I've seen and shot a ton of S&W Shields. For a sub-compact single stack gun they are pretty accurate and shootable for the size, especially in 9mm. What baffles me is why anyone would want a match grade barrel in one. Why?

To be clear I've probably seen about 300 samples of these little guns and I've only seen one barrel issue and it wasn't accuracy. It was an oversized chamber.

Is there a practical purpose?

Can you logically use sub-compact and match grade in the same sentence?

I'm skeptical that any barrel offering on the market would yield better results than stock (for the Shield), does anyone have any data?

Dunno. Mine didn't make it more than 200 rounds before the frame split. The barrel seemed superfluous at that point.

quote:

Originally posted by piedrarc:
I've seen and shot a ton of S&W Shields. For a sub-compact single stack gun they are pretty accurate and shootable for the size, especially in 9mm. What baffles me is why anyone would want a match grade barrel in one. Why?

To be clear I've probably seen about 300 samples of these little guns and I've only seen one barrel issue and it wasn't accuracy. It was an oversized chamber.

Is there a practical purpose?

Can you logically use sub-compact and match grade in the same sentence?

I'm skeptical that any barrel offering on the market would yield better results than stock (for the Shield), does anyone have any data?

IMHO, for the Shield's intended purpose or role I could not justify the expense of an aftermarket drop in match barrel let alone a gunsmith fit match grade barrel. There would just not be enough gain to matter to me. Unless you somehow have an out of spec bad shooting barrel, the factory barrel should be plenty accurate.

FWIW, I don't think there is any real benefit to an aftermarket barrel in larger pistols, either.

Granted, I have two custom Glocks with fancy aftermarket barrels, but I did that because it looks cool, not for any increase in mechanical accuracy over the OEM barrels. I'm pretty sure they aren't actually any more accurate than OEM, and I'm absolutely positive I don't shoot them any more accurately than I do other Glocks that still have the OEM barrels. But, it looks sweet, and I recognize that some things are fine on a "toy" gun and have no place on a "working" gun.

Saw some video with an instructor banning ported shields from his classes because during their contact shooting some lady got a face full of gas and powder.

I didn't know ported shields were a thing. So I didn't know match grade shields were either. But I guess the question is why? Well, because they'll sell. There's always people that want to buy "the best" just because it's "the best." Plus the people that "need" the match barrel so the gun can now live up to their bullseye skills.

I have a ported shield and I replaced the ported barrel with the aftermarket one (non ported). It was also sent to RObAR and re coated and the internals were gone over. Small gun yes but performs very well the fiber optic sights blow I'll be changing those as well.

Frankly after all of the mangling and overuse by marketing departments of gun companies, I still don't know what honestly constitutes "match grade". I mean, does a purportedly accurized barrel really count if the rest of the action isn't equally made 'match grade'? What kinds of matches are we talkin' 'bout anyways?

As for other things possibly alluded to in this thread: the factory ported Performance Center $hield was done for rea$on$ other than accuracy, though for the life of me I can't think of what tho$e rea$on$ could be.

quote:

What baffles me is why anyone would want a match grade barrel in one. Why?

Because there is always a friend that is an "expert" that is "advising" them to do so!

Why? Because spending twice the price of the plastic gun on upgrades is the operator thing to do.

quote:

Originally posted by piedrarc:
I've seen and shot a ton of S&W Shields. For a sub-compact single stack gun they are pretty accurate and shootable for the size, especially in 9mm. What baffles me is why anyone would want a match grade barrel in one. Why?

To be clear I've probably seen about 300 samples of these little guns and I've only seen one barrel issue and it wasn't accuracy. It was an oversized chamber.

Is there a practical purpose?

Can you logically use sub-compact and match grade in the same sentence?

I'm skeptical that any barrel offering on the market would yield better results than stock (for the Shield), does anyone have any data?

I've seen this a few times with the Shield and smaller pistols (LCP and the like).
New buyers take the pistol to the range and are upset when they don't group tightly or they don't make one ragged hole at 7 yards like their full size pistol does. There's a difference.
These little subcompacts act differently than a full size. They require a little different method.
Most people I've trained get a GI Joe kung-fu death grip on it and push it down so it shoots low. You have to let these pistols recoil. Hell, I've been guilty of pushing it down. When I realize what I was doing, I loosen up and follow through (let it recoil).
So they think a match barrel will help. They replace the trigger also. Not my money but I've told them to just practice. My doors always open and I have acreage behind me.
Tighter lock up does increase accuracy somewhat but if you can't learn, or don't want to learn how to shoot it correctly, it doesn't matter.
Just my. 02¢

"Match Grade" is one of the most over-used and empty terms.

quote:

Originally posted by jjkroll32:
"Match Grade" is one of the most over-used and empty terms.

Just like:

Deadly accurate
Scary accurate
Laser accurate
Lethal
Fricking-Laser Beam accurate.

The field mouse is fast, but the owl sees at night.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
The field mouse is fast, but the owl sees at night.

That's kinda creepy, ain't it?