Hi all,

My wife is torn between these two...both felt good to her, and she held A LOT of pistols at the store today. She has a LCR now but is looking for something a bit easier to shoot and more concealable.

Any recommendations from those who have shot/owned both? My concern with the S&W is accuracy (supposedly the 1.0 versions suffered?) and with the Glock it's reliability and shootability (supposedly the 43 is better in both areas?).

I appreciate your input...thanks in advance.

The 43 would be the direct competitor to a Shield 9mm.
I have the Shield and tried out the 43. For me, it was too small in my hand. The Shield fits me better and seems to be equal in quality.

I do not have the Glock for a comparison. As for the S&W Shield 9X19mm The trigger press on my example 6.5Lbs. I ordered a Apex Duty/Carry kit that should bring the trigger press down to 4.5Lbs. Manually operating the slide to slide lock requires a certain amount of hand strength when the pistol is new. Its a bit nettlesome. So is the slide release its better to use the hand over method to release. The OEM 3 dot white sights are more than adequate but I've opted to go with night sights. Recoil with the +P 147GrJHP is brisk but manageable. Standard 115/124Gr FMJ ball is not problematic. The magazines load to capacity, you need a magazine loading device. I have approxmently seven hundred rounds thru the pistol with no problem to feed, fire and eject. The pictured target was all rapid-fire sequence.

Get her out to a range that rents these pistols, ( if there's one handy ) and let her test fire these two for her self.

If she doesn't care much for recoil, I'd steer her toward the G42. I'm not a fan anymore of .380 for defensive use, but its better than nothing. The G42s are pleasant shooters.

I have worked a bit with those who are strength limited. 9mm Shield is a bad choice. Racking of the 9mm is hard. One was so bad that I could only lock the slide if I had an empty magazine in place. The G42 has worked for such people every time. Excellent rounds exist in 380.

Somme have found the g43 OK, but others find their fingers hurt by the trigger (give it a test). PPS-M2 has proved to be difficult to rack for many - nowhere near as bad as Shield. Walther CCP works for most, but needs some skill to clean. Accurate, not a problem racking or shooting, and a lot going for it in spite of bad press mostly to do with ease of disassembly and re-assembly.

LC9s or LC9s Pro fit some hands, but are snappy

On the expensive side, but P238 is absolutely loved by several and is available in lots of colors. As everyone will suggest, she needs time performing all of the operations on a selection and shooting them too. One pistol was eliminated because the mag release was just too stiff. Every feature and control must be usable, and not a few controls seem designed for big, strong men.

We will benefit from hearing what path you took and the end result.

Thanks all. She has no issues with strength (State record holder in an Olympic lift for her age group), but instead is concerned about concealability and shootability, specifically recoil.

She currently has a LCR in .38 that fits her hand well, but isn't particularly comfortable for her to shoot in anything over 90 grain. Plus, it's not an easy pistol for her to conceal, whereas a G42 or similar would do better in that regard.

She REALLY liked the P238/P938, but kept going back to the G42 and 9mm Shield in terms of feel-in-hand.

Keep the recommendations/advice/input coming. The 1.0's are on sale until the end of the month with a $75 off rebate, so that's pretty darn tempting as she did like the 9mm Shield as well...but again I want to vet the accuracy issues I've heard about with those, and want to make sure the G42 is good to go as well.

With the price point on the shield right now... it's hard to beat.

Don't skimp, get what she can shoot best. Take a look at the PPS M2 as well, mine performs very well.

Both are larger than the smallest 9mms. Both are quite easy to shoot with some practice. Neither is painful. Your post said glock 42 but your post above said 43 so I'm assuming you mean the 9mm. The 42 is quite a bit smaller than the shield. I had to put an apex trigger in the shield to get it shootable. The wall was ridiculous stock and the front sight jerked no matter how careful I was.

quote:

Originally posted by 1KPerDay:
Both are larger than the smallest 9mms. Both are quite easy to shoot with some practice. Neither is painful. Your post said glock 42 but your post above said 43 so I'm assuming you mean the 9mm. The 42 is quite a bit smaller than the shield. I had to put an apex trigger in the shield to get it shootable. The wall was ridiculous stock and the front sight jerked no matter how careful I was.

First post mentioned the 43 only in comparison to the 42, and as being potentially easier to shoot and nearly as easy to conceal. For her, it's between the 42 and the 9mm Shield.

Yeah, the price point on the Shield is tough to beat.

Might check with the Clackamas range to see if they have both a 42 and a 9mm Shield. If not, then perhaps she could shoot her friend's 42 to see if it's good enough...if so, then that's the one. If the 42 is to snappy/kicky, then the Shield makes more sense.

That said, can anyone speak to the shootability of the 9mm Shield, maybe in comparison to a LCR in .38 or a Glock 42/43?

Thanks again guys...much appreciated.

Oh, and she really likes the colored Glocks, specifically the Eggshell Blue one. I'd insert a roll-eyes emoticon, but once I saw the new Magpul Dark Earth 43 I was tempted to make it my one and only Glock. That color just kills me.

I have a Shield and a LCR. The Shield is easier to shoot, it has less recoil and its easier to get back on target. The LCR though, really isn't bad in terms of recoil, especially for a small, light revolver. If someone has trouble with things like racking a slide and clearing malfunctions, it may be a better choice. To me, the LCR is also easier to shoot than a J frame.
If at all possible, find a way to let your wife shoot a wide variety of pistols. I'm always surprised at how women will like something completely different than what I thought they would.

I haven't shot a 43, but if you look at comparison reviews between the two, most folks seem to think the shield wins in both the accuracy and felt recoil department.

This jives with the other single stack micro 9's I have shot (xds, walther).

I have relegated my shield 9 to safe duty, Sig p938 fills that role for me now. Mine is laserbeam accurate.

-Freq

I have both and prefer my 42 as it just feels better to me and carries well in the pocket. They are both plenty accurate and have been totally reliable. The recoil in the 42 is almost nonexistent, though it's not bad in the shield considering that's a 9mm versus the 380 clambering for the 42. I really like the Glock trigger better than the M and P as I have a hard time getting used to the hinge point mid trigger in the shield.

As others have said there really is not a bad choice here, it's what she feels better with in the hand and how she is able to group with each gun. Good luck!

I carry a 42 everyday. It's comfy to carry and to shoot for pleasure/practice.

I think we all make a bigger deal out of caliber choice than necessary.

Preparedness is a wonderful thing, not taking anything away from anyone who feels most comfortable carrying whatever they please.

But I know I will hit my target with my little .380 and I know for sure that getting struck by one or two modern .380 projectiles is going to ruin my day or anyone else's.

Just my two cents.

Plus, there's nothing as simple as maintaining and carrying a glock in my opinion.

Affordable, rugged as heck, and easily serviceable

At the end of the day you're a lucky man to have such an intelligent woman in your life. I can't find many young ladies for myself that see the world the way we all do.

I have a 42,43,Shield Pc and a P238. I shoot the Shield and the P238 much better than the Glocks. The 238 is a very soft shooter!

Of the options listed, the most important thing is how she likes and shoots one of them.

Shield may be great but if she likes / shoots a Glock or SIG better, that is more important.

I have a Shield and like it a lot. It shoots like a larger gun. The accuracy on my gun is fine. Recoil is manageable.

^^^^^^^the Shield does shoot like a larger gun that's for sure. It is also enough larger than the 42 that it's quite noticeable when carrying IMHO.

Holding a pistol in the shop tells you exactly nothing about the pistol. It won't tell you about concealment, carry, function, reliability, accuracy, or anything else. Just whether you like the way it looks or the way it feels when you hold it (and that changes the first time you shoot it).

Go somewhere and shoot them.

The G42 is a .380, smaller than the G43. The Shield is larger than either one, but not appreciably. They're all concealable. They're all manageable.

I can't, and won't suggest what your wife will like or should carry, but I prefer the G43 to the others.

Thanks all.

She actually liked my Gen 3 G19 a fair amount when held in hand, and likes my P239 in 9mm even more when held and shot. Problem is, neither one is concealable for her.

Kinda leaning G42...she has a girlfriend who just bought the 42 and another who has a 9mm Shield, so I'm hoping to get her shooting one or both sometime in this next week.