Smith & Wesson's Sub-Compact Shield
The S&W M&P Shield offers big-time performance in a discreet package.
By Joseph Kurtenbach, AR Assistant Editor
6/18/2012
Prior to its release, speculation abounded as to what the engineers at Smith & Wesson were developing. The “Shield Yourself” promotional video released by the Springfield, Mass.-based gunmaker further muddied the waters, and opened the floodgates to Internet debates where enthusiasts hypothesized about new products ranging from body armor and riot shields to shotguns designed for personal defense. In the end, however, the Shield turned out to be a new example of what S&W is best known for: a handgun designed for armed citizens and professionals who stake their lives on its quality.
The Shield is the smallest addition to date to the company’s Military & Police (M&P) line, which traces its roots to the Model of 1899 .38 S&W Military and Police revolver—now called the Model 10—and today includes revolvers, polymer service pistols and AR-style rifles. At only 6.1-inches long, 4.6-inches tall and less than 1-inch wide at its thickest point, the Shield is ideal for concealed carry. Certainly there are smaller guns out there, but few combine the size, power—the Shield is available in either 9 mm Luger or .40 S&W—and pedigree of the new M&P. With a distinguished lineage comes expectations and at first glance the Shield bears an unmistakable resemblance to the older, larger members of its family. Its stainless-steel slide, contoured for easy re-holstering, is finished with a black Melonite coating for increased durability. Also retained are the scalloped serrations, which provide purchase during slide manipulation. Steel, three-dot tactical sights common to the M&P line are dovetailed into the top of the slide, though the low-profile mounts are narrower than in standard models.
The Shield’s black polymer frame is of the same pattern, albeit smaller, as the other M&P models. With a grip-angle of 18 degrees past perpendicular to the bore axis, the stock’s front- and backstraps have S&W’s Palmswell grip stippling. While similar in appearance and feel to those of the larger guns, the stocks do not follow suit in that they are not interchangeable. The M&P’s Palmswell grip system incorporates three sizes of backstrap in order to provide users with the best fit possible. This system would not have been feasible within the sub-1-inch width of the Shield. Instead, the S&W engineers opted for a fixed, medium-size grip—the size that, according to their research, was already being utilized by 90 percent of M&P customers.
A tip of the hat to a heritage of successful design is only part of the Shield’s story. The pistol also represents innovation, improvement and an ability to adapt to trending demands. In recent years, small guns chambered in .380 ACP have been very popular; and subcompacts with capacious magazines for 9 mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP have become a veritable staple. A dialogue emerged, or perhaps always existed, pitting concealability and ease-of-carry against power and capacity, especially in the context of a back-up or personal-protection firearm. While the correct answer lies in individual preference and ability, compromise is also a sensible solution. The Shield offers the svelte size and weight—only 19 ounces, unloaded—preferred by the carry-conscious while still packing serious punch—seven or eight and six or seven rounds of 9 mm Luger or .40 S&W, respectively. Two magazines—one flush-fitting, the other with plus-one capacity and an extended grip—ship with the Shield and, by utilizing a single, though semi-staggered column design, maximize ammunition capacity within the confines of the pistol’s minimalist frame.
The Shield features a full complement of controls on the left side of its Zytel frame, and while there is nothing unusual about those features, it is surprising to find a configuration usually reserved for full-size handguns on a gun the size of the comparatively diminutive Shield. Farthest forward, located just above the trigger, is a take-down lever, which, when the slide is locked rearward, can be rotated down in a clockwise manner for disassembly. The manual slide-lock is behind and above the trigger, and mates with a notch cut into the base of the slide near the mid-length mark. It is important to note that when the slide is cycled on an empty magazine, the slide-lock will automatically engage.
A thumb safety is just below the slide’s serrations, and above the frame’s backstrap texturing. Color coding is not used to denote safe or fire, rather the down-position allows the gun to fire while the up-position blocks the trigger. Shallow insets in the molded frame house the aforementioned controls, and narrow grooves provide purchase when accessing the controls. Finally, the magazine release button is behind and below the trigger guard and is textured—in the same pattern as the stock—rather than grooved.
Field stripped, the Shield looks not unlike most other striker-fired semi-automatic handguns. The components are the slide assembly, barrel, guide rod/recoil spring and the frame. The Shield’s stainless steel barrel is 3.1-inches long and, like the slide, finished in black Melonite. During operation the slide cycles rearward, tilting the barrel’s breech and integral steel feed ramp down toward the magazine and the nose of the topmost cartridge. Under power from the decompressing recoil spring—the Shield uses a pair of springs captured on a steel guide rod—the slide returns forward and in so doing strips a new cartridge from the magazine, pushing it up the ramp and into the realigned barrel’s chamber. To guide and secure the slide, the Shield uses a stainless-steel chassis with rails that fit into channels on either side of the slide’s interior. The chassis system allows steel-on-steel contact, ensuring reliability and durability while also imparting weight savings gained from using a relatively small steel assembly mounted into a much lighter polymer frame.
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