S&W Performance Center M&P9 Shield Plus Carry Comp Pistol

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The Smith & Wesson M&P9 pistol turns 20 years old in 2025, but today’s M&P9s are very different than the originals—Smith & Wesson has done an excellent job of refining these guns over the years. The new Smith & Wesson Performance Center M&P9 Shield Plus Carry Comp is a perfect example of this evolution.

Like other Shield Plus pistols, this one offers double-digit magazine capacities. Each Shield Plus Carry Comp comes with a flush-fit 10-round magazine, an extended 13-round magazine and an extended 15-rounder.

As the name suggests, the Shield Plus Carry Comp comes with a compensator. It’s the smallest member of Smith & Wesson’s Carry Comp family, which also includes the full-size and compact models. Known as the Power Port, this compensator is designed to help direct gases upward from the muzzle, reducing muzzle rise and allowing for faster follow-up shots.

The slide is made from stainless steel with a black Armornite finish, and it features the company’s ClearSight Cut. Smith & Wesson angled the slide just behind the chamber so gases and debris escaping the action do not fog your optic with a layer of grime that can obscure your view—or even damage your optic’s lens.

Performance Center

Night sights are standard, an adjustable black notch rear paired with a tritium fiber-optic front. The slide is cut to accept Shield RMSc-footprint optics. Smith & Wesson has also added more aggressive front and rear texturing that extends to the top of the slide.

As a Performance Center gun, the Shield Plus Carry Comp comes with flat-face trigger and a Performance Center–tuned action. Like other Smith & Wesson pistols, this one’s trigger features a blade safety, and there’s minimal take-up before a wall and a clean break. The trigger broke at an average of five pounds, two ounces for 10 pulls. These guns also ship with a Performance Center cleaning kit that includes assorted jags, brushes, rods and cleaning patches.

The polymer grip features an 18-degree grip angle and modern wraparound micro-texturing. No backstrap inserts are included, but the grip is comfortable and promotes a high hold. The Shield Plus Carry Comp’s control layout is similar to other Smith & Wesson M&P9 pistols, in that it has a reversible oval magazine release on the left side of the grip and a slide stop and rotating takedown lever.

For the range evaluation I mounted a Burris FastFire C, and kudos to Burris for including—and labeling—a variety of screws to fit multiple pistols. With the optic in place the pistol measured 5.2 inches high with the flush-fit magazine installed. The manageable height and the gun’s narrow width make it easy to conceal, and I could carry it in either the appendix or the three o’clock position. The added length of the compensator is inconsequential for most carry applications.

Options For Everyone

Every shooter will appreciate that this pistol ships with three different magazines, allowing owners to adjust capacity and grip length as needed. The flush-fit 10-round magazine offers just enough grip for a three-finger hold, but those with larger hands might find their pinky floating in space. That’s no problem since the 13-round magazine offers just a bit more real estate.

If you’ve got really big mitts the 15-round magazine might be necessary, but with that magazine in place this gun shoots like a compact pistol instead of a micro compact.

This was my second opportunity to shoot the Shield Plus Carry Comp—the first was at the new S&W headquarters in Tennessee—and both times I’ve tried to determine how impactful the Power Port compensator is. Shooting the gun side by side with an unported Shield Plus Carry Comp demonstrated that the port does, in fact, do its job.

This is a light gun at just 17.9 ounces unloaded, so it has the potential to be snappy with hot loads. The compensated version of the Shield Plus is more fun to shoot, especially for extended periods. Just don’t forget hearing protection.

Accuracy

Accuracy was very good for a micro-compact pistol. As you can see in the accompanying chart, average at 25 yards hovered around the 2.5-inch mark, with some dropping under two inches. One five-shot group with Hornady’s Critical Defense ammunition managed to dip under 1.5 inches.

Smith & Wesson has done an excellent job with most design details on this pistol. The grip angle is great, and the aggressive texturing makes press checks much simpler.

I do wish the company would enhance the slide-stop button, which I believe to be slightly undersize. But otherwise the Shield Plus Carry Comp is a solid, smooth-shooting pistol that offers a lot of thoughtful features and great ergonomics. It’s more expensive than many other carry guns, but it’s so refined and well-built that I believe it warrants the price tag.

Shield Plus Carry Comp Specs

• Type: striker-fired semiauto
• Caliber: 9mm Luger
• Capacity: 10, 13, 15-round mags supplied
• Barrel: 4 in., Armornite finish, Power Port compensator
• OAL/Height/Width: 7.0/4.6 (flush-fit mag)/1.1 in.
• Weight: 17.9 oz.
• Construction: Armornite-finished stainless steel slide, textured polymer frame
• Trigger: 5.1 lb. pull (measured)
• Sights: black notch rear, tritium fiber-optic front; slide cut for optics on RMSc footprint
• MSRP: $649
• Manufacturer: Smith & Wesson, smith-wesson.com

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