Smith & Wesson continues to expand their Shield line with the intro of a .45 caliber version – and yes – like the rest you can get it in just about ANY flavor you want – with or without – thumb safety / night sight sights / performance center version / garbage disposal / dishwasher / built in trash compactor – and that isn’t really the cool factor to the pistol.

The “cool” is the size of it – combined with the reliability/shootability factor equals one really good combination that makes it an excellent concealed carry choice.

How about a  Glock brand Glock 36 ?? The slides are wide – damn near chunky. 1911 “compact”? – Small ( three inch barrels / shortened frame and grips ) are really cool, but reliability starts creeping into that equation – sometime when you you have a day to spare we can go into event timing and dwell and how it affects different firearm platforms and different sizes of similar platforms – just get a hold of me and we shall go down the rabbit hole and have tea with the queen and the mad hatter – HINT: that is why they are called the LAWS of physics – not the suggestions of physics – LMAO – Let’s take a look compared to the 9mm Shield – size wise there is not a lot of difference – but they are different critters.

And not to intentionally neglect anybody – there has been quite a number of manufacturers who have brought a variety of very small .45 auto loaders to market over the years – hell I shot more than a few of them – shot an AMT Back Up in .45 when they first showed up in the 80’s – the reason that one sticks in my memory is the fact that my hand finally stopped hurting late last year – to say the recoil was BRUTAL is an understatement – but it was fun to shoot!!

Slides – 9mm on top / .45 on the bottom

Smith added some “shorty” slide serrations on the front of the .45 – not real sure about their functionality – but they are there . . . cool factor maybe??  Meh

.45 on the left – 9mm on the right

Tried to get then as “lined up” as I could for this pic – both have 3 dot sights and you can see the difference in grip texture on the .45 ( on your left ) – the 9mm has an almost smooth pebble texture where as the .45 has a much more aggressive feel. And you can see the grips are virtually the same width – the .45 is a true single stack and the 9mm is a “stagger” stack.

Just to give you an idea – .45 Shield on the left – CZ2075 ( 9mm ) -in the middle ( a true double stack magazine ) – and the 9mm Shield on the right.

Same order left to right . . .

Kind of a different view but it will give you an idea why people come away with thinking the CZ is ” kinda chunky ” – all 3 with flush mags – all 3 pistols are just about the same size – 6 rounds for the Shield in .45 / 10 rounds for the CZ – 9mm / 7 rounds for the Shield in 9mm – even though they are all 3 similar in size – all 3 shoot and feel different – and that is the biggest thing I try to tell people when they get the idea stuck in their head – “By Golly !! – I think I want me a pistol” – get yourself to a decent range that has a good assortment of pistols to rent ( Inner10 has a GREAT selection!! )- even with my “bizzaro world” schedule I get with folks when I can and help them come up with stuff that “feels” right – then comes the fun part – will it shoot for them? – and sometimes those are two very different things – what something feels like holding it at the counter vs shooting it.

Grip texture on the 9mm – almost not enough . . .

Grip texture on the .45 – doesn’t look like it but very aggressive . . .

The 9mm Shield

SKU: 180021 Model: M&P^®9 SHIELD^™ Caliber: 9mm Capacity: 7+1, 8+1 Safety: Thumb Safety Barrel Length: 3.1” (7.9 cm) Overall Length: 6.1″ Front Sight: White Dot Rear Sight: White 2-Dot Action: Striker Fire Grip: Synthetic Weight: 20.8 oz / 589.7g Barrel Material: Stainless Steel Slide Material: Stainless Steel Frame Material: Polymer Slide Finish: Armornite® Frame Finish: Matte Black Purpose: Concealed Carry, Law Enforcement & Military, Personal Protection, State Compliance

The .45 Shield

SKU: 11531 Model: M&P^®45 SHIELD M2.0^™ No Thumb Safety Caliber: 45 AUTO Capacity: 6+1, 7+1 Safety: No Thumb Safety Barrel Length: 3.3” (8.4 cm) Overall Length: 6.5″ Front Sight: White Dot Rear Sight: White Two Dot Action: Striker Fire Grip: Synthetic Weight: 20.5 oz / 581.2g Barrel Material: Stainless Steel Slide Material: Stainless Steel Frame Material: Polymer Slide Finish: Armornite® Frame Finish: Matte Black Purpose: Concealed Carry, Home Protection, Personal Protection These specs came from Smith & Wesson’s web site – damn I can’t believe I just spent an hour there window shopping . . . focus Bruce – you can go back there when you finish this post . . . All these specs are for you folks that really want them – the problem is – How the pistol feels is subjective – and Smith & Wesson’s  Shields feel pretty good in all flavors – LOL All right – enough is enough – How does it shoot?? – I ran it straight up against the Sig 1911 – after all that is how a .45 is supposed to feel – isn’t it?? Heh-Heh The Shield was shot with 6 rounds in the mag + 1 in the chamber – the Sig was shot with 6 in the mag + 1 in the chamber – 14 out of the Sig – 14 out of the Shield – then repeat – these were at my normal cadence – about 1 1/2 second intervals – except for a function check this was the first time out with the .45 Shield –

Didn’t realize I forgot to mark the first Shield target until I looked at the pictures the next day – Damn ! – Space : The Final Frontier – and these are the voyages of Bruce’s mind . . .

I admit – the .45 shield really feels good and shoots well for me – perceived recoil is actually less ( subjectively ) than the 9mm – more of a push rather than an abrupt smack – much lower pressure round moving slower – euro pellet vs real bullets – the only question is how much velocity are you losing with a 3.3 inch barrel vs a 5 inch barrel. A 5 inch barrel drops you below the expansion threshold somewhere around 40 yards or so – but you still have a great big ugly piece of lead moving about 700 feet per second – ouch! Might be just as good to shoot hardball out of the Shield.

I am engaged with my CFO in on going negotiations about acquiring a Lab Radar chronograph.

Those meetings have been going on for a while now Bruce – How are they going??

Well . . . I still don’t have the chronograph but I am still breathing through my nose – so we will just have to wait and see . . . and another positive note – I don’t have to wait for the swelling to go down so I can see – so I am hopeful – LOL

Will try to get more stuff up this week – who knows ??

Remember Folks – Have Fun ! – Run the Gun ! and Fish Heads are Cheap !!