After shooting about 150 rounds using both my 7 and 8 round magazines, I noticed that my magazine springs for both magazines were bent. I first found out when I could not get the last round into the 8 round magazine. I saw through the holes in the side that the top of the spring (the smaller part) was bent over 90 degrees. I contacted S&W and they are sending me a new spring. The next day I discovered that the same thing had happened to the 7 round magazine. I hadn't taken the mags apart until I found the problem.

I have attached a pic of the first spring.

Has anyone had this problem before? Is there a QC issue? Any recommendations for aftermarket springs that don't fail?

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<Please turn your sarcasm meter on> This is 100% user error. S&W's engineers rigorously test every aspect of every component and 1000's of hours go into design and 1000's more hours are spent on even more rigorous testing. They are more infallible than God almighty and the only conclusion is that you did something wrong. As we all know, engineers have the last word in everything in today's corporate world so there's not even a smidgen of suspicion that other things may have come into play in the quality or manufacture of this mass-produced product. The fact that you got 2 in a row is absolutely coincidental and don't even think about playing the lottery.<You may now turn your sarcasm meter off>

Seem to be seeing this issue more often as of late. Some failures on new mags, others after several hundred rounds. S&W really needs to get on this. I have Magguts in my carry magazines but use factory mags for training classes where I need extras. I haven't had a failure but this certainly does not inspire confidence.

Deja vu, why does it looK like the picture a legit user (Rastoff?) posted?
Making fun of him or troll or?

The two pics show a spring with the same exact failure but they are against different backgrounds. Each mag spring failure pic I've seen have looked just like the two concerned.

I only see 1 picture

I can see these 2 pictures, but post 1 still only has 1 pic. Those springs look identical (except for the wood they're lying on). If those are 2 different springs, and there are more like that, I'm thinking there is a problem with the tempering process. Maybe the point where they both bent and stayed bent was where they were hung while being dunked in the liquid salt bath and didn't get tempered at that point.

This happened to me as well...looked the same...unfortunately I thought it was a fluke so I threw out the spring

With as many Shield pistols as there are running around, looks like a great opportunity for someone in the aftermarket magazine/parts business like McCormick or Tripp. If either of them were to offer a better quality spring/baseplate kit, I'd be all over it....with cash money, too.

Registered to say the same thing is happening to me as well.

Have 2x 8rd and 1x 7rd magazine. All 3 have the collapsing springs.

Contacted SW and they are sending new springs (back ordered) when they get it in-stock (could be up to 4 weeks).

My shield was manufactured 04/16 (very recent) and it is ridiculous how a firearm used for defense could have such a problem. The shield can only fire a few rounds before the ammo is jammed due to the garbage springs.

Now I need to get a more reliable firearm to use. After the new springs come in, this shield is getting sold. Smith and Wesson really need to fix or get a new supplier for their magazine springs. I've lost all trust for Smith and Wesson shield. What good is a firearm if it can't consistently supply ammo?

EDIT: Those with Shields, for your own safety, please disassemble/check your magazine and ensure that the springs are not collapsing.

Hmm did you guys get new springs?

The spring winding transitions from large to small in the region these are bending. In my opinion, there is lack of spring temper in that region and instead of springing back after compression, it’s taking a “set” or bending beyond the elastic limit. The backlog of people waiting on springs and the lead time to get replacements may point to the “known issue” and the number of claims in process, as well as pending.

https://www.gunsprings.com/index.php...D=440&pID=1008

The spring in my 7 round mag looked like that. I checked it after I could only get 6 rounds in it even with an Uplula. I ordered some new ones from Wolff. Thanks for the link Bonephish.

Now I kind of want to get the mag guts kit because it has different springs

Here's another one (different pic so no trolling here. lol). Just purchased my Shield 9mm a week ago and had this issue after running the 7 round mag through 3-4 cycles.

Started doing a google search to see if anyone else experienced this and came across this thread so I decided to register and post. S&W has a couple new springs heading my way. Lets hope they last just a bit longer.

[IMG][/IMG]

has anyone actually received replacement springs from the mothership yet?

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JAREDSHS
LEO(retired)

I'm assuming they are in stock, as the nice lady with CS told me I should receive the springs in 7-10 days....

Similar problem here with the new shield. Hard to get excited about receiving more of the same from S&W.

Anyone have long-term experience with maggut or Wolff springs?

I've got the Magguts in both the 7 and 8 round magazines and haven't had any issue through a couple of hundred rounds. Aint cheap but the extra round doesn't hurt. If you do the +1 that means you can carry 9 rounds for the 7 round mag and 10 for the 8 (one in the chamber plus full mag)

I'm sure they just got a bad batch of "spring" steel, it happens in manufacturing. I popped that bent spring back into place, clipped 2 coils off and tried to reload it and it still folded over. That spring has barley any spring to it whatsoever. It can be bent and twisted almost as easily as regular steel and clipped with side cuts like it was aluminum.

The good thing is I'm up to 325 rounds without a FTF or FTE and the 8 round mag (spring) has been fine. I'm still surprised the thing functioned fine with that spring in the 7 rounder, besides not locking the slide back.

Now if they'd just get me the replacement springs they're suppose to be sending.....

So I received my new springs of Friday, I put the spring that had been functioning fine in the 8 round mag (for 300 hundred rounds) in the 7 round mag and put one of the new springs in the 8 round mag. On the 3rd reload of the 7 round mag the spring that had been functioning fine is now folded over into itself.

So opinions on what the hell is going on....Do I have a problem with the 7 round mag (bad follower, burr inside the housing) or is there just this many defective Shield mag springs? I have not tested the 8 round mag yet with one of the new springs that arrived Friday, other than having it sit fully loaded. Not sure I want to take a chance and ruin the last good spring putting another one in the 7 round mag until I have a chance to talk to S&W, in the morning. Wondering if there is not something else going on here....


[IMG][/IMG]

Ok, so just got off the phone with CS and was told, they have/had some "issues" with the Shield springs. I said is this a heat treat issue with just a certain run of them that falls into a specific time frame or a design "issue" that has been going on since the Shield came out? He says I'm not sure, all I know is the engineers have redesigned some things and I have the newest of the new springs, that I received on Friday 9/9. I said what's new they look identical to the old springs (when not collapsed) the heat treating process? He said he doesn't know for sure what is different, "just engineering things, that engineers do" "I've been a gun guy for 40 years" he says, well me too, I feel way better now!!!

He says keep testing them (lol) if I continue to have more issues with the "newest of the new" design and I feel this may be more than just a spring issue (which I don't believe he thinks is the case) they would need me to send the mag/mags in for evaluating so there you have it.

Sorry, to vent/whine but I wanted to relay what info and experience I've had with this spring issue for others to compare who may be having the same problems. I think, if these springs collapse too I'm just going to head on over to Wolff and buy some of their springs (that have never let me down) and call it a day....In the meantime (I'll just re-holster the trusty Beretta 84) until I can "test" these little/minor annoyances (collapsing mag springs) some more....

Here is what one of mine did.

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hope they replaced for free....if they did i should read better lol

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Apex spring & trigger kit

Interesting thread. I purchased my Shield a couple of months ago. I realize this is an older thread, but I'll keep an eye on my mag springs. I purchased 3 magazines this month from Brownells, all 8 rounders. I'll keep and eye on those as well. The Brownells mags do not seem to have a manufacturing date.

All of this sounds like a manufacturing problem, bad batch, wrong heat treatment, etc. All seem to be bending or deforming at the same point. As an ex-manufacturing Foreman, it happens. From what I've read, S&W is working the problem. Hopefully no one gets hurt.

Shoot Straight, and hit your target, :-)

I had a bent spring in a 7 rd mag but assumed it was reinstalled backwards after cleaning, ordered a pack of 3 from Wolff

I registered to post my picture of my bent spring as well. Just bought my first s&w about a week ago. Put about 40 rounds through it and the 7 round magazine has a bent spring. I hope they send me about 10 new springs based on what I'm reading.

I don't see how this isn't a bigger issue since this is basically a carry gun with limited rounds. There couldn't be anything worse than a carry gun magazine failing after a round or two. You'd be no worse off with a brick at that point.

Update: S&W sent me a new spring no questions asked in less then a week. I'm glad for the quick service and will see how this one turns out.

Had same issue. Hate this

I also had this happen

Wow, this sucks, still waiting on my shield to get out of the warehouse. It sucks worse that the magguts kits cost about 2x what the mags themselves cost...

Knock on wood, I have 7 8-round mags and 1 7-round mag. No spring issues on any of them. (knock on wood again).

This is a terrible problem. I have 11 mags. Checked them all and then checked them again. Thought I had found just 2. However after re-checking one of my carry mags I found an additional spring that is bent. The problem as I see it is these can fail anytime. I have since ordered Wolf springs to replace all of my springs, the thought of having a spring failure on one of my gun magazines sucks. S&W should be warning all of its customers and issuing a recall. I have many M&P guns and think that S&W has really dropped the ball on this one. Makes me question my loyalty. I am pissed that I had to go to the forum to find this problem.

As an Engineer I have to state that this is CLEARLY a design flaw. If you look at the variety of pics posted almost every one has 5 coils above the failure. When a failure is that consistent it is ALWAYS a defect in the Design, not the steel and not the user. IMO S&W should be putting the transition area higher up and possible doing a tapered transition. With the CnC Spring winding equipment now very common changing the "wind" of the spring is a simple matter of writing a new program. For those with the current design springs I would suggest trying one less round in the magazine or trying some aftermarket springs.

Hi all. I have been a Glock guy my whole life and just recently picked-up a new Shield in 9mm. What a fantastic carry gun! However, I did have the same mag spring problem as several of you have had.

After my second range session I took the 7 round mag apart and cleaned it. When I reloaded it, it would only take 5 rounds and felt "funny" while reloading. I took it apart again and the spring was severely bent at the small coil/big coil junction. I did some research on the web and there were several other Shield owners who encountered the exact same problem. S&W told them it was a batch of bad spring and sent them a new spring.

I also contacted S&W customer service regarding my mag spring and they also told me it was a batch of bad springs. They sent me 2 new springs. The replacement springs are the same coil shape as the defective springs, but they are a little different in color. They are more grayish, while the defective springs were more copperish in color. I put them in my 7 and 8 round mags and loaded/unloaded them several times at home. No problems. I then took them to the range and put 50 rounds of my carry ammo and 50 rounds of target ammo through them. Again, no problems.

Kudos to S&W customer service for getting my the replacement springs so quickly, but was S&W was correct about a bad batch of mag springs, or are they hiding a design problem with the springs?


Regards,
Frank A.

This is not very confidence inspiring. I am going to pull all four of my magazines apart and inspect the springs. If any are defective, I'll contact S&W and request replacement springs.

I already had one warranty issue before I even had a chance to fire my Shield 9mm. If I have to replace any defective springs, the Shield is going up for sale.

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Train to win

Can't argue the point about a design flaw. The bend comes where the narrower section of spring would be pushed into the wider section if too much compression on the spring were attempted. Makes sense that the 7 round mag would have a lot more occurrences than the 8 round, especially since they use the exact same spring between the two. Mag Guts had been using a two piece spring with a connecting cup to join them. No way they would have an issue of bending the same way. I just received my 7 round replacement spring from S&W in a bag labeled 8 round spring. I cut two winds off the bottom to allow for the difference in magazine size. I'll likely buy the new Mag Guts +2 kit.

Just so you know. The spring for the 7 rounds and the 8 round mag are the same. No need to cut any length of the bottom.

QUOTE=AlanWR;139435080]Can't argue the point about a design flaw. The bend comes where the narrower section of spring would be pushed into the wider section if too much compression on the spring were attempted. Makes sense that the 7 round mag would have a lot more occurrences than the 8 round, especially since they use the exact same spring between the two. Mag Guts had been using a two piece spring with a connecting cup to join them. No way they would have an issue of bending the same way. I just received my 7 round replacement spring from S&W in a bag labeled 8 round spring. I cut two winds off the bottom to allow for the difference in magazine size. I'll likely buy the new Mag Guts +2 kit.[/QUOTE]

This same magazine issue just happened to me with my 9mm Shield 7 rnd magazine, the firearm is maybe 3 months old and bought brand new. The smaller spring towards the top was bent completely down into the bigger part of the spring just like in all of the above photos of others springs. I was carrying the damn gun like that, it would have malfunctioned if I have had to use it god forbid, I only noticed due to I was switching firearms to carry and was unloading and cleaning the Shield 9mm up to put it away and noticed the rounds felt weird unloading and the last round didn't come to the top of the mag. I looked at my 8 rnd mags and they look fine as of now, but I don't really trust them at all now. I called S&W and they are sending me new springs for free for 5 magazines. But I still went and bought some new Wolff Gunsprings for the Shield 9mm, they should be high quality springs and perform perfectly and not bend hopefully!
www.gunsprings.com #78983 S&W M&P SHIELD 9mm 7 & 8 Rnd MAGAZINE SPRING PK/3 $17.29

I had this happen to my .380 Bodyguard. I wonder if it's caused by inadvertently trying to overload it? I just straightened out the spring and it's fine now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I straightened my spring out as well to see if it would work and it did work fine for a bit, I loaded 5 rounds of snap caps in it 4-5 times and cycled them through 4-5 times and the spring was bent again and it started to fail to feed obviously. Once it bends like that its not safe to use anymore.

DO NOT USE THIS SPRING FOR CARRY. This spring will fail again.

Been using it for a year. Anything can fail at any time.


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That is true. I would not risk it other than a range magazine but to each his own

I have been following the spring issue for a while now. There were reports as early as 2012 on the net for this issue although it seems to be coming up more now. I have two 2016 shield with those grayish color springs and a 2016 newer PC shield with mag springs that are more gold in color. I have loaded and unloaded all of them to capacity > 10 times and used them as well and nothing failed yet. Some of the pictures I see of bent springs indeed appear to be of what I think are the grayish color springs failing so I'm not sure if color is enough to tell between good/bad springs.

Anyone ever put a spring in backwards and see if it bends? Maybe an assembler put a few in backwards.....
I tried to put a spring in backwards and it still worked.

Basically when these mags are loaded to capacity the skinny part of the spring coils dips below into the void of the larger coils. This puts a pile of stress on the spring at the size transition.

I just returned from the range to break in my second 9mm Shield. This gun was purchased in July 2016 new. When loading the 7 round mag I could not get the 7th round in. Pulled the mag apart and found the same exact issue described here. Same exact place on the spring. The 8 round mag is also starting to bend out of shape. I have two Shields and a total of five mags. None of the older mags (one 8 and two 7 round) have this issue...yet. Looks like I will also be contacting S&W for replacement springs. I may also look into the aftermarket springs. Im not sure I want to trust the replacements S&W sends me at this point. Too many people on this thread reporting the problem to make me feel very confident in their springs now.
Update 5/9/17: I just spoke with CS and they will be shipping me two springs. The rep indicated that Smith is aware of the problem but he did not know if the springs coming my way are re-designed. I think I'm going to order a few springs from Wolff and compare them when the new Smith springs arrive.

New member here. Joined for this issue. I noticed my 7 round mag was only holding 6 rounds right after I installed my pearce grip extension so I took it apart and lo' and behold I had a spring bent at a 90 deg. angle. Ugh... So I contacted S&W and they said they would send one out to me. I have been carrying the 8 round mag but I like the 7 better so I thought... Why not switch the spring from the 8 and put it into the 7, they are the same size right? Well I swapped the spring into the other mag and boom, bent spring. Am I installing them backwards or did I really just get that unlucky that I have 2 bad springs. Any chance someone could show me how their springs are inserted? I know its smaller coils toward the top but orientation front to back? I am almost positive I put them in the way they came from the factory but after 2 going bad after I took the mag apart I am beginning to question myself... Oh and the gun is like 2 weeks old...

Not sure that the grip extension makes a difference, but I would not ever assume that two different capacity mags would have the same spring. When something is broken, I don't mess with what still works, lest I wind up without altogether.

Something I do as habit when disassembling something I've never messed with before - take a picture / pictures as it comes apart. My memory is useless when I try to put things back together.

Look at page 31 of the manual. Bottom end of spring is a loop, oriented to the rear of the mag. upper end is a tighter loop that sits under the forward side of the mag.

https://snwcdnprod.azureedge.net/sit...310000_web.pdf