My Affair With The S&W M&P Shield

My relationship with Smith and Wesson started when I was looking for a new .45 ACP pistol to focus my attention on. I had recently given up on the 1911 frenzy and was looking to stay with the .45 ACP cartridge, but on a platform that was more modern and possibly more reliable and longer lasting. After reading an article about some of the top .45's on the market that year, I decided to look into the M&P45 full size with the 4.5" barrel.

As soon as I got the pistol, I shot 500 rounds out of it and fell in love almost immediately. The one thing that the M&P45 and the other M&Ps have that others in their size struggle with is LOW RECOIL. The recoil on the M&P45 was so incredibly low and made the .45 so soft to shoot. This instantly made me want to explore the S&W M&P pistol line further, and so I did.
After some great research and experimentation, I got myself the M&P Shield in 9mm. This pistol directly led to my interest in the 9mm and further experimentation in the line of subcompact pistols, mostly in 9mm. This officially marked the end of my '.45 ACP ONLY' lifestyle.

When I get a gun, I do alot of research on them before I initially buy it, and continue to look around for more information afterwards. I had a hard time finding alot of reports of issues right off the bat. Most of the time, I find that people don't shoot pistols like this in the way I do. I typically will run my pistols for several hundred rounds at a time, not considering them fit and ready to carry until they have had 1,000 to 2,000 round through them. In that round count, my Shield ran flawlessly and actually got very smooth and easy to rack.
One issue I had when I was using the gun did not happen when I was shooting it. During a routine disassembly, well after 1,000 rounds, the recoil spring shot off the recoil guide rod that is supposed to hold it captive. I called Smith & Wesson, and immediately, they asked for my info to ship me a new one without question. Top notch customer service right there, if I do say so myself.

After that one little issue, I have seen no issue out of my Shield(s). Currently I have the Shield which is not burdened by the manual safety, which was definitely a big selling point for this guy. Though, this pistol did have an odd set of characteristics that still plague it to this day. First issue is the fact that the trigger is pretty heavy. I weighed the trigger and it came out to 9 pounds. Alot of you may think that this is unacceptable, and it is, but I have lightened it 3 pounds by simply shooting it and dry firing it. Now that I think of it, all the springs in this pistol were heavy when we first got it. I am still amazed that we didn't experience any malfunctions with it when we first got it. Though, we did encounter issues with aluminum ammo from federal, which seemed to fire very light. But after peaking 1,000 rounds, all those issues subsided.
But with these issues aside, I still have to say that the M&P Shield is still a great piece that I find myself going to when I need a gun that I can count on. I highly recommend these pistols all the time, but I will leave you with one word of caution. SHOOT THE HECK OUT OF IT!!! Give it a thorough test of rapid fire. Pour rounds into your target as you would from the holster in a close quarters engagement. Not only is it fun, but it also can be very educational.
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I would like to know what kind of experiences you have had with your Shield. Feel free to add your experiences.