Shield Missfeeding with Certain Ammo

[Texas Roots]

Just bought a brand new Shield in 9mm. Only ammo I could find was TulAmmo 115 grain ball and Monarch 115 grain ball.

I got one miss feed and one failure to eject in 35 rounds with the TulAmmo and no failures with 25 rounds of Monarch.

I know I haven't shot it much yet, but I'm wondering what luck other folks are having with ammo; what brands and bullet type are most reliable, etc.

So far, I'm a little nervous about using my Shield as a serious carry weapon unti I hear from Forum members about ammo.

Thanks all.

 

[dannybot]

I assume you got the steel ammo? Clean the gun, run some more rounds through it and it should probably work.

As for carrying it, even if it fails, having a gun and not using it is very often a deterrent. But having nothing is no deterrent at all, but I am not endorsing, or telling you to carry a gun at all. Only you can decide that.

 

[jeffhughes]

As for carrying it, even if it fails, having a gun and not using it is very often a deterrent. But having nothing is no deterrent at all, but I am not endorsing, or telling you to carry a gun at all. Only you can decide that.

^That is very bad advice. It could get you or a loved one killed.

Only carry a gun you know functions with your chosen carry ammo. Your handgun needs to be a weapon, not a talisman or a non functional "deterrent".

Get training from a professional defensive handgun instructor. It's very important.

As far as the ammo deal goes, clean and lube the gun. I've run thousands of rounds of Tula through my Shield(as well as my M&P 5"Pro 9, M&P FS9, and G17,) with no failures.

As far as other brands go, I shoot anything cheap for training(no failures), and carry Federal HST 147g or the same in +P. I've also run Speer Gold Dot 125g+P and have carried it too.

While it is for sure expensive(how much is your life worth?), you need to shoot a couple of hundred rounds of your chosen carry ammo without failure through your carry gun. Then carry with confidence.

 

[skip4309]

Spend the coin and buy some good ammo...shoot the **** out of it...then buy some 'premium' ammo for self defense...shoot a couple of boxes....no malfunctions...your ready to go...and then you can carry with 100% confidence...any steel case ammo is **** especially TulAmmo...except for practice....

 

[Texas Roots]

Thanks guys and thanks for the comment about the steel ammo Skip. I've never had a 9mm and never bought any steel cased ammo for any of my guns. Always loaded my own ammo for .45, .44, .357, etc. So, I've had no experience with the 9mm or the ammo for it.

I'll just use the steel cased stuff for practice with my Shield and, in the mean time, try to locate some good, brass case ammo of different brands and see how it does.

Thanks again guys. I feel better about this gun already.

 

[vipermd]

TR: Remember the guns are mass produced and require a break in to knock off a few burrs, seat everything. Get a couple of hundred rds through it, then start to assess it's function with good ammo ( read as not tula). I only use steel cased ammo in AK's/sks's, my choice my budget.I had a walther PPK/s with a reliabilty package done 20 yrs ago and it would not feed Fed hydroshocks!! Found out that OAL was short on the rounds and caused the problem, current Fed runs fine. I would strongly caution against carrying a firearm that you think may become a bludgeon. I carry because I value my life. As for the shield- some will run perfect out of the box, others may have hiccups than run perfect. You need to spend the time/ammo to make sure it is right. Be Safe,

 

[Texas Roots]

vipermd, yes, I'll certainly be on the lookout for good ammo and will spend much time shooting and evaluating before I carry the Shield. I think I may have screwed up in the base case when I didn't clean the gun before I shot it like the manual said I must do first. Anyhow, I'm going to clean it as stated in the manual, find as many different kinds of ammo that I can and shoot the fire out of it. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my initial post.

 

[CA Escapee]

^That is very bad advice. It could get you or a loved one killed.

Only carry a gun you know functions with your chosen carry ammo. Your handgun needs to be a weapon, not a talisman or a non functional "deterrent".

Get training from a professional defensive handgun instructor. It's very important.

As far as the ammo deal goes, clean and lube the gun. I've run thousands of rounds of Tula through my Shield(as well as my M&P 5"Pro 9, M&P FS9, and G17,) with no failures.

As far as other brands go, I shoot anything cheap for training(no failures), and carry Federal HST 147g or the same in +P. I've also run Speer Gold Dot 125g+P and have carried it too.

While it is for sure expensive(how much is your life worth?), you need to shoot a couple of hundred rounds of your chosen carry ammo without failure through your carry gun. Then carry with confidence.

It could be that the TulAmmo is a little inconsistent and not hot enough to kick the slide back far enough every time.

I've shot a box of TulAmmo, then a box of Federal, (both 115 gr. ball,) out of my G19. It was easy to tell the Federal was hotter.

I don't have a Shield, but I do have a Kimber Solo Carry. Kimber recommends certain brands of 124-147 gr. ammo for more flawless performance. I carry the Gold Dot 124 gr. +P Short Barrel in it.

Bill

 

[MSG Glenn]

Although many have run Tulammo through their guns with no problems it always seems that if anyone has a problem it's because they're using Tulammo. Try polishing your feed ramp so it's nice & shiny & smooth. Then clean & lube well without going overboard on the lube. I wouldn't use Tulammo as a self-defense round but for the range it should be okay if you resign yourself to the fact that you may have some FTFs occurring. I suspect you won't have any problems with better ammo or after awhile even with Tulammo. Sometimes we have to take whatever ammo is available these days.

 

[jeffhughes]

It could be that the TulAmmo is a little inconsistent and not hot enough to kick the slide back far enough every time.

I've shot a box of TulAmmo, then a box of Federal, (both 115 gr. ball,) out of my G19. It was easy to tell the Federal was hotter.

I don't have a Shield, but I do have a Kimber Solo Carry. Kimber recommends certain brands of 124-147 gr. ammo for more flawless performance. I carry the Gold Dot 124 gr. +P Short Barrel in it.

Bill

You are taking my quote out of context, the bad advice comment has nothing to do with Tula. My comments on Tula have nothing to do with my comments on carrying or my comments on carry ammo.

 

[CA Escapee]

You are taking my quote out of context, the bad advice comment has nothing to do with Tula. My comments on Tula have nothing to do with my comments on carrying or my comments on carry ammo.

Agreed, the "bad advice comment" doesn't have a thing to do with Tula. I never said it did. And, I do agree with you, that is bad advice.

My comment was, a) that I've found TulAmmo to be not quite as hot as other brands, and b) I stated I carry GDSB 124 gr. +P in my mouse gun.

That doesn't counter anything you've said.

Bill

 

[Nakanokalronin]

Some of my handguns shoot Tula ammo well, but Tula is underpowered, dirty and not all firearms are designed with steel cased ammo in mind. I'd just stick with brass ammo and be confident with your Shield since it shoots it just fine.

 

[Doug M.]

9mms tend to prefer warmer ammo within the range allowed by the standards. That's one issue. The other is that right now, with ammo so hard to get, decent ammo is even harder to get and really expensive.

However, I'd bet a lot that your main problem is ammo. Get some more rounds downrange for break-in purposes, and then get a bunch of better quality ammo (I use Black Hills ball for training and the like). Also get a good amount of best quality defensive ammo (look for Doc Roberts' suggestions; there are several good ones). The Black Hill ammo with the DPX bullet, although costly, is a good choice. DO NOT SKIMP on the cost of serious ammo for serious use. (I buy my ammo for almost any serious use in 1000 round lots - both ball and HP carry ammo, and I run at least 500 rounds of carry ammo through an autopistol before serious carry. Not cheap, but priceless.) The performance issues will matter (it only matters when it REALLY matters as I often say), and your confidence in the pistol will be higher. Don't go ape cleaning, but LUBE that pistol.

 

[Donmc01]

Have had my Shield 9mm for a year now and have no problems shooting Winchester 115 grain FMJ's or Federal's 115 Hi-Shok HP's. Probably 750 rounds. It has become my edc and should try a hotter defense load. Any recommendations?

 

[Texas Roots]

Thanks all, again, for your input and suggestions concerning the Tulammo.

I continue to look around for premium ammo but, so far, I have found none.

I've thoroughly cleaned my Shield now; I'm just waiting to find some good ammo to put through it. I'll report back here when I do.

 

[RussC]

Texas Roots

I carry Gold Dot 124 grain jhp +P short barrel.

Too expensive for target practice. In the year I have owned my Shield I have shot one magazine of the premium ammo.

I target practice with Federal Champion, WWB, S&B or other .20 -.25 cent per round brass case ammo.

Unfortunately the .20 cent ammo I buy at Walmart is hoarded and resold on the internet for .40 per round.

Russ

 

[Plinker99]

Thanks all, again, for your input and suggestions concerning the Tulammo.

I continue to look around for premium ammo but, so far, I have found none.

I've thoroughly cleaned my Shield now; I'm just waiting to find some good ammo to put through it. I'll report back here when I do.

Any time I see .40 SW I snap it up. If you can't find it locally, try gunbot.net. I was able to pick up 500 rounds for about $10 more than if I bought locally using one of the links on it.

 

[Texas Roots]

I ordered some Winchester, PMC, and Federal brass case premium ammo within the last couple of days.

Hopefully, I can try the gun with these brands and find I have a reliable 9mm Shield like the rest of you have.

I'll try the new ammo and let ya'll know as soon as I can get to the range.

 

[duro]

It's not the ammo. Tula is actually ok target ammo. My shield when new ate everything (including tula), but would FTF with Winchester wb. I had to send it back to Smith as the chamber wasn't in spec, and the striker assy was defective.

It's best to get the bugs worked out of it now. If it continues, send it back. There is no break in period. If there were a break in period, it would say so in the manual. A lot of that "break-in period" stuff is BS.

Good luck.

 

[Dino1]

Tula is bottom of the barrel ammo, stuff will fire through my Shield just fine, but the accuracy of the stuff is way beyond bad. And it is steel cored, and my local indoor range will not allow us to shoot it. You can buy Blazer Brass for the same money, and have a reliable load, a little dirty but who doesn't clean thier gun after a range outing.