I shoot alot and have had zero troubles with my Glock or Springfield but the two times I have shot the Shield I have had troubles. The first time was the roll pin sliding to the right. I emailed SW and got a new one. I took it to the range today and fired 60 rounds no problems but as I was cleaning it just now I noticed the white dot for the front sight is missing. I should not be having this kind of trouble with a gun with 180 rounds thru it. I guess I will email them again.

I just noticed today the the white dot is missing out of my front site on my M&P 9mm full size also while I was cleaning it. I would like to know if anyone has a solution for this myself.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

It seems this is common. I dont know why SW would not change how they make the sights. ???????????????

Seems like this happens when the recess doesn't get thoroughly cleaned before being painted. Check ANY gun forum and you'll find a few threads about how their [Fill-In-The-Brand] white dot fell out.
Should it happen? No. Does it happen? Yes... to many manufacturers once in a while.

Nothing that a dab of white nail polish, model paint (or even a crayon) wouldn't fix. I wouldn't consider it worth a call Customer Service unless I simply wanted to vent to them about it.

Does S&W actually make their own sights, or are they something consigned to a vendor?

Sorry to hear about your issues. I on the other hand couldn't be happier with my new Shield.

Regular outings with my M&P 9mm full size pistol have been without issue for a year, and that experience led me to the Shield.




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Regardless of whether you paint a new dot you do need to let C.S. know about it. Most manufacturers keep track of such things and if the "defects per unit measure" reaches a critical number, then and only then do they address it.

Sorry Blue... this one ain't changing, it's been happening for the 3 years I been around these guns. NP to me, I just put a dab of whiteout on the sight and it never fails again... there really are more important areas to worry about.

On the other hand, Ocra... how does the gun shoot, anything good about it... or is it time to unload it and go back to your Glocks....?

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Jack C

I emailed SW and I am sure they will fix it. I am not putting Crayons, Nail polish, White out, Model Paint or anything else on a new gun. I have watched the MP commercials were they freeze it and put it in dirt and such and I dont think SW intended for you to have to do this to the front sight within a few hundred rounds. I may not be happy with my issues but I really like the Shield otherwise. I know every gun has issues but the front sights is really important. But what isnt on a SD gun.

Turbo38gn..... I really like the Shield and I am a big fan of the 10mm and that is the only reason I own a Glock and my 29sf stays unloaded and put up. I am a bigger fan of my XD pistols but I still choose the Shield over the XDs for my CCW. I am a die hard 40 s&w man and I got my Shield for $480 OTD when the XDs was $608. I can shoot the Shield very well and I have never had any FTF or FTE. I can even say that I am looking to get a M&Pc 9mm for my wife as the next gun that comes in my house. My Glock only has a stated one year warranty. I think we all know the XDs has not been trouble free.

It's a brand new gun. Another member posted yesterday that the front sight fell out of his new Shield as well. If S&W picks up the shipping both ways as they should, I'd have them make it right

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M&P 2.0 9mm-Shield9-Shield45

Don't blame you for being aggravated, Ocracoker. Honestly, from what I have read on this Forum since becoming a proud Shield 40 owner last June, the front sight issue on the Shield and on other pistols comes up now and again. Personally, I would have been more aggravated with the roll pin issue, since it involves a component important to the gun's structural integrity (i.e., holding some of its parts together). I'm glad they sent you a replacement that, apparently, has solved that problem. (I had the same issue with a full size M&P 45, but that gun was not new like yours)

Hope you are happier now with your Shield. All I can say, as a fellow Tar Heel who shoots mine a lot too, is that I've been completely happy with mine and have had zero issues with it. It is a little bulldog, and I enjoy taking it out and making it bark!

Send my regards to Teach's Hole; its been too long since I've fished for speckled trout there!

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

First thing I did when I got my Shield was to change out the sights....now have the TFO's and couldn't be happier.

If you plan to keep the stock sights before you shoot it for the first time cover all three white dots with clear finger nail polish.

Not only will it keep the white paint from flaking off but will also keep the white from getting dirty and less of a contrast.

I didn't bother because I replaced with XS Big Dot.

Russ

No lie, I've read at least half a dozen threads on this very issue off of various sites in the past 2 years about "the white dot falling out." M&P's and Shields... it's a problem S&W seems to care nothing about.

What you need to do -- what EVERYONE needs to do -- is have the thing shipped to them on their dime.

It needs to cost them so much time and money that they decide to finally do something about it.

I had the front dot come out of an M&P 45 on the first round fired.

Smith will fix it, I asked for a new sight to install myself and that's what we did.

The rep told me it was too common. He said it was just what's described above, poor cleaning/degreasing of the sight prior to installing the dot.

He also told me of an excellent "do it yourself" fix. Clean/degrease well and apply "appliance" touch up paint. You can pick it up at any Home Depot, Lowes, etc. I think I paid $3.00 or $4.00 for a bottle.

Color wise it's a perfect match and it's worked now for about two years.

I still have the new sight, no reason to install. Appliance touch up paint is great!

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GOA
USA Shooting Supporter

If you want to avoid brush marks from applying the clear finger nail polish over the white dots mask off the sights and spray clear poly urethane.

Make sure you take your time masking and remove slide and completely mask using 3m blue tape to avoid over spray on weapon. If you have a razor you can make nice straight edges on the surface of the sights the white dots are applied. (Note: I did not cover the entire sight with poly urethane but only the surface the white dots were applied)

I did this with my Beretta Nano and the sights looked great..


Russ

P.S. Do not over spray. Just one quick burst of spray per sight. Remove tape while spray is still wet.

I have never had a dot fall off my sights, but if I did, I'd rather put a dot of white or red paint on the sight myself than go through the pain of sending it back and being without it for weeks.

Same with the roll pin. They come out of M&P22's a lot but I'm not sending mine in. I'll take care of it myself when I get tired of tapping it back in all the time.

Yes, they're new guns, and yes S&W will repair them, but to me it's not worth bothering with. I got a lot bigger fish to fry.

Think about it: 10 seconds with a toothpick and a drop of enamel paint or calling S&W, discussing the problem, waiting for a shipping ticket, packing the gun, dropping off the gun, waiting weeks for it to come back....

If S&W really gave a rat's behind about the problem they would have fixed it 4 years ago.

I think the front sight is one of the most important areas to worry about. I disagree

Clean with alcohol...use some cheap white enamel paint and a toothpick to fill it in. Mine fell off after 50 rds...Shot well over 300 rds now with no problem. 9mm Shield.

Never had a problem with any of the sights on my M&P's falling out. Some do get a little dull after being shot so much and cleaning,I just add a dab of white paint and they are good as new again. I also do this with all my handguns that I've had for years. It's a VERY simple fix,you don't loose your weapon for a couple weeks and one day S&W will get/be like the other "maker's and charge us the shipping both ways insted of picking up the shipping for trivial matters like this.

Yeah finger nail polish of your choosing works just fine. What S&W puts in is a piece of plastic it has only happened on two of my M&P's and I have 7 of them!

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59,M&P9,40,40C,357,(2)45,G26

SW said to either send the gun in or they would send me a new front sight or to use Testors model paint. I am going to put night sights on it.

Yes, there is a solution. Toothpick applicator and a dab of white paint. If you want glow in the dark, activated by your flashlight, which is sort of a poor mans night sight, sort of like the stuff on your watch dial, then they have that at model/hobby stores. Works pretty good. If it comes off, it is easy to reapply. Don't forget to de-grease!

So.........So you aren't having S&W do anything correct? Which NS you putting on?

Choose your battles -- I haven't had a problem with the white dot falling out, but a drop of white out would get me back on target, and I'm planning on installing a set of TruGlo TFO's, anyway.

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Bob
NRA, MSI, SAF Member

Same issue here, but with the rear sight. I used a toothpick application after cleaning the area. I prefer my hi-viz green now. Also thinking about hi-viz orange up front.

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Bob

my dad taught me self-reliance.....I took care of the sight dot in about 2 minutes. No shipping, no calling S&W and shipping to them for something I can take care of myself.

Randy

I'm with turbo38gn - a dab of whiteout and your "problem" is solved. Happy shooting!

I love my M&Ps...... But, I also was perturbed as BOTH pistols have lost the front sights white dots.

I went with TFOs on one, but still paint the dot on the other


Im not going to switch to another platform, but this is something that should be fixed before it ships....

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Imperfect Servant of Christ

Same thing happened to my Wifes .40 Shield and I did the quick and easy self-reliant fix of model paint...HOWEVER, if I can do it (along with half of ya'll) so can they! It is a little more than disappointing that they can get everything else right but forget the small details. I always wonder silently inside, "...if they didn't get that right, what else is going to break", justified or not.

The sight dot is a known issue, and it's actually pretty silly they have not taken any action to rectify it. That said, the self-fix has the absolute least hassle factor.

I traded them out for XS Big Dots as soon as I got mine anyway, so haven't had to suffer this issue.

Get a little bottle of "Testers" white paint from any hobby shop and a small brush. Clean out the hole good and then just put a drop of paint into the cavity. Keep the Testers handy for your other white dots. They have a habit of falling out especially when the guns are new..

I'm actually wanting the paint dot to fall out! I like to use Glow-On paint on my sights. The Glow-On works a little better if there is no other paint in the dot hole. On one gun, I picked the old paint out with a dental pick. I'll probably need to pick out the Shield rear sight, too. I don't use the dots at the range, or in well lit conditions. I use the blade of the sights. I only use the dots in darkness. The Glow-On is cheaper than Tritium.

I've got little bottles of Testor's Flor. Green, Flor. Orange and White at the ready.
I've replaced the rear's on all 3 of my M&Ps with the 10-8 flat black "U" sights and they are great.

On my FS M&P9 the front dot fell out and I found out on the M&P forum that it was more than common. After several variants, including glow paint, I decided on bright red. Just make sure you clean out the 'dot' real good. I used a drill but that fit and BY HAND cleaned out all the old stuff and used pin dipped in paint and let it run into the hole, dry and repeat. I actually have a nice red bead now. Glow paint just wasn't very bright unless it was charged. When charged it was great.

Same here......on all 3 of our M&P's

I have the .40 Shield. I did not like the stock trigger and upgraded it with the APEX kit and changed the sights while I was at it. It went from a good gun to a great one with the trigger upgrade. It is my primary CCW now. I bought it at a show for $350 so the upgrade wasn't too painful, but I am not a fan of MP triggers so I would have changed it regardless of the cost.

One easier way to apply the clear coat and no need to tape up. Spray the clear into the lid or into something. Then use a thin model paint brush and just dab it on the white dot.

Shooting the dots off the sights and not being able to screw a barrel on straight are two things that bother me.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Yes - these are among the reasons I sold both my 9 MM and .40 Shields.


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Hello from Metro Detroit! Long time observer, just joined to pipe in on this convo.

My Shield has been back to the factory 4 times for 3 separate issues. Mine is also a very early production sample so I'm sure improvements have been made since.

First time back was for my roll pin above my trigger walking out (after I was sent new ones to fix the issue initially) as well as the white dots fell off the rear sight.



Second time was again for the roll pin.

Third time was for the slide rusting. S&W replaced the slide.

This time it's back for round 3 on the walking pins. It always happens after firing 100 rounds.

I have had zero problems with my early production 9mm Shield. Pins stay put and zero malfs with various ammo brands, weights and types. Couldn't be more pleased.

Changed to TFO sights right away. None of my pistolas (S&W, Glock, etc.) wear plain old factory sights. Night sights on a defensive firearm are a must for me. YMMV.

Fixing the dot falling out of a sight is too difficult for some I guess. As posted above, pick your battles. And there is no substitute for being resourceful.

Mine's been running like a top for almost a year, not a single problem. A 99 cent bottle of nail polish will take care of the sight "problem". Don't care for 3 white dots anyway so I went orange and black.

Agree. Sold my Shield 9. Unreliable with WWB and OOB issue bothered me. XDs 9 for me.

They make Sharpie paint pins for metal. They can be purchased with a fine point and don't cost much. Go on Amazon and search Sharpie metal paint pins and order a set and you will be able to repaint the dot. I love them and have used them on several guns.

I have had my Shield for a couple of years and shot hundreds of rounds through it with none of the thing that others on here have had problems with. All the white dots are in place and all the pins are tight. I can see where if the pins are removed and replaced a few times without really being careful they could get loose.

Huh... So your XD-S has NOT had any of the OOB problems I read so often on XD-Talk?
You must be one of the lucky ones.

I've probably posted how well my 2 Shields have performed here... but I'll add... my 1st one was of course the 9mm version, it was one of the 1st Shields built in S&W... I live in Springfield, home of S&W... so I am sure the one I purchased was part of the 1st batch that went to the local dealers for display.... I purchased one of those

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Jack C

It's the XDs 45 that has OOB issues, like the Shield. Not the 9mm.

I've read just as many OOB threads on XD-Talk about the XD-S9 as the XD-S45... For the 3.3" model anyway, during 'Press Check'... Not so much for the newer XD-S4.0