I own three M&P pistols, the 45 ACP, the 9MMC, and the Shield 40, of these three pistols the shield is the biggest pain to reassemble, it is so difficult to over come the recoil spring. I finally found an answer, I cut a piece of non-slip shelf liner, place it over the slide, and due to the friction/grip I can move the slide over the frame with no problems, it works great.

Just a hint for those that might be having issues reassembling the shield!

Yeah, they are tough....especially in the beginning before they are broken in. I just insert an empty magazine, but your idea is a great suggestion. One of those rubber things you use to open jars might work too.

Tracy

Thanks. I'll have to pass that along to people I know with lesser grip strength.

Now I know where to look for the jar opener.

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THIS WE'LL DEFEND ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Any arthritis I may have in my hands from 40+ years of shooting has not yet crept up enough to prevent me opening the slide or disassembling any pistol, but that is a great idea that I will mention to my wife or anyone I may encounter who has that difficulty. Good idea!

I just checked - you can use those to twist the cap off of certain beer bottles!!!

If we are on the same page with the Shield, it would have been nice if S&W would have milled some grip wavies up near the front sight to alleviate the problem. As it is now when cleaning my 9mm, I get left hand wrist abrasions from the sharp edged front sight.

try that non-slip shelf liner, works great, with that stuff I can actually grip the slide so that I can get it back on the frame! I am thinking that the slide is so small that I waste energy just hanging onto the slide. I have no issues with the slide after reassembly, the difficult part is getting the slide back on the frame after cleaning!