I shot both of these for the 1st time today. The Shield was so much nicer! Both were very accurate but the XDs has quite a kick! So much so that it hurt to shoot 5 rds through it. I put a total of 25 through both. Recoil on the Shield was not much worse than my XD9. I did this test to determine which one to buy for my CCL. It's hands down the shield, now to get on a waiting list!