Advice on Breaking in a S&W 40 cal Shield Needed

Shoot it?

The manual might say something. If not I'd shoot 200 rounds of ball ammo through it before if carried hollow pernts. Just breaks all the springs in and makes sure wont jam.

ETA: that 200 round comes from my Kahr's manual so just assuming the size is similar it at least isn't a bad idea. I know dawg has said 500 rounds before he trusts a pistol.

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.40 cal

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Don't drink the tea

Had a good friend of mine in BRPD tell me that a good bit of their guys are going back to 9mm.

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Had a good friend of mine in BRPD tell me that a good bit of their guys are going back to 9mm

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Today's good 9mm ammo (not talking about Hydra-Shok, which was designed before most of its proponents on this forum were born ) is way more gooder than the "old" 9mm stuff.

I have 9mm slugs we recovered (from the test tank at an unnamed LE agency) that measure .83 -.84 caliber.

p.s. A really good SD handgun shouldn't need to be broken in. (Heck, a lot of gun owners never fire 200 rounds through their handgun in their entire lives).

But you should shoot at least a box of your carry ammo to ensure that it's gonna feed, fire, extract & eject reliably in that particular weapon.

I shoot a few hundred rounds of FMJ. A hundred rounds or so of +P just for shits and giggles. Then finish it off with 100 rounds of the HP bullets that I will keep it loaded with.

You ever hear about that ammo?

Its cool.

You don't necessarily have to "break in" a Shield because of the way they are made from the factory, with loose tolerances and such.

The reason Kahr suggests a 200 round break-in is because they have very tight barrel-to-slide fitment. You have to get the metal rubbing together and smoothing out for everything to function as it should.

But as a rule of thumb, I don't trust a gun fully until it's seen a few 100 down the pipe. And the more you shoot it and watch it function, the more you can gain confidence in it.

My guideline was more about just getting used to it and confirming its reliability. Most are made nowadays to be ready to shoot from the factory. A 200 round breaking is a joke. Thats not breaking anything in. Thats simply getting everything in sync.

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A 200 round breaking is a joke. Thats not breaking anything in. Thats simply getting everything in sync.

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Completely agree.

And it's baffling to me that some people want to buy a handgun and never practice with it. Do they really think they can master a platform in 200 rounds? No way in hell.