Shield 40 Mishap

[Rpg]

Today me and dad were enjoying the nice weather and decided to shoot our guns. We shot the AR's and his Walther PPK 380 and his Sig 1922 pistols. I got out my Shield 40 out to shoot and was planning on putting 100 rounds down the pipe as the gun has only 150 rounds through it so far with about 10 Fail to ejects. I shot 50 UMC 180gr flawless with no issues except I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. So I got this box of Federal 180gr High Shock JHP. I load up 7 rounds bam bam boom on the 3rd round all I seen was a flash and got 3 small burns and where something hit under my eye and blood was running down my face. My hands were numb and just couldn't believe what had happened. Well it appears that my shield I guess you could say blew up in my hands. The mag flew out on the ground and I couldn't find the remaining ammo that was in the mag. There are 4 more rounds somewhere up in the hay field. What do you guys think about this and should I email Smith&Wesson and send them the pics or just call them first?

I anticipate S&W will blame the ammo. But you're not the first with this pistol.

One reason they don't interest me.

The pistol is too buggy for my taste. I like less excitement from my gear.

Ask them for a refund and get something else!!

 

[bionic218]

Is this a normal primer strike? I just been looking things over and noticed this.

Is that one of the casings from today's incident?

 

[wingnuut]

Got rid of my 40 shield got mp40c I think they are a little more rugged and a 9mm barrel.

 

[BIGMAC116]

Same thing happened to my buddy's glock. Squib round blew his up but the barrel took the explosion and saved his gun. I'm just glad you're okay. That's why we wear eye protection, huh?

 

[2001gmc]

Yea I will wear eye protection every time from now on for sure. I was getting excited cause of the 50 rounds I shot before the mishap didn't have one failure at all and that not been my experience with this gun previously. Something else that's alarming me I was shooting at 15yds and even moved up to about 8 and I couldn't hit the target at all I hit it maybe 3 times out of all the shots. Before at 10yds I could at least hit a 8" target almost every time depends on how fast I was shooting.

 

[2001gmc]

Is that one of the casings from today's incident?

No this case is actually from a previous outing that I picked up in the field from before. The cases from today are UMC and there are the 2 federals somewhere but cant find them in the grass. The primer strikes on the UMC look to be barley indented with more of a round small hole instead of the big gash like in the WIN casing.

 

[2001gmc]

I anticipate S&W will blame the ammo. But you're not the first with this pistol.

One reason they don't interest me.

The pistol is too buggy for my taste. I like less excitement from my gear.

Ask them for a refund and get something else!!

To be honest I was searching for the 9 Shield when I picked up this 40. I've never owned a 40 before but I grabbed it cause I had been looking for like 4 months or so and I grabbed it. I'd rather have the 40c to be honest. I don't want a 40 shield back but that's probably what I will get if anything.

 

[Mcwsky09]

Even if it was not a double charge on the reload - there could have been damage or weakening of the case that caused it to split at the base even if the powder load was in spec I would think.

Not sure if there are any videos out there where people have deliberately loaded a double charge to demonstrate what would happen or to test the safety of the firearm in such as case. (not thinking private individuals here but manufacturers or perhaps an independent lab such as those that test car crashes and household appliances).

some interesting results on google search:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=341348
http://ingunowners.com/forums/ammunition-reloading/302519-45-auto-double-charge-results.html

 

[bearfoot]

glad your ok.

 

[2001gmc]

All my ammo is new within the last 6 months purchase. This box of Federal Classic 40 S&W 180gr Hi-Shock JHP has a date of 1997 but that shouldn't matter. I know looks arent everything but the ammo looks good and its still in original box. I'm not even sure they still make the ammo. I have no reason to believe its the ammo cause of all the problems I been having with the gun. The 10 fail to ejects in 150 rounds. The last 50 rounds were brand new UMC 180gr and I couldn't hit the target 7-8yds away.
__________________

 

[Doug M.]

Folks: please note that the original poster was shooting factory ammo - someone else mentioned a KB with their reloads, not the OP.

That looks like either over pressure or premature unlocking, and that primer strike looks similar to other episodes of premature unlocking I have seen in other firearms. (I've not shot the M&Ps, so don't know what primers would look like, and I am not really a fan of the .40). There are also questions about inconsistent lockup in the full size 9s, so I can see that.

You need to contact both S&W and the ammo maker, as one of the two made an error.

 

[2001gmc]

I sent S&W a email with the pics I posted here. It says to email them cause of the Shield recall the wait times are hours for calling. I got a reply saying it could be up to 5 days for a response. I also sent Federal a message to what happened.

 

[jwalts27]

Folks: please note that the original poster was shooting factory ammo - someone else mentioned a KB with their reloads, not the OP.

That looks like either over pressure or premature unlocking, and that primer strike looks similar to other episodes of premature unlocking I have seen in other firearms. (I've not shot the M&Ps, so don't know what primers would look like, and I am not really a fan of the .40). There are also questions about inconsistent lockup in the full size 9s, so I can see that.

You need to contact both S&W and the ammo maker, as one of the two made an error.

That primer strike is normal. All my M&Ps do it.

 

[2001gmc]

I think the gun fired before the slide was all the way forward. I don't think the bullet was all the way in the barrel before it went off. My dad was standing next to me watching me shoot he said hes about 100% sure thats what happened.

 

[woodmnctry]

Dang! -- hope u have recovered --- will look forward to what SW has to say.
G

 

[Shielder]

I would think that for the pistol to have fired as the slide moved forward implies something wrong with the mechanism in the pistol. Consider that if this happened, and the case exploded as the firing pin impacted the primer on the way forward, it could imply that the firing pin had not retracted upon the previous round being fired. I suspect S&W would want to get hands on the pistol and see what components might have malfunctioned.

I have not looked up the internal ballistics for the Federal Classic 40 S&W 180gr Hi-Shock JHP that this happened with--but it makes me wonder if that round was over-powered for the pistol?

I hope you keep us posted here on what you learn so we can all benefit.

 

[soad]

This box of Federal Classic 40 S&W 180gr Hi-Shock JHP has a date of 1997 but that shouldn't matter.

Just a thought: Did you buy the ammo in the late 90's from a reputable dealer and it's been in your possession since?

If so, never mind.

However, the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if at some point in the last 16 years someone put crappy reloads into a Hi-Shock box and passed it off as factory ammo. There have been a few ammo shortages since 1997 and some one could have been looking to make a buck at some point.

If so, that would raise the chance of a double charge exponentially.

 

[rwsmith]

Please keep us up to date......

Please keep us posted on what you find. I like to hear about any failures, because they keep us on our toes.

Really glad you weren't hurt.

 

[2001gmc]

i just recieved a call from smith. They wanted to make sure I was ok and get the ball rolling. They sent me a prepaid lable in my email to send it in. They have to test it to see if it was a malfunction of the gun or a over charged round. He talked like I could even get a different M&P all together if i choose when they figure out what went wrong. He said federal will pay for a new gun if they determine it was a over charged round. Of course they will want the info off the ammo box wich is no big deal to me. Just a FYI.

 

[Dino1]

Not shot out of any of my M&P pistols, but it is a .40 round that was fired through my .40 carbine. I will never again buy any aluminum ammo, not worth it to save a couple bucks. This round just broke in half like someone cut it, clean break all the way around. And if you look at it close it looks to be scored on the inside were it broke. Case is not bulged or damaged in any other way. The back half ejected from the chamber, but the front half stayed in the chamber not allowing the next round to go fully into the chamber.