Shield mini sight on 9L core already gone bad

[kmanick]

I took possession of a brand new "ordered" M&P 9L with the shield mini sight 4MOA already installed August 5th.

I got it all dialed in about a week and a 1/2  ago so it was perfect at 50 feet.

Yesterday it just shut off while I was at the range (getting ready for my first possible Steel plate "practice" this week)

So I took it home and dropped in a fresh battery. It went back on , so I thought 'great", but as soon as I started to tighten down the lugs it shut off. I went

through this about 5 or 6 times and could not get it to stay on. the battery that I took out of it was also still good

I'm really bummed , I have put about 900 rounds through his thing since I got it, and the trigger was lightening up a bit 

and I was just "getting dialed in with it", and this thing just stops working correctly. As long as there is no pressure against

the bottom of the unit it will stay on , so something is wrong with it. If I put it on it's plate I can squeeze down on

the back of the unit just using my hands and it shuts off.. Shield is in England so god knows how long it will take to get a new one

so I ordered a vortex Venom off of Amazon this morning. I needed one for my Ruger mark III anyway so I will just throw this on

until gt my Shield sight back.

The shield (up until it died) was fantastic. The 4MOA is really easy to pick up, it sits super low so you can easily  co -witness your front sight

(I have the tall suppressor sights on mine).

Anyone have a Vortex on their M&P? I understand you can't co -witness with it so I will have to do lower 1/3 with the Vortex?

 

[xpierrat]

The Vortex viper will co witness with the suppressor sights the venom supposedly will not.   I think the irons tend to get in the way once you are used to the dot and some shooters remove them. The only reason I see for them is if you are using a gun for SD then you might want both for back up.

 

I think a 6 moa venom is the way to go and get rid of the irons.

[pete627]

I'm pretty sure the Shield sight is the same as the JPoint I used to have on my Core. This was a great sight ... worked fine on the M&P ... took it off to shoot production.

Anyhow ... I think you need to have an insulator between the mounting plate and the battery to keep it from shorting out ... (normally a thin plastic disk but a piece of cellophane tape works just fine). 

 

 

edit: from page 8 of the JPoint manual ... >> Some sight mounts on the market are electrically conductive, such as mounts made of steel or non-anodized aluminum. These mounts require that the bottom of the sight and battery surface be isolated from the mount. Use a piece of electrical tape as insulation between the sight components and the mount to prevent shorts. <<

http://www.jprifles.com/instructions/JPoint/JPoint Manual 04.12.pdf

 

Edited September 4, 2017 by pete627

[kmanick]

I wish I had known about that little bit of info, I'll have to keep it in mind if I ever get it back.

There was something wrong with it internally, I could squeeze  the 2 tabs closest to the rear sight with my thumbs and it would shut off.

It came already mounted on my 9L from Smith and  Wesson and was awesome for about 3 weeks.

Shield received it last Thursday (I sent it 2 day Fed Ex) but I have not heard back from them yet. I'm not too thrilled with the customer service so far.

I had a Venom already ordered for my Mark III and it arrived, so I put that on the 9L, I cannot co witness with it but I don't really care. I shot my first

action shoot ever this past Sunday with it on there, It was not zeroed as well as I thought. The Shield I had zeroed dead on (took me 2 weeks but it was there)

but on the upside , I found a club that does tons of these shoots and a great bunch of guys.....and I am hooked , that was the most fun I've ever had shooting anything!!!

I must say on this gun, I like the shield sight better than the vortex, I found it a little easier to find the dot quickly and although it's not as wide a window it is a little taller

than the Venom and I find that  a bit easier to find the dot.

wish me luck on getting a working sight back!!  I am hooked  

[pete627]

I know what you mean ... I had a blast when I had mine on ... I had the 65moa circle with the 1moa dot in the center ... it was easy to frame targets with the circle and use the dot for a precision shot ... It's like you can hit "anything"! 

 

Anyhow ... the Shield is marketed as the JPoint in the US so the manual will work ... They also cover "bending" the contact arm that touches the side of the battery it you have intermittent operation .. Your's was probably "really" broke ... but there is good trouble shooting info in there if you do ever get one back.

 

At first I liked the co-witness ... it was perfect with that sight on the M&P (easy to zero too .. just adjust the dot to sit on the top of the front sight) but after a while the co-witness was more of a nuisance (IMHO) ...  

[MemphisMechanic]

Agree with @pete627. Unless it's a self defense gun where you really want packups, every competition gun loses the rear sight eventually.

 

It's just in the way.

[kmanick]

Shield has been ignoring my email requests for a status update.

Very disappointed with their lack of customer service so far. I just found out I have a Steel Plate "practice" this friday and a bowling Pin  competition

(very similar to steel plate) next Friday, I really would've liked to have this sight back by then.

[kmanick]

finally heard back from these guys (had to go a little higher up) I should be getting it back early next week.

I'll have to make sure I put that electrical tape across the top of the mount plate.

Venom has been working out OK, I am on my way to another steel plate "practice" hopefully I have it dialed in enough to use it.

 

[kmanick]

so I got this thing back a while ago and I need shims to zero it in. I think S&W has some milling issues as Shield has told me

they have received multiple complaints about this on the 9L PC cores.

so this is with the shim they sent me and some business cards Under the rear end.

they're sending me an additional shim to I can make this a bit more stable.

anyone else on here have to deal with this?

on a positive even with the make do shims at I'm getting really dialed in with this trigger