S&W Shields and SSGUIDERODS. Where are the users?

I picked up a Shield after renting one and really liking the way it shot. The gun is nearly perfect. The first thing that crossed my mind when field stripping was, man this recoil spring assembly looks poorly made ( I am used to Glock's). After researching this issue, it seems like there are plenty of people that either bend the tab on the back or lose the keeper on the front of the RSA for Shields. Where are the users for the SSGUIDERODS one piece systems? What kinds of reports and reviews are available for this system? I can only find Bob O's reviews and the YouTube video from the guy from Louisiana testing them.

Who's using them and what's the deal with them? I want my Shield's RSA to be more bulletproof.

Thanks,

Fred

I have experienced both types of bad RSAs with my Shield, so I am sort of an "expert" in this area. I can reassure you that good factory RSAs are very stout and reliable, if they are properly assembled and installed. Although my RSA with the bad front retainer disc flew apart after its first use, my RSA with the bent rear retainer disc worked well for nearly 2000 rounds. Its only shortcoming was more FTEs (about a dozen) than I would have expected if I'd had an unbent one.

I now have a good RSA with more than 1000 rounds on it, and it shows no sign of any problems. It's looking like it will last for many additional thousands of rounds. If your RSA is in good shape now, it will likely stay that way for a long time, as long as it properly inserted (straight and level) after each disassembly.

Bottom line: Unless you're experiencing a problem with your factory RSA, you don't need to spend additional money on an aftermarket one.

OK, well as an "Expert" why not just buy the stainless system and forget it? It seems to me that you eluded to the possibility tht the stainless aftermarket may be superior. Is it, or isn't it? THAT, is the question!

I still don't like the look of the stock system. I've fired about 300 rounds through this thing without any problems, but am still a little off put by how many folks admit the RSA been a problem in the past. I can manipulate the slide no problem etc, and have found no wobble or play in the front Of the stock RSA.How else should I check and make sure this thing is made properly? I've disassembled the gun about a dozen or so times and have no trouble seating the RSA in correctly.

I've got one of the SS guide rods on order already as a spare, so I will provide my input when I get the chance to test it.

I do not either and I think it is the blame for some of the clash bind from the bl lug and lock up and striker pre-cocking on the sear as the magazine pushes a round up against the pickup rail sometimes causing the slide to hang 300 or so thousands to the rear out of battery.

Evidently the system they offer now has the factory spring on a one piece guide rod.

"This is a “drop-in ready” stainless steel guide rod assembly for a Smith and Wesson Shield pistol, made out of solid 304 stainless steel. The rod is made of only the finest stainless steel materials to replace the factory guide rod assembly that comes in your Smith and Wesson Shield pistol. Our rods are measured to factory specification and we ensure the finest fit and finish on all of our components. This is a great upgrade for reliability and durability, from the factory guide rod assembly that comes in your Smith and Wesson Shield pistol. Our stainless steel guide rod assembly will fit the 9mm and 40 caliber Smith and Wesson Shield pistols.

* NOTE - This assembly is now “DROP-IN” ready, since it now includes the Smith and Wesson spring!" quote



39.95 is a bit pricey for me. I think I will find a source for the spring and turn down my own guide rod out of cold rolled, then harden it.

I am doing some research on this and making some calls in the next few days about spring replacements and also guide rod specs. If there are any "Experts" here I would genuinely appreciate any R&D they have.

Just bought the guiderod assembly on Ebay with shipping paid. Will give a rull report when I get it.

WARF51 said:

OK, well as an "Expert" why not just buy the stainless system and forget it? It seems to me that you eluded to the possibility tht the stainless aftermarket may be superior. Is it, or isn't it? THAT, is the question!

Click to expand...

I put "expert" in quotes because I am not a gun designer, engineer, or gunsmith, but due to the luck of the draw, I probably have had more experience in dealing with defective factory Shield RSAs than anyone else on this forum. You can read my well-documented story in this forum thread: http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-m-p-pistols/432397-shield-rsa-one-more-time.html

Many of the responses to my original post in that thread were from Shield owners praising the effectiveness and reliability of the factory RSA. I had no reason to doubt them. The SS guide rod was mentioned at that time, but I did not consider getting it for several reasons:

1. When I paid good money for a new Shield, I did not expect to open the box and find a bent-at-the-factory recoil spring retainer disc. I expected one in perfect condition, and when I found it damaged, I expected Smith and Wesson to send me one quickly (didn't happen) at no charge (did happen). I am way too cheap to pay for a part that S&W would send me for free.

2. Because of others' replies to my post, I expected that a proper S&W RSA would work reliably for a long time. Although the Shield was new to me, I felt I could trust the responses of the forum's veteran Shield owners.

3. The S&W Shield two-spring RSA is nearly identical in design to the totally reliable one in my SIG P320. My SIG has 3500 rounds through it with only one FTE, and it is still going strong. Thus I saw nothing inherently bad about a two-spring RSA.

4. To get an SS guide rod RSA, you had to donate your factory RSA so they could take it apart and put the big spring on their version. If any problems arose, I would not have had an RSA, because at that time, S&W didn't have any either.

5. S&W engineers designed the Shield's RSA the way they did for a reason. The problems with the factory RSA were not with the design, but with the execution. Numbers of them were either manufactured poorly (the fly-apart models), or installed incorrectly at the factory (the bent-disc models). Well-made examples worked just fine, according to forum members. I did not know if the very different one-spring design offered by SS guide rods would be an improvement over the factory design, or an effective long-term solution. Neither did anyone else, because there were no long-term users at that time. I did not want to pay to be a beta tester. (Did I mention I am cheap?)

It looks like you and the OP have decided to go with the one-spring replacement model. I hope that it works for you guys, and I applaud your willingness to be early adopters. Post a report after you have some experience with it, because I'm sure there are many forum members who will be interested in how well it performs.

I have one of the stainless ones which I keep on hand as a spare, along with a factory spare from S&W. I have not had to use either yet! I do like knowing they're in reach.

Just got off the phone with S&W. They said "occasionally" someone will call in needing a replacement, but there is nothing wrong with the design or any batches they've made previously...I'm still wanting to hear about the SSguiderod system from any long term users. They seem to be few and far between.

oK BRO'S,,I have tracking on the guiderod and we will give it the treatment when it comes.

deadeyedoopree said:

Just got off the phone with S&W. They said "occasionally" someone will call in needing a replacement...

Click to expand...

That "someone" was probably me.

I should have mine here soon as well. I'm not too keen on swapping from a dual to a single design system. I haven't had any problems from my stock system, just wanting to get this hammered down before the Shield takes my Glock 26's place.

deadeyedoopree said:

I should have mine here soon as well. I'm not too keen on swapping from a dual to a single design system. I haven't had any problems from my stock system, just wanting to get this hammered down before the Shield takes my Glock 26's place.

Click to expand...

Field strip it and reassemble it a few times before taking it to the range for the first time. Maybe even ask the sales person to go over Field Stripping and reassembly before leaving the store. (I field strip, inspect and reassemble every pistol I buy before Filling out the NICS form). If you have any problems assembling, or notice anything wrong with the RSA, don't accept that pistol... ask for another.

there's a fine line between being difficult to lock the slide back due to stiffness and due to the RSA needing to be repositioned. You don't want to man-handle it thinking it's just stiff and end up bending the RSA.

I purchased an SS guide rod for my Shield as a back up. My original RSA is working fine, but i didn't want to get caught in case it failed as mentioned by others on this forum. I installed my ss guide rod and worked the slide many, many times. At first the rod seem fine, then I noticed that my slide wouldn't go into battery completely from time to time. It would stop open by 1/8th of an inch before full battery. Note that I did not shoot my gun with the ss guide rod, I was only working the slide manually.

My Shield has about 500 rounds through it with no problems, so it wasn't the fact of the gun needing to be broken in. If I tilted my gun down, the slide would close. It was though the recoil spring was not strong enough to completely close the slide. I even lubricated the guide rod with "Slide Glide", didn't help.

I reported back to ss guide rods and I received a replacement guide rod. I installed the second rod and again worked the slide many, many times. Same result as the first. The slide would stay open about 1/8th of an inch from time to time. As soon as I can get to the range I will shoot my Shield with the ss guide rod installed to see if it wears in. But for now I cannot trust my life to a part that does not initially function correctly.

I have read other posts from Shield owners who say they have no problem with their ss guide rod. Perhaps it is just my Shield that is the problem. I would like to hear from other owners of the guide rod to see if your slide does not fully go into battery occasionally, but may work when you actually fire the gun.

jjaniczek said:

I purchased an SS guide rod for my Shield as a back up. My original RSA is working fine, but i didn't want to get caught in case it failed as mentioned by others on this forum. I installed my ss guide rod and worked the slide many, many times. At first the rod seem fine, then I noticed that my slide wouldn't go into battery completely from time to time. It would stop open by 1/8th of an inch before full battery. Note that I did not shoot my gun with the ss guide rod, I was only working the slide manually.

My Shield has about 500 rounds through it with no problems, so it wasn't the fact of the gun needing to be broken in. If I tilted my gun down, the slide would close. It was though the recoil spring was not strong enough to completely close the slide. I even lubricated the guide rod with "Slide Glide", didn't help.

I reported back to ss guide rods and I received a replacement guide rod. I installed the second rod and again worked the slide many, many times. Same result as the first. The slide would stay open about 1/8th of an inch from time to time. As soon as I can get to the range I will shoot my Shield with the ss guide rod installed to see if it wears in. But for now I cannot trust my life to a part that does not initially function correctly.

I have read other posts from Shield owners who say they have no problem with their ss guide rod. Perhaps it is just my Shield that is the problem. I would like to hear from other owners of the guide rod to see if your slide does not fully go into battery occasionally, but may work when you actually fire the gun.

Click to expand...

Thanks for this. This was my concern as well. If I get any kind of funny activity from my SSGuiderod, I'll promptly send it back. I bought it through Amazon Prime.

I assume all this slide racking is all with a totally empty gun?

I went through three of them and the gun made a trip to the mothership once. The last one seemed to be OK, but was stiff as a board till it had several hundred cycles on it. I was very careful to mark which way it went in so that I could put it back in exactly the same spot (OK, I scribed a little mark (scratch) on it that I line up each time. I got to where the RSA was no longer an issue but I spent a lot of time with it to get there.

I wrote to a bunch of "spring" folks to see if they had a replacement/redesign on the way. No joy. Most of them told me that after studying the gun, the OEM was probably optimal.

If you are patient and methodical, it will break in and serve you very well. But its a pain in the tailfeathers till it does. My daughter loves it.

It may well be that the best way to buy a Shield is to find a good used one.

Yes, I was racking the slide without a magazine inserted.

Some Shield slides will stay out of battery app 1/8" if the slide is not allowed to sling shot to normal closed position, do not ride the slide when releasing (chambering a round" and do not expect it to fully close when doing a press check.