Look thru the entire thread there's plenty of detailed pics.

Posts #32 and 35 show exactly what you need to look at.

Then.... on Posts 40 & 42 I show you a before and after picture once I seated the spring.

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I just checked mine... and it is fine.

It looks to me like the slide and/or the frame on mine will hold the spring in place laterally. It also looks to me like this spring could only work its way out to the left if the slide were off the gun and there is a gap between the frame and the firing block -- which there is not on my relatively new Shield.

• Can this problem occur when the gun is in operation? Does anyone have an example of a stoppage of the pistol while it is being fired because of this problem?

• Is there any evidence that the side of this small spring can impinge upon the slide enough to make it cause the pistol to not cycle?

So what we may have is a problem that affects a certain number of Shields during disassembly and re-assembly and should be detected and mitigated during routine inspection, cleaning, and maintenance of the pistol -- not something that affects firing of the pistol or makes it unreliable as a self-defense weapon.

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S&W Rover

If you had read this entire thread and Googled you'd have seen that there are examples of failures during firing. I pointed out that my friend's new 9mm Shield (dated June, 2017) had failed during firing after approximately 300 rounds. The spring had popped completely out of its groove and caused stovepipes and failures to return to battery because it was "impinging" on the slide sufficiently to restrict its movement. So, it isn't just a problem affecting disassembly but, in fact, is a problem "that affects firing of the pistol or makes it unreliable as a self-defense weapon."

This is not just some minor problem that may cause disassembly difficulty as you have stated.

The recent Saga of the Sig P320 -- where a renowned gun expert stated that the problem could not happen, although it was subsequently proven that it did happen -- should be warning enough for anyone who says something "can't happen." What I am saying is that on mine, there is no room between the block and the frame for the spring to escape and pop up. So I am asking -- not how many people have had FTFs or FTEs, which can have many causes -- but how many people have had the spring pop out during firing and cause the gun to become inoperable?

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S&W Rover

I understand what you are asking but, you must realize that failures during firing, as in my example above, are seldom diagnosed accurately at the range. It's only later, when the gun is broken down and examined carefully that a cause may be identified. In my example, as in other related examples, when the shooter goes to disassemble his Shield, which popped its slide lock spring, and he can't remove the slide because the spring prevents it (a rather common occurrence), it's at that point that he realizes that the failures to eject or feed properly were most likely the result of the slide lock spring impinging on the slide, causing the malfunctions. Especially since the Shield functioned flawlessly before the spring popped and also functioned flawlessly after the spring was properly reseated and/or repaired.
The important issue is not how many malfunctions have occurred and have been reported as having been caused by the popped spring but, that it HAS happened and can happen DURING FIRING.
Is the Shield undependable and unsuitable for personal defensive carry?
In my opinion and personal experience, a properly seated slide lock spring does not discourage me from carrying my Shield, based on the fact that it is reliable in all other aspects of operation.

lol, it's not a "common occurrence". there's a VERY small handful of people that have had spring related slide issues.

The Mag spring issue is 10X Worse!

And we know this how?

if it was common forums would be flooded with them. like everything it's a matter of percentages and probabilities and right now there have been a small handful of reports. Every gun has some problem somewhere with a certain percentage of the product total.

I'm not saying your wrong, your probably right, however, basing the percentage of failures/issues on how many complaints on a forum is pure speculation. Of the several million Shields in use how many owners of those Shields do you think actually participate on forums, a small percentage I would guess. Forums are not everyone's forte.



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If U do a Goggle search on the Shield mag Spring issue U will find pages on this issue going back to the Shield introduction and S&W cant/wont fix it!

true, but a forum is like a poll. you take a subsection of the market and apply the failure to not failure rate and just multiply the number on here to equal the number in the total market. It's a strong indicator as a decent guesstimate, otherwise we would just say it's a "I don't know!" situation and we could let our imaginations run wild.
I'm not bashing the OP... it's a handy little trick and something to keep an eye out for in random maintenance, but the title is a BIT click baity that makes it sound like "if you don't do this one thing your shield WILL fail!!!!!". If we see a ***** load of posts start to come in that say the same thing and find out it's the spring, then I'd worry. Otherwise I'd just keep it as "heh, I'll glance down there and see how it's doing just in case some times" scenario

and if I google "brass to the face", "gun exploding", etc etc you can find pages on it too. The spring failure is not that common, but it is more common than some of the others, I'll give you that. but if you look at the VAAAAAAAAAAAAST majority that post online, you won't see it. Remember the "RSA failures!!!" from a few years back? It was mostly just a couple of failures that people parroted until they created a panic and there was a run on RSAs for shields because of that. or a couple people who used reloaded ammo started posting pics of "blown up shields" and suddenly everyone on here started worrying about their shield blowing up from firing out of battery. It happens, but is usually fairly rare and far between when you see the vast majority of posts.

if people are super paranoid about their springs, just replace your carry mags with wolf springs for peace of mind. I can't tell you the number of OEM springs I've replaced in various guns over the years because the mfger used cheaper mass produced, low cost springs. I buy Rock Island 1911s due to them being a magnificent value for what they are. However, RIA guns are also known to have weak recoil and and firing pin springs. So whenever I pick one up, the first thing I do is change out those two springs. The same thing for N-Pap and WASR 10 AK's.. their OEM recoil springs are garbage, so I change them out for an comblock surplus spring or an ALG ACT extra power spring the minute I buy them. Same can be said for a myriad of other guns and magazines (ACT 1911 mags are usually undersprung too. )

I replaced all my Shield mag springs with Wolff and have enough o also change the springs in Rebate mags!

We've seen a couple threads started where someone's spring came out and failure incurred. IN THIS particular thread we've had several people report that the spring was not fully seated (I was one of those) but we're not having issues. So far the OP was the only one who reported a failure.

So.. in my own case, I fully seated the spring and I'm moving on. If I find it repeatedly starting to loosen or come out I will send it in to S&W.


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OP’s follow up post. (#8)

From 2014-2016 I've used my M&P shield 9 in local IDPA matches and have well over 9k rounds fired thru it. I've never had a single issue with the pistol nor have I heard of such a issue. All I've done was replace the RSA & mag springs and cleaned it after every shoot.

Hey, Worm Raper (name brings up a really nice visual), please re-read what I posted:

"In my example, as in other related examples, when the shooter goes to disassemble his Shield, which popped its slide lock spring, and he can't remove the slide because the spring prevents it (a rather common occurrence), it's at that point that he realizes that the failures to eject or feed properly were most likely the result of the slide lock spring impinging on the slide, causing the malfunctions."

The translation for the reading-challenged is: when the spring pops, it is a common occurrence for the spring to prevent slide removal.

I apologize for writing so clearly and, thereby, causing some to be confused.

In summary, I'm done with this thread. It's not my thread, it's the forum's thread.
I had hoped it would be a contribution to all Shield owners to perform a very simple fix to prevent a possible serious future failure.
Sorry to have offended the S&W Kool-Aid drinkers; the word-parsers; the politically-correct thread critics; the reading-challenged; and the I-never-had-a-problem-with-mine denial crowd.
I sincerely do hope that no Shield owner has to contend with a popped slide lock spring problem.
Best Regards!

Posts on a forum have no statistical predictability whatsoever. There is no base control. Posts are skewed toward problems by the very nature of people seeking help. The number of people posting on a particular problem, even in multiple threads over time, compared to the total number of units in the market is infinitesimally small.

I enjoy gun forums for identification of potential problems and their suggested fixes. I allot very little significance to the quality of a gun based on the opinions and experiences of a very few, often unqualified, people. Much of the time the problems are not described accurately, and often they are caused by ignorance or operator error. Such information is completely unscientific and uncontrolled. I still use it, but with a shaker of salt sitting next to my work.

In this case, NoN posted a helpful maintenance tip that relates to a small percentage of the total number of Shields sold, with a significantly smaller percentage of units actually experiencing a functional problem caused because of the slide lock lever return spring. As I posted before, I believe this is good info explained in an OVERLY DRAMATIC FASHION !!! (See what I did there?)

Just checked both mine:

-Manufactured 04-04-2017, 430 rounds, Spring not fully seated but not showing signs of rubbing against slide. Seated spring flush.

-Manufactured 05-02-2017, 430 rounds, Spring seated fully.

I for one am extremely happy with this thread. My spring was out and a bit shined up. I popped it back in...have since fired off several hundred rounds and no issues. My shield is a keeper...especially since my wife put one dead nuts bullseye this afternoon.......her first outing with the shield......in fact her first real range day.

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Seems like some people got overly passionate over this thread. This something that is good to know when cleaning your gun. I have a 45 Shield so I don't know if I would have this problem (as the OP made reference to many posts ago), but since I clean my pistol after every range visit I'll start checking for it.

just checked my Shield.
Spring was not fully seated but didn't show any signs of wear.
Was able to seat using instructions in this thread.
Haven't shot it yet, but will keep an eye on it after every range session.

Anyone who did find the spring loose-- was the Shield relatively new?

I had issues with my PC Shield early on and this spring was likely the culprit. 900 rounds later I have never had to press it back into place again.

My first Shield never had this issue.

Just wondering if it was a matter of it not being seated correctly as it left the factory.

I think some people interpreted "Fix your Shield before it fails" as the OP saying "The Shield is a ****** gun that will give you problems." I don't know if it was S&W fanboyism or general crankiness that took it down that path. However, I found the post to be helpful and informative. I had wondering about that spring for a while.

thanks for starting this PSA and taking all the debates this thread with stride . in the grand scheme of things, being aware and checking, punching back in the spring is cheap insurance and at the most 10 minutes of out one's day. clickbait title or not, if the title was worded any other way, i would have moved on to something else. there are forums members that spent more time shedding unicorn tears on word semantics than it takes for any person to check their spring, i wish i was so fortunate. but that's what makes this forum so good, everyone contributes lol

i just checked my 2/17/17 build date with approximately 500 rounds through, it was halfway out and wearing slight silver on the side (tip) facing the grip.

NN, thanks for this post! I will check-out my friend's to see if it is prone to this. I posted a few months back on keeping up with cleaning/lube of the mag release button. RUST caused his to become sticky, and failing to keep a mag securely in place.

I checked mine the other night before I had an account on the forum. I've had it probably close to 2 years, and it's got probably close to 1000 rounds through it -- spring was seated fully and showed no wear.

I'll keep watching it though, good thing to watch out for. Thanks

It's a very small sample, but I am leaning towards that the problem is only on recent/new Shields. Doesn't hurt to keep an eye on it, but to me it seems the issue is from it not being fully seated from the factory.

I know that this is an older thread but just today I was trying to do a field strip on my relatively new 9mm Shield and could not remove the slide - did a search and this thread popped up - my spring was not broken and I used a punch to tap it flush as suggested. I have about 450 rounds through it - thanks for all the information. Definitely have to keep an eye on it from now on.

__________________
Lou

Both my brother & I bought 9mm Shields in August this year & have both had this spring pop out enough that we couldn't remove the slide. It happened to me twice and him once. From reading all the posts, it certainly does seem to be a familiar problem with the more recent builds. My spring shows quite a lot of wear and will be sending it back for repair.

I'm right there with you on this!

Above the takedown lever as shown in post #16.

Look at post #42. Spring isn't probably the best terminology. Don't look for a cylindrical coil. That might be what is confusing you.

I have approximately 500 rounds through mine and just checked mine after reading through this thread. Mine is in place, no issue.


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Well I just had to check my Shield that I've had over two years now with probably 2,000 rounds through it. No problem found. At first I couldn't see the spring your talking about until I wiped the film of oil off of the area. Mine is flush,

Hi Point? LOL!

QUOTE=Telecaster;139791676]1000 perfect rounds through my 9mm Shield. I guess I should throw it in the trash and buy a Glock before it’s too late.

Or maybe I’ll trade it for a Keltec.[/QUOTE]

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Tertia Optio

Hi Point? LOL!

QUOTE=Telecaster;139791676]1000 perfect rounds through my 9mm Shield. I guess I should throw it in the trash and buy a Glock before it’s too late.

Or maybe I’ll trade it for a Keltec.[/QUOTE]

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Tertia Optio

Although I've never had this problem that doesn't mean it won't rear its ugly head. Great advice Brother, thanks! Perhaps being patient is its own reward. Good luck to you all.

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Tertia Optio

Wow, imagine that.

Given the Model 10's history, I find this hard to believe. Not the 3 million.... that the Shield is the record-holder.

The info was two-fold.

First, that the Shield became the top selling commercial pistol in the world for the last period (6 months?) from which numbers were pulled within the industry.

Second, that the sales of the Shield, in the short time it's been available, has broken every sales record of the company, which isn't the same thing as the total number of units ever sold compared to any other particular model over a decades-long record.

If the Shield is around for as many decades as the venerable "M10", I wouldn't be surprised if the total number sold, over the span of another several decades, might eclipse that of the revolver.

FWIW, last Fall we were told in a Glock armorer class that in the time their G43 has been on the market, it had become the fastest and hottest selling Glock model.

I don't know what the numbers of the XDs might be, because I'm not a Springfield pistol armorer and thus haven't had any inside info/trivia offered by a rep, tech or armorer instructor. Ditto the Kahr or Beretta lines of little pistols.

The allure and sales of the diminutive plastic 9's have been pretty hot for the last couple of years, though.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Is this "Only" In the 9/40/45 Shields? Do the NEW M&P M2.0 Compact/Full Size have this issue? Need to know before i get home to check. Thanks!

Makes more sense now. Thanks.

After seeing this thread I still intend to carry my 100% reliable 2016 built Shield 9mm. I looked at my spring and it is sticking out about half a millimeter but is still black and I will likely tap it in (I like playing gunsmith) but am not going to lose sleep over it. I have around 1000 flawless rounds through it. Guess I am a gambler for believing in a firearm that has a reputation for being as reliable as any other.

For you pessimists: Guess what, you can find posts all over the internet about every gun ever made saying there is some sort of fatal flaw and you should not buy one, even Glocks. No man made machine is ever going to be 100% reliable 100% of the time. So less than 0.1% of Shields has had this issue but it's an epidemic? I think not. Some people are just so over dramatic. "Here is this one other post with the same problem so the gun is not reliable and one other post proves my point", Grow up. Show me that there is a large majority that have this issue and then that will prove this is a real problem, but you can't.

This seems to be a very uncommon issue with the Shield 9/40. Knowing about this I would still have purchased one and will continue to be confident that mine will not malfunction.

The old saying "people sometimes post when everything is good but always post when it's bad" still hold water.

But hey, if you want to buy another gun then it's your right, but I am sure I could find a handful of posts about how that gun has a "Fatal Flaw" as well. But if you notice that was not the subject of this thread, it was a very small chance of a "possible" issue and a fix to make sure it doesn't happen.

Since they no longer pack a fired case with a date how can you tell when it was built?

Date is stamped on outside of box and u can also find out by calling S&W!

I have a recent Shield 2.0 with the black box and I don't see a date stamped on it

Right corner side of box at edge top line says Smith & Wesson etc.. 2nd line has 6 numbers, mine are 060717 =June 7 2017!
It is not listed as a date then below says model etc..

Thanks 10/3/17