It’s been a while since I went to the range. Took my Walter PPQ and my SW Shield today.

PPQ is on the left, shield on the right. Obviously I can’t hit the broadside of the barn with the shield. 10 yards, two hands, same ammo.


Not great groupings in either case, but it should be pretty clear that at least I can hit the target with the PPQ.

The problem I have with the shield is the trigger. It seems like it takes a huge amount of force to pull the trigger compared to the PPQ. If shoot extremely slowly, get 100% surprised by the Shield trigger break, it’s better, but still not good.

I’m not blaming the gun, I can’t shoot for shit (clearly), but is there something I can do to make the shield shoot better for me?

Are you staging the trigger at the wall or starting the full press from the trigger's neutral position? Shooting from reset?

Do you do dry practice with the Shield?

You won't like my answer.

Get rid of the pistol. I don't mean that you should replace it with another Shield. Just say goodbye to the Shield altogether.

Others will tell you how to work on this and you may improve, but I don't think so. There are too many other choices out there.

Dry fire as mentioned may help.
I think Para’s suggestion may be more beneficial though.

Have you tried shooting it like a revolver? What I mean is place the first joint in your trigger finger in the middle of the trigger Va the pad of the end of the finger.

With semi-autos we taught to use the first pad of the finger and center it on the trigger, sometimes this is difficult for people and reverting to the “revolver way” will help. Especially with a heavy trigger pull.

quote:

Originally posted by Exodus:
Are you staging the trigger at the wall or starting the full press from the trigger's neutral position? Shooting from reset?

Do you do dry practice with the Shield?

Same technique, both pistols.

Take up slack, try to squeeze with pad of my finger. Not a death grip.

I have dry fired it. I don’t know if this trigger a normal for a Shield, but it’s very heavy break. I’m all over the place when it goes off.

I have a Shield and since it's the gun you have, there are things you can do.

Instead of replacing it, unless that floats your boat, the groupings from the Walther and the Shield are all to the left. That's mashing the trigger and getting too much finger on it and it's pulled to the left as you fire. A new gun won't fix that.

If you want to upgrade the trigger to something with less pull, shorter reset and a better break consider the Apex Tactical trigger kit but honestly, unless you like taking guns apart, it's not an easy upgrade. You have to remove the rear sight and if you're going to do that, might as well replace the sights with something else.

My overall suggestion is buy something like the Strikeman dryfire system and just work on the fundamentals. You have have too much finger and your smashing the trigger. Just work on the fundamentals and basics and the problem is solved. The Strikeman will let you see immediately where you're hitting the target.

Sorry, Boss, but I don't agree. I have the old 9mm Shield model 1 and it is quite accurate and a pleasure to shoot. I didn't shoot it well until I installed some Hogue HandAll grip sleeves with the beavertail and finger grips. Cheap fix and it worked for me. I did need to put the Apex trigger kit in it because I'm in MA and S&W puts the heavy triggers in their MA Shields.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
You won't like my answer.

Get rid of the pistol. I don't mean that you should replace it with another Shield. Just say goodbye to the Shield altogether.

Others will tell you how to work on this and you may improve, but I don't think so. There are too many other choices out there.

If I go super slow, maybe 5 seconds to squeeze the trigger, it’s better. But should it take that kind of control to shoot a self defense compact? I feel like the PPQ “just works”. I don’t really even have to try very hard, or shoot very slow, to get in the ring.

What’s a good choice for small carry that I should try?

The difference in a PPQ and Shield trigger system is significant, JMO the PPQ has the better smoother trigger system

Apex makes a Trigger upgrade kit Link Havent use this kit, perhaps someone here can relate an experience with it, but you might find it helps.

Hard to beat a PPQ trigger for smooth, light operation.

quote:

Originally posted by fwbulldog:
.

If I go super slow, maybe 5 seconds to squeeze the trigger, it’s better. But should it take that kind of control to shoot a self defense compact? I feel like the PPQ “just works”. I don’t really even have to try very hard, or shoot very slow, to get in the ring.

Your mechanics need work. A new gun won't fix those and you can shoot the Shield very well if you just work on your mechanics.

Don't worry about speed. Slow is smooth and then when you have the smooth mechanics in place, you'll turn to speed. Slow is smooth, smooth is speed.

I would also suggest trying the Handall slip on. It may help you clamshell the pistol better. That will leave only your manipulation of the trigger to work on. They're 10-15 bucks, wouldn't hurt to try.

Another fan of the Hogue Hand-all. Made a tremendous difference on the Mrs' Shield.

That and a lot of dry-firing. Helps smooth that trigger out.

quote:

Originally posted by fwbulldog:
If I go super slow, maybe 5 seconds to squeeze the trigger, it’s better. But should it take that kind of control to shoot a self defense compact?

Well, it absolutely does take that level of “control”. With lots of practice, you may be able to do it faster without losing accuracy. OTOH: Starting off with a pistol you find easier to shoot certainly takes a lot of frustration out of the process.

If your hands are big or you have long fingers like I do, get a Hogue grip sleeve or similar sleeve.
I have a Shield 1 and it was plenty accurate but I shoot the P65xl a bit better. Both have the grip sleeve.
I'd have someone knowledgeable watch you shoot to see if the fundamentals have a problem. Maybe also have someone else that shoots well give yours a try to be sure it's not your particular gun.

Hogue Hand-all Jr makes an enormous difference for me on a Walther PPS M1. Especially with the small magazine. A single finger groove, and a very subtle palm swell.

I have the Massachusetts version of the original Shield in 9mm with the OEM trigger, and I find it easy to shoot accurately at self-defense distances. My Shield replaced a S&W j-frame, which I could not shoot accurately no matter how much I tried.

I'm nowhere near as experienced a shooter as most here, but my two-cents is if you are replicating your errors across gun models than it's you. If your errors happen only with the Shield, move on to another brand of gun

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
You won't like my answer.

Get rid of the pistol. I don't mean that you should replace it with another Shield. Just say goodbye to the Shield altogether.

Others will tell you how to work on this and you may improve, but I don't think so. There are too many other choices out there.

I second this. I’ve been shooting for a couple of decades and shot all makes and models of handguns with great accuracy—SIG, Beretta, Glock.

I picked up a G21…and could not hit the broadside of a barn…now I had no issues with a 1911, P220, P226…but the G21 wouldn’t work for me. Sold it and got a G30. Zero issues.

Another thing that causes low left messy groups is besides poor trigger control, is milking the grip, meaning tightening your grip as you squeeze the trigger. Your trigger finger must act independent of the grip of the remaining fingers ( which goes against the grain of a natural consensual contraction of the grip.

Those “groups” from the shield are ghastly.
I took a class with a respected trainer who preached expect your group in a stressful self defense situation to be triple what your best relaxing day at the range group is. If you struggle on the practice range, there is a good possibility under stress your hit percentage will be very low, with the added risk of creating collateral damage.
Get a different gun that suits you better perhaps, but you need concentrated ongoing work on fundamentals regardless of the platform.
While a crutch of sorts, a single action auto with a much better trigger will still allow acceptable accuracy with more shooter errors in fundamentals. Mastering fundamentals is still key, but you can “get away” with more mistakes and still shoot a decent group with a single action.
I would recommend going back to square one, building up to firing a shot ( live or dry) by building a proper solid fundamental grip then add trigger control preferably under the supervision of a competent instructor