Performance Center Ported M&P9 Shield Gun Review

Smith and Wesson introduced the ported Shield at last year's SHOT Show as an enhancement to the very popular M&P Shield.

Features include a ported slide and barrel, a Performance Center trigger, and High Viz contrasting fiber-optic sights.

A tuned up Shield? Is this an answer to a question nobody asked?  Having shot the PC Shield, we believe this is one of the finest compact carry guns available.

The biggest knock on compact and sub-compact pistols is the snappy recoil and muzzle flip.  Low mass combined with narrow, short grips can make these smaller firearms uncomfortable to shoot.  So the porting of the barrel directs the muzzle blast upwards at a 45 degree angle left and right of center rather than directly out the muzzle.  The effect of this change is huge:

• felt recoil is lower
• muzzle flip (the tendency for the muzzle to rise after a shot) is minimized
• in low-light situations, the muzzle flash is directed away from the shooter's line of sight.

Finally, the trigger, is, like most Performance Center triggers, magnificent, and since there are no size changes from the standard Shield, holster choices are abundant.

Is there anything we didn't like? Only that they are difficult to get and the front sight can get dirty after 50 - 100 rounds.

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