HogueHandAll Beavertail Rubber Grip Sleeve for S&W Shield 9/40, Ruger LC9 / EC9

I got one for my 9mm and 45 Shields. It is a bit too short for the 45, but that's because I should have gotten the model made for the 45 Shield, which I've now ordered (model 18300). I prioritize seating the beavertail high and have the Hogue literally as high as it will go - right up to where any further and it would inhibit use of the mag release. It might be nice to have it intentionally a bit long to allow trimming away excess for personalized fitting. It still works great even on the 45, but I will replace it with the 18300 when its received. Any lack of full length coverage is an aesthetic thing that doesn't negatively affect its function at all. Anyone with large hands or long fingers - moderate to large sized male hands and fingers - will find this grip to be a major improvement to the otherwise too narrow, too short tigger reach, and painful-to-shoot 2.0 M&P Shield (typical problems for concealable subcompacts). It enhanced the natural point-and-shoot of the gun by dramatically improving what for me was a problem of the trigger reach being too short for what I personally considered confident carry of the M&P Shield. Since I usually carry a larger handgun (M&Ps of course), I was worried that the short trigger reach of the Shield with my hand and finger size would create muscle-memory issues if I ever needed to quickly draw and shoot the firearm, and my accuracy would suffer. The added beavertail material, general minor added thickness of the entire Hogue grip, and slight flaring along the grip sides definitely improved the comfort and shoot-ability of the gun. It eliminated the pain that I previously suffered if I shot it a lot at the range. (FYI: Grip has no negative impact on concealment.) The original small, hard, abrasive, thin normal grip was very uncomfortable in my moderately large hands, and the short trigger reach was disturbing. No longer a problem, or it is at least far less of a problem. I'm extremely pleased with these grips. It took under 10 minutes to install both. I used and strongly advise obtaining an "Equalizer" auto glass tool which you can get here on Amazon. It is a hard plastic little wonder-tool for which you will find many uses. This was one of them. Being plastic, there is no risk of damaging the gun's grip. Something similar will probably work just as well. A VERY light bit of olive oil applied to the inside of the grip, along with some careful prying, sliding, adjusting with the Equalizer, a little patience, and - easy-peezy - precisely applying the grip was simple.

Added the grip to my Ruger Max 9 and I followed the steps from Rugers YouTube channel to get it on. Just to try it I initially made an effort to get the grip on without Windex and heating the rubber, but that was a fail. I tried cutting the plastic to make a shoe horn thing, and that was not working. What worked was I first stretched the rubber by hand just to loosen a little, then I put in a pot of water to boil. Before boiling I removed with gloves on and added a few drops of Windex to the grip and inside of the rubber grip. While the rubber was warm from the pot I was able to stretch, slide, and pull the grip onto the firearm handle. It's best to do the beavertail portion of the grip first and then stretch on the front of the rubber grip. Once it's on a little, with some force it can be positioned in place. All that to say, put it some boiling water, and use a little Windex and it will go on fairly easy.

I put this on a Max-9 Ruger and it fits great. The Max-9 is a newer pistol and is not listed on the description but the grip is very much like the other Rugers so I took the chance, put a purple one on my wifes and a black one on mine. I must say it is a bit of a chore to get on. I looked at some of the reviews saying to use this or that and the sticks, maybe boiling the piece but I just took my time and slowly worked it onto the grip. It does take an amazing amount of wrist to get it worked on there. I did hers then tackled mine and let me tell you I almost had to wait until the next day because my wrists and fingers were turning to jelly but it went on even faster than the first because I knew where to apply pressure while also pushing gently on the other side. I actually pushed it and worked it on more than pulling it on to be honest. Great addition to an already awesome sidearm. Only thing I can tell people putting this on is take your time because I read horror stories about people ripping the rubber. So just be patient and push and apply constant pressure and it will fit. Perfect for the guns listed and the Ruger Max-9.

Installed on S&W Shield 9mm. It comes with decent instructions, telling you to warm the rubber in hot or boiling water, then apply an alcohol-based cleaner (Windex) to ease the rubber over the handgun grip. That may all work, but the whole process sounded very wet (and messy) to me. The same instructions also suggest cutting the plastic packaging to create two makeshift shoe horns and using those during installation. I skipped everything they suggested, and did the following:Using a heat gun on low heat (a hair dryer on high heat would do the same thing), I slowly and gently warmed the rubber. I spent a couple of minutes passing the heat gun back and forth, being very careful not to heat it too quickly, melt the rubber, or heat it unevenly. I was also making sure I applied enough heat to really penetrate into the rubber. Once I though it was plenty warm (the rubber felt almost, but not quite, too warm to pick up), I began stretching the rubber over the handgun grip. It took me 3-4 tries, and I re-warmed the rubber once, but it was plenty stretchy to get worked up and over the grip. In fact, I actually installed it too far up the grip and had to re-position it down just a bit to get it to sit right where I wanted it. A little elbow grease is required, but in all honesty it went on a lot easier than I thought it would.No liquid, no homemade plastic shoehorns, just some heat. Worked like a charm and took less than 10 minutes, start to finish. Love the grip and it improves the ergonomics greatly. I always found the ratio of depth to thickness of the Shield's stock grip a little annoying. It felt just a hair too long front to back, mostly because it was too skinny side to side. The Hogue grip evens out those dimensions and adds the finger groove at the front. I have smallish hands, but the added grip definitely improves the handling and feel of the gun. All in all, five stars!