New Shield .40 will not feed rounds consistently.

[Badquaker]

Since the rounds are sticking in the mag, I would take a hard look at the feed lips. A fine polishing of the contact points may be the answer.

 

[Roger S&W]

Man. That is strange. Round is clearly pointing down and then pops up slightly upon racking the slide.

 

[A.Christopher]

Here is a video clip of my wrists and arms while shooting to help determine if it is me or not. I do have a Talon Grip to install but was going to wait until it got back from S&W. I do not have a video of the gun failing to feed while shooting as it doesn't happen every single time. Please let me know what you think and again, thanks for your help.

Shooting the Shield .40 wrist lockup video

 

[SpringGunTunes]

Mine looks similar. It seems to correct itself if I hold a firm grip.
See if it jams if you shoot it with one hand.
Rob

 

[gboling]

One other problem I had with a 4566 was a burr in the firing pin hole. The burr would catch about one round out of five, preventing it from sliding all the way up the bolt face, thus, preventing its entering the feed ramp.

Look for a fresh scratch on the head of the cartridge of those rounds that fail to feed. I removed the burr from my gun by spinning a 1/8" drill bit in the firing pin WITH MY FINGERS.

 

[A.Christopher]

Mine looks similar. It seems to correct itself if I hold a firm grip.

See if it jams if you shoot it with one hand.

Rob

Yes, I've read your thread and it reminded me to post a video to see if others determine if I am limp wristing the gun or not. I'm pretty sure that it failed when I did shoot one handed, since I wanted to make sure my thumbs weren't hitting the slide stop during recoil, and have tried tightening my grip to the point I was shaking and it still failed to feed.

One other problem I had with a 4566 was a burr in the firing pin hole. The burr would catch about one round out of five, preventing it from sliding all the way up the bolt face, thus, preventing its entering the feed ramp.

Look for a fresh scratch on the head of the cartridge of those rounds that fail to feed. I removed the burr from my gun by spinning a 1/8" drill bit in the firing pin WITH MY FINGERS.

I asked my friend the other day if I should remove the firing pin and clean it and the channel out, since it was the only thing I having taken apart to clean and inspect yet... He thought I was reaching a bit and overthinking the issue. I'll take a look next time it happens to see if there is a light scratch or not.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[bobelk99]

Dino1 and Robotech are on the right track. The feed ramp should be polished and concaved from S&W. Yours looks flat, and there is a "skid mark" up the middle. Not right! DIY, or better, send it back to Smith. It looks like an unfinished barrel.

Practiced with my Shield 40 and a box of WWB yesterday without failure... as always.

Contact Smith. DIY 'improvement' will likely void the warranty

 

[Hock]

It seems that is may an issue that Smith & Wesson should be dealing with. If you go by what is posted on this forum the Shield has a spotty record. Have them fix it. I would say a few fail to load or fail to eject is normal on a new pistol but never that many. There is a problem and if everyone tries to fix it their self then Smith & Wesson may never likely know what the problems are and be able to fix them.

 

[Nomadic Vagabond]

Contact Smith. DIY 'improvement' will likely void the warranty

I concur.

Having shot exactly 1,000 rounds through the Shield, I've experienced a failure to chamber the next round or a jam 10 times - so a 1% failure rate which is unacceptable for a CCW. I contacted Smith about my issue and after a lengthy conversation they asked me to send them back the Shield for evaluation. I asked the guy on the phone if he's heard of my issue and he said yes but only a very small percent of Shields.

I'm hoping they'll polish the feed ramp for me and correct anything else they see wrong with the gun.

As a side note, I've noticed those reporting this issue with their Shield all have the 40 cal version. Anyone experiencing this issue with their 9mm?

 

[bobelk99]

I contacted Smith about my issue and after a lengthy conversation they asked me to send them back the Shield for evaluation. I asked the guy on the phone if he's heard of my issue and he said yes but only a very small percent of Shields.

Please let us know the results when your issue is resolved.

 

[newbie123]

Last week 2-7-2014 I brought a shield 40 ran 100 rounds of
180 gr. Federal fmj with 0 problems. A few days later ran about 30 more Fed. 180 fmj. I had 1 feed jam. 3 times gun didn't fully cycle to battery now the extended mag. has a gap and won't seat fully. I slap it in and it still has a gap. My 2mth old MP 9mm no problems ran 600 -700 rounds of 115 gr. different brands. Calling S and W next week.

 

[Robotech]

A gap between the magazine and the bottom of the grip is normal for the shield with a loaded magazine and the slide closed, typically about 1mm.

As long as the magazine release catches, it should be fine.

 

[Nomadic Vagabond]

I concur.

Having shot exactly 1,000 rounds through the Shield, I've experienced a failure to chamber the next round or a jam 10 times - so a 1% failure rate which is unacceptable for a CCW. I contacted Smith about my issue and after a lengthy conversation they asked me to send them back the Shield for evaluation. I asked the guy on the phone if he's heard of my issue and he said yes but only a very small percent of Shields.

I'm hoping they'll polish the feed ramp for me and correct anything else they see wrong with the gun.

As a side note, I've noticed those reporting this issue with their Shield all have the 40 cal version. Anyone experiencing this issue with their 9mm?

I shipped my Shield 40 out to S&W on 2/21/14 and received it back on 3/10/14. Looks like they had it for 9 business days, so that's rather quick.

They gave me an extra 40 cal 6-round magazine along with a note explaining the repair -

"Polished feed ramp, replaced guide rod, adjusted trigger pull, function tested - no issues"

I will take it to the range after Wednesday of this week to see how it performs.

 

[A.Christopher]

Shield.40 Still Fails to Feed After Repair

I shipped my Shield 40 out to S&W on 2/21/14 and received it back on 3/10/14. Looks like they had it for 9 business days, so that's rather quick.

They gave me an extra 40 cal 6-round magazine along with a note explaining the repair -

"Polished feed ramp, replaced guide rod, adjusted trigger pull, function tested - no issues"

I will take it to the range after Wednesday of this week to see how it performs.

Actually I shipped mine out and received it back on the exact same dates, Shipped on 2/21, S&W received it on 2/24 and and received from them on 3/10. They did not give me a free mag probably because i sent them all 5 of my mags in with the gun, maybe they figured I had enough already. The repair document states

"Performed Service: Evaluate / Repair - Replace Barrel/Extractor/Function Test"

So I take it out to the range today to fire a few hundred rounds through it to see how it performs. Same damn issue! after 5 Fail to Feed out of 250 rounds (and one stove pipe, slide caught the spent casing as it was feeding the next round) I left the range. Same deal as before, Bullet nose down, not touching feed ramp, happens with any of my 5 mags and 2 and a half boxes of WWB ammo. I'm planning to call S&W to see if they want me to send it back... again.

Nomadic Vagabond, what were your results at the range since you've received it back from S&W?

Shield.40 Still Fails to Feed After Repair1

Shield.40 Still Fails to Feed After Repair2

 

[Nomadic Vagabond]

Nomadic Vagabond, what were your results at the range since you've received it back from S&W?

So, I just got back from the range.

That's funny how we sent our Shield 40's in for the same thing but they repaired them two different ways. You had your barrel and extractor replaced, I had my feed ramp polished out and my guide rod replaced.

Anyway, I went through 100 rounds of FMJ ammo without any issues at all. The only difference was that I was using WWB 165gr FMJ as opposed to the WWB 180gr FMJ ammo I typically use with the Shield. Interestingly though, my shots were a lot more accurate for some reason - maybe because of the 165gr. Still, that's weird because I'm more accurate with 180gr in my FS M&P where the 165gr is all over the place.

HOWEVER... I also fed my Shield 40 my carry ammo, which is 165gr Hornady Critical Defense. I only brought 14 rounds to the range and loaded up 2 mags worth (6+1). I had 2 Failure-to-Feed in the middle of both mags. There was ammo still remaining in the mag with the slide locked back. Same damn issue!!!!!

IT GETS WORSE... I checked out the spent casings on my WWB FMJ ammo and those were fine, BUT, the Hornady Critical Defense casings were BULGING at the bottom!!! This is my carry ammo so I'm really upset this happened.

I called S&W on my way home and they're sending me another return label to send the Shield back to them.

Anyone interested in buying my Shield? LOL... I think I should replace it and get the 9mm version...

 

[Ajaxtheknight]

This sounds all to familiar to me. Mine is on its way back for the second time. It came back from s&w the first time in worse shape than it left. At least you got a free magazine out of the deal, so far I have gotten nothing but trouble and rude customer service.

 

[A.Christopher]

So, I just got back from the range....

HOWEVER... I also fed my Shield 40 my carry ammo, which is 165gr Hornady Critical Defense. I only brought 14 rounds to the range and loaded up 2 mags worth (6+1). I had 2 Failure-to-Feed in the middle of both mags. There was ammo still remaining in the mag with the slide locked back. Same damn issue!!!!!

IT GETS WORSE... I checked out the spent casings on my WWB FMJ ammo and those were fine, BUT, the Hornady Critical Defense casings were BULGING at the bottom!!! This is my carry ammo so I'm really upset this happened....

I will say that it did shoot about 100 rounds before my first fail to feed today. Even before i sent it in for repair, it did have a 70 round streak without failure, and at other times I've had two fail to feed in the same mag... it's very inconsistent. I would like to see it eat at least 500 rounds flawlessly before i consider it truly fixed and reliable. I would hope that's not asking too much? My M&P 40c has a few thousand rounds through it and have never had one issue (that wasn't defective ammo related). My carry ammo is also Hornady Critical Defense but I have yet to shoot any through the gun... I'll have to test those as well.

I'm waiting to install a bunch of parts that I already purchased (Apex DCAEK, AET, Sights, Talon Grip) so I'm kind of committed... which I'm fine with (as long as it gets fixed or replaced in the end) since i really like the Shield 40, hell that's why I bought it. But I'm not interested in the 9mm version at all.

 

[Virgil]

Actually I shipped mine out and received it back on the exact same dates, Shipped on 2/21, S&W received it on 2/24 and and received from them on 3/10. They did not give me a free mag probably because i sent them all 5 of my mags in with the gun, maybe they figured I had enough already. The repair document states

"Performed Service: Evaluate / Repair - Replace Barrel/Extractor/Function Test"

So I take it out to the range today to fire a few hundred rounds through it to see how it performs. Same damn issue! after 5 Fail to Feed out of 250 rounds (and one stove pipe, slide caught the spent casing as it was feeding the next round) I left the range. Same deal as before, Bullet nose down, not touching feed ramp, happens with any of my 5 mags and 2 and a half boxes of WWB ammo. I'm planning to call S&W to see if they want me to send it back... again.

Nomadic Vagabond, what were your results at the range since you've received it back from S&W?

Shield.40 Still Fails to Feed After Repair1

Shield.40 Still Fails to Feed After Repair2

I bought a new .40 Shield that did the exact same thing twice within 100 rds of 165g PMC fmj. I bought it on Monday and traded it back in on the following Wednesday for a Glock 36. No problems so far out of the Glock in 300 rds of ammo. Personally I'm not putting up with a problematic gun. Too much hassle with sending it back over and over and over hoping the manufacturer finally gets it right. I own three Glocks now and they all three have worked perfectly straight from the box. Never had to send a Glock back yet.

 

[Nomadic Vagabond]

I will say that it did shoot about 100 rounds before my first fail to feed today. Even before i sent it in for repair, it did have a 70 round streak without failure, and at other times I've had two fail to feed in the same mag... it's very inconsistent. I would like to see it eat at least 500 rounds flawlessly before i consider it truly fixed and reliable. I would hope that's not asking too much? My M&P 40c has a few thousand rounds through it and have never had one issue (that wasn't defective ammo related). My carry ammo is also Hornady Critical Defense but I have yet to shoot any through the gun... I'll have to test those as well.

I'm waiting to install a bunch of parts that I already purchased (Apex DCAEK, AET, Sights, Talon Grip) so I'm kind of committed... which I'm fine with (as long as it gets fixed or replaced in the end) since i really like the Shield 40, hell that's why I bought it. But I'm not interested in the 9mm version at all.

Same here. My FS M&P has never had a single misfeed or anything, it's perfect @ 2,000 rounds.

It seems as though the Hornady Critical Defense ammo has a hire failure rate for some reason. I obviously use it a lot less at the range. Of the 64 HCD rounds I've fed it, 4 locked the slide up - so 6.25%... ouch... Weird how only those cases bulge. S&W said it was because it's +P ammo... I didn't think 165gr was considered +P, then again, the guy probably didn't know what he was talking about. I don't even think there is +P in 40S&W anyway...

Yes, same thing with my Shield - even before I sent it back to S&W I could go ~70 rounds without an issue.

Personally, I would absolutely not modify anything about the trigger in a CCW weapon due to legal liabilities, but that's just me. I think it shoots just fine out of the box. I already have the Talon grips on it and am waiting for my Trijicon sights to come in.

I only bought the 40 because my FS is a 40 and didn't want to stock another caliber. However, I do think this and other issues are confined to the 40. The 9 is starting to look more appealing to me for due to fewer known issues, less recoil (although 40 doesn't bother me), and an extra round. Too bad I have 5 magazines for the 40 now...

 

[Nomadic Vagabond]

I bought a new .40 Shield that did the exact same thing twice within 100 rds of 165g PMC fmj. I bought it on Monday and traded it back in on the following Wednesday for a Glock 36.

How much did they give you for the trade?