Shield First Range Trip

Summary: New 9mm, standard Shield. ~150 rounds mixed loads, FMJ, different weights, and four different types of hollow points. Not one problem. No, the slide did not jam back.

Backstory:

My new Shield is another defensive carry gun for me. I do not want to go to the range and have a problem that makes me lose confidence in it. I want to give it every chance to perform without any issues. I do not think it is wise to shoot a factory new gun without field stripping, cleaning well, and generously lubricating it.

What I did before shooting:

1. Barrel:
a. Polished feed ramp and chamber with a Dremel;
b. Polished bore by hand with bore polishing compound
c. Used 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper to break sharp edges around hood lock up area.
d. Coated inside and out with Miltec-1 and baked in a 170 degree oven for 20 minutes. Bore stays cleaner longer and is easier to clean.

2. Slide:
a. Chamfered lockup edges and extractor edges with 1000 grit paper
b. Polished breech face and bottom rail that slides over cartridges in mag
c. Removed rear sight with a sight pusher and polished striker block and channel, striker tab
d. Used a cut part of a plastic card w/1000 grit paper folded over it to polish the inside of the slide rails.
e. Polished slide stop notch.

Frame:
a. Smoothed stippling at outside rear of trigger guard to make it more comfortable for high & tight finger placement.
b. Removed sear block to get at trigger bar--polished striker tab and sear loop.
c. Adjusted slide stop to release with finger pressure and auto-forward. Filed & polished.

Mags:
Loaded and unloaded them a few times with an Uplula. They were stiff, but it only took a few cycles and max # of cartridges went in fine.

Cleaned, heavily lubricated, mostly with grease so it would stay in place, reassembled, and cycled and dry fired it about 100x.
It was now very smooth. Factory trigger pull dropped from 7# 13 oz to 6# 11 oz.

The fit and finish, smoothness--especially of the trigger pull--and tighter tolerances were very noticeable on this gun compared to two others I bought 2 and 3 years ago.

At the range it handled all ammo flawlessly. It shot 1.5" left at 7.5 yards because I did not get the rear sight perfectly centered when I re-installed it.

I dislike the overly curved trigger which got uncomfortable after about 50 rounds. The heavy trigger pull adversely effected accuracy, even when rested. I will be going the Apex route as I have done with my other guns. I like my triggers to be ~5.5# and I doubt this setup could get there. Old (MagGuts +2) and new mags worked fine.

This process took me about 3 hours. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was very confident that it would work well at the range. That to me is worth the time and effort.

CB3 said:

My new Shield is another defensive carry gun for me.
. . .
I will be going the Apex route as I have done with my other guns.

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In your jurisdiction, does altering the trigger increase the risk of legal problems in the event of a self-defense action?

InsideWaist said:

In your jurisdiction, does altering the trigger increase the risk of legal problems in the event of a self-defense action?

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I feel confident that I can justify any of my modifications as making my guns more accurate and reliable, not more dangerous. Being able to articulate the reasoning behind a modification as being an improvement is important. I also have some of my guns marked with my family crest, but not some aggressive statement about what I intend to do to criminals.

For me, a target trigger of 2.5# would be a liability, unless all of my guns had that pull weight and I was extremely familiar and competent with it in a self defense situation as well as on the range.

Rarely will a tuned trigger be the cause of a legal problem in what is being challenged as a bad shoot. Other bigger contributing factors will be at the center of such litigation.

There are dozens of red herring attacks that could be thrown at you if you are hauled into court. If I conduct my life in fear of the improbable and explainable, I live a lesser quality of life. I am informed and cautious, but not fearful and handicapped by relatively inferior equipment.

I just got my brand new, out-of-the box 9mm Shield a couple of days ago. All I did was clean the preservative off it and lubed it at the points shown in the Owner's Manual and then put well over 200 rounds of mixed types, including a bunch of my own reloads. Not a single hiccup...not one. It ate everything I fed it. It shoots some kind of sweet. I trust this gun. Actually, I like it so much that I'm thinking of picking up the .45 model before the rebate goes off.

I will echo Igjhn's post above 100%. I installed the Apex kit, rubber talon grip and then did a quick clean & lube, hit the range and fired 200 flawless mixed rounds with zero issues. I didn't polish anything and I have no plans to.
Hopefully will run another 200 thru thus weekend!

Pics or it didn't happen! Curious about the trigger guard-- I did an undercut on one of my other pistols, looked at Shield as the web of my hand doesn't get as high with the middle finger being limited, but did not seem there was enough material to make a difference, unlike Glock trigger guards. Love reading your posts CB3.

"This process took me about 3 hours. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was very confident that it would work well at the range. That to me is worth the time and effort."

You put more into the modification and familiarization of your pistol than most other owners. And yes, that serves to make you more confident in it's performance. A win-win deal, and time well spent!

lgjhn said:

All I did was clean the preservative off it and lubed it at the points shown in the Owner's Manual and then put well over 200 rounds of mixed types, including a bunch of my own reloads. Not a single hiccup...not one.

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This is how a new gun should be handled.

All that modification prior to shooting is not a good idea. Granted you used some very fine sand paper, but you're altering the design of the gun. It doesn't need any of that.

The gun is designed to work right out of the box, after initial cleaning. All that "polishing" did was to loosen the fit of the gun. It is already built with loose tolerances due to the modular nature of the design. You've simply accelerated the wear.

You obviously have more experience than many of the shooters here. Even so, I would highly recommend that people not do this. There is no benefit and it may void the warranty. For example, if you had a feeding issue, S&W could say you caused it due to all the "work" you did prior to shooting.

Edit to add:
I have 106 rounds through my Shield 9mm and all I did was run a patch through the bore before shooting to ensure a clear bore. That's not much, but I'm positive it will run another 500 without issue.

Cleaned my new Shield 9mm on day one and lubed. Day two went to the range and ran 450 rounds of 7 different brands, no problems and it shoots like a dream.

Rastoff said:

All that modification prior to shooting is not a good idea. Granted you used some very fine sand paper, but you're altering the design of the gun. It doesn't need any of that.

The gun is designed to work right out of the box, after initial cleaning. All that "polishing" did was to loosen the fit of the gun. It is already built with loose tolerances due to the modular nature of the design. You've simply accelerated the wear.

You obviously have more experience than many of the shooters here. Even so, I would highly recommend that people not do this. There is no benefit and it may void the warranty. For example, if you had a feeding issue, S&W could say you caused it due to all the "work" you did prior to shooting.

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I understand what you are saying, that is, until you get a new gun that does actually have problems, and I have had those. Since most such problems can be avoided by careful inspection, cleaning and lubrication, I prefer that rather than going the warranty process route. I find that time consuming and frustrating, and then I have to start the confidence building process of the gun all over again but starting from an even lower level.

If you look at any machined surface under magnification, you will see high points of tool chatter and cutting. While initially these high points make for smaller tolerances and the tighter feel of a new gun, these are what wear away in 4-600 rounds. This is why older guns feel smoother and triggers get smoother and lighter. But the gun is typically even more reliable, smoother functioning, and "feels" better because it is broken in. In particular, cutting the rifling into a barrel produces really rough and uneven surfaces. A view through a bore scope is shocking. Those rough barrels foul quickly and are hard to clean.

Custom pistols costing $1000's start with tolerances that barely allow the parts to be assembled. The tooling imperfections are then removed by hand with stones or 1000 grit paper until workable tolerances are achieved. Removing machining marks is not the same as removing material and widening tolerances. While it accelerates wear, it is only the wear that would naturally occur during breakin. Essentially, I break in my gun before firing so I don't have to wait for the process to occur over 600+ rounds.

As far as the actual modifications, if they void the warranty on a $300 gun, I am not concerned. The modifications are important features for me to have on my gun so it shoots the way I want. They improve it's reliability and performance for me. I have experience shooting that justifies each one of them.

This is not true for everyone, either financially or experience-wise. Staying standard stock configuration is fine too for those who want that. I am just sharing some of the things I have learned that make shooting more enjoyable for me. Others don't have to do them. I do appreciate your perspective and comments.

CB3,
Please understand, I'm not attacking you. I'm suggesting caution to those who don't have your level of experience.


But I do have a question about this:

CB3 said:

The modifications are important features for me to have on my gun so it shoots the way I want.

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How do you know it won't shoot like you want if you don't try it first?

It's not his first Shield tho... and I shot mine fresh out of the box before I did anything. If anything shooting it is what made me want to "refine" what would have gone bang right out of the box.

Rastoff said:

How do you know it won't shoot like you want if you don't try it first?

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[emoji106]

Rastoff said:

CB3, how do you know it won't shoot like you want if you don't try it first?

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It is my third personal Shield, and the sixth one I've shot when new.

I know all Shields come with stippling under the trigger guard. I know that abraded my second finger knuckle. This is evident just holding the gun without shooting it.

I try the slide stop as a release before shooting. Every one has been impossible to release by finger pressure from the factory--as is the case with most other mass manufactured guns today. I expect it and confirm it, without firing. Then I adjust it before firing.

I know every feed ramp, chamber and barrel mass manufactured today is microscopically rough and will eventually wear some. I don't have to shoot the gun to know that polishing these areas will do no damage, but it will improve performance.

When I run my finger over sharp mating surfaces, like the barrel hood and the front of the slide barrel hood lock up area, I know they will benefit from radiusing the sharp edges so they will slide past each other more smoothly to lock up. I fired a new ParaOrdnance 1911 in 1989. After ejecting the first spent case, the sharp edges of the barrel hood dug into the corresponding locking notches on the underside of the slide. The slide was absolutely jammed with a live round 1/4" out of battery. It was sent back to PO that way and returned six weeks later with those edges radiused, as they should have been from the factory, but were not. I learned a lesson.

Would the Shield with a different locking system experience the same problem? I have never heard of it, so almost definitely not. Therefore, is this step before firing necessary? Apparently not. Do I feel better about my gun with sharps radiused? Yep, so I choose to do it. Again, it doesn't hurt and will likely occur during break in anyway.

I know the Shield trigger is uncomfortable for me for extended shooting. Dry firing some before shooting reminds me of this. With my Lyman digital trigger pull gauge, I check the pull weight. This gun and the ones before it all had 7.5#+ pulls, well over what S&W used to post as their Shield pull weight from the factory, 6.5# +\- 1/2#. S&W has removed this from their website because they cannot economically meet this spec. Polishing trigger components will typically smooth the trigger pull and drop the pull weight about a pound. I don't need to live fire the gun to know or do this.

In short, I know how I like my guns to perform. I know how Shields perform straight from the factory. Improving them before firing just makes sense to me.

Is what I do necessary for a Shield to run reliably from the factory? For the vast majority of shooters, no. For many who come here complaining of problems and looking for solutions, yes. I choose to avoid potential problems by doing what a gunsmith would likely do to his own gun to insure reliability. It's pretty easy with a few tools, and hard to screw up if following directions and going slowly.

I started self-smithing in the early 90's, so it is second nature to me. There is not much a warranty person at Smith could do to one of my guns, other than replace a part I can't get, that I can't do myself. I was in the industry for my last five years before retiring four years ago. I met a lot of folks who made custom guns and repaired guns. I worked with machinists and had access to bore scopes and microscopic examination of machined metals. I am confident that what I do is helpful to my gun, and I really don't need to shoot it first to know what I do improves performance for me.

However, my guns are not average, everyday run-of-the-mill guns either.

CB3's post above with his explanation is EXCELLENT! Very well said.

I think OP is knowledgeable, experienced & capable. He should prepare and fine tune as he sees fit.
I researched the Shield thoroughly before purchasing. It's a quality firearm manufactured by one of the best companies in the business. I bought it knowing the stock trigger was something I wanted to replace. I planned on putting on nightsights.
I didn't polish the feed ramp or barrel shroud. I didn't fix problems the gun doesn't have, because I don't have any experience in those areas. Besides, it's a S&W, not a Jiminez or a Bersa.
I'm not concerned about S&W voiding my warranty or the OP's warranty. If I have issues, I will attempt to remedy by doing the tuning the OP did to prepare his Shield.
I've noticed from reading forums and talking to owners that many other expensive gun models have serious reliability issues. Kimber, Springfield come to mind. The only issue I've ever had was light primer strikes in my Pro 9 after I first installed the Apex FSS. Opening my trigger bar loop (per Apex video instruction) resolved the issue conclusively.
The nightsights were installed by a gunsmith, I installed the Apex kit, which I can always revert to the stock usb, sear and associated springs.
I don't file or modify the the sear or striker block, I defer to the engineers at S&W and Apex in the parts that affect the action timing.

I am not a gunsmith nor even experienced with any sort of servicing firearms other than basic cleaning. I won't even attempt any number of things that you'd (CB3) be comfortable doing as a matter of course. And I appreciate the insight (and detailed description) that you've shared in this thread as regards the M&P Shield.

Many other folks with an experience level at or closer to mine read these threads (even years after the thread has died off) after an issue with their pistols and subsequent Google search – so I want to comment on one specific point. As Rastoff said, "I'm suggesting caution to those who don't have your level of experience."

CB3 said:

2. Slide:
. . .
e. Polished slide stop notch.

. . .

Frame:
. . .
c. Adjusted slide stop to release with finger pressure and auto-forward. Filed & polished.

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And then (in a later post):

I try the slide stop as a release before shooting. Every one has been impossible to release by finger pressure from the factory--as is the case with most other mass manufactured guns today. I expect it and confirm it, without firing. Then I adjust it before firing.

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Here you're modifying then intended function of the firearm. The M&P Shield doesn't have a slide release. Your posts correctly refer to it as a "slide stop." Its intended function is as a stop, and not a release. Where the manual speaks to releasing the slide from locked-open, it indicates that the manner to do so is to pull back the slide to cause the slide stop to disengage and then allow the slide to travel forward (i.e., "slingshot").

When you note:

Every one has been impossible to release by finger pressure from the factory . . . [speaking of the slide stop]

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- that is because it is performing as designed and intended. The pistol is not equipped with a slide release.

It's fine with me if you want to modify your pistol in any way you see fit. I just want all the lurkers and Google arrivers to understand that this is a modification to the intended operation of the pistol, as opposed to merely reducing high points from machining or tool chatter.

CB3, what parts of the slide stop/catch whatever did you polish?

Just curious. I know S&W calls it a slide stop, though upon taking delivery and I couldn't release the slide I thought I had missed something pre-inspecting before purchase.

After 500ish rounds in two Shields, they've become easier to release naturally and polishing it is more preemptive in my opinion. That's 500ish rounds of pulling the slide back to release it.

greeenteeee said:

CB3, what parts of the slide stop/catch whatever did you polish?

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After removing the slide assembly, I push up the slide stop from its retaining slot. I inspect the end that mates with the slide with a 4X magnifying hood.

Because this is a stamped part, there are usually sharp edges in this area. They will wear away some with repeated use as a release. They won't wear very fast if you use the sling shot method. These edges and rough surfaces that interface with the slide are what I round and polish. I use a small piece of 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper wrapped around a wooden popsicle stick. The goal is to get the slide stop able to slide down the notch on the slide, while under return spring pressure, more easily.

I go slowly, reinstalling the slide often and using the stop as a release with finger pressure, to check my progress. At first, there is very little progress. However, within 3-5 minutes the stop can slide more easily.

I also inspect the slide stop notch on the slide under magnification. It is usually rough. Eventually it will wear smoother with use, but I accelerate this by polishing it. Reassemble to check. Polishing is not the same as filing to remove material.

Stop at the point where you need to apply just a little more finger pressure than you would like. Add some grease to both surfaces. Now work the slide and stop a few dozen times. They will loosen up just a bit more to where you want it.

Over time, there may be a slight bit more wear, so a bit too tight initially is better than too easy. At any time there is not enough friction between the two surfaces, simply take some 400 grit paper on a popsicle stick and rough up the slide stop engagement surface (not the slide notch). I have had to do this only on two guns of the couple of of dozen to which I have done this tuning process.

On a couple of guns I had to change the angle of the stop surface with a file to get this to work, but not on Shields. That is rare.

Done properly, this adjustment or tuning of the slide stop will not adversely effect its ability to engage and hold the slide back. It will not interfere with using the sling shot method for release. It will allow finger or thumb pressure to be used to close the slide.

Also, when tuned carefully, the slide will "auto-forward" upon brisk insertion of a loaded mag. Auto-forwarding pros and cons are discussed in other threads. I use it almost exclusively for reloads.

The shield is a great gun, but IMO needs a little refinement. My shield is close to a year old now, shot maybe 50 rnds out of the box when found out it needed some work especially the trigger it was heavy, mushy and gritty, must say never gave me any issues, but something had to be done, so little by little I've modifying it to my personal liking.

I did some of the mods described on the first post, my barrel is fully polished, also the feeding ramp. On the frame I smoothed the trigger guard texture, and trigger guard undercut for better hand placement, cleaned the rough edges of striker block channel, and firing pin channel.

I Didn't bother messing around with the sear, instead installed the apex duty carry kit, and the trigger improved 100%, no more grittiness or spongy feel, trigger pull went down from 7lb to 5.5lb, accuracy also improved.

I'm very pleased with the results, this is not a must do, some people doesn't feel confident or don't have the skills/tools to do this, or maybe are afraid of legal implications, perhaps they feel their gun is perfect but for me is a part time hobby, I enjoy doing it, and enjoy shooting my guns.

Bought one yesterday and after initial cleaning went to the range. 120 rounds with no issues, very controllable with good groups...2"-3" at 7 yards with very few fliers. The trigger is 6lbs but doesn't feel that heavy and breaks very clean...no grit or mush. Easy to shoot. Perfect for a carry gun.

Excellent out of the box and quite impressed. All handloads using 124g FMJ.