I have a 9mm shield that only has about 70 rounds through it. I had my buddy over and he was taking it apart and assembled it incorrectly. It gun then locked up, and when I finally got it free, I noticed the slide felt gritty when I would cock it. I then noticed the recoil spring looked bent at the bottom.
I called S&W and they sent me a new spring, but now my question is, how do I disassemble the whole recoil rod to replace the spring? I have looked on YouTube and everywhere else I can think of and there is nothing. If anyone has any insight please let me know. Thank you.

S&W sent you just the flat wound spring and not the whole RSA assembly?

You do need help.

If you look at the front of your old RSA, you will see that the spring is smaller on the last turn or so. Similar to a spring clip or "C" clip.
That's what keeps it from coming off the "nail head" part of the rod.

Just take a small flat head screw driver and work the first turn of the spring off the end of the rod.
The remaining length should just slide off the rest of the way.

Same procedure to reassemble.
You have to work the last turn and a half onto the rod carefully with a screw driver. Don't spring it so far as to bend the spring.

If you don't feel comfortable doing this kind of procedure,
a local gun smith should be able to accommodate you.

Just to add:
Take a good look at your old RSA.
Note the last 1/2 turn looks like it is not completely onto
the "nail head" portion of the rod.

Put the new one on the exact same way.
Makes it easier to get it off the next time.

Thank you for the reply! That's a lot of help and I'll try that out when I can.
Even though I may just take it to the professionals because it took a while to get the new spring and I'd rather not ruin it.
Thank you for your help.

You're welcome.

It's not complicated but if you don't have any experience doing this type of work, it can seem like a bigger deal than it is.

Good Luck!

can anyone make a video doing this ?? please

I could be wrong, but I'm thinking that even though they said they're sending you a new 'Spring', that CS is actually going to be sending you the whole Recoil Spring Assembly as it's a 1-Piece 'closed' unit.

In the last 3 yrs, I've never heard of them sending JUST the sping... It's One Unit that is not meant to be taken apart and reassembled.

If you would've even read the post,
you would already know that he already has the spring.

And yes, the RSA can be disassembled and reassembled
but it does take some skills.

If I were him, I would've asked CS for a new RSA
but that's besides the point as he has the spring and
wants to get it fixed in the least time possible.

Yes... He did write they sent a spring... That could have very easily meant that it was still in transit. Excuse me for not concluding that. this is he first time I've read that they've actually sent JUST the spring. dunno why they would even do that, rather than talking the owner into an assembly.

Now you're the one not reading... I didn't write that it couldn't be taken apart. I wrote that it's not meant to be taken apart and reassembled. Since there's an aftermarket company out there that converts RSAs, obiously it CAN.

I'm out.

You may be right.
But after he said they sent him the spring he went on to say in his second post that it took him a long time to get it.
So to me it meant that he did have it in hand.
I could be wrong.

Touchy tonight aren't we?
Goodbye!

I didn't mean to start any internet hostilities haha. I am probably going to call CS back on Monday and see what they say/recommend for my issue. I thought they were going to send the whole assembly and I was puzzled to see only the spring showed up.

Bongo93, don't sweat it you did nothing wrong. If you spend much time on forums & users groups on line you will begin to feel, as I do, that it takes very little to cause things to get feisty.
Never hesitate to ask your questions, they will almost always receive useful replies even if you have to sort through an occasional spat or two.