NE450No2

This picture was taken at 1,923 rounds and was emailed to S&W asking if this was normal -- their answer was yes. 857 rounds later the blast shield eroded in half and fell off - total round count 2,780 rounds. The frame had to be replaced along with the blast shield.




Since I've been keeping records, in addition to the above, one blast shield came apart at 3,102 rounds, another one, still intact, fell off at 513 rounds, and another one also intact fell off at 427 rounds.

Unless S&W has changed the design, the blast shield can only be installed at the factory.

Paul