Today me and dad were enjoying the nice weather and decided to shoot our guns. We shot the AR's and his Walther PPK 380 and his Sig 1922 pistols. I got out my Shield 40 out to shoot and was planning on putting 100 rounds down the pipe as the gun has only 150 rounds through it so far with about 10 Fail to ejects. I shot 50 UMC 180gr flawless with no issues except I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. So I got this box of Federal 180gr High Shock JHP. I load up 7 rounds bam bam boom on the 3rd round all I seen was a flash and got 3 small burns and where something hit under my eye and blood was running down my face. My hands were numb and just couldn't believe what had happened. Well it appears that my shield I guess you could say blew up in my hands. The mag flew out on the ground and I couldn't find the remaining ammo that was in the mag. There are 4 more rounds somewhere up in the hay field. What do you guys think about this and should I email Smith&Wesson and send them the pics or just call them first?

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

Wondering if there was a casting problem. On another forum a guy tried to replace the sites on his and the area around the site cracked majorly.

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Sent from my Motorola X using Tapatalk 4.0

I dunno but it scared me to death my hands are still kinda numb and it happend almost 3hrs ago. I forgot to add it knocked out a piece of my inlays and the white dot out of my rear site to. It was quite a shock to my hands. I'm not sure what hit me in the face but as you can see the take down lever is half or more gone in the pic I couldn't find it either.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

That looks bad. I am glad that you were not hurt more seriously.

I would call before emailing, personally.

I am subscribed to this thread. I would like to know what you find out about it. I have a Shield .40, also.

I would talk to the Ammo manufacture too.

The exact same thing happened to my buddy about a month ago. It actually looks worse than yours as it blew part of the trigger guard apart. Stung his finger really bad. He had about 500 rounds of factory ammo through it. That day we were shooting reloads that i made myself 165g flatpoints loaded rather softly. I have never had a bad reloaded round before. SW blamed it on the reloads which I think is just a bull**** excuse. But they did give him a replacement gun no questions asked.

I hope they replace my gun. Will really be a bummer if they don't. I'm just glad I still have all my fingers and whatever hit me in the face didn't hit me in the eye.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

The fact you said reloads ends it for me. Double charge without question. I've seen it happen way too many times.

As far as the OP goes if you were firing factory ammo it sure looks like the case failed. Not the gun. It has a clear bulge on the rim of the casing.

This looks very serious. I am sure S&W would want the gun returned to try to determine what went wrong. From a legal perspective, this could be a big problem with them.

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possibly, but I have loaded 10s of thousands of reloads and never had a double charge, but hey first time for everything. I think SW has a problem here and isn't recognizing it.

Is this a normal primer strike? I just been looking things over and noticed this.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

That is a normal primer strike, but it looks like you had a kaboom, glad to hear you're ok though. Contact Smith, very strange for this to happen with factory ammo and this is the first Kaboom I've heard of in the .40 shield... But as you learned they do happen, despite their rarity. Perhaps you should play the lotto as well.

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unrepentant M&P fanboy

Sorry this happened, and glad you're okay. Did it fire out of battery, or is that just where the slide ended up?

The explanation of events and pictures look like it fired out of battery.

But looking at the case alone, it looks like brass failure.

Either way, I'm sure S&W will make it right, and I'm glad you're okay. That's what matters. They make new guns every day. New hands or eyes...not so much.

This is where the slide was when I opened my eyes and the mag was laying on the ground. The other 4 rounds flew out of the mag somewhere I couldn't find them we looked all over. The brass you see in the pic is only half of it. The other half is suck in the chamber like it ripped it perfectly in half. But there is no bullet in the barrel.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

How does the inside of the barrel look?

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Looks normal to me other than half of a casing is hung in the chamber end. It just ripped it right in half. I haven't really tired to pull the slide back and see if it will come out. I was gonna give it to Smith just like it is.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

The two most common causes of this happening are :
1) Poor chamber support
Take a round and put it in the chamber of your removed barrel. The case should have full support around the entire periphery.
Older Glocks lacked this. The casing did not have full support at the 5,6,7 o'clock positions. In the potent high pressured .40 caliber, they were getting KaBooms.
Glock fixed this by giving the chamber full support.
I checked the chambers (as described above) and my M&Ps in .40S&W have full chamber support. Don't think I checked my Shield but it's in 9mm which is very rare to have Kaboom.
I'll check it later

2) Double charged reloads.

Hope your hand feels better. Put ice on it.

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40c FS,9Shield(2)40,9Pro

Dude, I don't wanna jump all over your sh1t cause I know you've enough pain for one day but....no eye protection. C'mon man. You could be permanently blind in one eye as of right now.
Hope everyone reading this now knows why we wear eyes. EVERYTIME.

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40c FS,9Shield(2)40,9Pro

The fact that you had 10 failure to ejects out of 150 rounds makes me wonder if something wasn't wrong with the gun from the start. The shield is generally much more reliable than that.

No one has questioned this part yet, so I will. I believe that your 10 Fail To Ejects is quite abnormal for only 150 rounds. I have about 600 rounds through my Shield 40 and zero Fail To Ejects and I read many other similar reports. So perhaps this issue was a precursor to your KABOOM?

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M&P-9FS,Shield40,642,32ColtPPS

I anticipate S&W will blame the ammo. But you're not the first with this pistol.

One reason they don't interest me.

The pistol is too buggy for my taste. I like less excitement from my gear.

Ask them for a refund and get something else!!

[QUOTE=2001gmc;137466062]Is that one of the casings from today's incident?

Got rid of my 40 shield got mp40c I think they are a little more rugged and a 9mm barrel.

Same thing happened to my buddy's glock. Squib round blew his up but the barrel took the explosion and saved his gun. I'm just glad you're okay. That's why we wear eye protection, huh?

Yea I will wear eye protection every time from now on for sure. I was getting excited cause of the 50 rounds I shot before the mishap didn't have one failure at all and that not been my experience with this gun previously. Something else that's alarming me I was shooting at 15yds and even moved up to about 8 and I couldn't hit the target at all I hit it maybe 3 times out of all the shots. Before at 10yds I could at least hit a 8" target almost every time depends on how fast I was shooting.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

[QUOTE=bionic218;137466285]No this case is actually from a previous outing that I picked up in the field from before. The cases from today are UMC and there are the 2 federals somewhere but cant find them in the grass. The primer strikes on the UMC look to be barley indented with more of a round small hole instead of the big gash like in the WIN casing.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

To be honest I was searching for the 9 Shield when I picked up this 40. I've never owned a 40 before but I grabbed it cause I had been looking for like 4 months or so and I grabbed it. I'd rather have the 40c to be honest. I don't want a 40 shield back but that's probably what I will get if anything.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

Even if it was not a double charge on the reload - there could have been damage or weakening of the case that caused it to split at the base even if the powder load was in spec I would think.

Not sure if there are any videos out there where people have deliberately loaded a double charge to demonstrate what would happen or to test the safety of the firearm in such as case. (not thinking private individuals here but manufacturers or perhaps an independent lab such as those that test car crashes and household appliances).

some interesting results on google search:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=341348
http://ingunowners.com/forums/ammuni...e-results.html

glad your ok.

All my ammo is new within the last 6 months purchase. This box of Federal Classic 40 S&W 180gr Hi-Shock JHP has a date of 1997 but that shouldn't matter. I know looks arent everything but the ammo looks good and its still in original box. I'm not even sure they still make the ammo. I have no reason to believe its the ammo cause of all the problems I been having with the gun. The 10 fail to ejects in 150 rounds. The last 50 rounds were brand new UMC 180gr and I couldn't hit the target 7-8yds away.
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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

Folks: please note that the original poster was shooting factory ammo - someone else mentioned a KB with their reloads, not the OP.

That looks like either over pressure or premature unlocking, and that primer strike looks similar to other episodes of premature unlocking I have seen in other firearms. (I've not shot the M&Ps, so don't know what primers would look like, and I am not really a fan of the .40). There are also questions about inconsistent lockup in the full size 9s, so I can see that.

You need to contact both S&W and the ammo maker, as one of the two made an error.

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NHI, 10-8.

I sent S&W a email with the pics I posted here. It says to email them cause of the Shield recall the wait times are hours for calling. I got a reply saying it could be up to 5 days for a response. I also sent Federal a message to what happened.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

That primer strike is normal. All my M&Ps do it.

I think the gun fired before the slide was all the way forward. I don't think the bullet was all the way in the barrel before it went off. My dad was standing next to me watching me shoot he said hes about 100% sure thats what happened.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

Dang! -- hope u have recovered --- will look forward to what SW has to say.
G

I would think that for the pistol to have fired as the slide moved forward implies something wrong with the mechanism in the pistol. Consider that if this happened, and the case exploded as the firing pin impacted the primer on the way forward, it could imply that the firing pin had not retracted upon the previous round being fired. I suspect S&W would want to get hands on the pistol and see what components might have malfunctioned.

I have not looked up the internal ballistics for the Federal Classic 40 S&W 180gr Hi-Shock JHP that this happened with--but it makes me wonder if that round was over-powered for the pistol?

I hope you keep us posted here on what you learn so we can all benefit.

Just a thought: Did you buy the ammo in the late 90's from a reputable dealer and it's been in your possession since?

If so, never mind.

However, the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if at some point in the last 16 years someone put ****** reloads into a Hi-Shock box and passed it off as factory ammo. There have been a few ammo shortages since 1997 and some one could have been looking to make a buck at some point.

If so, that would raise the chance of a double charge exponentially.

Please keep us posted on what you find. I like to hear about any failures, because they keep us on our toes.

Really glad you weren't hurt.

i just recieved a call from smith. They wanted to make sure I was ok and get the ball rolling. They sent me a prepaid lable in my email to send it in. They have to test it to see if it was a malfunction of the gun or a over charged round. He talked like I could even get a different M&P all together if i choose when they figure out what went wrong. He said federal will pay for a new gun if they determine it was a over charged round. Of course they will want the info off the ammo box wich is no big deal to me. Just a FYI.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

Not shot out of any of my M&P pistols, but it is a .40 round that was fired through my .40 carbine. I will never again buy any aluminum ammo, not worth it to save a couple bucks. This round just broke in half like someone cut it, clean break all the way around. And if you look at it close it looks to be scored on the inside were it broke. Case is not bulged or damaged in any other way. The back half ejected from the chamber, but the front half stayed in the chamber not allowing the next round to go fully into the chamber.

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You know this is exactly what the case in my shield looks like. The small part is still hung in the barrel.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

I would ask them to send you a 9mm shield, as you cannot feel safe with a 40. I bet they will happily replace it with a 9.

Glad you are not hurt, this is one reason I am not a fan of 40 S&W..... typically guns "designed" with a 9mm in mind are used for a 40 because they are "strong enough" (insert all 40 lovers telling me they are made for 40 pressures, overbuilt for 9mm, yadda yadda) Of all the Kabooms I have seen, a majority of them is with 40S&W. Think about it... Same gun, thinner barrel/chamber, larger heavier bullet, larger charge, etc...

You cannot drive a stock car like a race car, unless you plan on replacing parts early..... and often

I have 40's but do not acquire them other than by accident/trade etc. I am not impressed.


As for the reloads question, remember folks UMC/winchester,hornady, etc ALL can have a double charge.... ALL of them.....

At the rate ammo is being made now will anyone claim that there is a foolproof way to screen all ammunition? Or even that QC is as good as 5 years ago?

Just being a reload doesn't make it low quality, just as being factory does not make it high quality.

I have put at least 100 rounds each of Blazer Aluminum 380 and 45 through their respective S&W firearms without incident. I have perhaps a couple hundred more - but now that I have reloading gear I will likely stick to brass - maybe use of the Aluminum when shooting in places where recovering the spent cases is not so easy.

Seriously, you did not make that statement with any validation. Their is nothing wrong with the Shield .40 or any other pistol Smith makes in that caliber. The pressure is so close between the 9mm and the .40 that statement makes no sense at all. Ask around how many folks have blown their .40 barrels apart. That is like me saying real men carry a .40, and my wife carries a 9. Even if it is true.

Very scary but glad your ok ! I'll follow for what turns out to be the cause here .

Want me to save you some time?

Federal will say it was not a problem with the ammo-you should contact S&W.

S&W will say it was not a problem with the gun, you should contact Federal.
However, send in the gun and S&W will make it right.


Sooooo....call S&W and when someone answers, ask "Where do I send it?"

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A real sucker for the J-frames

I had a bad Fed 40 a few years ago that blew up my P 40 KAHR. I called Fed and they paid KAHR to fix my gun. Was your ammo stamped FED or FC? The one that blew up was FC. Glad you are OK Good luck

They all are stamped Federal 40 S&W. Well my gun is not fixable but Smith said they would replace it if they determine it was the gun and they said Federal will have no problem paying for me another gun if its the ammo. So we will see soon I hope it will be leaving Monday morning 2day shipping.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

I honestly hope they say it was the ammo. I'm a die hard Smith&Wesson fan and have the 22A,Model 66 357mag and the M&P 9 full size. I also have the Shot Show M&P15 mid length AR-15 magpul edition. I really dunno what to think about it I just want my gun back.

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M&P15,9MM,M66,22-A,Glock 30SF

OP, make sure you photograph the gun and ammo multiple times before sending it off.