Which would you choose?
I realize S&W is going to stop support for the 3rd gen metal guns, but it is a nice gun.
I was looking at this for my daughter who has small hands. She shoots a G19 well, but wanted to get her a single stack 9mm.

I have owned a 3913 before and have fired the shield.

Shield.

lighter and no slide mounted levers.

Size large hands here, the gun fits just right.

3953

Only slightly larger, better shooting and just as concealable unless you are set on pocket carry.

Also, smith is not discontinuing their third gen support.   That was a big GD of telephone.  


It's a much better gun.   None of the teething problems of the shield.   Rock solid and shoots like a midsize.

3953, without a doubt, but then again I despise the M&P and love the 3rd gen. guns. And, for those who don't know, the 3953 is DAO, so no slide-mounted levers either.

3953, any time.

Regarding factory support......(as if you can actually break a third gen....)

If it's big and heavy (girls have a way of disliking heavy things) then she won't carry it. The Shield is smaller and lighter and is probably something she would carry. Get her the Shield.

You don't know what you are talking about, at all.


1.  The weight difference is 4oz between the 3913 and the Shield 9.

2.  Women love the 3913/3953.  I can hand mine to female shooters struggling with you name it, and get them back on paper and grouping quick.  They all want to steal it from me.

3. The size difference is not really all that much.

Here is a shield vs a S&W 908, the 3913's blockier, cheaper date.





Actual 3953 vs shield

 

I've owned the 3913, 3953 and the Shield in 9mm.

My vote is the Shield.

The 3rd gen Smiths are great guns but I carry Glock 95% of the time.

I didn't care for the traditional double action of the 3913 after a while so I swapped into a 3953.

My issue with it was I tended to short stroke the trigger when shooting fast with it since the reset is much longer than Glock's.

The Shield closely duplicates the Glock reset with the Apex kit in it. I wish I'd waited for the version without the safety though.

Now I don't want to get one without the safety, stipple it, add the Ameriglo sights, Apex trigger and hard sear.... Since the Glock single stack 9mm will magically get released the day I finish the new project.

Yeah, ain't that the way it always goes! Buy a new model something and an improved model of something else come out. I figured to hell with the waiting and bought the Shield. After curing the atrocious trigger pull with an Apex kit and adding some tritium sights the gun is my new carry piece.

I can't opine about the Shield, but the Third Generation S&W pistols are among the most reliable firearms I have ever seen.  If it were me, I'd go with the Smith.

I have a Shield, a 3953 and a 3953TSW.  The TSW is a pre-rail 7 shot mag so it's slightly shorter, but I have some old metal bottom 7 shot 3953 mags that make the non-TSW just as short, but they don't feel as good as the plastic flat or curved bottom 8 rd mags.  I personally love the S&W DAO action and carry the 3953's when I can since they are flat, ultra reliable and feel like a more substantial fighting pistol.  That said, my Shield has been 100% reliable and is more lighter/concealable IMO.  I just haven't acquired a proper IWB holster for the Shield yet.

I'm not a huge fan of striker fired guns having started shooting in what was then pretty much a revolver/1911/Hi-Power only world and 9mm ammo was relatively expensive and very hard to find around here (Super Vel was the only HP ammo for 9mm at 1 time).  So my personal preference for a visible hammer and metal frame may not translate to someone who was weaned on polymer frames with striker mechanisms.  Some complain about the safety on the Shield, but in a purse holster or some other carries, depending on her comfort level, I like having that option if she practices disengaging it when ready to fire.  They now make a Shield without the safety, but it is small and is not a problem IMO.  That said, my daughter has my Shield and other emergency supplies in a MOAB 6 in her car from her paranoid father.  YMMV

See if she can shoot both and let her decide for herself. All you will get here is each persons own favorite, which is no help at all.

4 oz is a lot when we are talking about CCW piece for a lady

For anybody.  I love my Shield, but the G42 in my pocket is like it's not even there!

Well, while I really wanted to get the 3953,the magazine issue is what is going to swing the vote to the shield. I searched online stores, the EE, S&W Forum Classifieds and no luck on Magazines. The seller has only one magazine for the 3953.
I can find Shield magazines online and at Academy sports locally.

Sad thing is I have owned this frame gun before and sold or included the magazines with the gun when I sold them. I learned not to sell magazines anymore because chances are you will go back to the same type of model even some years down the road.

I had hope he would have had at least two mags for it. Hard to teach her to shoot it with only one magazine.

Oh well.....

I had checked. I also checked Glocktalk, Texas Hunting forum, Texas Gun Trader, Sig forum, Ruger Forum, Gunbroker, and a couple of other places. No luck.

There was a guy on the EE selling a 3953 with a bunch of mags for a decent price.  I was surprised it didn't sell fast

Thankfully the 3913/3953 are guns I don't feel most need more than a half dozen mags for.     I know everyone likes to have a billion mags per gun ( I do this with Glock and AR mags) but for a carry gun like a 39xx,  two for carry, two for the range, and two for in case any fail, and I think id be fairly content.   It's not a gun for holding back the hordes.   If you want to own 87 mags for it, knock yourself out, but it's really overkill for this one.  I've got way better guns and uses for high volume stuff.

I only have experience owning the Shield, and it has been a great gun. Stock trigger isn't great, but I shot fine with it for the first 200 rounds of my non-safety model. Just installed the Apex Shield carry kit, and the difference is remarkable.

I have only held the 3913, and it seems like a good gun. I prefer striker fired because of the short reset capability. The Shield is damn accurate, too. The frame is thin and easy to conceal. It's a great carry piece.

Not trying to convince you otherwise, but the third gen smiths have a shorter reset than pretty much any striker gun.  Maybe even shorter than Glock.

At least the DA/SA ones do.  The DAO 3953 has to let the trigger out a little more.

Smith & Wesson 3rd Gen for the MFKAASHPWBYGW*