Tried Out my Shield and Sig P938

[TheHainster]

I just acquired both of these guns, wanting to compare them, keep one and sell the other. Took them to the range last night. Here are my thoughts:

Sig P938 Extreme
Shot over 100 rounds of:
WWB 114gr - Perfect, no issues
Speer 114gr - Perfect, no issues

Accuracy: I am one the believes that a properly set up gun is more accurate than the shooter, as they say. The Sig did very well, it shot where i aimed it.
Did it shoot low? No. I have seen the Youtube video and must say i like those guys, but disagree with their methodology. if they suspected a problem with theirs shooting low, why didn't they sandbag it? Why didn't they try another P938? Why didn't they have it look at? Not a well sampled test, IMO.

This P938 did great.

Grips: A little aggressive, but I like them.

Overall, i enjoyed the P938 very much. Solid gun.

S&W Shield 9mm
Shot over 100 rounds of:
WWB 114gr - Perfect, no issues
Speer 114gr - Perfect, no issues

Accuracy: Again, I am one the believes that a properly set up gun is more accurate than the shooter, as they say. The Shield did very well, it shot where i aimed it.

Grips: Very comfortable. Easy to shoot well.

Overall, I enjoyed the Shield very much. Solid gun.

Which is better?
Both shoot very well, very reliable. Neither had a FTE, or any other issue. The P938 is smaller and easier to carry, but the shield is only slightly bigger. The Shield is slightly more comfortable to shoot. I did notice the shield had a little more muzzle flip, not much, but the P938 had nearly no muzzle flip. Both were very controllable.

key word: review/comparison

[bs1911]

So, which one will be kept???

I have handled the Shield and it feels really good in my hands. I am pretty sure I will be popping on this one when it hits my LGS (first on the waiting list...). Thanks for your feedback on these two guns. Anxious to hear which you keep and what made you choose one over the other.

[cobrabubbles]

The Shield is just a cut down M&P. I run an M&P 9, and an M&P 45. I would have more confidence in the Shield for carry personally. I have no problem concealing my full size 45, or 9 M&P. I imagine the Shield would just plain disappear!

The 938 looks great, and I'm sure performs great. Nothing I love better than a big metal 1911 for the ultimate fun at the range. But for carry I'm sold on the S&W polymers.

[TheHainster]

Originally Posted by cobrabubbles

The Shield is just a cut down M&P. I run an M&P 9, and an M&P 45. I would have more confidence in the Shield for carry personally. I have no problem concealing my full size 45, or 9 M&P. I imagine the Shield would just plain disappear!

The 938 looks great, and I'm sure performs great. Nothing I love better than a big metal 1911 for the ultimate fun at the range. But for carry I'm sold on the S&W polymers.

I also like the M&P line. Can you elaborate on your preference for them?

[cobrabubbles]

Originally Posted by TheHainster

I also like the M&P line. Can you elaborate on your preference for them?

They will feed a soggy cigar butt. Far more reliable at feeding every bullet type. With my life on the line I'd take an M&P, or Glock, or XD first. The M&P happens to be the one that when I picked it up cooed "Daddy, I'm home". It just fit my hand and points naturally for me.

Something like the 226 has a great feed angle and I trust it completely too.

[Southern6er]

SO, Hainster, which one ya keeping?

Pics of both together for comparison?

[TheHainster]

Originally Posted by cobrabubbles

They will feed a soggy cigar butt. Far more reliable at feeding every bullet type. With my life on the line I'd take an M&P, or Glock, or XD first. The M&P happens to be the one that when I picked it up cooed "Daddy, I'm home". It just fit my hand and points naturally for me.

Something like the 226 has a great feed angle and I trust it completely too.

The grip on the Shield is very good. The grip and the longer slide obviously make it slightly easier to get better groupings over the P938.

The P938 is very small. It is a true 9mm pocket carry, if one is looking for that type of conceal ability.

[phatmax]

Sounds like you are keeping both

[cobrabubbles]

Originally Posted by TheHainster

The grip on the Shield is very good. The grip and the longer slide obviously make it slightly easier to get better groupings over the P938.

The P938 is very small. It is a true 9mm pocket carry, if one is looking for that type of conceal ability.

The 938 is a GREAT idea. And I do have confidence in pretty much every Sig product. It's just the difference between a ton of confidence, and complete confidence. I wouldn't say no to either. I'd just say yes louder to the Shield.

[TheHainster]

Originally Posted by cobrabubbles

The 938 is a GREAT idea. And I do have confidence in pretty much every Sig product. It's just the difference between a ton of confidence, and complete confidence. I wouldn't say no to either. I'd just say yes louder to the Shield.

This is well put. I haven't made the choice, Both are great, both reliable, but the Shield does carry itself very well.

[TheHainster]

Update: My Shield vs. P938 Comparison

I took booth to the range, again, last night. Here is an update...

P938
Shot 124 more rounds of WWB 114gr, Speer Lawman 114gr and Monarch 114gr. These are all considered target ammo quality. The Sig ate through them with no issues until round 95 (WWB 114gr), with a FTE. This is the first issue I have experienced through over 200 rounds.
The Fix: I placed one drop of gun oil on the extractor and shot the remaining 30 rounds of WWB with no issues. I have become convinced the slide and extractor heat up over extended shoots and need the oil, at least during break-in.
Grips: screws loosened after about 200 rounds and needed tightened, carrying on a Sig tradition.
Continued thoughts: P938 is a solid gun. Very reliable. Very controllable. It says a lot that I shot 100 rounds through this gun and was not tired of it. I wanted to keep shooting.

S&W Shield 9mm
Shot another 100 rounds, as mentioned in the Sig review, above. No issues.
Grips: very comfortable, slightly easier to get tighter groupings than the Sig. But, slightly more muzzle flip. This may be due to the more aggressive nature of the Sigs grips.
Continued thoughts: Love the shield. Easy to shoot well. Not quite was cool as the Sig, but that's a personal opinion.

I had hoped one would knock out the other as I compared them, but they are two very well designed and built guns. Craftsmanship is excellent on both. My suspicion is the Shield may have it over the Sig on Quality, but that would be a very close call, and too early to say confidently.

David

[rouchna]

Side by side pics would be great if you have a moment. I have a Glock 26 and it has been the most reliable gun I own. However, I would love something thinner/smaller without having to go to a .380

Thanks.

[TheHainster]

Originally Posted by rouchna

Side by side pics would be great if you have a moment. I have a Glock 26 and it has been the most reliable gun I own. However, I would love something thinner/smaller without having to go to a .380

Thanks.

Love that Glock 26. I will see if i can allot time to photo the guns and figure out how to load them to the forum. However, you can simply Google it. There are many photo and Youtube comparisons between these two guns. But, not many shooting comparisons.

[DB1911]

Originally Posted by TheHainster

Update: My Shield vs. P938 Comparison

I took booth to the range, again, last night. Here is an update...

P938
Shot 124 more rounds of WWB 114gr, Speer Lawman 114gr and Monarch 114gr. These are all considered target ammo quality. The Sig ate through them with no issues until round 95 (WWB 114gr), with a FTE. This is the first issue I have experienced through over 200 rounds.
The Fix: I placed one drop of gun oil on the extractor and shot the remaining 30 rounds of WWB with no issues. I have become convinced the slide and extractor heat up over extended shoots and need the oil, at least during break-in.
Grips: screws loosened after about 200 rounds and needed tightened, carrying on a Sig tradition.
Continued thoughts: P938 is a solid gun. Very reliable. Very controllable. It says a lot that I shot 100 rounds through this gun and was not tired of it. I wanted to keep shooting.

S&W Shield 9mm
Shot another 100 rounds, as mentioned in the Sig review, above. No issues.
Grips: very comfortable, slightly easier to get tighter groupings than the Sig. But, slightly more muzzle flip. This may be due to the more aggressive nature of the Sigs grips.
Continued thoughts: Love the shield. Easy to shoot well. Not quite was cool as the Sig, but that's a personal opinion.

I had hoped one would knock out the other as I compared them, but they are two very well designed and built guns. Craftsmanship is excellent on both. My suspicion is the Shield may have it over the Sig on Quality, but that would be a very close call, and too early to say confidently.

David

You're the second person I've heard saying something about the grip screws coming loose, either that or you're the same person in 2 different forums. Anyways, I've put over 300 rounds (maybe closer to 500 but I don't count anymore) through my P938 and the grip screws have never come loose. I haven't experienced any kinds of failures either, so it appears to be a winner for me. It is the smallest, reliable 9mm I've owned or shot. My Brother has a Kahr PM9, and while I shoot it well too, I prefer the single action of the P938. I caught myself short stroking the Kahr. The trigger reset isn't like anything I used to shooting.


BTW, put a little purple loctite on those grip screws.... Enjoy those little 9's.


DBAR

[TheHainster]

Originally Posted by DB1911

You're the second person I've heard saying something about the grip screws coming loose, either that or you're the same person in 2 different forums. Anyways, I've put over 300 rounds (maybe closer to 500 but I don't count anymore) through my P938 and the grip screws have never come loose. I haven't experienced any kinds of failures either, so it appears to be a winner for me. It is the smallest, reliable 9mm I've owned or shot. My Brother has a Kahr PM9, and while I shoot it well too, I prefer the single action of the P938. I caught myself short stroking the Kahr. The trigger reset isn't like anything I used to shooting.


BTW, put a little purple loctite on those grip screws.... Enjoy those little 9's.


DBAR

Will look into using Loctite. Thanks

[cobrabubbles]

Originally Posted by TheHainster

Will look into using Loctite. Thanks

Make sure you get the right color loctite! DO NOT GET RED! Get the blue. I believe the number is 242. It's kind of like having a packet of velcro from the fabric store in the utility drawer. Once you have it around, you'll find lots of uses for blue loctite.

[evilted]

Might have been me re: lost & loose grip screws. I lost one grip screw after my first range outing, though I pumped a lot of rounds through my P938 that first trip.

And even after using blue loctite afterwards, the two top grip screws backed out and fell out somewhere north of 600 rounds. Luckily I found one and a rangemaster saw the other one on the floor. Grip screws coming loose is not a big deal, just need to check the screw tension when I clean it after every range trip.


But I had much, much worse experience with WWB than Hainster (FTEs every 5 or 6 rounds), and FTF problems with all 3 types of JHP rounds (Cor-Bon 115gr +P, Federal 135gr Hydra-Shok & Remington 115gr +P) I tried. So I sent it back to Sig -- I can't carry it if it isn't going to feed a quality JHP round 100% reliably.

Quite a contrast to my other Sigs. Anyway, I have to be optmistic that they'll fix whatever is broke before sending it back.

Originally Posted by DB1911

You're the second person I've heard saying something about the grip screws coming loose, either that or you're the same person in 2 different forums....

BTW, put a little purple loctite on those grip screws.... Enjoy those little 9's.


DBAR

[TheHainster]

Originally Posted by cobrabubbles

Make sure you get the right color loctite! DO NOT GET RED! Get the blue. I believe the number is 242. It's kind of like having a packet of velcro from the fabric store in the utility drawer. Once you have it around, you'll find lots of uses for blue loctite.

Will do. But, what's wrong with the red?

[TheHainster]

Originally Posted by evilted

Might have been me re: lost & loose grip screws. I lost one grip screw after my first range outing, though I pumped a lot of rounds through my P938 that first trip.

And even after using blue loctite afterwards, the two top grip screws backed out and fell out somewhere north of 600 rounds. Luckily I found one and a rangemaster saw the other one on the floor. Grip screws coming loose is not a big deal, just need to check the screw tension when I clean it after every range trip.


But I had much, much worse experience with WWB than Hainster (FTEs every 5 or 6 rounds), and FTF problems with all 3 types of JHP rounds (Cor-Bon 115gr +P, Federal 135gr Hydra-Shok & Remington 115gr +P) I tried. So I sent it back to Sig -- I can't carry it if it isn't going to feed a quality JHP round 100% reliably.

Quite a contrast to my other Sigs. Anyway, I have to be optmistic that they'll fix whatever is broke before sending it back.

Sorry for your troubles. After some 225 rounds, I'm very pleased with the new Sig. I'm heading out today for another round at the range.

Keep us updated on your Sig when it returns.

[cobrabubbles]

Originally Posted by TheHainster

Will do. But, what's wrong with the red?

It's not permanent permanent, but it's kinda permanent permanent . You generally need more heat than you want to apply to soften it up, and lots of pressure on the screw to free it up. The blue will keep things from working free from normal operating shock or vibration, but you can still break the bond with sligthly above normal hand tool pressure.

[evilted]

Not sure about purple, but red is thermoset plastic. It's permanent unless you can apply heat to it. Blue is a good choice for anything you can't heat up as it's still designed to be disassembled with whatever tool you'd normally use to secure a fastener, but without requiring any heat.

Originally Posted by cobrabubbles

It's not permanent permanent, but it's kinda permanent permanent . You generally need more heat than you want to apply to soften it up, and lots of pressure on the screw to free it up. The blue will keep things from working free from normal operating shock or vibration, but you can still break the bond with sligthly above normal hand tool pressure.

[cobrabubbles]

Originally Posted by evilted

Not sure about purple, but red is thermoset plastic. It's permanent unless you can apply heat to it. Blue is a good choice for anything you can't heat up as it's still designed to be disassembled with whatever tool you'd normally use to secure a fastener, but without requiring any heat.

I think I said that

[CoolBreeze1911]

Originally Posted by cobrabubbles

I think I said that

Yeah, but he said "thermoset plastic"

[DB1911]

Originally Posted by TheHainster

Will do. But, what's wrong with the red?

Purple will supply enough strength for grip screws, next up on the strength level is Blue, and it's more than enough for grip screws. Red, well Red is Very Strong, it is in my opinion it's near permanent. I use Purple for screws that I plan on taking off. I use Blue for screws I don't plan to take off too often, and Red for "screws" I don't plan to take off.


DBAR

[skipperbrown]

Thanks for posting up the comparison. I'm very interested in the 938 and there aren't many reviews out there yet.