Smith&Wesson M&P Shield 9 Added to Wolf Pistol Inventory

This morning I dropped Mrs. Wolf off at DFW Airport and then went directly to the Academy Sports and Outdoors store in Arlington in search of a Smith&Wesson M&P 9 Shield. I did not expect to find one but thought that I would get some intel on the latest entry into the concealed carry pocket pistol market. 

The guys surprised me when they told me expected the Shield to arrive this week. The Shield is on the Academy website listed for $399.99

One of the guys said that if they had received 50 of them this weekend, they could have sold all of them! He said people have been coming in steadily since Thursday looking for the Shield.

After running some errands, I decided to call the Academy Store located in Burleson, Texas.  To my surprise, they had just received their initial allotment of two M&P 9 Shields. One was already sold.  I arrived 26 minutes later and purchased the other.

Apparently, Academy Stores (at least the ones in north Texas) are getting in their Shield allotment this week. It appears that each store is getting two, and will order more as soon as they sell their initial allotment.  Academy has at least 30 M&P 9 Shields in their warehouse to replace the ones sold from the initial allotment shipped to their retail stores. 

If you want one, my advice would be to call Academy stores in your area and try to get one put in the safe for an hour until you can get over there.   If they sold out already, they may order one from the warehouse for you.  Your mileage on these requests may very, as I have found different policies in different stores when it comes to “holding” or ordering guns.  It’s well worth the effort because many of the stores are very accomodating.  Some are not, so dial up another one if you’re not happy with your reponse.

I believe that Shields are available now and will be continue to be available this week.  You have to call around and do some phone work.  I don’t think they will be readily available for the next three months, but S&W has said that three months of inventory has been produced and shipped to retailers. 

The Academy stores in north Texas, generally get two new models after they are released. Sometimes they don’t see another one for months.  At least two Beretta Nano’s were sent to each store but none have received any more since the begining of the year.  I was told by one store that they expect more Nano’s this month.

 I will going to the range on Wednesday and will post a report.  For now, I will say that I’m impressed so far and very happy to have purchased this pistol for $399.99 this afternoon.  I’m not a good photographer but I took the photos in the post, and you can see that the Shield 9 on the right is noticeably thinner than the Glock 26 on the left.

After dry firing, both the Glock 26 and the M&P Shield 9, i can tell you if you like striker fire pistols, you are going to be very pleased with the new trigger on the S&W.

 Both easily concealed in good IWB holster.  The Shield is definitely slimmer than the Glock 26.  The Gock holds 10+1, the Shield 6+1 or 7+1 in the extended magazine, which comes with the gun.  I really like the feel of this pistol in my hand with the extended magazine. 

I took the two photos of the pistol in the box with the regular and extended magazines right after I purchased the pistol.  If this pistol shoots like is has been reported by the writers who have tested and evaluated it already, it’s one of the best bargains I’ve found on a new pistol. 

This is what Smith&Wesson has to say about the Shield

Smith & Wesson’s new M&P SHIELD™ is a slim, concealable, lightweight, striker-fired polymer pistol. Available in 9mm and .40 S&W, the new M&P SHIELD features a slim design combined with the proven and trusted features found in the M&P Pistol Series. From the pistol’s easily concealed one-inch profile to its optimized 18-degree grip angle, the M&P SHIELD offers professional-grade features that provide consumers with simple operation and reliable performance. Chambered in 9mm and .40 S&W for proven stopping power, the M&P SHIELD features a high-strength polymer frame with a black, Melonite® coated stainless steel slide and barrel. Both models are standard with a 3.1-inch barrel, which contributes to an overall length of 6.1 inches and an unloaded weight of 19 ounces. For fast tracking and smooth target acquisition, the M&P SHIELD is standard with a 5.3-inch sight radius and has been enhanced with a short, consistent trigger pull measuring 6.5 pounds. Featuring a quick and audible reset made possible by the striker-fired action, the M&P SHIELD allows multiple rounds to be placed on target both consistently and accurately. ALL BACKED BY OUR SMITH & WESSON LIFETIME SERVICE POLICY.

Update on Monday, April 16, 2012 at 6:29PM by Bonzer Wolf

My most frequent daily carry concealed handgun is a Glock 36 .45 ACP.  It’s the only “slimline” pistol that Glock currently makes. Here’s a photo comparing the thickness of the Glock 36(right) to the M&P 9 Shield

Many are surprised to see that the Glock 36 (right) has a slighter slimmer profile than the Glock 26 9mm

Shield scale with Omega Speedmaster Moon Watch and .12 gauge shotgun shell