Hi folks. New Shield 9 owner, and first post here.

I've got about 150 rounds through my Shield so far. Just last night, while practicing some dry fire / malfunction / reload drills, I noticed that the magazine was NOT dropping when I hit the mag release button. I then narrowed it down to a very specific scenario: if the slide is locked back, and the mag has at least one round, the mag will not drop by gravity alone.

If I attempt to push the magazine downward from the top (remember, the slide is open in this scenario), I can feel a bit of binding/friction. If I exert enough force to break it free, the magazine disconnect safety lever (California version) then "catches" on top the rim of the casing -- the very same behavior described by the OP of this thread:

New reason to dislike mag disconnect

(Yes, my firearm was fully cleaned.)

So, two issues here: (1) inherent friction between magazine and interior of frame, and (2) mag disconnect binding up on the casing.

The behavior is the same with either the 7- or 8-round magazine, with either 1 round loaded or a fully loaded.

This behavior does not exist if the slide is forward OR if the magazine is empty. (The downward forces generated by the magazine spring against the slide, OR the slide lock lever against the mag's follower, are probably enough to overcome whatever friction there is.)

Obviously this is somewhat of an isolated case, but can any of you reproduce this behavior? This is my first experience with S&W, and unfortunately it's not turning out to be an ideal one. Going to call S&W Customer Service when I get a chance....

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum from North Carolina.

I am a bit confused as to why, in a real life situation, would the slide be locked back before the magazine was empty.

Maybe I am just missing something in why you are having the slide locked back before the magazine is empty.

Great question. Correct, the slide would never lock back before the mag was empty in a real life situation. It's entirely possible that this is a non-issue from a practical point of view. (I only discovered this when I manually locked the slide back and tried to eject the non-empty mag.)
However, I don't think I'm being completely unreasonable in that, when I press the mag release button -- in any scenario -- I expect the mag to release. :-)

My Shield does not have a mag safety but my FS does. It does this. The lever touches rim of the case but I can still pull it out.

Quite frankly, I see this as a non-issue. I would never deliberately lose control over a mag with live ammo in it. Other semi's behave the same way or else the mag would be really loose in the well. This has been discussed in other forums and it seems that anything short of a full mag (especially here in CA) will not drop free on it's own unless empty.

EDIT: OK, to clarify. Other semi's with mag safeties. I tried a few others without and with one exception, the all dropped free. In fact, they seemed pretty loose to me.

Thanks Saudade. I guess I won't worry about it. Having said that, none of my other semiautos (Glock 19, H&K VP9, or Springfield 1911) exhibit this behavior.

Right, I was in the middle of editing my post when I got distracted.

The one that dragged a bit was my Rock Island 1911 and the Amscor mag. A mild shake made it drop. Likely the mag's a bit wonked but works.

I feel your frustration as we all have to deal with some pretty lame laws in CA.

That's a whole lot of words for something that matters not, in any situation.

I am going to try to say this without being too offensive:

This new class (or generation) of "gun owners" seem to have alot of free time on their hands to fret over stuff that doesn't matter. Maybe it's because now we have this thing called "the 'net", which simultaneously presents us with garbage and good information. The problem for noobs is they don't know which is which - and they select the garbage because it sounds good.

The other problem is the local gun shop. I walked into a local shop just this past Monday and was treated to an employee who told a customer that silencers were illegal! They're not at all illegal in this state. Another employee of a different shop wouldn't stop saying "clip" when they meant magazine. Yet another told a customer that removing and replacing the sights on his Glock would void the warranty...

I guess I expect everyone to know stuff like I do - and that's not to say I know everything; I certainly do not. But I know enough to know that when my own Shield won't seat a magazine without force or drop a magazine without a tug that the frame is made of plastic that will constrict and expand with changing temperatures - so I deal with it. Metal frame guns, for obvious (I think) reasons don't have this problem.

Anyone remember the non-drop-free magazines Glock used to offer?

Also, it's NEVER a good idea to put your fingers in the gun from the top, through the ejection port...if that slide slaps shut while your digit(s) are in there you'll wish you hadn't...

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M&P's and K Frames Pleeze!

dullh,

I'll fully fess up to being fairly new to firearms. In retrospect, my original post does seem quite trivial. Yes, the 'net can be both a blessing (lots more information available to us nowadays) and a curse (unfortunately, much of that information is fear, uncertainty, and doubt). Ah well. Glad to be on this board, and hope to continue learning.

I learned from this posting. That's always a good thing.

My guns don't have mag safeties. How does a mag safety work? i know how they function, I mean the mechanical part, what makes them do that? Is it a separate part or parts, and what does it connect to?

I always like learning things, even if I'm learning about things I've never seen.