Following this thread with interest as I have a new Shield 9 that also requires the strength of Hercules to rack the slide.

Called S&W Customer Svc. this morning and explained to "Joe" the problem. My point was that even if the gun "breaks-in" to the point that mortal men can rack the slide, it's virtually impossible to sling shot the slide with thumb and forefinger as normal range exercises dictate. I mentioned that according to various boards that I frequent, S&W has acknowledged that some RSAs for the Shield have had issues. That info plus my charming demeanor clinched it and Joe agreed to send a new RSA to me.

I, too, will await the new RSA and hope for some relief. Fascinating, though, that some Shields are bought for the distaff side and apparently are workable by them.

It CAN rotate when firing, particularly depending on the angle of the cut end, which I'm pretty sure is why my slide has failed to lock back after the final round in the magazine a couple of times.

I also DID request and receive a replacement recoil assembly, where the cut angle wasn't as sharp, but it may be only coincidence that I haven't had the lock-back problem since then. It wasn't a major improvement, and I still have to be careful with the rotation position when reassembling.

Now, the most recently built Shield I was able to examine a couple months ago had a MUCH better recoil spring assembly, a flatter cut end on the spring, the main spring had a better finish and a closer fit to the rod, so it didn't bow out anywhere near as much to the side. I suspect these newer Shields won't be having the same recoil spring related problems.

I might be the only one who owns a Shield that's easy to take down and re-assemble! I actually don't do it the way the manual says...

Disassemble:
1) Rack slide a few times, chamber check, point away from you, dry fire.
2) With slide at normal battery, simply flip the takedown lever down. Slide will spring forward a half an inch. Remove slide.

Re-assemble:
1) With takedown lever down, install slide to the frame. It'll appear to be about 1/4" forward of normal battery.
2) Grasp gun with your thumb under the beavertail and the top of your hand across the slide (like you're taking down a Glock), pull the slide back some...at least until the barrel becomes unlocked from the slide, and flip the takedown lever back up.

You're good to go. Never need to mess with the sear disconnect pin. Never need to pull the slide back and use the slide stop. Never need to worry about the correct orientation of the recoil spring assembly (although that's good practice to do anyway). I can field strip and reassemble the Shield as quickly and as easily as I can a Glock.

I made a quick video just a few minutes ago. Pardon my wife's phone blowing up with text messages in the background!

36 seconds start to finish for field strip and reassembly, not working particularly fast. If you want to field strip without using the trigger, you obviously have to use the slide stop to hold the slide open while you manipulate the sear disconnect lever (if yours came with one!), but if you don't mind to dry fire the pistol before takedown, as you do must do with some other pistols, then the Shield field strips down very easily.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZrwSILlz7w

Anyone having a problem with the spring and guide rod on their Shield during reassembly? The spring is katy cornered on the end of the guide rod on the muzzle end and one side of it wants to ride up on the guide rod. The last time I reassembled it, I couldn't get it to lock open. I took it back apart, and the spring was "froze" on the end. Caught, it you will. I had to push it down to break it loose and then the gun reassembled fine. I think what happened is the flat end of the guide rod didn't seat (I was I had looked) in the hole like it should because the spring was riding up in the hole.

Thanks for the info but in did not work for me. Take down lever would not budge. Had to grip slide & pull back about 1/4" the take down lever was a bear to push down. Slide still does not lock back with out or with a mag.

My son in law has a Shield 40 and it was the first gun I noticed could be hard to reassemble if when you pull back in the slide it is not lines up with the rails properly. In other words if you are pushing left or right or twisting the slide even a little you can get the trailing edge if the slide caught on the rail and simply ensuring that the slide is lines up properly with the rails makes it much easier.
On some of my other firearms if I try to cause this I may be able to get it to happen but generally doesn't happen easily or often as there is either less play or the gap in the rail isn't at a point where the slide is likely to be able to catch during reassembly.

Sorry if I missed it earlier, but how old is your gun? I found mine to be pretty stiff when new, including rotating the takedown lever down. Once I got it field stripped the first time, and got a little bit of lubrication on that lever and end of the recoil spring assembly, it became smoother, and continues to get easier every time.

If your slide doesn't lock open with a magazine, and you can't "thumb" the slide lock lever up and hold it open with no magazine, it sounds like something's not aligned right inside your gun.

Yes. Me too. Had the same experience.

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Army veteran, NRA Life Member

Build date June 2014 haven't been able to shoot it yet. Just got off the phone with S&W to see if they shipped the guide rod, shipped yesterday.
Told him about the slide not locking with or without the mag, he said the new one should resolve the problem???????????? will see.

Well not the Shield but an MP9C
I had to use a dowel to get the take down lever to move when I first got the gun
After about 200 rds It could be done with my thumb
Same for the slide stop/Release

Received replacement RGR yesterday & guess what? Still have the same problem. Called S&W, requested a return shipping label, sent to me email as we were on the phone. Took it to FED-X same day, now the wait.

Just took possession of my 9mm Shield, it has a birth date of 5/8/2014. I am relieved to report that my Shield is easy to rack, easy to lock the slide back, and I have field stripped and reassembled it many times now without any problems. Either they have sorted out their problem or I got lucky.

Sorry to hear about that. Reassembling the gun without the recoil spring installed would have given you a little bit more tactile feedback as to where it the slide is hanging up?

I suspect you were lucky! My 9mm Shield w/safety was test fired early June 2014 and has the impossible to rack slide. It is not hanging up anywhere; it's smooth but can only be racked by a herculean effort using full grip by the non shooting hand pushing against the shooting hand operating in the opposite direction with both hands held to the chest allowing maximum effort. It's only the RSA that is influencing the action, so am waiting for a new RSA to arrive.

I may solve the same problem the easy way. Get rid of the gun. In 57 years of shooting, I've never seen a weapon with this type of problem or the amount of effort required to pull the slide back. There are plenty of fine pistols out there don't require the stupendous amount of effort just to rack a slide, or the frustration that ensues when reassembling it. What happened to Quality Control? Something is definitely wrong in Springfield, MA.

Update: I traded the Shield two days ago for the Ruger LC9. What a difference. What a big difference! I have a Ruger P90 that's been a joy to own. The LC9 will, I'm sure, follow suit.

I have other S&W and M&P pistols but the Shield, for me, was a real disappointment. S&W get your act together!

Two weeks ago, today, as reported here, S&W Cust. Svc. said they would send a new RSA. I'm still waiting. We'll see if today's mail brings any joy.

Proper follow-up would dictate that if shipping couldn't be made promptly, they give a shout explaining, and an estimate when it will ship.

To say that I'm disappointed with S&W's Cust. Svc. would be putting it mildly! The fact that it's typical of today's C.S. doesn't make it right!

I've found the very end of the spring should be pointing up when
placing it onto the barrel notch. I read this in another post and it
showed a photo of the end of the spring pointing up at the notch on the barrel. Have always placed it back on the rod that way and
have no problems.

I actually copied this image and printed it. I use it for a bookmark in my Shield user manual. Have followed this information and haven't had a re-assembly problem. This seems to be the answer
to some guy's problem. I'm surprised the manual doesn't show
this.

Don't hold your breath. They told me they would send me some new magazine followers. They did, but it took 6 weeks.

Repairs seem to go quickly for the most part. Pays seem to take forever. I can't figure out why.

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Freedom isn't free.

This has never been a problem for me. I don't have to index mine like that at all.

Well, this is not right. You shouldn't be able to rotate the takedown lever unless the slide is back all the way. Then the squared corner of the takedown lever aligns with the notch in the slide. Same thing for assembly.

In today's mail, the RSA arrived! I guess in large companies, two weeks ain't bad!

Can anyone answer the question "What makes the slide so hard to work if the RSA is not aligned like the pictures? Since it can be done, but with great difficulty, and everybody says it's not catching on anything, what is it that makes it so hard to work?" The stock solution appears to be a new RSA, but why? What makes it hard to work? What problem does a new RSA alleviate? Until somebody can answer this question, I'm uninterested in one of these.

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Got a shield 9mm saturday, decided to field strip and clean, doesnt work like the book says, first there was no yellow lever, found what it was and it wasnt yellow, pushed it down, slide came forward so far and would not go any farther. I pulled the trigger by accident and the slide slid off. I cleaned it and tried to reassemble, about the same trouble, had to line the slide up by hand at the rear to get it back on. It sure is not like the book says. This is a harsh pistol to load and operate, dont think my wife can operate. I have shot 25 times and it is accurate and enjoyable to shoot, except to load the mags. My trigger is right at 7 lbs, wish it were about 4.5 to 5, but it isnt.

You need to reread the instruction manual. You missed the part about the takedown lever after the sear deactivation "yellow" lever.

I don't own a Shield, but I think I know the answer. When the recoil spring is compressed, it has some "waves" in it. This is true of all coil springs. Those waves are consistent in where they show up along the length of the spring. If the spring isn't turned the right way, the small space allows one of those waves/bumps to catch on the frame. This makes it difficult to operate the slide. Thus, by aligning the spring in a particular way, it allows the spring enough clearance to operate correctly.

This isn't as much of a problem when firing the gun because the slide is operated with more force. But by hand it's difficult.

Like I said, I don't have a Shield so I can't confirm this. Still, I think this is what's happening.

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Freedom isn't free.

This thread was damn helpful. I actually took my Shield apart and cleaned it before I went to the range. No issue with reassembly. Then I took it apart again (after two range trips) today and could not reassemble it. Sure enough it was the recoil spring.
Big thanks to all the helpful members on this forum!

After a number of phone calls to S&W, S&W factory is closed for 2 weeks this week & next. Called Monday & was told would ship Tuesday, & there was nothing wrong with the gun, was test fired etc., etc. Told I need to shoot about 200 rounds to break it in. I received it yesterday & guess what, the only way I could get the slide to go back was to insert an empty mag, which I wasn't able to do before? Now if the weather would cool down here in Katy/Houston I will be able to finally shoot it at the outdoor range I belong to. Will advise how it goes.

Thanks for everyone input.

papajoe

I purchased a shield Friday. Took it apart to clean the barrel and thought I would never get it back together. The slide lock lever will not budge in reassembly. I finally figured out I could hold the slide back and turn the take down lever. After reading this thread, I'll be playing with it tomorrow.

You guys are amateurs. I had the recoil spring from my 1911A1 bounce around the kitchen, put dents in two kitchen cabinets on opposite sides of the room, and finally break a kitchen window! You'll get no sympathy from me! :-)

Are there any updates to this issue? I'm thinking about getting a Shield9 soon, but this has me a little concerned.

Nothing to worry about. One persons issue= hundreds if not thousands without issues. Don't sweat the little things. If you read about the Shield 40 Mishaps you would be asking the same question. Mine Shield 9 has been flawless since day one. There are numerous of members here who will agree that they have not had a single issue.

ditto. Had same problem with re-assembly. Reset the spring and all was good.
Thanks.

I hate to say anything for fear of jinxing myself but, I’ve been pretty lucky with assembly and disassembly of my Shield 9. The recoil spring is heavy for my 70 year old beat up hands. I installed the wing on my slide. It makes operating the slide a lot easier.

Attached Images

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Two Handguns every day

THIS ^^^

I had that problem also and it's maddening. The recoil spring is just a hair off to the right or left. Once you align it the first time it will be easy to fix the next time around.

No worries. This is a simple re-assembly alignment issue.

I have the Shield9 v1 and two Shield 9 Plus. Zero issues.

I'm Super Glad that this 9 year old thread helped the cookiemonstor out

Welcome to the Forum @cookiemonstor

COOKIES! YUM YUM YUM YUM!!

I Just LOVE That Smell! Yummy!

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MightShowYouHisSmith&Wesson

The thread may be old but, I just inherited my Shield 9 this Winter and got good info from it.

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Two Handguns every day