Shield Slide Hang Up

I took my new M&P 9mm shield complete with Apex DCAEK to the range yesterday and was a bit disappointed. On several occasions rounds failed to fully eject and other times the spent casing did eject but the next round did not feed into battery. Today, after making the weapon safe, mag removed and chambered round ejected, I cycled the slide and felt that the last 1/4" of travel was tight. I actually picked up on this as I was trying to engage the slide lock, I saw that the lock wasn't engaging because the slide had not traveled rearward fully, so I pushed a bit harder and it locked.

I dissembled the weapon but did not see any apparent issues, reassembled and condition persists. Dissembled again including the recoil spring and barrel. Reassembled the weapon and it seems to run smooth by hand.

Anyone have this issue?? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Was this the first time you shot it, or had you shot it before the trigger mod? I had the same short cycling issue with mine when new. After the recoil spring softened up a bit it was fine. I left the slide locked open for 3 days and also racked the slide manually 50 times a day for 3 days. Since then, 500 perfect rounds.

shakyshoot said:

Was this the first time you shot it, or had you shot it before the trigger mod? I had the same short cycling issue with mine when new. After the recoil spring softened up a bit it was fine. I left the slide locked open for 3 days and also racked the slide manually 50 times a day for 3 days. Since then, 500 perfect rounds.

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Yep, first time shooting the weapon. I will adopt your fix, so did you feel the same stiffness the last 1/4'' of travel when racking the slide by hand?

I didn't have any issues with mine. When I cleaned out the shipping gunk I added one small drop of oil to the guide rod, along with the other necessary places. You can easily do this when the slide is locked back and the rod is exposed. That made a big difference in mine. Other possibilities of your problem might be the ammo used or limp-wristing the gun. Leaving the slide locked open as mentioned above might help too.

Nick54 said:

Yep, first time shooting the weapon. I will adopt your fix, so did you feel the same stiffness the last 1/4'' of travel when racking the slide by hand?

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It does feel a little "bindy" that last bit. Don't know why. Still does, although the spring is noticeably softer now. But it's been functioning great except on those first 2 range trips.

I found a small drop of Tetra Gun Grease on each of the 4 slide contact points smoothed things out nicely. I also flushed the recoil spring assembly out with BF CLP and blew it out with compressed air.

All good suggestions (except limp wristed). I will try each and see what helps, thanks for the responses.

Nick54 said:

Yep, first time shooting the weapon. I will adopt your fix, so did you feel the same stiffness the last 1/4'' of travel when racking the slide by hand?

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Mine is fairly easy to chamber a round, but trying to lock the slide back without a magazine in it takes all my strength to get that last 1/8th inch to activate the slide stop. It's only an issue when reassembling the pistol.

Bozz10mm said:

Mine is fairly easy to chamber a round, but trying to lock the slide back without a magazine in it takes all my strength to get that last 1/8th inch to activate the slide stop. It's only an issue when reassembling the pistol.

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SO you're not having any casing ejection jams or miss feeds?

I bought my Shield (9mm) last week took it home, cleaned it as required, and took it to the range the next day. My wife was the first to shoot it and had a fail to eject. Spent casing was horizontal in the chamber and off to the right side. I cleared it and shot two more mags through it with no problems. I checked the S&W forum threads out when I got home and chalked it up to possible limp wristing. I took the gun out today and had the same thing happen to me after 6 rounds. No limp wristing. After clearing it, went through two more mags with no problems. I am using Georgia Arms 124 grain ammo. I have used this ammo with my G19 Gen 4 with no problems after 1500+ rounds. I bought some 147 grain Federal today and will check it out again next week to see if it is the ammo. After seeing other report this same problem, I am beginning to regret my Shield purchase. I love the gun, the size, the accuracy, and the weight. I am concerned because this was to be my CCW. Any thoughts?

Bozz10mm said:

Mine is fairly easy to chamber a round, but trying to lock the slide back without a magazine in it takes all my strength to get that last 1/8th inch to activate the slide stop. It's only an issue when reassembling the pistol.

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I thought it was just me and I was a wimp because I had the same problem with the last 1/8 in when trying to disassemble my 2 week old Shield. I also had trouble rotating the Take Down Level the first few times I tried it. Thankfully, both problems are going away after multiple range visits, and cleanings. My Glock 19 Gen 4 was much easier to use right out of the box. The only problem that remains with, is two FTEs (also not a problem with over 1500 rounds through the Glock). I love this gun, and really hope this problem goes away with use. I want to use it for my CCW, however the reliability so far has me a bit worried.

A few people, including myself, have had this issue.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-...eld-40-will-not-feed-rounds-consistently.html

Bozz10mm said:

Mine is fairly easy to chamber a round, but trying to lock the slide back without a magazine in it takes all my strength to get that last 1/8th inch to activate the slide stop. It's only an issue when reassembling the pistol.

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I had this problem. Your Shield's recoil spring/assembly is out of spec. In some rotated positions, there is no problem. In other rotated positions, the slide can not be locked back. Ask S&W CS that a replacement recoil spring assembly be sent to you.

BTW, the S&W recoil spring assembly in my Shield, both the original and replacement, showed very poor quality.

Recoil spring issue

Stratajema said:

I had this problem. Your Shield's recoil spring/assembly is out of spec. In some rotated positions, there is no problem. In other rotated positions, the slide can not be locked back. Ask S&W CS that a replacement recoil spring assembly be sent to you.

BTW, the S&W recoil spring assembly in my Shield, both the original and replacement, showed very poor quality.

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First I want to thank you for your suggestion. I contacted S&W and they are sending me a new recoil spring assembly. I got absolutely no hassles from them. You would think that they'd ask a few questions if this was something new. Regardless, I am going to get a new assembly and I appreciate their response. I have sure learned a lot being a member of this forum. I'm new to shooting sports (less than 2 yrs with a handgun) and I've learned more here than in the many books and articles I've read because I can search a topic easily.

Bozz10mm said:

Mine is fairly easy to chamber a round, but trying to lock the slide back without a magazine in it takes all my strength to get that last 1/8th inch to activate the slide stop. It's only an issue when reassembling the pistol.

Click to expand...

Stratajema said:

I had this problem. Your Shield's recoil spring/assembly is out of spec. In some rotated positions, there is no problem. In other rotated positions, the slide can not be locked back. Ask S&W CS that a replacement recoil spring assembly be sent to you.

BTW, the S&W recoil spring assembly in my Shield, both the original and replacement, showed very poor quality.

Click to expand...

Mine is similar, only really noticeable on reassembly. Still a very new pistol, less than 200 rounds so far, so had assumed it was just a break in deal, but will call S&W and see what they have to say. FWIW, no stovepipes or FTE's etc though - using mostly Monarch and Remington/UMC 115gr as well as some Federal HST 124gr.

Recoil spring quality/ Stiff slide

I had the exact problems with my Shield 40. The first time I took the gun apart the flat wire main spring shot across the room. I figured while it was apart I would check out the rest of the assembly. I found that the guide rod had a bulge in it from when the end cap got pressed on during final assembly. This was causing the secondary spring to hang up on the guide rod, in turn causing my feed issues and stiff slid movement. Mine was almost impossible to move back by hand far enough to manually engage the slide lock. There were also burrs on the flat wire spring from where it had been cut causing it to sit off center and making reassembly difficult. It wanted to hang up on the frame. S&W customer service was less than helpful so I decided just to fix it. I filed the burrs off the main spring and tightened up the the last coil or two on both ends so it would remain captured and sit centered on the assembly. I used a couple big washers with small holes in them to secure the guide rod and secondary spring in my little hobby vice. This compressed the spring and simulated the force the spring is under with the slide locked back and allowed access to the guide rod. I cut some 1/4 inch strips of 1000 grit sandpaper and polished the bulge out of the guide rod until the secondary spring could move freely. Then put a little oil on it and reassembled. Pictures are before and after. Sorry about the poor picture quality. You can almost see the bulge in the first pic and you can see bare metal where the spring was getting caught. This thing is working perfectly now. I don't know what S&W will think of my fix but I will deal with this until someone is making a better spring for the Shield. I'm sure that if they were to send a replacement I would have to fix that one as well. If you decide to try this be sure not to take too much metal off as it may compromise the structure. I took enough to free up the spring and that's it. Also if you tighten up the coils on the main spring make sure not to tighten it too much because it has to still be able to move over the tube that captures the secondary spring. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask. Thanks! I hope this helps.

Recoil spring update

mltndw3 said:

First I want to thank you for your suggestion. I contacted S&W and they are sending me a new recoil spring assembly. I got absolutely no hassles from them. You would think that they'd ask a few questions if this was something new. Regardless, I am going to get a new assembly and I appreciate their response. I have sure learned a lot being a member of this forum. I'm new to shooting sports (less than 2 yrs with a handgun) and I've learned more here than in the many books and articles I've read because I can search a topic easily.

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Just wanted to say that I still haven't received the new recoil spring that was promised. The good news is I've had zero problems with this gun since the initial FTEs with the first few mags. I shoot about 50 rounds a week through this gun and it's worked beautifully. I would still like to have the spring though, and will call tomorrow to find out the status