Brand new owner of a S&W .45 Shield. But I have a question about it. On the underside of the slide are some arched serrations. I have never seen these on a gun before. But you can feel them when you rack the slide on a loaded magazine. Are these normal or are they machine marks left over from the machining process?

Attached Images

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Rusty

They all have those marks. And they are felt.

Ok, good to know. I was afraid they were tool marks. My son has a 9mm shield, but I didn't remember his having those. Thanks for the response also.

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Rusty

Yep! They're on every one I've seen including my Shield 45. No worries and enjoy the new acquisition!

Hey...you took a pic of my gun...just kidding. Mine is exactly the same. Now that the mag springs are settled in a little bit, the drag when operating the slide is a little less noticeable.

I will be glad when my magazine springs relax. They are a bear to load.

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Rusty

Those are the double secret custom scalloping from S&W

I have the same marks on my new 45 Shield. I think they may be causing an issue with my gun. Using the 6 rnd mag, manually chambering the first round feels rough. The second less rough and the remaining rounds manually feed smoothly. In firing the gun, the slide usually locks back after firing the first manually loaded rnd. I retract the slide and manually feed #2 Then the rest of the mag. feed just fine. I am wondering if the spring in the magazine is so strong its pushing the rounds up against the scalloped part of the slide, causing enough drag for the slide to lock back rather than chamber a rnd. I have not tried this, but suspect that if I were to insert the 6 rnd mag, with a rnd already chambered, the first two in the mag will lock the slide back. When I first got the gun there were multiple problems, sent it to S&W and they replaced the slide stop. I took the mag apart and found no issues. If I ever take the 7 rnd mag apart again, I will drill a second hole in the plastic floor plate to allow me to use a punch to push down on the metal floor plate such that the rectangular notch can be pushed into place. The 7 rnd mag is a different animal.

I took a stone that will fit inside the slide over the area where those scallops are present. I gently and carefully took the sharp edges off the top of those scallops, making certain to keep the stone square with the surface. I did not want to remove the scallops, rather to just smooth them a touch. Who knows if they provide some function ... perhaps resistance? to make things work properly? I can still feel them when racking the slide with a full mag in place and with an empty chamber. I can still plainly see them in place. The gun still functions without issue. Perhaps these scallops would have been smoothed with time and firing, but I just speeded up the process a bit. I do not recommend you do this. I am just reporting what I have done and the results. I would do so again under the same circumstances.

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So long ... Ken

i just bought a new m&p shield .45 and I am having issues only when pulling the slide back to load one into the chamber. the slide scrapes the top of the round rather hard. it feels like rubbing two rocks together. pulling the slide back without loading a round, is smooth. is this just from the really stiff mag? i fired 50 rounds through it thinking that it would stop, but its still there. the gun fired flawless. it does it with both magazines.

Interesting issue. For the second time I had to return my M&P 45 Shield for premature slide lock-back problems. I received the weapon back from S&W on 12/05/16, following replacement of the slide stop. I then took it to the range and continue to have premature slide lock-back issues as follows:

1st 6 rd mag that came with the weapon: Premature lock-back on rounds one and two.

2nd new 6 rd mag: Premature lock-back on round three.

3rd new 6 rd mag: Premature lock-back on round three.

4th 7 rd mag that come with the weapon: Premature lock-back round two.

5th 6rd mag that come with the weapon: Premature lock-back on rounds three and four.

The slide lock issue occurs using both Federal FMJ 230 gr as well as Federal HST +p 230 gr ammo. I do not use reloads in my firearms. Although I am a right handed shooter, my right thumb is not hitting the slide stop and I don't think it's a limp wristing issue. I also own and shoot a Glock 30, 30S and 36 without any problems.

The Shield 45 is currently back at the factory for a second try at repair.

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Sid

wow, i bet your frustrated with smith and Wesson. i have read where a few people are having the same problem as you. this is my first experience with this brand and I'm not real happy. i own many different brands of pistols from hi point, Taurus, ruger, springfield,glock,and now smith&wesson. the only two brands ive ever had a problem with is ruger and smith.

I think you're making a lot of assumptions, without doing much research. It's like WOW, there sure is a lot of problems with these S&Ws.

In reality, the percentage of failures whether user or weapon caused is very low for the 45 Shield. I too own many different brands. More than not, I'm quite content with my S&W semi's.
I'm particularly thrilled with how well my Shield 45 shoots for accuracy and dependability. It's never failed with various brands of factory & reloads.

If you read enough reviews & posts, you'll find the positives far outweigh the negatives. Has the slide stop ever failed to stay open on the last round? A few times. Does the slide have the certain feel across a loaded mag? Yes. Has it meant a problem, no.

I just got a Shield 45 for Christmas and have put a little over 200 rounds through it so far and haven't had a single problem. I really like how it shoots and has been pretty accurate for my first time shooting it. Love it so far.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

By the way, I haven't noticed anything unusual when operating the slide, seems smooth to me.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

I can't remember ever racking the slide with an empty chamber and a full magazine, and not really sure why you would. When you start shooting, you should have already locked the slide back to check that the gun is clear. Then insert a full mag and drop the slide. After you shoot that mag, the slide should be locked back, and you insert another full magazine. So--satisfy my curiosity on what would be the situation in which you would rack the slide with an empty chamber and a full mag.

I know what you're getting at............

But, what about the movies? Every time the good/bad guy gun expert gets ready to put the weapon in serious action.........they rack the slide! Just to let the audience know they mean business! Of course, if the gun had actually been ready to use in these intense situations, the movie hero would be ejecting a round onto the floor every time. But hey, it looks & sounds like they're serious now!

As to myself, I'll go to the range quite often. The desert & indoor. Then I'll clean my guns, and put them back in the safe. More than not, I'll probably put a loaded mag back in, but not rack it. Besides, that, I like to know how the function feels mechanically. Actually, there are lots of reasons. I'm not even fully 100% into having one in the chamber 100% of the time. Too bad, tough (whatever) and all of that......when others think different, which they always do.

But.............the 45 just has those little machine marks across the bottom of the slide. I've never noticed any actual marks on the cases, when I reload. It just has that small grinding feel, which has never bugged me, since I know what it is.

I also have a 45 Sheild that's about nine months old and it has the machine markings on the center rail on the underside of the slide. I also have a 40 Shield that is about two months old and has a totally smooth slide rail, with no markings. Both pistols rack fine and have never had any reload problems or slide hangups. When new the springs on both were very stiff, so I sat and racked the slides several hundred times (probably 750+) to loosen them up and that helped. I was concerned about the markings on the 45 but I guess they are there for a reason, but I can't see why.

I carry daily. No exceptions. Every pistol is fully loaded 100% of the time, with the exception of cleaning and photo illustrations.

I clean, and then assemble the slide back on the pistol. I then load a fully loaded magazine and rack the slide to put one in the chamber, then I remove the magazine and top it off to be full with another round. Even in the safe. Even in the night stand and above my computer desk. When I get dressed and leave for work I grab one and put it in my holster. All I have to do is pull it out and squeeze the trigger if I ever had to use it for defense. No safety on the SIGs or on the S&W (which has a safety but don't use it).

Back on the slide business....

My SIG P320 45ACP does not have those machine marks. I can see no reason to have them as a design feature, so I polished them a bit with Dremel and polishing wheel. Smoother! Still functions 100%! If some engineer at Smith & Wesson came up with this idea, he doesn't get a bonus a Christmas.

SIG P320 top, then S&W bottom comparison of slides underneath.



S&W Shield shoots very well for such a short barreled pistol:

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Vern

It's a technique, like any other. Some folks learn that way, others don't. It's not a big deal.