Does the Master at Arms feat work for Shields?

Question

Does the Master at Arms [ddi] feat work for Shields?

Benefit: You gain a +1 feat bonus to the attack rolls of weapon attacks. The bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and +3 at 21st level. Also, you can use a minor action to sheathe a weapon and then draw a weapon.

I tend to think No, as the Compendium entry about Weapons says ...

Weapon Many martial powers, as well as several divine powers, can be used only if you’re wielding a weapon. (You can use an unarmed attack as your weapon.) A weapon’s reach or range determines the reach or range of a power it’s used with.

and Shields don't have a Reach, and it takes a Standard Action to stow or equip, rather than the Minor Action for a Weapon

Answer 1

No, with one exception.

In general, shields are not weapons. Note that in PHB1, shields are listed with armor on page 214, rather than with weapons on pages 218 to 219. The Master at Arms feat only allows you to quick draw weapons, and shields are not weapons...

...Unless it's a spiked shield, which counts as both a light shield and a weapon. Sure it doesn't make much sense to strap a shield to your arm that fast, or unstrap it, but I have trouble believing someone could realistically stow a greatbow and draw a mordenkrad in a single minor action either. Master at Arms says you can do both, though.

Answer 2

The attack bonus applies (as it refers to the keyword of the attack, not the weapon that is being used) to weapon attacks made with shields. But the minor action sheathe + draw cannot be used with a shield.

Like you said the standard action cost for stowing/equipping a shield means it's quite different from a weapon in this matter.

A better question is whether this drawing/stowing economy is present with a spiked shield item. I still don't think it would be (it's still strapped to your arm), but it's usable as a weapon so technically this feat would apply to it.