I bought this gun new, field stripped and added some lube. I put maybe 100 rounds through it yesterday. Upon cleaning it today, I noticed that the poly in one place looked a little deformed. What do you think?


Thank you,

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It's deformed. The right side of that tab (in the first two pictures) should be straight and tucked under the sear housing block. Not sure what would cause it to come out unless it was messed with and someone pried that spot to get the sear housing block up.

Not a crucial area, though, there is nothing going on there. Nothing under the slide, just a smooth area where it rides along the rail insert just behind it. I'd say smush it in with a little heat or just leave it be if it's not impeding slide motion.

Or if you're the fretting type, send the pics to S&W, but it really does look like a side effect of some hack prying the SHB up.

It was brand new when I got it. Nobody has touched it except me. I did not do any prying...I agree with you that not much is going on there. Its not impeding the slide, but I probably will send it back. Thanks

We deserve better.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Stick an empty mag in it. Does the back of the mag contact the front of that tab? Looks like it's tweaked upward and mushroomed a bit.

and it's no big deal.

Would be a big deal to me. I'd send it back.

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USAF, 69-92
Vietnam, 72-73

Probably clean it up with an Xacto knife.

and we wonder why service repair is bogged down.

Service repair wouldn't be bogged down if they got it right in the first place, or at the very least QC caught it. Seems like the consumer is the new final checker and QC puke.

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USAF, 69-92
Vietnam, 72-73

I don't own one of these plastic guns, but I'll bet a dollar to a dozen doughnuts there are lots of them that look exactly the same and they work just fine. Because it is not a big deal.

A little scrape with a sharp blade to clean up the edges(if it makes you feel better) and forget about it.

bigggbbruce....Nobody should have to fix their new gun with an exacto knife....If it was a Sig Sauer would you be saying that? I sent it back to S&W today. If it was a scratch or little dent, I might be good with "living with it", but its deformed. We will see what Smith does?????

What's there to "fix". It's not broken.

So if you bought a new car off the lot with a dented bumper, you would be good with that? Its not broken right??? Car still functions perfectly right??? The frame needs to be replaced with one thats not deformed... Im not holding my breath though....I fully understand its not a custom 1911, but this should of never got past QC..... Build a quality product and there wouldnt be any problems....

If I bought a new car with a dent on the inside of the frame rail I wouldn't give a damn, no. If it doesn't impede the functionality and can't be viewed with the gun fully assembled, who cares?? It's a mass produced, middle of the road gun, not a $1k+ Kimber.

I agree that it probably doesn't hurt anything but when you pay good money for a new product you want it right. Hopefully it will be returned soon and in the proper condition. My wife got her permit and took my shield and I am patiently waiting for my lgs to get another one in. I know that they are behind in orders but would rather wait and get one right then have S&W just send out what ever comes off the line.

That's not a dent or a rip or a tare. If you look at the plastics of new cars you'll find similar little tabs or alignment a little off

Why are people arguing so much about this? Do you guys work at the S&W warranty repair shop? He's the one having to see it every time he uses it.

The only time there is a problem with seeing is when it's related to the sights

More correctly, every time he takes the slide off the frame. That piece is not visible with the pistol assembled.

Apparently you guys took my comment way too literally. Every time he takes his gun apart he sees a factory flaw. That would bother me too.

I agree it's not a problem as far as the pistols correct operation. But who wants to buy a new gun that's boogered up. The dent in the bumper of a new car is a great Analogy. The biggest problem w/ S&W these days seems to be Final QC. Or of lately, NO final QC. Go check out my post about "Not Happy" with a pistol that should have never left the Factory. Best of luck, pg222

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LEO, Instr, Armorer, Gov's 20

I disagree with the naysayers here. That piece could interfere with the operation of the slide. It may not be now, but it is definitely rubbing on the slide. Maybe just a little, but it shouldn't be touching it at all.

My first question is, why is it in that condition? The sear block should not push it over like that. So, is the sear block not machined properly?

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Freedom isn't free.

What amazes me the most about this thread is how people would not tolerate this from a SIG Sauer or a Kimber, as if S&W is some second rate pistol.

How did we get to this point, where the best gun maker in the world now has grudging customers who shrug their shoulders and say that they would not expect such imperfections in these Johnny-Come-Latelys such as SIG Sauer and Kimber?

By the way, if you think that other companies do not have such issues getting past QC and the end customer ranting about it on a forum, all you have to do is hang out on ANY other brand-specific gun forum. For that matter, ANY gun forum will have countless complaints such as this.

S&W is not the only company that has issues such as this, for whatever it is worth.

Shawn
That is an excellent point.
I agree that if it were mine I would be calling S&W and see what they had to say about it.
Good Luck and let us know what happens.
Thnx for posting.

while that little piece would not bother me, i would just clean it up with an exacto as suggested in other posts.

But what would bother me is the nagging in the back of my mind of what else is wrong with the gun that i can't see.

I wouldn't say Sig is Johnny come lately. They've been making firearms since the mid 1800s. Not exactly new to the game.

Yes all companies will have QC problems. The only way to avoid them is to have one person do everything from start to finish by hand. Companies putting our millions of products a year will have QC issues here and there. And don't think for a second that Sig didn't. They had a good decade of horrible horrible QC at every point in the manufacturing. It was bad enough that they were loosing gov contracts. That's some massive QC problems. But theirs was a problem with function

Now, to me quality control is function not cosmetic. Doesn't mean I want it looking like it was dragged down a highway ......and even if it is I want the price to reflect that. But little microscopic imperfections I don't care whether it's Sig, Glock, Kimber, WC, Nighthawk or Holland and Holland

Arik, you are correct. S&W is producing so much product right know, they are setting sales and pistol records they have never dreamed of. In Dec of 2015, S&W announced that they had produced their 1 millionth Shield pistol. That is a bunch of guns! All the manufacturers are just running 24/7 to keep up with the demand, due to the current political situation in this country. With large quantities, quality control slips. Not always, but more often then not, it does.
The small lip of folded over plastic on pg222's pistol is from fast assembly during Cam block insertion into the frame. Machine done? Or by hand? Unknown. But S&W looks at it like this; Does it shoot? If it does, then the pistol has no problem other then a small cosmetic blip. They will not replace the frame unless the Cam block has folded over or mangled up large parts of the polymer frame. I will bet pg222"s pistol comes back to him the same, less the small folded over piece of plastic, having been removed w/ an Exacto blade by the S&W tech's. Again, it falls under the "Does it shoot?" heading. They consider small cosmetic blips to be normal and not anything to worry about. I have been through this w/ S&W before, long ago, and it seems they still abide by the "Does it shoot" mantra.

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LEO, Instr, Armorer, Gov's 20

I was notified today that S&W will be replacing the pistol. They are going to reimburse me the cost of dros and the dealer transfer fee. This will be a new pistol with a different serial number. I wanted a replacement, but was expecting some sort of repair. Good news for me!!!

Thanks for the update and for your patience. All good manufacturers want feedback when their product is deficient so they can make it right. Smith clearly did the right thing here.

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USAF, 69-92
Vietnam, 72-73

Glad they took care of it for you.

Wow! That's quite different than my experiences, but good for you, with out a doubt. S&W may indeed be looking at why the pistol was done that way and who and what assembly station did so. That could be the reason they are replacing your pistol. But again, good job. I do like S&W in cases like this.

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LEO, Instr, Armorer, Gov's 20