mustangman
Member
I can't believe Smith & Wesson would send a damaged pistol back saying it is safe to shoot with a crack in the frame. But I also believe there is a significant design flaw in the frame of the S&W M&P line. My Shield blew up while running drills in a handgun defense class. I have my CCW license in California and was shooting my carry gun in the class. The gun blew up on the last round in my 7 round magazine. Since this catastrophic event I have been researching this online to see if anyone else has had this problem. I was amazed at how many M&P's, both 40's and 9's have come apart. The remarkable think about it was every picture that I saw appeared to be identical to my Shield right down to the cut below my left eye. Later I noticed a small chip in my safety glasses where a piece of brass would have entered the center of my eye. Thank God for safety glasses or I would not have a left eye.
Smith & Wesson said it was a hot load that caused this. I was shooting factory Winchester loads bought at my local Walmart. Smith & Wesson said the gun was not fixable and they offered me a slightly reduced price for a new one. What a great deal when I can buy one for less than what they offered me. I asked for my gun to be sent back to me. They asked why I wanted it because I couldn't shoot it. I said, "I paid for it, so either replace it or give me my money I paid back." After more questions from the service rep, he again said it was not a shoot able gun and said that I had after market sights on my gun. That if they weren't installed properly that could have caused my gun to explode. My response, "I am farsighted and the fire sights I had my on Shield were bought from the Smith & Wesson Store. They were installed by my local gunsmith and I had run about 300 rounds through it before it blew up." He still wanted to know why I was adamant about having my original gun returned. My remark, "It is for advertising." With that he said he would send it back to ballistics for another evaluation. That was the last I heard from Smith & Wesson for the last month. I added pictures of my Shield.
I think Smith & Wesson has a problem that they don't want to address.
Would have liked a new thread on this since its a 9 instead of a 40, and is pretty old. Makes it kinda hard to keep track of current problems. Don't remember seeing anything about this happening to a 9, so I'm sort of curious about the responses. Glad the OP was not injured.
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Anyone ever hear of a kaboom in a 3913 or 3914? 
Me neither. 
Go plastic or go used... or go to a different brand I guess. 
