Potentially dangerous Shield Idiosyncrasy

[Gaucho59]

recently traded in my LC9 for a Shield and now have about 500 rounds thru it. I was at the range today testing out the Mag Guts +1 kit I put in one of the mags (flawless thru 100 rounds and smoother than the stock ones!) and I discovered something that could be a problem, tho it's not really a fault of the gun. I found that using a UpLula loader (awesome product by the way) you could actually load a extra round into the mag. This was true of my stock 7 and 8 rounder as well as the 8 rounder with the +1 kit. With the UpLula, it loaded the extra round without much difficulty and if you aren't counting rounds (which I wasn't) you wouldn't really notice. With the overloaded mags, you could put the mag into the gun, chamber a round, drop the mag and top it off (it's the way I carry, so I always train that way) and reinsert the mag. The overloaded mag would usually (but not always) force the slide slightly out of battery when you tapped it in. It was so slight that I didn't notice until I tried to fire it, which of course didn't work. One time (before I realized what was going on) I loaded a 7 round mag with 8 rounds plus the one in the chamber and it went into battery fine. However, after I fired the 1st round I got a weird double feed type jam and I couldn't drop the mag or clear the jam in the normal way. I had to lock the slide back and fish it out. I think this is only possible using the loader, I don't believe you could load that extra round by hand. With the UpLula tho, it didn't really feel like you were overloading it. It did feel a little stiffer, but that was easily attributable to it being the last round. Once I knew what was going on, I could kinda tell by feel that I was loading a extra round. But from now on, I'll definitely pay close attention to the # of rounds I load when I'm gearing up for carry! Sorry for the long winded post….

 

[martybee]

Gaucho59:
Are you blaming the loader for the extra rd.?

mb

 

[Joe511]

Re-read his first post. He's insinuating that I was a danger to anyone around me in the range. That was an unnecessary assumption and was definitely not the case. As I stated, I've had a number of semi-auto hand guns in the past and never had come across one that would allow an extra round to be loaded. They all stopped accepting rounds when capacity was reached.

I appreciate the info, thanks. I know plenty of older and experienced shooters who could've made this mistake. Especially with a speed loader as quick and easy as that one. Don't let the inter-webs get to you.

 

[uechikid]

I found it odd that you could overload your shield mags. Most people have a hard time getting that last round in. So I got out a couple of my 8 rounders and my UpLula speed loader. I couldn't get 9 rounds in either of those mags if I stood on the loader. It makes me wonder about your mags.

 

[326MOD10]

Thanks for the information. I have a new Shield on the way and ordered extra magazines and a loader for it due to the tales of how hard the magazines are to load. This is good information to have since most people, while I realize not everyone, can be distracted at times when at the range.

I will also be interested to see if I can accomplish what you had done since a poster above had stated he could not do the same with his magazines. It will be a couple of weeks until I get mine in and will try to let you know so if there is something odd going on you can get it checked out.

Thanks again.

 

[RobzGuns]

I was at the range today testing out the Mag Guts +1 kit I put in one of the mags.
I found that using a UpLula loader (awesome product by the way) you could actually load a extra round into the mag. This was true of my stock 7 and 8 rounder as well as the 8 rounder with the +1 kit.

Okay... It got kinda confusing. With all the different '+1' references.

So in effect, you had:

• One unmodified Standard (7 round) mag?
• One unmodified Extended (8 round) mag and
• one MagGuts modified Exteded (now a 9 round) mag?

Taking the chambered ("+1") round out of the equation, are You saying that using an UpLULA, you can squeeze

• an 8th round into the Factory (unmodified) Standard mag itself?
• a 9th round into the Factory (unmodified) Extended mag, and
• a 10th round into the Extended mag with the MagGuts conversion?

Or did I misread your post?

Everyone complains that they can barely get the 7th round into a standard mag (even with an UpLULA). If you could have someone video you, I'd love to see how you managed to get 1 extra into each of the mags.

I have the MagGuts conversion springs in two of my mags and even with an UpLULA, I can't get more than 8 rounds into the converted Standard mag, or more than 9 rounds into the converted Extended mag.

 

[tbgunner88]

He stated that it only happened with a kit that adds +1 to the magazine, not the factory mag setup. That's how I understood it anyway

 

[hpfenning]

He stated that it only happened with a kit that adds +1 to the magazine, not the factory mag setup. That's how I understood it anyway

He said:

"This was true of my stock 7 and 8 rounder as well as the 8 rounder with the +1 kit. With the UpLula, it loaded the extra round without much difficulty and if you aren't counting rounds (which I wasn't) you wouldn't really notice."

So it sounds like he could squeeze an extra round into the stock mags...I sure can't!!

 

[Gaucho59]

No, it was actually all the mags, factory and the one with the Mag guts kit. All accepted an extra round (8, 9 and 10 total rounds) without any extra "muscling" the rounds in. That's why I posted, thinking it very strange. I'm not that old and I have good hand strength. When I first got my Shield, the range offered me free range time to try it out. I wasn't prepared for that and didn't have my range bag with me (loader is in the bag) but wanted to try it out. I could only manage to get 4 rounds into any of the mags when they were brand new. Went back into the store and no one in there could get any more in either! I knew they were stiff when new, so I just shot those rounds and took it home. After the mags stayed loaded for a couple days, they loaded reasonably well and could be hand loaded after the first range trip. And no, I'm not blaming the loader, gun or mag. Simply pointing out that the extra mechanical advantage gained by using the loader may allow an extra round to be loaded and that added spring tension could cause a dangerous situation if you were carrying it that way. By dangerous, I meant that the gun may not function properly when needed most. I didn't mean to imply that it was dangerous in the sense that you could have a negligent discharge or something like that.

 

[tbgunner88]

That's the opposite of what you usually hear with the shield mags, I know with mine it feels like something is on the verge of breaking getting the last round loaded so I never imagined it possible to add another.

 

[JWH321]

I just tried it with mine and it was a no go. Any chance the mag followers had been shortened or perhaps the mag spring shortened at some point in their lives?

 

[Gaucho59]

They are brand new and unmodified. I promise, if I made a video as suggested, there would be nothing to see as loading the "extra" round wouldn't look any different. To the poster who asked about taking the chambered round out of the equation, there wouldn't be a problem in that case. If I put the mag with an extra round into the gun, chambered a round but didn't drop the mag and top it back off, it would be fine. Just like having a topped off mag and one in the chamber. Hope that all makes sense, I know it wordy!

 

[RobzGuns]

I promise, if I made a video as suggested, there would be nothing to see as loading the "extra" round wouldn't look any different.

For that, I simply meant counting out loud as you loaded each round, so we could see (and hear) you get the 'extra' round into the mag... No Biggie.

To the poster who asked about taking the chambered round out of the equation, there wouldn't be a problem in that case.

For that, I simply meant for clarification of the situation in this thread... not for 'Real Life'. In the OP, there were points where I wasn't sure if you were referring to +1 being topped off, or +1 round in the mag due to the MagGuts kit, or just 1 extra in the factory mags (without one in the chamber). It got a little confusing to me (and I guess for a couple others, too).
You cleared that up in your followup reply.

 

[tbgunner88]

Yeah, I think the questions have been cleared up throughout the thread. I would be curious to see if anyone else can duplicate what the op mentioned with their factory shield mags, or if the op had access to another mag to see if he can do the same thing with it.

 

[JWH321]

They are brand new and unmodified. I promise, if I made a video as suggested, there would be nothing to see as loading the "extra" round wouldn't look any different. To the poster who asked about taking the chambered round out of the equation, there wouldn't be a problem in that case. If I put the mag with an extra round into the gun, chambered a round but didn't drop the mag and top it back off, it would be fine. Just like having a topped off mag and one in the chamber. Hope that all makes sense, I know it wordy!

I actually think it might be worth trying someone elses mag in your gun just to see if somehow the upper lips of the mag have gotten bent or were misshapen from the factory. I have two uplulas (I lost one, replaced it, and found the original). I tried it with both of them, still no go. It surely does seem like there might be some room for another on them, but I couldn't get it to go in. I can imagine that the lips of the mag don't have to squeeze too far to fit it.

One other possibility - do your mags say 9mm on the side under the S&W logo? I was wondering if somehow some 40 cal mag parts got mixed in at the mothership. Unlikely, I know, but stranger things have happened. My first M&P 9c came with no striker in it. Yet it had a spent casing with it.

 

[Romo11]

Thanks for info

Personally I want to thank the Op for taking the time to post this. I'll start counting more closely.

Romo11

 

[ChiefStealth]

(snip)I would be curious to see if anyone else can duplicate what the op mentioned with their factory shield mags,

I cannot duplicate with factory 7, or 8 rounder, with Uplula.

 

[S&W Fan]

Another "nope". I have one 7rd mag and two 8rd mags for my 9mm Shield, I got the Uplula when I got my full size 9. Unable to put more than the original count in all the mags-unaltered btw.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Perhaps then, the title of this thread should have been...

Potentially dangerous Uplula Idiosyncrasy

Or "Potentially Dangerous Math Issue." For those who don't set out the number of rounds they intend to load in advance, in a row, separate from the box or pile of other rounds, closely inspecting each round before loading, I say "Really?"

 

[Jim1392]

I really can't add a lot to this thread since I only own 1 automatic, although not a shield. But I can say that I ALWAYS have counted the amount of rounds that I have loaded into the magazine. Call me crazy but isn't this what you usually do?? I can't remember a time where I just kept loading the magazine until there was no room for another round.