I have a weird issue with my second shield. It's not a BIG issue so far, but still strange. this particular shield seems to to want to "stick" when taking off the slide. I pull back on the slide and lock it back, flip the take down lever down and drop the sear lever. Then release and it kind of "sticks" just barely 1/8th of an inch forward of the frame and I have to use just a little bit of force to get it off. It's not like I'm forcing it off with a hammer or anything, but it meets some resistance and won't move forward unless I kind of push it hard forward.

now, My OTHER shield is only a few weeks older than this one, and it comes off like butter. same procedure and the slide pretty much falls off as it goes forward. At first I thought it was something to do with the RSA so I swapped that out. Then I wondered if the slide was causing the problem, swapped slides and the "bad" one was perfect on the older shield.

First thing I would check is see if the slide is rubbing on the top of the barrel, as I have seen cause odd resistance.

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Science plus Art

Check your frame guides for any burrs or obvious wear that looks different from the other frame. It could be something as simple as a small burr that got overlooked during the final inspection.

in progress

I'm guessing frame and barrel tolerances. I swapped barrels and suddenly it magically went away. The bad barrel in the working shield was strangely perfect as could be. it came off like butter. The good barrel in the bad gun worked like butter as well. HOWEVER, put that barrel back into the bad frame and suddenly it's sticking again. Meaning it's some tolerance stacking with that particular barrel in that particular frame.

I also noticed that in the "bad" frame the take down lever doesn't lock firmly into place like the good one does. it can move around without resistance

so rundown of analysis

Good gun, with good barrel works with good frame (my older one that I got a couple months ago)

bad gun, with the barrel it came with sticks coming off the bad frame (this newer problematic one)

swap barrels or swap slides with barrel, both guns seem to work fine

put that "bad" gun's barrel into either slide and mate it with the "bad" frame and suddenly it takes some solid force to get it off.

however, the good barrel will work on either frame, with either slide. so it looks like the way that particular barrel is tolerance stacking with that particular frame. also the take down lever on the "bad" frame flops around with no tension

should I just take it to the range and give it a run hoping it "wears in" or just send it back to S&W? (strangely it feels a little bit easier to take off after so many assembly/disassembly testing.)

Check the small cutout under the barrels where the recoil spring assembly plunger sits to see if they are the same depth.

When re-assembling, be sure to "dead center" the recoil spring assembly in the barrel cutout; lock back the slide a couple of times to seat it; then, flip the takedown lever up. Rack the slide and lock it back again to be sure it's working properly.

Note: The takedown lever is held in the horizontal position by the recoil spring assembly. It should not flop around when assembled properly.

Then, shoot it. Best Regards.

Put 500 rounds through it if the problem is still there send it back.

by flop around I meant when the slide was OFFF. my other shield feels like there's tension in "down" position while this one moves freely. when assembled both are rock solid.

and as for the recoil spring height. it MAY be different and seating differently, I don't have calipers to check though, it seems to be fitting "snugly" and causing the friction right at the point where the recoil spring fits into the frame cutout, so there could very well be some veracity to that (or more likely, it's the barrel lugs locking into the frame as they're distinct wear on the frame there, even more than on the other gun that's been shot a few hundred times, which would make sense if the barrel lugs were slightly different and the other barrel wasn't, which would explain a lot)


and yeah, the more I think about it the more I'm going to put some rounds down range first to see if it mates better with some wear.

took it to the range today, fired 140 rounds of mixed SD and FMJ ammo and nary a peep. the dissassembly seems to be smoother too. it still sticks a little bit, but it seems to have lessened with use. I'll give it a couple more range trips like this to bring it up to 400-500 rounds and see if it gets any better. stinking tack driver at 10 yards though.

When I take my Shield down, I used to push the yellow lever down. But, I think it is much easier to just pull the trigger.

well, I went and blew through 300+ rounds today with my buddies (I let him shoot the **** out of it as well) and it's STILL binding. talked to Nate at S&W and he confirmed what I was suspicious of. the barrel lugs are probably out of spec and wearing at the lockup point. Sent me a pre-paid label and it's back to the mother ship ...

took a month and a half, but I got my shield back. They replaced the barrel lug mounting block (or whatever it's called" and the gun dissassembles like butter. I'll of course test fire it to make sure nothing else is wrong after that change, but feels great now.

Always good to hear about positive warranty experiences when I have so many S&W products!

Glad its working better now.