M&P shield plus 9mm magazine dropping

Toothdr62

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Hey gentlemen, brand new to this forum but looking for some help with my M&P shield plus in 9mm. Purchased new in October of last year. Has approx 700 rounds through it of all different brands and grains of ammo and my problem is both the 10 and 13 round magazines drop down during during firing. Not completely out but just enough to prevent ejection resulting in a jam and of course not firing the subsequent round. It can happen on the second round or the 10 th. Doesn't matter what grip type or grain of ammo. Three people have shot it all with the same results. Sent back to S&W. They had it for a month and returned it with a new magazine ejector. Shot it yesterday and absolutely no change! Sent them another email and they want me to send it back again. Has anyone else had this issue? Any help would be appreciated. This weapon is being used by my daughter for self defense. It's totally unreliable at this point. Thanks Dean
 
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When you type "magazine ejector" are you referring to the little button you press to let the magazine drop out? If so, that's the magazine catch.

You might want to have someone watch you shoot. You may be putting some pressure on the magazine catch without knowing it.
 
The mags can be difficult to seat completely, especially if you're inserting a full mag with one already in the chamber. On my Shield 2.0, I really slam it home, or press very hard and make sure I hear the click. I've never had a mag drop on my 2.0. I've heard the Plus can require a little more effort.

Have you tried loading the 10/13 round mags with 9 or 12 rounds on an empty chamber? I'm just curious if you're getting the mag totally seated. It's probably not user error, like I said, I'm just curious.
 
On the Shield plus, s+w moved to an oversized ejector from the gen 1 shield. Any marring on the mags? Try giving the mag a firm bump from below to see if it still exhibits. My gen 1 snaps in and never fell out. Have you access to gen 1 to see how it performs in comparison?
 
I had a PC Shield 1.0 several years ago and seems I could have an issue loading a full mag completely without having the slide locked back. Never had a problem if the slide was open and not forward.
Could have been me, just something I noticed when at the range.
 
When you type "magazine ejector" are you referring to the little button you press to let the magazine drop out? If so, that's the magazine catch.

You might want to have someone watch you shoot. You may be putting some pressure on the magazine catch without knowing it.

Yes, my bad I meant magazine catch. I have seated the magazine both 10 and 13 round with each not to full capacity, seated them both with the slide back and fully closed. I have shot the weapon left and right handed and one handed with my thumb visibly below the magazine catch. I've done everything I can think of to rule out user error. I've had two other people shoot the weapon and both have the same issue. One was a NRA instructor. I can audibly hear a very loud click upon insertion and no matter how hard I pull on the magazine I can't remove it without pushing in the magazine catch. This is a very frustrating issue for me. My daughter loves the way the pistol shoots. Gonna give S@W another opportunity to check it out but it literally can only be the catch, magazines, user error or possibly something knocking the magazine loose as the slides is blown backwards. I was hoping others were experiencing this issue and that S&W had a fix. Thanks guys.
 
Yes, my bad I meant magazine catch. I have seated the magazine both 10 and 13 round with each not to full capacity, seated them both with the slide back and fully closed. I have shot the weapon left and right handed and one handed with my thumb visibly below the magazine catch. I've done everything I can think of to rule out user error. I've had two other people shoot the weapon and both have the same issue. One was a NRA instructor. I can audibly hear a very loud click upon insertion and no matter how hard I pull on the magazine I can't remove it without pushing in the magazine catch. This is a very frustrating issue for me. My daughter loves the way the pistol shoots. Gonna give S@W another opportunity to check it out but it literally can only be the catch, magazines, user error or possibly something knocking the magazine loose as the slides is blown backwards. I was hoping others were experiencing this issue and that S&W had a fix. Thanks guys.

Can you post photos of your magazines on both sides of them?
 

I don't see an obvious problem. You have them in your hand, do you see any issues with them?

With an empty magazine inserted, and without putting pressure on the bottom of it, does the extractor claw or the ejector physically touch the lip of the magazine or is there a small gap?

If you push the bottom of the mag, it probably will touch one or the other. With no pressure, it shouldn't touch.
 
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For example, you can see on my Shield 2.0 a gap between the mag and the ejector as well as the mag and the extractor.

Notice the hit my extractor withstood and the big scratch.

20220314_223928.jpg
 
My guess? User error.

Three different people, one a NRA instructor? And I'm certainly not an instructor but have been shooting rifles shotguns and pistols for 50 years. I've shot it one handed with my thumb visibly away from the release, plus the release has to be very engaged to remove the magazine. I'm obviously very frustrated at this point.
 
Three different people, one a NRA instructor? And I'm certainly not an instructor but have been shooting rifles shotguns and pistols for 50 years. I've shot it one handed with my thumb visibly away from the release, plus the release has to be very engaged to remove the magazine. I'm obviously very frustrated at this point.

99% of problems are user error but in this case, I think you've ruled out user error.

I recall someone recently posting in this forum or another forum about his magazine hitting either the extractor or the ejector and causing it to come loose. I forget which.

Check yours. It's better if you can point S&W in a specific direction before sending it in.
 
Here's a thread with a similar problem happening to a few Shield 45s:

Shield .45 mag dropping

Post #44 indicates a fix with a new magazine follower. Apparently, the original follower design was causing the follower to hit the mag catch/release during recoil. The new follower design has a notch that supposedly prevents that from happening. Not sure if your issue is the same, but thought I'd mention this thread as a possible solution to look into. Either way, please keep us updated and let us know if it gets fixed.
 
99% of problems are user error but in this case, I think you've ruled out user error.

I recall someone recently posting in this forum or another forum about his magazine hitting either the extractor or the ejector and causing it to come loose. I forget which.

Check yours. It's better if you can point S&W in a specific direction before sending it in.

Thanks so much when I get home this evening I'm going to check that before I send it back off.
 
... plus the release has to be very engaged to remove the magazine.
Your "very engaged" comment has me wondering about an issue I had with a 9mm Shield 1.0.
The mag release felt stiff, and when I Googled it, found out the release could rust. Took it out, and there was rust where the release rubbed the frame hole, which looked like it could have led to malfunction.
Cleaned off the rust, and coated with lube, and that eliminated the problem.

Good luck.


Sent from my motorola one 5G using Tapatalk
 
Here's a thread with a similar problem happening to a few Shield 45s:

Shield .45 mag dropping

Post #44 indicates a fix with a new magazine follower. Apparently, the original follower design was causing the follower to hit the mag catch/release during recoil. The new follower design has a notch that supposedly prevents that from happening. Not sure if your issue is the same, but thought I'd mention this thread as a possible solution to look into. Either way, please keep us updated and let us know if it gets fixed.

Thank you I will look into that. I'm open to anything at this point.
 
Does the mag catch take a firm press to release? Or is it very easy? If it's real easy to press and drops the mag, it may not be catching fully. When you insert the mag, does the mag catch pop out? It should. Could be the catch is not adjusted/seated properly, or gummed up. If you bought at a local shop with a gunsmith, take it in.
 

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