I have a chance to buy one in excellent condition for $450.

A subcompact, single stack, DA/SA 9mm. Smaller than the 3913 which is a great pistol. Price is a little high but 3rd Gens aren't getting cheaper.

Thanks for the input.

I thought $450. was a little much as well and offered $400. You're right about them not getting any cheaper.

$450, OTD for one in pristine shape is a bargain.  I own a blue one with a well worn slide, but a strangely decent frame, that I'm into for about $365 all in.  I'd buy a LNIB stainless CS9 for $450 all day.

To give some perspective, I sold my blue LNIB CS40 to a gentleman for around $460 OTD (covered shipping that I paid for), and I thought that was pricing it competitively.

All that being said, there's really nothing they do better than a Shield, aside from having a surprisingly bulky slide-width, surprisingly fat grips, a decocker/safety on the slide, and just generally being really cool.  If you can get it for $400, I'd say it's very unlikely you'll ever lose any money on it should you need to sell.  I find my CS9 to be surprisingly accurate, as well.

The CS9 is a great carry gun, especially if you get a set of Big Dog grips. He wasn't making them for awhile, but I heard he'll be making them in a limited fashion sometime soon. I made these myself and they fit and look just like his.

Mine has the single sided safety and fits in a Bianchi 100 Size 9 holster. I also replaced the plastic rear sight for one from a 3913. I had to mill away some material on the sight itself, but the set screw keeps it in place unlike the plastic one which was too easy to move. I also modified a 39 base plate to fit on the carry mag to make it as small as possible.



I took these before I made the grips. It fits in the Winthrop made for an XDS, but it's a little tight.

I had one and got some Big Dog grips for it - a huge improvement over the sticky, oversize and flabby Hogue grips that came on it.

As big a fan as I am of Third-Generation S&Ws, the CS9 was just too small for my paws and I sold it.  Really nice gun, but no regrets as I went on to other S&Ws more suitable to my grip.