I recently got my first new Shield 9mm and took it out to shoot for the first time last week. The handgun itself has run flawlessly but after only 20 or so rounds the magazine failed. As the last round in the magazine was being fed into the chamber, the rim of the casing dug into the plastic magazine follower, getting hung up and thus failed to feed. There is now a large gouge in the follower where the plastic was chipped out and I am worried this may cause the problem again in the future. I am planning to use this handgun as my every day carry and this obviously concerns me. Has anyone heard of or experienced this problem before? Should I get a new factory magazine or would a steel follower solve the problem?

That's a new one for me. What ammo? Did you retrieve the case?

Post a pic.

Call S&W and replace the follower. Meanwhile a light sanding should smoothen it out.

I was using Remington UMC 115gr FMJ with brass casings. I did retrieve the case and there was nothing unusual about it in any way, no sharp edges either. I didn't think of taking a picture at the time it happened and I wont be back home until next week to get a picture of the follower.

There have been a few instances of the magazine spring failing, and I seem to remember that S&W was replacing them with a slightly different one.

At a minimum, I'd disassemble and clean the inside of the mag, and reassemble dry, without any lube.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

I have a Shield 45 that I have been breaking in to be a CCW. I noticed on my followers that there was a very close tolerance to the magazine release. This was contributing to magazine drops. One of the steps I took was to sand down the follower to be a bit looser in the magazine. Just a small fraction of an amount. I also lubed the interior of the magazine. This seemed to help considerably.

From what I could reason, it almost seemed the opposite of the spring failing from not enough pressure. It seems as though the spring in the magazine is so incredibly stiff that the pressure on the last round is what caused the casing to dig into the plastic follower. Are these magazines normally this stiff?

I have 7 mags which have sent over 8,000 rounds thru my Shield and have never seen that problem, In fact zero problems with the mags or the Shield. Could be a fluke of sorts.

I doubt it would be an issue, but we need to see pictures to make sure.

I agree.

Ques.....lotta rounds. Do you clean and lube your mags?

Break down and clean inside of mags with rubbing alcohol (91%), clean and lube springs with ballistol (very lightly) about every six months. Clean the followers with 91 % rubbing alcohol about every month.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I go the CLP route, swab but same same. Seems to really eliminate any mag problems. Light dust in the new S&W's but I have caught shrapnel in my HiPoints (new).

I have been having a similar problem with my Shield magazines. In my case I am shooting Federal HST 124 gr hollow points and the nose of the bullets catches of the front of the magazine and will not load. I have filed down the front of the magazine but still having the problem.