Bought a new 9mm Shield on 12/16, put 95 rounds through it the next day and had 8-10 occurrences of the slide being stuck locked back. Took it back to the LGS on 12/19 and thought they were sending it back to Smith, but all they did was RMA a new guide rod and recoil spring. Took until 1/25 to get it back. Cleaned, lubed and took it to the range tonight. 276 rounds later, 7 more lock backs and 3 or 4 times when I could feel the gun "jerk" on recoil - which I assume was the slide initially sticking back but then releasing. The barrel is definitely locked against the slide during the failure, as there is no barrel play. A light tap of the barrel on the bench or a light rap to the back of the slide... or even a few times just dropping the mag and waiting... and the slide will go into battery. No F2F, F2E, misfires, etc. - just the slide locking back.

The other thing I noticed, was with either mag fully loaded or even 1 round short of full and the slide forward, the mag stops with about 1/4" left before fully seated. Takes a couple good raps to get it to fully engage and seat. With 2 or more rounds less than fully capacity, no issues at all. It is also a chore to get the last round into the 7-round magazine, and almost as tough to load the last round in the 8-round magazine.

Guess I'll try another couple hundred rounds before calling Smith, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it will be the barrel lug tolerance as I've seen in another thread. This time (if it continues to fail)... I'll definitely go straight to Smith and skip the LGS.

The only upside is I do have a backup in case I have to wait for another repair. The funny thing is, the backup is a Walther CCP which is supposed to be very problematic and ammo sensitive, but I've had only a handful of F2E or F2F issues in almost 1500 rounds.

Sorry to hear about your problem, but thanks for posting it. There seem to be a flurry of RSA/stuck slide threads lately.

Good luck.

I would call S&W.

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Freedom isn't free.

Is it locking back without slide release engaged?. If so that's your rsa. If not it's your grip as your thumb is pushing up on it.

Get em to fix it quick. you are losing out on too much fun.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

Com45acp... yes, it's locking back without the slide release engaged. It locks back while firing and it won't go back any further (I've tried, mistakenly thinking I could slingshot it back into battery)... and the barrel has no play/wiggle - unlike when locked back with the slide release engaged where the barrel moves slightly. A light top of the exposed muzzle on the firing range bench, or a nudge on the back of the slide (or sometimes neither)... and the slide will "release" and go into batter from the RSA tension. The RSA has already been replaced once (during the first episode), can it be that I've gotten 2 bad ones in a row?

It's possible. My new pc shield was doing this. Not while shooting but when I would manually work the slide. Took a month but just received my new rsa from S&W. my guess is if factory new rsa was defective then very possible to get another bad one as they come from same supplier.

"The other thing I noticed, was with either mag fully loaded or even 1 round short of full and the slide forward, the mag stops with about 1/4" left before fully seated. Takes a couple good raps to get it to fully engage and seat. With 2 or more rounds less than fully capacity, no issues at all. It is also a chore to get the last round into the 7-round magazine, and almost as tough to load the last round in the 8-round magazine."


This is NOT a defect in the gun. When you load on a closed slide, you have to compress another 1/2 cartridge against a full mag to get the magazine locked in. Load with an open slide and there is no problem. By the way, this is the correct manual of arms for a semi-auto.


Suggest you disassemble, clean, dry, and reassemble your magazines (I use CRC silicone spray). The get an UpLula loader for you magazines. Load your magazines full and store them that way to "break in" the springs. They will be more user friendly.


Contact S&W for a new RSA to fix your slide problem.

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Science plus Art

Just humor me. Disassemble your magazines and make sure the magazine springs are not bent or kinked.

My .45 Shield acted that way, SW replaced the locking block and barrel and now it's running flawlessly.

OKFCO5 - thanks for the info. Yes, the magazine seats without issue with the slide back. Since most mags are loaded into the weapon with the slide back, the only time I'll probably really need to load with the slide forward is when I'm carrying a full mag with one in the chamber. It just seemed odd. My Uplula should be here tomorrow. I'll load them up and leave them.

M29 - I'll disassemble the magazines after today's range trip.

Thanks Bonephish... today's range trip will determine if I call Smith tomorrow.

Well... I didn't make it to the range, but did call CS this morning and am sending it back for repair. I did, however, disassemble the magazines and the springs are fine.

Fire it until it locks back again, then send it to S&W locked back so they can see and analyze the problem.

If I could be certain it would stay locked back - that would be a good thing to do. However, sometimes just dropping the magazine and waiting a couple seconds - the slide would go back into battery. I'm hopeful S&W will be able to figure it out.

Just got the Shield back from S&W. Nothing checked for parts on the repair form. Called and was told they did some work on the slide, not sure exactly what, but probably some machining, cleanup, tolerances, ??? So... as soon as I can find time it's back to range to see if the problem is really resolved.

They do not check off the boxes on the form. Not sure why they are even there.
Should be a one or two line description of work done.

Mine required a replacement barrel before the out-of battery issue was resolved.

...S&W is a revolver company...

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A Country Boy Can Survive

IMH experience the slide lock back is a common occurrence with new out of the box Shields in 9 mm. I have found the solution is to get some hot hardball ammo and shoot with the slide/barrel totally dry (without lube). Each time the slide is held to the rear by some interference someplace or another just tap it forward and continue shooting. The slide will stop locking back after enough shots. This event has occurred on about 50% of the new 9mm Shields that I have shot or seen shot on the range. Then start lubing the slide/barrel assembly. This is really no big deal if handled on the range. ...

Big Cholla - how many rounds does it seem to take to clear it up? Curious, as I'd hate to think it had stopped happening, only to have it happen in a self-defense situation. I've put just over 350 rounds through it - before getting it fixed by S&W.

FYI - it looks like they did some machining on the barrel, on the outside front side edges of the chamber area as well as possibly some light machining inside the front of the slide where the barrel rides. With the machining on the barrel, the black has obviously been removed. Any concerns with that area being more prone to corrosion?

If the inference is that S&W has not built autos for decades (false) and doesn't know how to design, build or fix them . . . that's ignorance.

The probable answer to the slide locking back problem is detailed here:

New 9mm M&P Shield - slide getting jammed back.

Is this issue on the standard Shield only? I have a Performance Center Shield and so far have not had this issue.

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Max
USCG Ret.

IMHO, Take the slide off the frame, take the barrel out and clean everything with some sort of solvent. Put it back together and go shoot another 100 rounds thru it. If it jambs back even once start over on the round count at the point of the jamb. If all this bothers you, call S&W and send it back. Don't clean it. An experienced pistolsmith can 'see' lots of things from the rub marks left on surfaces by preserving the evidence. .... Only after you get a minimum of 100 rounds down range with no jambs should you start cleaning and lubing.

As long as you regularly clean and lube the internals of the slide there is no worries about corrosion in those machined areas. .....

Consider all this shooting 'practice'. And, try to practice perfectly while ignoring the anticipation of the next lock back. I have been simply hitting the top of my leg to send the slide forward all the while maintaining muzzle direction control. ............

Despite many reports on the 'net, relatively few guns experience this problem. I believe PC guns have also experienced this problem, but not with the frequency of standard guns. It's hard for us to know the real numbers.

If you don't have a problem, you don't have a problem.