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Old 05-17-2016, 08:43 AM
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Default Shield break in

Is there a proper procedure for breaking in a new Shield? I've had a shield 40 for a couple months now and never considered having to follow a specific proper break-in routine. I just took it to the range and shot it. Now I've had someone tell me I was supposed to fire a few rounds, clean the barrel, fire a few more and repeat for a couple hundred rounds. I have cleaned the weapon after every shooting session, but I generally shoot at least 100 rounds or so at the range. I've probably put well over 400 rounds thru it of various ammo.

I must admit. I was very disappointed with the first couple range trips. No issues with the gun, just my shooting. I consider myself a pretty good shot, but I was way off initially. I have a mp 40 pro, which I shoot very well, so I guess it took a little practise to get used to the difference in trigger pull. I started to use more finger on the shield trigger to stop hitting left. And on my last range trip, I really seemed to come around with it. I was solid red up close and I can put the entire mag, or at least most of the mag, in a 8" target at 25 yds. Made me very happy.

At this point I'm very pleased with the gun and everything looks good. Ive not had one issue with the guns function. I,ve shot mostly 165 gr wwb, and Speer lawmen, with some gold dots and critical defense thrown in without problem.
But my question still goes back to the break in, did I screw it up or was the ever so knowledgeable gun shop owner just blowing smoke up my rear?


Edit. Ok sorry. New member here. I now see several related older threads. Sorry to post without searching.

Last edited by Slingn; 05-17-2016 at 09:11 AM.
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Old 05-17-2016, 08:56 AM
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We have all been there lol. Find info after we post. Yup
So WELCOME to the group. FYI I did the same with my 9mm Shield.. I shot a few rounds , field stripped and cleaned, and do so most of the time after a shooting session,,
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Old 05-17-2016, 09:06 AM
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The Shield is pretty narrow and a bit slick and it can effect your shooting. Once I added Talon rubber grip wrap it helped a lot.
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Old 05-17-2016, 09:06 AM
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I don't think you messed up; just getting used to the pistol. I have a Shield 9mm and had similar results and feelings towards it.

I got my Shield and took it home and cleaned it. I normally shoot about five mags a session and always clean after a range day. After about five months I am liking it more and more.
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Old 05-17-2016, 09:36 AM
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I seem to recall hearing something like the fire a few rounds, clean and repeat break-in thing with regard to super accurate target rifles. I won't claim to be any sort of 'expert' but I've been shooting all my life and have never done that sort of thing with any of the almost embarrassing number of guns I've gone through.

With a new gun, I just clean and lube before heading to the range the first time but nothing special otherwise. I almost always clean and lube my guns after each range trip.
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Old 05-17-2016, 09:45 AM
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I have been told by several experts that firing a few rounds, clean and repeating several times, really only applies to precision rifles and has nothing to do with pistols. This is said to be "seasoning" the barrel.
I could not imagine having to seasoning the 3.1" barrel that the Shield has. Personally, I have a Shield that I CCW sometimes, and all I did was clean it upon purchase, lube it well and fire 200 rounds. It was trouble free of any malfunctions, so it was cleaned and lubed again, loaded with SD ammo and placed in my belt holster.
I suspect that sometimes folks tend to over think things.......
Just my humble opinion..........
Enjoy your new pistol.

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Old 05-17-2016, 10:25 AM
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Like others, all I did was clean and lube it right out of the box, before the first trip to the range, and every time after. No other special procedures, just shoot it a lot. I've owned my 40 Shield since January 2016 and have put over 1000 rounds through it with only 3 FTE's, and those were early in the break-in period and most likely due to my bad shooting technique. I haven't had one issue since, other than one defective round from the factory that wouldn't load.

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Old 05-17-2016, 11:35 AM
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Thanks.

That's what I was thinking. I've also always thought that intensive break-in process was for hi-end long rifles as well, but was stumped when the guy told me I should do it for the pistol as well. I did clean and lube before the first range trip, as I do with all new guns. And as I mentioned, so far not one issue with function. (Yes, I just knocked on wood). Now that it appears I can shoot it well, (and load the magazines without difficulty), I love it. Thanks to all again for the inputs and sorry for re-posting a common topic.
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Old 05-17-2016, 11:40 AM
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Just shoot the thing. That shoot and clean myth is probably 40 year old. It may make a slight slight difference in a rifle that's guaranteed pin point accuracy at 3 miles but has absolutely zero or less than zero effect on a sub compact handgun. Just wasting time
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Last edited by Arik; 05-17-2016 at 11:43 AM.
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Old 05-17-2016, 11:44 AM
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Personally, I don't think it's necessary to "break in" any gun. To me it's more breaking yourself into getting used to the new gun. I've had numerous guns that were new to me whether they were actually new or not. It just took time for me to get the feel of new grips, gun weight or whatever.
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Old 05-17-2016, 04:04 PM
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When I bought my Shield 9 all I did was break it down and clean and lube it as per the manual. I then took it to the range and shot 200 rounds of my SD rounds out of it with no malfunctions. Took it home and cleaned it again and have been carrying it ever since. Every other month or so I'll fire a few mags out of it, clean it and that's it. I just don't think a gun like a Shield really needs a break in. I was more concerned about reliability.
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Old 05-17-2016, 08:27 PM
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My idea of breaking in a new handgun is to clean it, lube it, buy a case of ammo and shoot it.

I don't even "season" high end rifles. I've noticed over the years that rifles tend to settle down after 40-50 rounds have been put down the tube. That just so happens to be the same amount of shots needed to complete the whole "shoot one, clean, repeat" thing. I've come to the conclusion that the whole break-in procedure was devised by custom rifle builders to get people to shoot the darn things before sending them back complaining about inaccuracy.
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Old 05-17-2016, 11:29 PM
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Like Krell wrote... The Shield doesn't really need a breaking in... The New Owners do!
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Old 05-18-2016, 03:36 AM
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When I got my Shield 9 I cleaned it, oiled it, took it to the range and shot about 200 rounds. Had three failures in the first 50 rounds, none after that. I have put well over 1,000 rounds thru mine with no further problems, other than having to work at it to load the magazines fully. They also loosened up after a few hundred rounds. Magazine loader is a huge help there.
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Old 05-18-2016, 08:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RobzGuns View Post
Like Krell wrote... The Shield doesn't really need a breaking in... The New Owners do!
thanks all for the additional inputs And I agree with the above, I certainly needed some breaking in, but I'm good with it now. Got the lefties sorted out. It was all grip and trigger control. Hard to get used to that relatively heavy trigger, compared to my other pistols. I have read some others complain that the gun shoots left and swear the sights are off. Maybe so for them, but I shot way left at the start too, it was me, not the gun. Like said, I needed to break myself in to the gun. I'd recommend more practice before I'd adjust the sights to anyone with that issue. But I guess if you have your gun set up like you like, and you can hit what you aim at, you're all good.

Oh, And I can actually hand load the Magazines now too. The gun may not need braking in, but the mags sure do.

Thanks again. Nice to be welcomed here.
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Old 05-20-2016, 07:41 AM
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As far as breaking in any gun, the only thing I've ever read or been told repeatedly is to fire about 100 rounds of FMJ before firing any JHP in order to remove any burrs from the factory that may snag on the JHP round while it is chambering.
Other than that, I always like to clean a brand new gun before I fire it, in case there is any cosmoline or other factory "conditioning" in the mechanism. My Bersa came over on a container ship from Argentina and was caked in the stuff to protect it from the salt air.
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