I got a shield yesterday and took it to the range today, I thought I'd start to break it in with some wolf ammo, 115 grain, put 150 rounds through it, no malfunctions. Next I put 70 rounds of 115 grain fmj reloads, still all good. Saved the jhp rounds for last and ran into some issues. I put 25 rounds of remington golden saber 147 grain jhp through the gun, had 2 failure to extracts from 2 different mags, I was really down about it at first since everything else had ran just fine. The slide would stay open because it couldn't return to battery because the spent casing sat on top of the live round in the mag. I then ran 50 147 grain +p jhp rounds through the pistol and had the same kind of fte happen. So 3 fte's after a good amount of shooting, maybe not broken in yet? I would have thought a malfunction would have happened much earlier on if it needed to be broken in. I found it interesting that all of the malfunctions occured with 147 grain jhp rounds, both factory and my reloads. Could I have possibly been limp wristing. I suppose, each time I had a malfunction I was rapid firing and I could have not had the grip I needed to. This is the smallest/ slimmest gun I've ever fired so there is a possibility that I was limp wristing, just trying to find an excuse I guess haha. Any info, advice, etc would be greatly appreciated along with what kind of defense round everyone has had good luck with!

I would take it down and give it a good cleaning then go back to the range with a quality brass cased FMJ ammo and send another 200 rounds down range..
Did you give it a good cleaning before you went to the range for the first time? This can cause some issues if you didn't..
You may just have to use some good ammo and continue break in now.. another 200 rounds should tell you more.. George

I cleaned it well and lubed it as the instruction manual described. I'll take it back to the range and put some good ammo through it this time to make sure it's properly broken in. I found it interesting I didn't have any issues with the cheap stuff but did with the quality ammo, also thought it was weird that all the issues were with 147 grain ammo.

Just for yuks one day I tried some 20 year old Federal 147 grain Hydroshocks in my Shield expecting issues and they never materialized. I was mildly surprised but the Golden Sabres are excellent rounds and I would certainly try 'em again as well as other good self protection rounds. If it persists a call to Smith would be a good start.

Those rounds are hotter than 115gr. I would guess limp wristing.
Tracy

Wolf ammo runs dirty and that may be part of the problem. Gumming up the slide or extractor. Not heard of too may FTE issues. There are only two reasons I can think of, weak ammo or limp wristing. Since you fired a lot without issue, the limp wristing is not likely the problem. That leaves the ammo. If it was low on powder, it may not have enough energy to overcome the recoil spring and knock the fired casing out.

Bob

All of the fte's occurred with 147 grain +p ammo, 2 rounds which were factory and then 1 reload. I've never heard of an issue with golden sabers being underpowered. I'm guessing the extractor got dirty from the wolf ammo. I'll put it through it's paces this weekend with quality factory ammo and see what the result is.

Took the shield back to the range today, I had 3 more fte's total, 2 in a row and then one later on. I used all factory WWB 115 grain ammo. I think I'll be giving S&W a call on Monday. I'm starting to wonder if it may be a mag issue, I bought 2 mags before I ever purchased the gun knowing that I'd be getting one soon, anyone have issues with mags that they've purchased aside from the gun? Thanks for advice/ help.