FS, I'm no longer used to it after having shot my 1911 and a Glock 34 way more than my 3913. So again, not really apples to apples. While the trigger is still not as good as my 1911, to me it's better than most other handguns I've had the pleasure to shoot. For as small as it is, I was also expecting a bit more snap or recoil, but I didn't sense that.

I've read on other forums how thumb placement on the slide stop/release can prevent the slide from staying open after the last round, and sure enough that happened to me. But moving the thumb down some fixed that. I also read a few posts from others complaining it's almost impossible to load the factory 13-round and 10-round mags all the way. I didn't have that problem. Granted, that last round was hard to load in each mag, but mine wasn't that bad and I was able to fully load them and seat the mag all the way in. Disengaging the safety is still easier than when I first unboxed it. The slide release still requires two hands to release the slide and get it into battery, though. I've read others say the same about theirs, so I'm guessing that might be a design or safety feature?

Anyway, I only had a few different brands to feed it - Remington 115 gr, Federal 115 gr, Fiochi 115 gr and Stand-1 Armory 147 gr. It easily went through 250 rounds with no problems, no failures to feed, failures to eject or failures to fire. I didn't have any 124 gr NATO or I would've tried that, too.

About the only concern I have is a problem a few folks have written about and talked about on YouTube. I didn't know about this until after I bought it. It's about the little slide release spring unseating from its tiny groove in the frame, causing the slide to jam. I may order a couple springs from Smith & Wesson to keep as spares in case that happens to mine. The thought on some of the forums is that S&W didn't address this spring issue with the Plus, but who knows? Here are a couple links that explain the issue:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wess ... pring.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEzFiN4hRUQ

All in all a great little handgun!

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