I purchased a new Shield (9mm) from a local gun shop. Cleaned and lubricated the firearm. Put 50 rounds through the firearm with no noticeable issues. However, when racking the slide by hand, an unspent round fails to eject 100% of the time. The round gets caught/smashed in the slide/chamber before it can fully leave the firearm. I have tried different types (FMJ and defensive rounds), weights (115 to 124 grain), and brands of ammo (all new name-brand cartridges). I do not have this issue on any other handgun I own. Does anyone have any recommendations to this most frustrating issue?

I contacted S&W who said to send it back to them, but conceded a turnaround time of up to nearly 3 months.

I don't think that is anything unusual, The longer length of a unfired round can easily catch the barrel hood or port. It's more likely to happen with a compact pistol where you have a stronger recoil spring and shorter cycle action than on a full size gun. I catch my rounds down the magwell most of time I'm clearing my guns.

Quit hand cycling the damned thing and shoot it and your problem will go away.

I know it's not a Shield, but I had an AK that did the same thing. When I first took it home, I tried to hand cycle it with a full mag of ammo. It would literally jam & get stuck, but before I sent it back, I figured I'd better shoot it first. It never missed a beat. So I figured I bought the gun to shoot, which it did perfectly. I didn't buy it to hand cycle. I never sent it back as it shot just fine. GARY

Pull the slide back harder and faster, also tilt the ejection port to the right so gravity can assist. Or, eject the magazine then rack the slide and let it fall down the magazine well. As long as it's ejecting when being fired, it's working as intended. They aren't specifically designed to eject an unspent round, regardless of whether or not your other guns have done it just fine.

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500

This happened to me with my m&p 40c. So i end up selling it and buying another Kimber 1911. Problem solved!!!!!!

Yep the secret 1911 fix does work well with any and all fixes and all issues. Sorry I have a few M&P's still warming up to them but you can't beat the workmanship in a truly ingenues almost unchanged design of John M. Browning's 100 plus year old masterpiece! George

I agree with others pull back the slide all the way fast and furious and let her go in like manner.

The weapon is designed to cycle in the blink of an eye. Slowing down the process reduces inertia.

Russ

I hand rack my M&P 40 FS all the time with dummy test rounds when determining seat depths of handloads. I want to make sure multiple bullets will feed and cycle from the magazine properly.

100% success by simply holding the gun horizontally with the right side facing down. The bullets gently fall out of the gun. Then let go of the fully retracted slide to ensure the next round feeds properly.

BTW don't do this too many times with live ammo. You encourage bullet set back which will blow up your gun and be painful to your hand.

An example of too many chamberings from the m-p pistol forums (not my picture, credit goes to wingman26):

I got a 9mm Shield and just racked the slide thru 3 mags and no problems except it wasn't all that smooth and put a mark or two the rounds ejected. I also got a glock 26 and did the same thing smooth as butter and all rounds ejected with out a lot of marks on the rounds.
go figure.
R

Have you fired this pistol yet? If not don't make a review until you have. Racking the slide unfired has nothing to do with how it will perform under duress. Take it out and put 500 rounds through it and come back and give a review. You sound like a Glock guy.

You sound like a glock guy. I didn't think that that was a bad thing . Just so you know I have more than one brand of firearm. I've put enough rounds through it. And here is one for you.That's not supposed to happen. There shouldn't be any problem with clearing a mag by hand period! With any auto loader. You don't thinks so check with the S&W rep. Or any manufacturer for that matter it just shouldn't happen if the gun is broke in and working correctly. You sound like a guy that's been playing with guns for 5 minutes. Go out and put some rounds through it for the next 30 years then you can give a review of what I said.
R
R

Yes, as long as it's done by briskly pulling the slide back as recommended, there should be no problems ejecting an unspent round. It's when you slowly pull it back, that the round may not clear the slide. I say, tilt the gun to the right, and yank that sucker back, letting the round fall where it will.

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500

Thank you so much everyone for your responses. Allow me to clarify and comment on a few items:

(1) In my original post, I did indeed already state that I had fired the gun. Although only 50 rounds, I mentioned that I did not have any issues or FTEs with live fire rounds.

(2) A few in the group have mentioned racking it fast. I understand and admit that hand-racking the slide may not be quite as fast as when shooting live rounds. I get it. But I have tried brand new American-made ammo and racking the slide as fast and furious and hard as I can. No difference.

(3) The group here seems to be split on whether or not an FTE when hand-ejecting an unspent round is an issue. Many of my friends talk of taking tactical hand gun courses. In these classes, they all practice clearing a misfeed or bullet jam. They do this by HAND-RACKING THE SLIDE to get ride of the problem. If hand-racking the slide only causes further problems, I guess I am dead (in the tactical training scenario, that is). That is all I am saying.

I will most likely send this back to S&W for inspection and service.

Thanks for the clarification. Yep, if you're not getting it to eject at all regardless of how fast you rack it, you may have a problem. Indeed, all of my semi-autos fling unspent rounds a couple of feet away when doing malfunction drills. Good luck, and keep us posted on your issue.

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500