M&P Shield Meets Front Sight Size Criteria

[jfwright1955]

My wife and I plan on attending the Front Sight 4-Day Defensive Handgun course in the near future. My wife's most comfortable with her Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm for both size and weight reasons. So, I posed the question directly to Front Sight to make sure her Shield meets the acceptable criteria and is NOT considered a "pocket pistol", which are not allowed due to size restrictions.

Following is my email to Front Sight and Ignatius' response. I thought I'd post this as I know others have voiced the same question and so we now have a definitive answer.

Hi:

My wife and I plan on joining and signing up for a class in the not-too-distant future. My wife carries a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield and so we wanted to verify it doesn't fall into the category of "pocket pistol" so she could use it for the training?

Thanks,

John Wright

Thanks – We do not want “pocket Pistols” because they are too small for training purposes. Draw a 4”x 6” box and measure your gun against it. If your pistol extends beyond the box it is acceptable. If it fits inside the box it is too small.

Ignatius

As it turns out, the M&P Shield DOES meet Front Sight's size criteria -- just barely -- as you can see in this image.

M&P Shield Extends Beyond 4" x 6" Size Restriction

M&P Shield Extends Beyond 4x6 - 01.jpg (34.36 KiB) Viewed 3767 times

[D-FIN]

Well that makes it easy to test then

[jfwright1955]

Just to confirm, the following image was captured from Smith & Wesson web site with the dimensions:

Official M&P Shield Dimensions

M&P Shield Dimensions - Med.jpg (27.83 KiB) Viewed 3596 times

Have to wonder if the size is just coincidentally slightly larger than the Front Sight minimum size requirements or if it was by design with that in mind... enquiring minds want to know.

[dooradical]

I know this topic is pretty much dead, but I wanted to let you know that my sister in law, and my nephew were both able to use a P238 which does not fit outside the 4x6" box. They just had to call down to Front Sight and ask for permission. They didn't give too much stink about it at all. Overall they are very reasonable, and while they make recommendations they stand behind their motto of "Any gun will do, if you will do." Hope this helps.