New M&P 9 Shield

[jnichols2]

I bought a M&P 45 Shield last week and really love it.
Today, I couldn't resist a M&P 9 Shield.

The store had both the standard and PC model. It was an easy decision for me. My old eyes forced me to upgrade the sights on my 45 Shield, and it cost me more than the difference between the two. The price difference was $70, and it cost me $120 to have similar sights installed on my 45 Shield.

I shot the 9 Shield today, and liked it a lot. It did have one serious issue, which I was able to correct after getting it home.

After last round lock back, the slide stuck locked back.
The only way to release it was to hold the slide lock down while drawing the slide back and releasing.
This was a three hand operation. Not good for carry use.

When I got home, I checked it out.
With the slide off, the slide lock was very sticky and gritty.
I worked it 100 times, then lubed it good. That seemed to work.
I'll keep an eye on it on the next range trip, and lube it again.

I also have a question on the manual. It's a different manual than the one that came with my 45 Shield. The one with the 45 Shield covered the 45 only, and this one covers both 9/40 and 45. It has a statement on page 33 that was not in my 45 manual.

It tells how to tell if you have a magazine safety by looking for a lever in the ejection port. If it does NOT have a magazine safety, there will be no lever. Again; this statement was NOT in my 45 Shield manual.

I checked both guns: Both have the lever present. Both have a statement "CAUTION - CAPABLE OF FIRING WITH THE MAGAZINE REMOVED". And both actually fire with the magazine removed. Is the statement on page 33 a mis print?

[Jaysq]

Just curious if you cleaned the gun before firing it, with the sticky and gritty problem. On the magazine safety lever, any change you are seeing the sear deactivation lever??

[jnichols2]

Originally Posted by Jaysq

Just curious if you cleaned the gun before firing it, with the sticky and gritty problem. On the magazine safety lever, any change you are seeing the sear deactivation lever??

Yes, I cleaned it. But, I didn't go to the extent of closely cleaning, checking, and lubing the slide stop lever.

I'm seeing the "lever" depicted in figure 63, on page 33.

[jnichols2]

I finally found a decent set of pictures. The manual isn't wrong, it just has lousy pictures.

What I was seeing was the ejector. After figuring that out, I took another lock at the manual with a magnifying glass. I could then make out both the "ejector" and the "second lever. The manual called it a "small lever mechanism" and the ejector was only visible to me untill I saw it in the other picture.

I have no magazine safety. All is good.