Shield v. 642

The other day, when I first posted about my new Smith and Wesson Shield .45, Bob asked my what happened to my Smith and Wesson Model 642. My reply was that I still have the 642 (because I love that little .38 Special snubbie) but I wanted something else too. The 642 is fantastic, especially with it's Crimson Trace laser and Apex spring kit installed, but it still only holds five shots and bad guys come in packs around here. A little extra ammunition sounded like a good thing, and the Shield, with it's flush-fit mag inserted, holds six in the mag plus one in the chamber, giving me two more rounds. The Shield also has better sights and is arguably capable of consistent hits at greater distances, and in a gunfight, distance is your friend, right?

But how do they stack up size-wise? See for yourself.

The Shield is a bit heavier but just a touch slimmer than the 642, although not enough to matter either way.

Profile-wise, there's really not much difference either. But 7 rounds of .45 vs 5 rounds of .38. And seven more in the spare "extended" mag in my pocket compared to just five more in the spare revolver speedloader.

Either way, I think I'm suitably covered in the sub-compact firearms department.

And of course come cooler weather, I'm back to heavier clothing and full-size or compact pistols.

Shield report.

So I took the new .45 Shield out to the range today.

Here's the 10 yard target after the first magazine.

Yeah, kinda doofed one at eleven o'clock there but I still broke the ring, so 60-4x for a first try. I LIKE IT!

The next magazine all went right into the 10-ring as well, as did the third. There were no malfunctions with a hundred rounds fired.

Recoil is amazingly mild for such a small .45 and the aggressive texture of the grips makes it easy to keep a good hold on it. Sights are great for fixed white dot and the trigger is ok but I already have an Apex kit here for it that I bought in Atlanta, anticipating this pistol's purchase.

Here it is with a Sig P-220 for size comparison.

And the Sig only holds one more round. The Shield with a seven-round mag carries the same load as a 1911 in a much smaller package, as you can see here:

And here's my friend shooting it so you can appreciate how it fits her hands.

She liked it too.

She also liked another firearm that I brought to the range.



We also shot my Ruger LCP in .380. That gun is much smaller that the Shield but also has a much sharper recoil "bite" and it holds one less round. S&W hit this one out of the park.

SHIELD!!

For the last couple of months, I've been carrying my Walther PPK as a pocket carry gun when I went out and about. I like the Walther and it's served me well, but the other day, I took it out at the range to demonstrate it to a friend of mine and suddenly it was stoppage after stoppage.

That won't do for a carry gun, especially in this city. So a replacement was ordered and it arrived today.

I honestly cannot remember the last time I bought a factory new gun still in the box. But with the rebate S&W is offering until the end of the month, I couldn't not. They were practically giving them away.

It's so pretty in all it's wrappings.

But it looks even better unwrapped.

Tomorrow it gets taken to the range for a test run.

Mopes and creepers beware. I've just upgraded my fangs.