Well, my wife and I took out our brand new Shield 9mm's out for the first time. We each had an issue. With hers, during her first mag 4 rounds in the slide sticks to the rear and I mean stuck. LGS gun smith suggested that something may have broke inside the frame but wouldn't know without tearing into it. We were able to get it to go forward into battery again. He suggested contacting where we bought it to see if their gun smith would tear down for free because he had to charge us. We were advised not to fire it again but I did anyway. I was able to run two mags of different ammo through just fine. Any idea why the slide could of stuck? I was thinking she may not of lubed enough/properly after the initial cleaning. Suggestions? With mine the CT model, the CT would stop working then start working after several rounds. Is that a faulty laser, a battery issue or something else?

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When you say the "slide sticks to the rear" -- sticks how? I mean, did the slide latch activate as it would after the last shot? If so, it could be one of at least a couple of things causing it.

First, there are all sorts of bullet shapes out there. With some, unless the rounds are seated all the way to the rear of the mag they can bump the slide release on the way up, causing premature lock-back.

A second thing to consider, and probably more common than the first, is that with heavy-recoiling compact guns the shooter's thumb can, accidentally and without the shooter realizing it, contact the slide release under recoil and bump it up causing the slide to lock back at inopportune times. It's simply a fact of life that there is less grip to hold on to with itty-bitty guns, and things can be a bit crowded.
Once the slide is locked back it can be notoriously hard to depress the slide release on many new guns, including the Shield, until the slide release/slide interface is worn in a bit. If the problem occurs with one shooter but not another, this is often the cause, and the cure is paying attention to thumb position and how hard the gun is being gripped. It may require a bit of retraining to overcome. I've seen some criticize this as a "design flaw" in the gun; in fact, it is a shooter flaw -- not thoroughly familiarizing yourself with, and learning how to manage, a new gun.

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Pisgah

Only those of us that had this problem understand. All questions and suggestions of what might be wrong are way off base. For those that have never had this problem: stuck means stuck hard. It feels like a mechanical issue as if something is hanging.

My PC version did it between round 7 and 8 the first time I shot it. The last shell ejected and the slide stuck short of being back far enough to load the next round. I could not push or pull the slide either direction. I got it to close by bumping the rear of the slide hard with the heel of my hand. I took it home, stripped it, inspected everything I could see with a very good magnifying glass and could see nothing wrong. No scratches, no rough milling edges, nothing unusual. I cleaned it again, then lubricated it much heavier than normal. It has worked flawlessly ever since.

It is working but I really wish there was a good explanation of what happened.

Hers was almost the exact same. Her slide went back far enough, but was stuck hard fully to the rear. One of the gun smith's touched or depressed something in the mag channel to with the tip of his knife and a "little love" to get the slide forward. It has felt fine since I inspected, field stripped, and shot it. I took it home and inspected again still nothing. At the range I could feel it want to stick prior to me field stripping and firing. I can't recreate it now though.

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May be an issue involving the recoil spring and guide. I know S&W has had some issues with this assembly, particularly during break in.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

Not unless the spring moved enough to hang on something and then re-seated itself correctly. My spring looked fine and was in the correct position when inspected.

I would think the slide could be moved in one direction even if the spring was hanging.

Not sure it will help but I was shooting a friends brand new fullesize mp 9, and after a few mags of trouble free shooting, a small piece of what looked like brass or a piece of bullet jacket had lodged in the slide rail near the extractor. It was hard to see, but caused almost the same issue you describe. It Was stuck and stuck hard. Once we pulled and poked and managed to free the slide, we could see it and got it removed, it worked fine again after that. He hasn't mentioned ever having trouble again and I know he shoots it a lot.

This is the most logical explanation I have seen. I never saw anything like that and did not find any brass that appeared damaged. Gut feeling that something did get stuck in the slide.

OP, you mentioned it worked fine after changing ammo; think that was a coincidence or could it be tied to the type/brand of ammo used somehow? Or did that same ammo work ok in yours and i'm on the wrong train of thought lol

Have put some 300 rounds through it. The trigger breaks very hard. I have been shooting handguns for over 50 years, and have Never run into one this bad. Took it back to gun store to have it looked at by a licensed gun smith. The gun smith said the disconnector was hanging up and the disconnector Spring became pinched when the rear sight was installed. The night sights came on the weapon from the factory. Point is that if you are having issues with your gun, have it checked out by a gun smith or send it back to S&W.

The manual for both of my Smith & Wesson weapons indicate one should clean the weapon before firing it for the first time as it is overloaded in some type of oil to prevent rust and corrosion while stored to be sold.

I think something might have been stuck (dirt, metal shaving) honestly. She put 100 through it today with no issue minus a double feed. She finished that box, and tried a different brand the range carries.

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We did. I made sure do do it, always do. That's how I taught her to field strip it and the various parts of the firearm.

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