UPDATE FEB 2:
This gun got turned around by smith in less than 3 weeks start to finish. About 18 or so days i think from the first time I dropped it at fedex to send back. Replaced the whole slide insert but everything else checked out. They also sent back more recall paperwork indicating it had been checked for the recall, even though this gun had already had the recall completed. Not sure if it was turned around so quick due to extra recall folks on hand to look at the shields? But in any case, shes back with me. Ill take it back for a spin this week, but to be honest I lack the confidence to carry this gun like my life depends on it. Switched to a CZ for those duties. Again, this very well may have been a fluke one off chance occurrence, but still....

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Hello everyone, posting this as a PSA for you all to check your guns to make sure this is not just some random one-off issue I have the pleasure of experiencing. This is my shield EZ performance center in 9mm, purchased last year around June. Gun has less than 500 rounds through it. All factory ammo, 99% of that not even +P loads, as if it should matter. I usually fire about a mag or two each range trip to ensure the gun is functioning well, as this is my daily carry. The gun went back to smith in November due to the most recent recall campaign on the shield EZs (this series seems to be quite fond of recalls), and it came back to me with no parts replaced, assuming no faults found.

This past Thursday, I put two mags through it at the range to function check and all seemed to be ok. On Saturday, I go to chamber a round before putting it in my belt and I notice the loaded chamber indicator is sticking way out of the gun. I unload it and I see what you see in the pics below. A catastrophic failure of the breech face into a few pieces. Scary stuff. Not sure if either a) that could have allowed the firing pin to set a round off as I racked it or b) it could have failed inside my pants (appendix carry.) Glad I didn't have to find out for real.

I contacted smith this morning and they really didnt seem too interested in the circumstances of the failure, and said sorry, it will be checked via the normal warranty process and you'll get the gun back in 8-12 weeks. Kind of disheartening especially since this is the second gun that they will now have from me, after currently also having my 617 (for its second trip back for warranty work).

This very well is just a one-off freak issue, but considering the track record of EZ shield recalls Id say its worth a very thorough check for cracks if you own one of these. This gun never saw any ammo or firing conditions out of the norm besides basic range proficiency use.

DAYMNNNNN!!!! That makes me wince just looking at it!!!
BTW what's that brown crud on yer finger???

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Forum consigliere

Could be any number of assorted disgusting things take your pick hahah. In this case...just gun dirt sorry to disappoint.

I'm no expert, but I believe that's broken. From my experience sending cracked stuff to S&W, they will perform a metallurgy test on that breech face/slide to determine if it was indeed a manufacturing error, and then if it was indeed such an error, you'll be offered a new pistol. Took about two months from shipping to new pistol in hand for me, but that was pre-COVID . . .

Good Luck!

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Oh interesting. Thats what happened with yours? I would have figured at most it would be a complete slide replacement, not an entirely new gun/background check and so forth. That happened to you?

I'm guessing it will take more than Hoppes No.9 to fix that.

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Release the Kraken

Duct tape, JB weld, and a few minutes - you'll be good to go!

More seriously: that's flat out disconcerting.

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NHI, 10-8.

No. Mine was a 637 revolver with a cracked frame under the forcing cone. I was just detailing what they did to determine if it was their fault or not. If it was mine, I'd be nervous about other damage to the frame, since you really have no idea how many times you fired it broken . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Yes true. I would think that firing even one round in that condition would have been a spectacular failure of the gun, but who knows. Im quite diligent with checking over the gun each use. But to be honest now Im going to be paranoid about carrying this thing after it comes back.

I guess we now know the round limit of a cast breech block. Kind of MIM-sical wouldn't you say

Is it mim? Guess I know the answer already....

That’s just plain bad luck. That’s all. The slide and breech face are not MIM. I bet this anomaly is a less than 1/1-million metallurgical failure.

They can make you a new gun with your same serial number and ship it directly to you as a repair. They will destroy the old one. Just takes some time for them to jump through paperwork hoops and custom serialization.

They will carefully document the failure for their QC history and protocols.

Stuff happens. Sorry. You’ll get a new gun.

Have you ever seen one in person? It's as MIM as I've ever seen.

I hope you have the box for the ammo last used that caused this major breech face part failure. It’s possible you got a double/overfilled charge in one of the rounds you fired.
If no problem is found by S&W from a parts/metallurgy standpoint, you may be looking to the ammo manufacturer for a monetary settlement.
I look forward to some of our expert pistol smiths that frequent this forum to weigh in. It should make for an even more interesting discussion.
Great pictures by the way !
Glad you weren’t injured !!!!

Be SAFE and Shoot Often!

Here's a picture of an EZ slide breech insert for anyone that doesn't know what MIM looks like.

Interesting.

Is use of a breechface insert unique to the EZ line, or also
in other Shields?

Oh gosh just some basic factory stuff, either UMC or norma range and training i think I have the most of. Nothing about my most recent range trip felt off, or induced any obvious failure. After using some basic ammo, I loaded my carry mag of defensive ammo back in and went home. It wasn't until loading a round in the chamber two days later did it crack while sending the slide home. Perhaps it could have been a hairline crack slowly growing over time and that one instance was the straw that broke the camels back?

Curious about this. What other m&p's would I have the least chance of this occuring with again, especially on my carry gun....

The inserts are unique to the Chee-Zee line only. The original Shield line design is nothing to ever worry about.

I would say its cast garbage myself, thank God Smith and Wesson do not build aircraft, its clear they have failed "structures 101" again, and again, and again.. to the OP, count yourself fortunate to get a new slide or have it returned to you in functional condition...

I'm sure it was that 1 +P plus, plus plus ammo you loaded up in your basement?? just being facetious here, but do be absolutely clear about every round you ever put through that thing, and I pray you didn't shoot anybody's reload, or that will all be on you...

Castings are far more prone to failure than traditional forgings, which in the past all quality firearms were forged. Yes I know, castings can be very precise and very strong, but have a look at that grain structure, its extremely porous, I find it astounding that Smith and Wesson would consider that good to go for the breach of that weapon, but they do!

Some states (like Virginia) require replacement guns to go through a LGS (to capture information for state records) but federal law does not (information is recorded by the licensed manufacturer or importer).

Both my son and I have received replacement guns, respectively from SIG and Rock Island, that had different serial numbers and were shipped directly to our residences.

Relevant federal regulations are in 27 CFR 478:

Holy broken breech face Batman!

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Do all EZ 9mm have loaded chamber indicators?

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Made it, Ma! Top of the world!

Old Cop: Yes, all 9mm EZ pistols have the loaded chamber indicators.

Guitarmageddon: In 50+ years and thousands of rounds through many different pistols, I have never seen gold residue left on the breach face, bbl loading ramp area or other parts as shown in your pictures. This gun has been out for over a year with thousands sold and I have never seen any postings with the damage your gun received. Please! post a follow up when you hear back from S&W Customer service.
Thanks for your post and excellent pictures!
My bet is still on an overloaded round. JMO

Be SAFE and Shoot Often!

Yes will do. Wouldn't the gold just be normal wear of brass casings? I never found that to be out of the norm. What would that be bad? I will admit the gun was in need of a cleaning so that could just be it

Also, the reason I'm resistant to think it was a fluke hot round is because wouldn't you think you would notice that at the time of firing? If there's any moment a hot round is going to bust your gun it's going to be when you are pulling the trigger. But it finished its most recent range trip just fine and then I continue on to load my carry ammo back into the gun for my trip home. This particular failure happened two days later when simply chambering a round to carry my gun for the day. it's almost like there was just some underlying fatigue occurring over a long period of time that finally exposed itself then?

I also wanted to share that the "hottest" ammo this gun has ever seen was my carry load which was actually purchased from the NRA range here in Virginia. And I just say "hottest" because that's the only time I've shot +p through the gun of any kind, that ammo. The rest is just stock basic factory loads.

9mm+P 124 gr XTP - Second Ammendment Ammunition

I suspect the problem did not occur as you were loading the gun two days after a range trip. Chambering a round would not have had nearly the force needed to jam the upper broken parts of the breech block so far above the surrounding opening in the top of the slide.

Completely normal to see some brass 'coloration' of contact
surfaces, in semi-autos. Brass is softer than steel.

AFA when/why the broken insert pieces separated, hard to say.

The last time I saw a horror like this was when a guy shot WW2 surplus ammo with strange language markings on the box, through a nice WW2 Browning HP; allegedly he sent it back to Browning, they confiscated the pistol and sent him a discount coupon on a new gun (It was a LONG time ago.)
Geoff
Who is feeling his age, when Laundry Day wears him out...sigh...consider the alternative.

Updating the first post with info 2-2-21

Good service but I don't blame you for moving on to CZ.

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Made it, Ma! Top of the world!

Glad to hear they got it fixed and back to you quickly. I don't blame you one bit for losing faith in the design, and I have no doubt that we'll see more of this failure as time goes on. Probably see a change in the owners manual as well.

I know this thread is several months old, but I'm still curious....

What is it about the EZ series of pistols that requires a separate breach block?

As far as I know, this design feature, if you can call it that, is quite uncommon on modern pistols. The only center fire pistols that I can think of off hand that use a breech insert are the older sig pistols with folded steel slides.

Having never seen this post (and with no Shields in the house) I, too, was interested...

So I went looking for an EXPLODEDDIAGRAM, only to find part code # 3305531, Shield EZ Slide Insert (for the 380acp version, anyway)...?

Don't know if it is the same for the 9mm version, but...

It is described as "perfect as a spare on the workbench or as an immediate replacement for a lost or damaged part".

And it is "manufactured from steel" and costs $33.59.

Hmmmmmm?

I would guess it's because the slide itself is cast. The breach insert is probably supposed to be the strong part.

Well, I own a shield (non EZ) and the slide is definitely not cast. I've handled the EZ models and the slides don't appear to be cast either.

The insert is MIM. To me it just makes no sense to use a MIM part in a forged slide, but that is exactly what they are doing.

Very strange...

The Shield is a totally different design from the EZ. There is no breach insert in a Shield.

Yes, Paul, I'm aware they are totally different designs.

I was simply stating that the regular shield model uses a forged slide and I find it highly unlikely that s&w would switch to a cast slide on their EZ models. What would the point be?

How would S&W know if the ammo used was reloaded ammo? If they ask you say it was factory but you don’t have the box anymore so I don’t know what brand it was. All I shoot is reloaded ammo. I will never have a squib or a double charge because I weigh every single charge and seat the bullet immediately after I dump the powder.

LOL … famous last words.

Maybe for some but not for me, at least not for too much powder or too little. I drop the charge, weigh it, grab a case which is primer up in the reloading block so I know there’s no powder, and visually check it to be sure there is no powder before I add the weighed charge and immediately seat a bullet. Been doing that since I started 8 years ago on my single stage press and will never change my technique. If something works I stick with it. I don’t even change my powders, and I even use the same powder for all pistol and a separate hopper for rifle powder so no chance of mixing up powders either.

So due to my dads Arthritis I begane looking at revolvers for him. The Gun store recommended the EZ. I Looked at them and purchased the .380 model, my cousin bought the same one. My dad wanted the 9mm and picked it up yesterday. we went into the range and fired 2 mags worth of ammo we purchased at the same time. The disaster as the slide would not go forward. I popped out the mag and cleared what I thought was a jam. THen the range master tried, no luck. when the S&W expert came out he pointed to the missing left side and cracked right side. the gun 10 minutes old is now heading back to S&W. We have these so I can spend time shooting with my dad. He is 87 and it was bad enough it took 2 months for the legal process but now this! I hope to hell he does not drop dead before it gets back. I will be inspecting my .380 under a scope today. Guess I need to carry a back up as well from here on out.