Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns M&P Shield Problems

Does anybody have a solution for this, because S&W doesn't seem to.

9mm Shield, purchased new around three months ago. It's had this same problem with the two factory mags (an 8 and 7) and another new 8 round magazine. There isn't a consistent area in the mags that causes problems either (for example, on the first, last or third round every time).

Ammunition is Speer Lawman 147grain. It's the only ammo I've tested, but it runs great in every other 9mm I've seen. Due to availability, if I can't get it to run this ammo it'll have to go.

I've sent it back to S&W twice. The second time it crashes back with a new, black, ejector. I fired it 108 times this morning and had six malfunctions, each magazine had a malfunction.

This is representative of what happens each time. Sometimes the brass will be more stove-pipe-ish, but rarely. Sometimes a round is stripped from the magazine and loose in the chamber and sometimes not.

Any thoughts?

This morning I fired 50 rounds of Magtech 115grain (1 malfunction), 100 rounds of Winchester 124+P (4 malfunctions) and 70 rounds of Blazer brass 115grain (no malfunctions).

If that were a 1911 I'd suggest a shorter ejector.

Can you hand-cycle loaded ammo?

Yup

Hummm... weird malfunction. Something is obviously screwed up with your particular sample. Generally the Shield is very reliable. I have one that has been flawless. I really like mine - yours not so much.

Does the extractor hold a loaded round tight against the breech face when the slide is off and the barrel is out? It almost seems like an extractor issue to me. Do you have another shield you can swap extractors on to try?

S&W's CS isn't that good. If it makes it through one magazine, they'll send it back to you fixed... While everyone there knows how to assemble one, no one knows how to troubleshoot one and fix it.

Sell it and buy another one.

Blue I am not being a Smart A.., call them up, tell them your in law enforcement, that the gun has not met your expectations and tell them they need to replace it or send you your money back. There is no other choice. I have gotten my money back from Ruger for a hawkeye with out of spec chamber and a DPMS game changer.

For the record I have a G43, which again I might make mention of is a Glock, with its 7.5 pound trigger and non ergonomically formed plastic handle that gives many people fingers and hands ouchies, which from the first time out of the box, every time I pull on that 7.5 pound trigger abortion, the gun just says bang and with everything I have shot in it, just bang. If I hold my mouth just so, and only during a new moon I can put 7 bullets into about 3 inches at 7 yards before you can whistle the first 15 notes of Dixie... I have heard several shield problem stories over the time its been out, and again I am the worlds worst shot when it comes to pistol shooting.

There have been a bazillion Shields sold since they've come out and I've not heard of or read about what I'd call several reports of them with problems. I consider the Shield to be the best CCW pistol out there.

Yes I did have problems with one but the other 5 I've had or shot have ran great. I would not consider it a problem gun.

But the were "several" Grock's that blew up....

your just emotionally prejudiced against perfection. I know 3 out of the bazillion that had problems.

but on a serious note Blue should try and get them to replace the pistol or refund his money.

I actually picked up a Grock 19 (by the clean end) yesterday.They still don't fit me but all these sanded Grock threads have me remembering my 32 years ago.

I may wind up with another 19 before long. Just to see.

First thing I would check is extractor tension.

Timing on small guns like that is not very forgiving........likely an extractor that is not hanging onto the case tight enough.

Sometimes a stovepipe can be caused by the ammo being a bit light for the spring causing short cycling........are the malfunctions with the other ammo the same?

If so, I lean more towards the extractor/extractor spring being the problem.

I don't own a Shield as I don't like their feel in my hand but I do have a M&P Compact that has several hundred rounds through it, mostly handloads with no issues.........not sure how many internal parts might be common with the Shield.

MM

before doing anything with the gun, you might try running a couple hundred more rounds of the 115 gr. Blazer brass (or aluminum cased 115 gr rounds by Federal or CCI Blazer), as i note that as your bullet weight has increased, you do cite more failures...

as MM indicated, slide timing can be an issue--and it is quite critical in smaller rigs. in my view, it's a good idea to avoid +P rounds in smaller rigs...

when it comes to "near pipsqueak sized rigs" in 9mm, it is pretty tough to top a Glock 26 when it comes to reliability. i find that i can shoot the G26 almost as well as the bigger rigs (in fact i've often thought that the "perfect 9mm Glock" for me would be the G17 length handle with the G26 length slide--but alas, the G19 will have to suffice when it comes to their offering).

Get rid of it as fast as you can, hopefully on S&W's dime. I'd not waste any more energy with S&W to salvage that particular pistol.

If you cannot take a large mixed bag of all sorts of 9mm ammo, and run it through that pistol while dirty, completely trouble free, after S&W has had THREE times at bat to box it up and ship it out in working order, then you do not want to live with that headache. Throw it in a lake if you must.

I'll second that. It's essentially losing control of the spent case, leaving it in the action. The extractor's primary task is to get rid of the spent case.

Besides checking that the extractor securely retains a case against the breech face, with an external extractor I'd check that there is no debris under it which could be preventing proper function.

I have never had a Malfunction from my Shield but mine is the 40 and not the 9

What velocity are you getting out of those 147? As others mentioned dwell time and slide velocity can vary radically with the short guns and for me that has been the biggest source of problems in small autos.

I would honestly skip SW to solve it and call Randy or Scott at Apex and see if they have a solution for it.

If it was a 1911 I'd suggest it was normal


Honestly on the Shield, I'd just get of it and get another.