# M&P Shield 9 vs Taurus PT-111 Millenium G2



## psc0730 (Oct 8, 2017)

I'm looking to buy my first gun, so I have been asking about and comparing the more affordable yet really good guns. 

The price difference between the two guns is about $100 but I don't mind spending on the M&P if it's better. 

So, if you guys could give me some of your experience with these guns, I'd appreciate it. Also, it would be really awesome if you guys could be specific and informative on your reasoning. 

Thank you.


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## TAPnRACK (Jan 30, 2013)

Take a look at the Kahr CW9... It's a 9mm that is similar in size. Great handgun company made in the USA. Striker fired with a smooth trigger and feels great in the hand. I've been carrying the CM9 (smaller 9mm) for several years and love how thin and concealable it is. I like them better than the Taurus or the Shield... don't let their affordable price fool you. Great accuracy with mild recoil due to the heavy recoil spring.







Between the two you mentioned, I would take the M&P Shield, It's a good quality pistol. Had a PT111 Millenium edition and sold it... hated the trigger. Looked nice though.

Not sure on your experience, but shooting smaller handguns is not as easy to learn solid fundamentals as a larger frame pistol. Smaller handguns take more skill to shoot well.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk


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## joepolo (Mar 28, 2016)

With all the sales still going on, and rebates, there's a lot of choices out there. I've owned both of the guns your looking at, the shield is a really good quality gun very easy to shoot, I used to carry it a lot, but I mostly carry my Walther PPS M2, i rather carry and shoot that one. As far as the G2 goes we'll just say it's gone, just be careful of all the "it's the best gun you can buy" opinions. There's only one person who can say for sure the best for you and that's you. I'm sure there will be more replies to you about the different options out there. Wish you luck on what ever you buy.


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

psc0730 said:


> I'm looking to buy my first gun, so I have been asking about and comparing the more affordable yet really good guns.
> 
> The price difference between the two guns is about $100 but I don't mind spending on the M&P if it's better.
> 
> ...


Spend the extra $100 and go with the M&P. Taurus has had too many problems with both their products and customer service. Because of that I would never buy or recommend that anyone buy their products.


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## Illyia (Jan 12, 2017)

The M&P is current state-of-the-art which is why the price. The suggestion of the Kahr deserves serious consideration because their polymer frame models are reasonably priced, as light as light can be, narrower than a playing card, and have a beautiful, cam-release sear that is better than either the Smith or the Taurus.

I will say this about Kahr's products. I think they tend to ship with spotty quality control necessitating a return trip to the factory for "final fitting" which should have been done prior to boxing, but after that, and for the ones that slip out in perfect fitment, the guns are second to none when it comes to engineering thought, size, weight, and design features. I own a Kahr P380 that gave me fits with FTF until I finally decided to forget trying to "break it in" and pulled the extractor spring only to find it was a few coils too long making the extractor far too tight for reliable chambering. Once that was solved, the weak, round-wire magazine release spring reared it's ugly head in that the mag would drop with each shot. So I fixed that by fitting my own "heavy duty" spring from .062" spring wire that completely eliminated dropped mags during firing. NOW the gun is a stellar performer, and all it took was understanding what was wrong and fixing it...the basic design is great, the QC is questionable, but, now that I "understand" how Kahr's work, I'm thinking about picking up another one.


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## DLYskes1976 (Sep 15, 2015)

just get yourself a glock 26 and call it a day.. it has the same profile size of the PT111, better reliability.... and if you get a G19 or G17 the bigger mags are compatible too... 

i had a Taurus PT111 g2, and the handgun was good for about 1000 rounds, then the guide rod and recoil spring went to pieces ( dec 2015 ) and about a month later bought my first glock and never looked back..


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## RK3369 (Aug 12, 2013)

If you buy a Taurus you might get lucky and end up with one that works, but if you ever have to return it to Taurus you’ll wish you never bought it. Take it from personal experience, their customer service is terrible, and you can’t get a local gunsmith to fix one because Taurus won’t sell parts to the public. Get the M&P. They are a great gun and Smith stands behind their products.


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

The Kahr is a great pistol, but doesn't work well for a person with large hands. The Shield is a great pistol if you add the Apex straight trigger and sear kit. Some folks with smaller hands than mine like it OK as it comes from the factory, but I didn't. As for Taurus, I won't buy that brand, so I cannot give a fair opinion. 

The XDs would be my choice for an off-the-shelf pistol. I also like the Glock 43 a lot, but the trigger break is too far back to work well with my largish hands.


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## MoMan (Dec 27, 2010)

+1 for the XDs, or a Glock. I do not own the S&W, but my Son does. I've shot his and it is a good gun as well. My reason for the XDs and Glock recommendation, is due to my personal ownership experience.


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## berettatoter (Sep 1, 2011)

psc0730 said:


> I'm looking to buy my first gun, so I have been asking about and comparing the more affordable yet really good guns.
> 
> The price difference between the two guns is about $100 but I don't mind spending on the M&P if it's better.
> 
> ...


I own both, and I would pick the S&W for the "long haul". JMHO.


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## Outlaw (Feb 5, 2017)

I own a PT111 and have 5,000 rounds through it with not one problem. Not saying the Shield is not a great gun because it is.


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## blackshirt (Jan 12, 2018)

TAPnRACK said:


> Take a look at the Kahr CW9... It's a 9mm that is similar in size. Great handgun company made in the USA. Striker fired with a smooth trigger and feels great in the hand. I've been carrying the CM9 (smaller 9mm) for several years and love how thin and concealable it is. I like them better than the Taurus or the Shield... don't let their affordable price fool you. Great accuracy with mild recoil due to the heavy recoil spring.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Love the Kahrs as well...The CM9 is my favorite carry gun by a longshot


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## JeremiahCarlson (Sep 7, 2017)

Smith & Wesson M and P Shield Is the best....


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## berettatoter (Sep 1, 2011)

Outlaw said:


> I own a PT111 and have 5,000 rounds through it with not one problem. Not saying the Shield is not a great gun because it is.


Ya know, it's not that I don't want to shoot my G2 as much as my Shield, but I do worry about if something did go wrong with the Taurus, I would have to go through the Taurus CS nightmare. I would not have that problem with S&W.

My G2 has ran fine so far, and don't anticipate any issues, but you never know. Boy, sure wish Taurus would get their act together "in house". I don't think they realize how much it hurts their business in the long run. JMHO.


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## Greybeard (Mar 17, 2013)

I have a full size M&P 9mm and it never FTF, FTE, with several thousand rounds of all types of ammo. I also have a Ruger LC9s and it is just as reliable and pretty easy to carry. My only Taurus is a TCP .380. It had a problem of sticking open before the mag was empty. I sent it back and upon its' return it did the same thing. I ended up filing off the last round tab and not worrying about it. My point is that while others have the same gun without any such issues my experience with Taurus was less than satisfactory. (IMHO) S&W and Ruger quality is top notch while Taurus is *hit or miss*


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## Craigh (Jul 29, 2016)

I like the S&W M&P Shield over any other pistol other than maybe a Walther CCP. As I get older, that soft slide pull and softer recoil on the CCP is really nice. But. after close to 5000 rounds through my Shield, I doubt I'll ever change. It's been flawless. Someone mentioned adding the Apex trigger but the newer factory triggers are just fine. Clean, crisp with a fast reset. I would avoid Taurus and I don't care for Glock. If I wanted a carry sub compact with double stack, I'd get the new Walther PPQ SC hands down. Really though, you can't go wrong with that Shield.


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

Craigh said:


> I like the S&W M&P Shield over any other pistol other than maybe a Walther CCP. As I get older, that soft slide pull and softer recoil on the CCP is really nice. But. after close to 5000 rounds through my Shield, I doubt I'll ever change. It's been flawless. *Someone mentioned adding the Apex trigger but the newer factory triggers are just fine.* Clean, crisp with a fast reset. I would avoid Taurus and I don't care for Glock. If I wanted a carry sub compact with double stack, I'd get the new Walther PPQ SC hands down. Really though, you can't go wrong with that Shield.


Craigh,

I always mention the Apex trigger for consideration, because those of us with large hands or maybe just long hands have trouble finding subcompacts that have enough distance between the trigger break point and the back of the grip to allow for a normal grip and proper trigger control. The original Shield fits my XL glove size well, except for that, and the Apex kit moves the trigger break point forward (toward the muzzle) just enough to allow me to use the pad of my fingertip on the trigger, without having to contort my finger outward, which lessens leverage and feels unnatural. The sear kit lessens the pull weight and smoothes it considerably, but is less important (to me) than the trigger kit.

Most of the people I have compared notes with agree with you that the factory trigger is OK.


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## Craigh (Jul 29, 2016)

Bisley said:


> Craigh,
> 
> I always mention the Apex trigger for consideration, because those of us with large hands or maybe just long hands have trouble finding subcompacts that have enough distance between the trigger break point and the back of the grip to allow for a normal grip and proper trigger control. The original Shield fits my XL glove size well, except for that, and the Apex kit moves the trigger break point forward (toward the muzzle) just enough to allow me to use the pad of my fingertip on the trigger, without having to contort my finger outward, which lessens leverage and feels unnatural. The sear kit lessens the pull weight and smoothes it considerably, but is less important (to me) than the trigger kit.
> 
> Most of the people I have compared notes with agree with you that the factory trigger is OK.


I bought a Shield when it first came out and thought the trigger was pretty poor. I upgraded to the Apex and it was truly a good shooter from that point onward, so I like Apex a lot. Last year I gave it to my daughter because she'd never take the time to break a new one in. I bought a new Shield for me and I was surprised to note the new trigger is about as good as it gets for a combat type gun. I'm happy with it. I hear the Gen 2 is even nicer but don't know. Take care, my friend.


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## osbornk (Jan 31, 2015)

I find the Taurus bashing amusing. My first handgun was a Hi-Point. I got it to see if the Hi-Point could possibly be as bad as the bashers said. I performed fine but was ugly and heavy. I traded it for an old Taurus 38 Special revolver when I replaced it with a S&W SD9VE. The old Taurus revolver was good so just to see how horrible the Taurus semi-auto are, according to bashers, I bought a TCP which was fine. Because the bashers (AKA gun snobs) were so wrong on both the Hi-Point and my first 2 Taurus, I bought a PR111 G2. It has been flawless, is my favorite carry gun and I would not hesitate to buy another. It is the best $200 gun that I have found.


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

Most of us will probably 'bash' the Hi-Point less than the Taurus, because however un-lovely it is, it seems to work most of the time. The knock on Taurus is against a manufacturer that does not work to insure quality control, and has not for somewhere near a half century. Every manufacturer has issues from time to time, but most of them jump in with both feet to correct them as quickly as possible. Taurus, on the other hand, seems to bend over backwards to deny or delay, rather than fix the problems that come up regularly, as well as continue selling the guns that they know have problems.

If you have two of them that have fired hundreds of rounds without issue, congratulations - maybe you should start buying lottery tickets.


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## Pistol Pete (Jan 8, 2010)

The Shield it better. It's more likely to work than the Taurus, you may also want to consider the LC9s.


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## Cannon (May 1, 2016)

I own a Taurus G2 and in the close to 4yrs and thousands of rounds put through it never an issue. So for just under 250.00 This gun has been my EDC of choice every since, and I bought it originally because I wanted a low cost throw around truck gun but this sub compact double stack fits me so well. I knew nothing of the gun but when all the reviews I saw on You Tube said it was a great low cost sub compact made for EDC I wanted one, I've never looked back. I can use this gun at the range and its a pleasure to shoot most sub compact guns aren't this one is one of the rare exceptions, take a look at one and decide for yourself.


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## uzitiger (Jul 19, 2018)

Craigh said:


> I like the S&W M&P Shield over any other pistol other than maybe a Walther CCP. As I get older, that soft slide pull and softer recoil on the CCP is really nice. But. after close to 5000 rounds through my Shield, I doubt I'll ever change. It's been flawless. Someone mentioned adding the Apex trigger but the newer factory triggers are just fine. Clean, crisp with a fast reset. I would avoid Taurus and I don't care for Glock. If I wanted a carry sub compact with double stack, I'd get the new Walther PPQ SC hands down. Really though, you can't go wrong with that Shield.


I have both the Taurus PT111/G2 and the M&P Shield. Both are good guns but the Shield works better with steel cased ammo with no stovepipes. The Taurus and the P80 Glock both don't like steel cased ammo which the Smith takes without a glitch. My P80 (Glock clone) didn't like steel cased ammo either. 
_It's subjective with whatever pistol you choose. I like the Shield because of the grip but the PT111 has a 12 round magazine capacity._ I don't like the small Glocks because of how the grip feels in my hand.

Taurus bashing is similar to those who bash Pro Mag magazines which I have good experience with. They badmouth Pro Mag but don't say why. My friend as a Hi Point and it works. I heard bad reviews and problems years ago but they took care of the problems. If Pro Mag was junk as others claim I would have told users why but they work great for me.


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## cbpat1 (Apr 18, 2017)

I had a Shield 9mm and gave it to my niece and bought another Shield in .45 and it fit me a little bit better, I have BIG hands. I like both the Shields. I never had a Taurus, but, one of my employees did, and he couldn’t wait to get rid of it. He traded his for a CZ, which he doesn’t like as much as he thought he would. His service weapon is a Glock 22 G4 and he loves that, but, that’s a way bigger gun than your looking for, plus it’s .40 S&W. My best advice is go to a range and rent one of each and put fifty or a hundred rounds through each one and see how YOU like each one. Good luck.


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## blackshirt (Jan 12, 2018)

Leaving the Kahr out of the conversation....It's a no brainer....Shield all the way.


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## Goldwing (Nov 5, 2014)

Buy your guns from a country that can at least build a car.......

GW


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## Pistol Pete (Jan 8, 2010)

The S&W will work, the Taurus has a 50/50 chance of working. Past experience selling Tauri and S&W.


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## dungud (Oct 14, 2018)

came here seeking other information and spotted this thread.

I own a Glock 17 G1 and G4, a XD40, XD9, Sig 226, Redhawk, Dan Wesson 744, Glock 19 G3, Shield 9 & 40 and a Taurus Pt111 G2. 

Since 1/1/2017 Taurus firearms only come with a 1 year warranty. S&W only come with a lifetime warranty if you send in the registration card. If you dont, your sales receipt gets you 1 year warranty.

If you can find a PT111 G2 made prior to 2017, it has a lifetime warranty, that can take 10 weeks to get back if a problem does come up. 

My G2 (2015) has not been without hick-ups I solved in the field, but my Shield has gone down hard. Took 4 weeks to get it back the first time and 5 weeks the second. some guns are made on Friday when the guy on the mill is watching the clock. 

The G2 has 2 main issues you need to address if you find a used one. 
A) The magazine release is too short along with a large magazine well means very little effort is needed to eject the magazine which can happen while firing the gun. A slip of the thumb and the magazine is ejected causing a ftf. Takes 2 minutes to swap the magazine release to the right side, but make sure your holster doesnt trip the release. You can also buy an upgraded release arm with a longer detent which fits into the magazine. Newer magazines are also made a bit wider. I know a guy who flared out his magazine at the catch slot and that fixed this as well. 
B) Locking mechanism. The G2C still has the locking mechanism, you just cant access or control it from outside of the gun! This is the second reason why I would not use a 2017 and beyond PT111. If that locking mechanism fails on your PT111 made after 2017, you are done shooting. The only way to unlock the gun is to pull the slide off and figure out what is pushing the lock down (carbon build up or debris) On a G2 made prior to 2017 the Key hole is there. Crank it open, drop a drop of superglue on the outside and its NOT activating. In 2 years and thousand of rounds, its never locked up on me. Now I would still be in the same boat if some debris got in there but I have not had that happen.
C) The guild rod can crack at the front or the spring can jump out of detent. This was seen on early G2s and isnt an issue on ones after 2012. If yours cracks you can buy a SS one from Lakeline or call Taurus they will mail you one and refund your money when you send in the old one. I have never had this issue.

Now there are G2 and G2C issues in the field that people blame on the gun when in fact its poor manual of arms training. 
Trigger control. Its a long pull to the back wall and a crisp break to fire the gun pulling the trigger full rearward. Every time I lend my gun to another person I explain this and they goof it up the first few times, as I did. Two issues here. First is the trigger block. If you dont fully depress the trigger block the block stops the trigger travel. It feels like you are pulling it all the way back, but you are not. There is a video on youtube of a kid doing this. The second is the reset. The reset is 3/4 way to the back wall, not the back wall. I see guys do this as well. You pull the trigger back and feel it stop at the back wall, pull it a bit more and bang. The trigger is now all the way at the grip, you release the trigger and feel a click and think that is the reset..its not its just the back wall, you need to release it a bit more and the trigger will reset, then you take up a bit of slack and hit the back wall again. I dont even think about it anymore. I can go from my Glocks to my Sig to my Taurus without issue. Its a training thing. Its not a firearm malfunction. The trigger has a double strike feature and this confuses people.

Id pick a used PT111 G2 over a used Shield only because guys who have used the snot out of their shield sell them when they start to stove pipe and FTF. Its not worth rebuilding when you can just sell the old one and add a few more bucks for a new one.
Id pick a used shield over G2C
Buying new, Shield over a Used G2 depending on price. You can gut used G2s made pre-2017 for $180 and they are just as reliable if you do your part and still have a factory warranty.

Truth be told if you are training and actually using your firearms like you should, the used G2 will show itself to you. If its broken, you will find that out fast.

If you are the guy who buys a gun to show off at the BBQ and never goes shooting... just buy the shield. It will hold its value more and pray to God you never have to use it to find out if its got issues.

My deep carry is my G2, soon to be a Glock43, my standard carry is my G19, my winter carry is my XD40 or the Sig 226. If its hot out and I'm in shorts and a light tee-shirt, my G2 is in my belt. I have 100% confidence in it.


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## Babbalou1956 (Sep 2, 2014)

The Shield would be easier to carry concealed (for me) being a single stack but some people carry full size guns no problem. Budsgunshop has new ones now for $309. The newer 2.0 Shield there is $399. I haven't shot the Taurus. I have shot the Shield 9mm, liked it a lot & shot it well.


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## dungud (Oct 14, 2018)

Babbalou1956 said:


> The Shield would be easier to carry concealed (for me) being a single stack but some people carry full size guns no problem. Budsgunshop has new ones now for $309. The newer 2.0 Shield there is $399. I haven't shot the Taurus. I have shot the Shield 9mm, liked it a lot & shot it well.


 they are nearly the same size. Its not even worth thinking about.


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## Expatriate (Nov 11, 2018)

My first new S&W and my first new 9mm in a decade was a S&W Shield PC 9mm. Great ergonomics, great sights, great trigger.

Then I shot it.

Didn't feel right and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn (12" 5-shot group at 25yds). I took it apart and noticed that the barrel had a bulge in it!









Called S&W and they ARGUED with me about whether or not they would take it back for warranty work. Had to speak with a supervisor and was able to send it back. They had it for nearly two months and when I received it back, the new barrel had a nick in the crown.









Could not believe it. It then shot 8" at 25yds. Sold it and bought an XDS 40, which then rewarded me with sub-2" groups at 25yds...









I also have the Taurus G2c and it has a lot of plusses. But the trigger drives me nuts. I think most of the regular 9mm Shields are fine weapons and that would be my choice between those two.

Might want to also look at the Ruger EC9 for a $300 or so gun.


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