Love my new Shield but have a few issues...

[Trout_fear_me]

Howdy everyone,

I am happy to report that I just picked up my Shield 9mm a few days ago. I am extremely pleased with the purchase and love the gun. It's very fun to take to the range.

I was trying to decide between the G26 and the Shield. I had tried the G26 but after 50 rounds I was done with it because it was too snappy. So far I've put 300 rounds through the Shield and other than the issues I'm going to list below, I'm stoked. Plus single stacked is better IMHO for CCW to reduce printing.

I did experience a few challenges even before I left the FFL which I'd like to run by everyone:

1) The slide is difficult to lock back. The FFL had difficulty doing it, and had to have someone else do it by taking off the slide and adjusting the recoil spring. My understanding is this goes away over time. Any suggestions on things I can do to either correct it or speed the process up?

2) I'm very experienced with my G19 and know exactly when the trigger reset will happen. With the Shield there were probably half a dozen times out of 200 rounds when I seemed to "lose" the trigger reset. It just wasn't there and I had to bring the trigger all the way forward before I could fire again (not feeling the reset as I did so). Is this an indication of a problem or perhaps just unfamiliarity with the new weapon?

3) The magazines (both eight and seven round) do not fall out when hitting the release button. I had to press the button and pull the magazine out in order to reload. This is not my experience with Glock. Any suggestions on how to correct this problem?

Look forward to hearing back. Thanks!

 

[mltndw3]

Difficulty with the slide--suggestions include; put a lot of rounds through the gun, locking the slide back over night, putting a drop of oil on the recoil spring and piston. I did all of those and it is much easier to lock it back now. My wife couldn't lock the slide back or rack it for the first month or so of weekly trips to the range, but she can now. Still much harder than a G19 as you noted.

Trigger reset--no advice because I still struggle with that as well.

Magazines not falling out--they do loosen up with use. I have five and some fall out and some require a bit of a tug.

 

[timn8er]

Welcome to the Forum. I think your problems will go away with time & use. with a couple of hundred rounds through it the gun will loosen up. I find the best way to lock back the slide is to put an empty magazine in the gun & pull back hard on the slide. The gun is sensitive to the position of the recoil spring assembly, so be careful how you re-install it. Apex Tactical probably has something for your trigger reset, should it not improve. Good luck & happy shooting!

 

[Trout_fear_me]

Difficulty with the slide--suggestions include; put a lot of rounds through the gun, locking the slide back over night, putting a drop of oil on the recoil spring and piston. I did all of those and it is much easier to lock it back now. My wife couldn't lock the slide back or rack it for the first month or so of weekly trips to the range, but she can now. Still much harder than a G19 as you noted.

Those are some great suggestions. I hadn't thought about locking the slide back over night.

More rounds is not a problem. Who doesn't want more range time, eh?

 

[OldCat]

The more the recoil spring is cycled the smoother it will become. Holding a spring in one static position won't do too much. Seems like a lot of people have this issue. I came from a 1911 so this seemed easy to me but it still is progressive and gets stiffer as you pull it back.

The trigger reset is unlike the Glock's. Those are pronounced the Shield's is more subtle, you feel a tiny click as opposed to the Glock's clunk.

The mags do drop out but if you're gentle on the button they won't. After a few range days it will all work right.

I have a G19 as well.

 

[Trout_fear_me]

Great feedback everyone, really appreciate it!

The takeaway... go shoot more! I will do my best to put more shots on target.

 

[Norm66]

Yea, I agree with all the advice given so far. Enjoy!

 

[dkleiner]

I just listed my own thread on the slide issue. With mine, I can't get the slide lever to lift up. Therefore, I can't even lock it in the open position.

 

[BigDog99]

I have two Shields, both 9mm. One for me and one for my wife. While both of the slides rack a little stiff, I do not think they are that difficult but then again, I have been shooting for over twenty years. My wife found it a bit tough at first. With use (and practice) it will get easier and like you have said, more time on the range is no problem. I have not had any issues with any of our magazines dropping out. I bought 4 additional for the two Shields so we have 8 total and all seem to drop fine. Maybe another time related fix. More rounds fired, better results.

Good luck and enjoy your Shield

 

[shawn mccarver]

Welcome.

Slide lock back issues have been reported a little, and they seem to go away. If it bothers you, call S&W and see if they well send a new recoil spring assembly after you describe the problem. I do not see this issue as something requiring a trip back for warranty service.

As to magazines not falling out, I rather like that. The earliest Glocks made for the Austrian military contract were intentionally designed to NOT fall out so that the magazine would not be lost.

Since you are not likely to need a "speed reload" ever (very few gunfights actually require a reload), I do not see this as an issue. I certainly would not attempt any modification to anything to attempt to get a drop free scenario as the tolerances are so close that you may cause your magazines to drop out when you don't want them to.

As to "short-stroking" the trigger, called "shooting to re-set" by some, it seems to be a really big deal, much overblown if you ask me. I and many others do not shoot this way, preferring instead to let the trigger return fully forward. Both Larry Vickers and Ken Hackathorn have referred to this method of shooting as "the biggest training scar" of the modern era.

Short-stroking a revolver yields disastrous results, and short-stroking the pistol can, as you have seen, cause problems. The supposed advantage is speed of follow-up shots, yet two of the fastest shooters out there, Rob Leatham and Jerry Miculek, do not use this method. By all accounts, they both shoot "pretty fast."

Apart from the problem of instilling a "bad habit" that has to be un-learned when shooting a different type or model of firearm, there is the issue of jerking the trigger.

Often, shooters who "short-stroke" their pistols, let the trigger forward slowly to "find" the re-set, then those shooters align the sights. Then, to make up for the time lost in the slow return to find re-set, once the sights are found, the trigger is "jerked," so the shooter can appear speedy. The results are shotgun-like patterns and wide misses.

Now, if you want to spend the time to learn this "short-stroking," so that the timing is right (the sights are reacquired at the moment of re-set), it is ok with me, but except for a few people who can actually master this, I see no advantages, and several disadvantages.

That said, if you want to short-stroke, you will have to either go back to the Glock, or you will have to use after-market parts to get that audible click, and tactile feel, neither of which you will likely experience if the weapon is used for real instead of in a match or during plinking or informal shooting on the range. As has been documented, during a fight, gross movements take over, and I would be concerned that "short-stroking" would come back to haunt you.

Now, I admit to being old, and perhaps set in my ways, so I point these things out to demonstrate that there are disadvantages to "short-stroking" the trigger. That said, if you want to do it, I would say you will have to practice considerably to learn it enough to use it in a gunfight. If you "get lost" in the return trigger stroke, and your muscle memory has not taken over to yield a situation where you NEVER fail to fire because you did not get to the re-set point before you began the rearward trigger stroke again, then I would suggest that you are not yet sufficiently qualified with that particular firearm to carry it for defense.

I do not mean to be disrespectful, but carrying a firearm for defense, and that is what the Shield is for, is a serious business. Being ill-prepared could get you or a loved one hurt or killed.

Good luck.

 

[Edmo]

Working the recoil springs will help to break them in. Shooting is the most fun way to "work" them, but racking the slide manually will also loosen the springs. Remember, the Shield's recoil springs will still stack up towards the back end of slide travel even after they are broken in.

Like the OP I am a GLOCK shooter and have grown fond of their trigger including the really short reset. One thing which will help you transition your GLOCK trigger finger to the longer reset travel of the Shield is combining dry fire practice with your live fire. I always try to reset the trigger during recoil so as to be ready for follow up shots as soon as the front sight is back on target. Remember fine motor skills go away under stress so as Shawn mentioned, training your finger to move further forward than needed for the reset is a good thing and will eliminate the short stroke. Short stroked triggers only needs to be released again to get things to go bang. This is something you should train to avoid, but not a show stopper like a true malfunction.

My Shield mags drop free without problems. If your's don't maybe they will "break in" or you can call S&W. I always carry a spare mag not for the extra round count, but to replace the first one if it malfunctions or if I'm a dummy and accidentally eject it.

Edmo

 

[Stratajema]

Howdy everyone,


1) The slide is difficult to lock back. The FFL had difficulty doing it, and had to have someone else do it by taking off the slide and adjusting the recoil spring. My understanding is this goes away over time. Any suggestions on things I can do to either correct it or speed the process up?

You have a defective recoil spring assembly that needs to be replaced. This has become a very common complaint lately about the Shield. Don't listen to the posters that are essentially telling you to shoot more rounds to "break in" the recoil spring. A striker fired gun should function 100% out of the box... without excuses. You should not have to spend money on ammo to solve the piss poor quality/defective recoil spring assembly in the S&W Shield. It is cheaper and more logical to request S&W send you a replacement for free.

 

[wingnuut]

how did your ffl adjust the recoil spring?

 

[mailman390]

Do what I did.......send an email to S&W include your address and serial# and they will send you a new recoil spring FREE of charge. It just might take a while to get.......mine came in around a month after emailing them. Just go to their website for the email address.

 

[Stratajema]

how did your ffl adjust the recoil spring?

What the FFL probably did was rotate the spring/assembly into a different position. That was the situation with my Shield's recoil spring assembly over a year ago. In some rotated positions everything worked fine, and in other positions the slide could not be fully retracted, which interfered with taking the slide off. It also interfered with the reliable feeding of ammo when it was rotated in one particular position.

 

[VicDog]

I put an Apex sear in my Shield and it made the trigger
outstanding. In my case the slide was very tight but usable
and it has loosened up some. But it is a small pistol and the
slide will be harder to rack than a full size 9mm M&P.

 

[Doug M.]

Go back and re-read what Shawn said about reset as a training scar. Look at the sources he cites for the position, and understand that they really know what they are doing. Beat that into your head. Shooting to the reset is a target shooting paradigm, and not appropriate for fighting with a firearm. This is not Camp Perry.

 

[SpartanZeroOne]

I also have a Shield 9 and love it! I've got about 800 rounds through it with NO issues. I could not put it down for the first week or so that I had it so I was carrying it around the house (unloaded, of course!) and racking the slide constantly. I also left the slide locked back for a full night before taking it to the range. I did not even clean it initially... just threw a little oil on the "seven spots" and it ran perfectly. In fact, I still haven't cleaned it once since I got it and it's still going like a champ! (I know, shame on me). I never had a mag release problem with either my Shield 9 or M&P FS 9... they almost shoot out when I hit the mag release.

Try locking the slide back for a night and see what happens. I have also heard of other folks with the mag release issue and they called S&W customer service... sent the gun in and it came back with the problem solved. Their customer service is always excellent each time I have called... sometimes I even end up "talking shop" with the people on the phone as they are so knowledgeable about firearms. Best of luck with your Shield 9!!