.45 Shield problem

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HKSmith

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I bought a .45 Shield about 2 months ago and am delighted with the handling, trigger, grips, and accuracy. However, I've had a recurrent malfunction about every 20 rounds. About 3-4 rounds into the magazine the slide gets stuck without actually being locked back. If I drop the magazine, the slide goes forward. If I rack the slide the short distance left, the round feeds but sometimes jams at a 45 degree angle. This problem is independent of ammo type or magazine.

Any thoughts? I have not yet called S&W hoping that this would be a break-in problem, but it happened today and round count is above 300.
 
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Since it is brand new.......If there are no concerns about ammunition, (does this with factory ball ammo) proper grip,( or somehow impeding the slide with your grip) cleanliness and/or adequate lubrication, I would give S&W Customer Service a call. 1-800-331-0852
 
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Proper lubrication? A new pistol, shooting quality ammo should not have such issues. If application of a decent oil doesn't solve the problem, you might try light white grease on the bearing surfaces, if that doesn't work, then a call to S&W Customer Service is probably in order.

Best of luck
 
Mine did that, S&W fixed it in 3 week turnaround. Call S&W and get a return label by email to send your Shield to them for repair. Put a note in the box explaining the problem as you have written here.
 
Just got mine back from S&W for the second time for a similar problem- mine would lock back on a partially full magazine on a regular basis. Only difference was my slide actually locked back, not stick back. First time they replaced the slide lock which didn't help at all and the second time they replaced the locking block which appears to have cured the problem. Just put around 150 rounds through it at the range with only one early on lock back and no further issues. Will need to put another 100-200 rounds through it before I consider it reliable for carry.
 
Thanks for your replies. This is not a lubrication or "limp wrist" problem. I'll call S&W tomorrow; it sounds like I'm not the only one to have this issue.
 
HKSmith said:
I bought a .45 Shield about 2 months ago and am delighted with the handling, trigger, grips, and accuracy. However, I've had a recurrent malfunction about every 20 rounds. About 3-4 rounds into the magazine the slide gets stuck without actually being locked back. If I drop the magazine, the slide goes forward. If I rack the slide the short distance left, the round feeds but sometimes jams at a 45 degree angle. This problem is independent of ammo type or magazine.

Any thoughts? I have not yet called S&W hoping that this would be a break-in problem, but it happened today and round count is above 300.
Click to expand...

HKSmith said:
Thanks for your replies. This is not a lubrication or "limp wrist" problem. I'll call S&W tomorrow; it sounds like I'm not the only one to have this issue.
Click to expand...
Contacting S&W is probably the best course of action, so please keep that in mind if you read the rest of my post.

I had multiple malfunctions as you describe with my 45 Shield. What I found was the round that caused the stoppage had nose dived enough that it was getting caught under a ledge on the locking block. Here's a photo that shows where the ledge is located (unfortunately, the photo does not show how substantial the ledge is):
rldtsk.jpg

I didn't feel like sending my pistol back (it had already been back for about 4 weeks to fix an out of the box cosmetic issue), so I just modified my locking block and I've not had a re-occurrence of the stoppage.
Regards,
Greg
 
Same slide locking back issue

I am also having the issue of the slide locking back when the clip still has rounds in it. I sent it back to S&W with out the clips per their instructions and they returned it back too me saying they put 5 clips thru it and could not reproduce issue therefor nothing to fix. When I got it back I took a dremel to the location one writer talk about on the grip portion of the gun. Took it to the range and it malfunctioned twice on the first clip and 4 more times in 3 clips. I have since returned it to them again with the clips as per their instructions. I am hoping they can fix the issue but not real confident. Is this a common issue? I don't seem to here a lot of this issue. Did I possibly just get a lemon?
 
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This exact problem starting happening with my new .45 Shield after about the first 6 magazines had been run through it flawlessly. Cleaning and lubricating the magazines resulted in 4 more magazines without a problem, but it started happening again after that. I'm also having a problem of the magazine releasing unexpectedly sometimes during firing.
 
I had that happen with a borrowed .45 Shield. I happened to stop at an indoor range, and looked at the rental guns. I mentioned to the owner if he had a .45 Shield, I would have rented it, being interested in one. He pulled his personal Shield off his hip and offered it to me, telling me he had upgraded from a 9mm Shield and this one could use some rounds through it.

At any rate, I ran through one box of 230 grain FMJ. About halfway through the box, halfway through one magazine, the slide locked back.

Not drawing any conclusions from one malfunction on a new gun. Just passing on that it happened to me too.
 
This is just a suggestion, but I have personally encountered problems, as have others I know, with small pistols that have substantial recoil. It depends very much on subtle differences between hands and pistol grips, but often a magazine release can be hit by a thumb with the shooter completely unaware. Sometimes a magazine will fall free when this happens; sometimes it will just drop down slightly but stay in place, and it can make for some weird symptoms.
 
Ran 4 more magazines through it after cleaning the gun at the end of the previous outing, overlubing it with CLP, and just spraying a little Rem Oil around the magazine followers.

I used all ball ammo this time in both stock mags, wore gloves and used a firm two-handed grip throughout.

I had no unintentional mag releases and no occurrences of the slide getting stuck part way back.

However, I did have two other failures that were different.

One was the slide did actually lock all the way back with the slide lock engaged and rounds still in the magazine. Thumbs were nowhere near the slide lock lever.

The other was when the trigger clicked on an empty chamber. The slide had cycled normally but no round was picked up.

May have to send it in or just keep "testing" it until it straightens out.

I love how quick this gun gets back on target.
 
hyena said:
I had that happen with a borrowed .45 Shield. I happened to stop at an indoor range, and looked at the rental guns. I mentioned to the owner if he had a .45 Shield, I would have rented it, being interested in one. He pulled his personal Shield off his hip and offered it to me, telling me he had upgraded from a 9mm Shield and this one could use some rounds through it.

At any rate, I ran through one box of 230 grain FMJ. About halfway through the box, halfway through one magazine, the slide locked back.
Click to expand...
Interesting story. So what was HIS reaction (to this overall problem) when you gave it back to him?
 
firing pin?

I noticed after about 300 rounds thru my .45 M&P Shield, the primers were being hit in the center as they should and with significant force however, the primers also had a small cut on each primer extending from the center of the toward the rim of the primer pocket. Inspection of the gun showed a wearing of the firing pin "hole" that looked like it had been for lack of a better definition, ramped. The gun functioned fine with no indication of any issues. A local gunsmith told me the wear was abnormal and I should return it to S & W which I did. Haven't heard anything from them as of yet. The customer service lady didn't want me to send any examples of the spent brass or a magazine. Anyone had this problem?
 
How old are the ones that are having issues. I bought one of the first ones produced. Have over 500 rounds of WWB through it and no problems discussed here have occurred.
 
"Inspection of the gun showed a wearing of the firing pin "hole" that looked like it had been for lack of a better definition, ramped."

I have the same gun. Can you post a clear photo of the area described?
 
gb6491 said:
Contacting S&W is probably the best course of action, so please keep that in mind if you read the rest of my post.

I had multiple malfunctions as you describe with my 45 Shield. What I found was the round that caused the stoppage had nose dived enough that it was getting caught under a ledge on the locking block. Here's a photo that shows where the ledge is located (unfortunately, the photo does not show how substantial the ledge is):
rldtsk.jpg

I didn't feel like sending my pistol back (it had already been back for about 4 weeks to fix an out of the box cosmetic issue), so I just modified my locking block and I've not had a re-occurrence of the stoppage.
Regards,
Greg
Click to expand...
I have had, a few times, a round in the mag dive down and the slide cycles but can't pick up another round.
This has ONLY happened with Speer 200 grain Gold Dots, everything else has functioned 100%.
But it looks like the Gold Dots are catching on the locking block "ledge" as gb6491 had happen with his .45 Shield.
Next time I have the locking block out I'll see if I can knock down (smooth) that ledge.
 
BooneCounty said:
I noticed after about 300 rounds thru my .45 M&P Shield, the primers were being hit in the center as they should and with significant force however, the primers also had a small cut on each primer extending from the center of the toward the rim of the primer pocket. Inspection of the gun showed a wearing of the firing pin "hole" that looked like it had been for lack of a better definition, ramped. The gun functioned fine with no indication of any issues. A local gunsmith told me the wear was abnormal and I should return it to S & W which I did. Haven't heard anything from them as of yet. The customer service lady didn't want me to send any examples of the spent brass or a magazine. Anyone had this problem?
Click to expand...
I think firing pin "drag" on the primer is common with the .45 Shield. I never noticed it on the 9mm or .40 Shield, but both of my .45 Shields have done that.
Likely you'll get it back and it'll still have firing pin drag on the primers.
It is what it is.
 
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