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My wife is looking at a S&W 9mm Shield. She wants one with the external safety and we looked at one today, one was the regular and one was the newer Performance Center ported model which has nicer sights and supposedly a nicer trigger. We went to Academy and of course they won't let you dry fire. Anyone have any experience, good or bad with the ported model? I personally would like the nicer sights and better trigger and really couldn't care less about porting but that's the only way to get it stock from the factory. Opinions?

Although I have not fired this new flavor of Shield myself, I have read multiple positive
reviews of this model.

It has a smoother trigger, better sights, and it improves upon a top selling Smith and Wesson model.
IIRC, the market has spoken to the tune of 1 million Shields sold.

The only caveat that may apply here is that ported models may tend to have a large firey flash at night from
the ports, and perhaps the gases coming out of the ports may be a surprise.

Someone who has more experience with ported handguns--------please contribute.

SIA

The guy at Academy tried to sell me the PC Shield even though I just wanted the base model. He was saying its a great deal for the price because you'll spend more after market to get the work done.

I enjoy shooting my shield, its my first 9mm and definitely a concealable gun. Whatever decision you make, you'll be satisfied.

Best,
PatMas

I have one that i carry and it shoots good but to me it is not worth the extra cash really and the sights are ok but i would rather have night sights as far as the trigger it is ok i guess not great but not the worst either.

Thanks for the comments.

I have a relatively late model non-PC 9mm shield that I carry almost every day. I did change the sights to Ameriglo night sights, but everything else is stock. My shield was fairly stiff out of the box, but loosened up nicely after about 100-200 rounds. I find the trigger to be crisp with very little over-travel. I normally run about 50 or 100 rounds through it about 3 out of every 4 range trips, and could easily do more.

I haven't shot the performance center shield, so I can't help you with a direct comparison. But I can say that I don't have any plans or reason to look at a replacement in the near to distant future.

Wife bought the ported model today. Range report as soon as we can get it to the range.

rotor wrote:Wife bought the ported model today. Range report as soon as we can get it to the range.

Looking forward to it. I have the non-performance shield version and I'm very happy with it. The performance center one looks tempting...

TexasJohnBoy wrote:

rotor wrote:Wife bought the ported model today. Range report as soon as we can get it to the range.

Looking forward to it. I have the non-performance shield version and I'm very happy with it. The performance center one looks tempting...

$429 at Academy on sale. Not my favorite place but good price.

surprise_i'm_armed wrote: Someone who has more experience with ported handguns--------please contribute.

SIA

I have not shot a Shield ported, but do own and shoot a ported Glock 19c. There is not "bright light" or "fire" coming from the ports. I have seen some magazine photo's that show a huge "fire burst" coming from the pistol. I guess it makes a nice picture, but is not true. I have shot in light, low light, and night with the 19c.

I have also not noticed the "low recoil" that is always advertised with the ported pistols. Maybe in a larger caliber???

Edit: Be prepared to clean the front sight a lot or at least I find my XS Sights getting very dirty.

rotor wrote:

TexasJohnBoy wrote:

rotor wrote:Wife bought the ported model today. Range report as soon as we can get it to the range.

Looking forward to it. I have the non-performance shield version and I'm very happy with it. The performance center one looks tempting...

$429 at Academy on sale. Not my favorite place but good price.

That's literally only $30 more than I paid at academy. Dang.

I have an older 9mm Shield with safety with the APEX duty/carry kit. I carry it daily, for about 21/2 years now. My wife has the same but without the APeX kit, but will soon have the kit. Wonderful carry weapon!
Just let a friend try mine, he is opting for the Shield over the Glock.
I carry with an OnYour6 Design holster (IWB). Carry all day long, love it!

http://www.onyour6designs.com

I have the ported 9mm PC Shield, shoots very well and accurate. I shot the regular Shield before buying the Performance Center model and you definitely can tell the difference.

AndyC wrote:I have shot ported handguns fairly extensively, and the only word of caution I would give you is be very wary of shooting them from the retention position ie. down at waist level. The ports throw a LOT of debris upwards at high velocity - I had to have my eyes washed out the first time I tried that.

They warn about this in the manual that comes with the gun. They have a whole page of ported barrel warnings. They also have a million pages (it seems) of other warnings. Takes forever to find out how to field strip it.