For those having FTF issues with their 45 Shield.

andyo5

andyo5

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I'm trying to establish whether there is a pattern. Please answer the following questions:
1. Did FTF happen with 6 round or 7 round magazine?
2. What bullet weight? 230? 200? 185?
3. Standard velocity, or +P?
4. Bullet configuration. FMJ? JHP? or other?

Thanks!
 
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Another question to add to your list:

Old design follower vs new design follower?
 
With mine, it doesn't matter. Ammo, mags, (I've got five, two flush, three extended), three different guide rods, including a stainless steel. Intermittent FTF with all of the above. Been back to the factory once, the gurus at my LGS have had it twice. No one else can get it to fail. Picking it up tomorrow, giving it one more try. If it fails, it's gone. Hate to let it go, it's a great shooter,,, when it shoots.
 
andyo5 said:
I'm trying to establish whether there is a pattern. Please answer the following questions:
1. Did FTF happen with 6 round or 7 round magazine?
2. What bullet weight? 230? 200? 185?
3. Standard velocity, or +P?
4. Bullet configuration. FMJ? JHP? or other?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Both magazines, new followers.
230gr fmj
Standard velocity, Federal Champion and blazer brass.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
andyo5 said:
Well, guess what!
I took my 45 Shield to the range this morning and experienced one of the FTF failures just as described in this thread. The first round fired, but the second one jammed in the magazine with the nose against the front of the mag. I would describe it as a failure for the nose of the round to rise quickly enough. Pulling the slide back and releasing it cured the problem. The magazine was a brand new 7 rounder. There was one failure, out of three magazines full of Speer 200g +P defense JHPs. I also fired three mags of my reloads without any issues. My reloads use Ranier 230g plated hollowpoints. The length of the Speer rounds is close to that of my reloads. One difference that I see is that the Speer bullets are wider at the front than my Ranier bullets, which are more tapered. Also, the Speer ammo is +P, whereas my handloads are more like standard velocity and feel less powerful to shoot than the Speer.
I should also mention that out of perhaps 300 rounds fired so far, this was my first failure of any kind. Almost all of those 300 rounds were my handloads.
Click to expand...
Andy, I moved this here from another thread since you are the OP. So you only had one issue in 300 rds., right? Did you confirm that the brand new mag you were using has the updated followers installed? I ask this because the brand new ones that S&W sent me did not.
 
I had three FTF's with Federal 230 gr ALUMINUM cased ammo.
230 gr brass seems to be running well.
 
None of that mattered in my case. My Shield .45 stopped having failures to feed after I gave my magazines a good cleaning, installed the updated followers, and polished my lower feed ramp. Result: 1700 perfect rounds since then, across all types of cartridges and magazines.
 
swsig said:
None of that mattered in my case. My Shield .45 stopped having failures to feed after I gave my magazines a good cleaning, installed the updated followers, and polished my lower feed ramp. Result: 1700 perfect rounds since then, across all types of cartridges and magazines.
Click to expand...

I also cleaned my magazines to no avail. :(
 
FloridaS&W said:
Did you confirm that the brand new mag you were using has the updated followers installed? I ask this because the brand new ones that S&W sent me did not.
Click to expand...

Florida, According to photos that I found, I have all new type followers. They all have the vertical corner groove.
 
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andyo5 said:
Donn, I don't mean to aggravate you, but doesn't this suggest operator error?
Click to expand...

I've got three M&P's, including a 9mm Shield. If it were operator error, I think it would've shown up before now.
 
Well, I took the Shield back to the range today. I fired 50 rounds without failure. I even tried several times to duplicate my one FTF from yesterday by placing a Speer 200g +P HP in the same position, next to the top round. I could not duplicate the failure.
I cannot rule out that my one FTF may have resulted from limp wristing or some other operator issue.
 
Lotta "to do" over one FTF my man.

Hell I dont trust that ANY ammo wont have one FTF in a thousand.

As long as my guns perform consistently, I just consider it "clearing/re-rack" practice and move on. I WILL check the shell as I suspect it long before I do the gun.
 
Last edited:
swsig said:
None of that mattered in my case. My Shield .45 stopped having failures to feed after I gave my magazines a good cleaning, installed the updated followers, and polished my lower feed ramp. Result: 1700 perfect rounds since then, across all types of cartridges and magazines.
Click to expand...

This is not good news. MP should have had this worked out already at the factory. I saw hickok45 do a review on the Shield 45 and he had a few feeding issues. Mine so far has not but then again I am using critical defense 185gr which is like a round nose. I haven't tried HST but the reason I am using critical defense is due to short barrel
 
Donn said:
With mine, it doesn't matter. Ammo, mags, (I've got five, two flush, three extended), three different guide rods, including a stainless steel. Intermittent FTF with all of the above. Been back to the factory once, the gurus at my LGS have had it twice. No one else can get it to fail. Picking it up tomorrow, giving it one more try. If it fails, it's gone. Hate to let it go, it's a great shooter,,, when it shoots.
Click to expand...

That's interesting. I posted on here years ago about my girlfriend's 9mm Shield, right when they first came out. She would get light hits on the primer, and it wouldn't fully go back into battery (sometimes.) No real pattern to it.

We had three other shooters try it (2 men, one woman) and no one could recreate the problem. She doesn't have that problem with any other handgun, either.

It went back to the factory, and of course they said it was within spec (it probably was). The same issue occurred when it came back, so it was sold. The gent that bought it put a few hundred thru it the first weekend without a hiccup.

I think sometimes certain guns won't work for certain people...
 
petepeterson said:
That's interesting. I posted on here years ago about my girlfriend's 9mm Shield, right when they first came out. She would get light hits on the primer, and it wouldn't fully go back into battery (sometimes.) No real pattern to it.

We had three other shooters try it (2 men, one woman) and no one could recreate the problem. She doesn't have that problem with any other handgun, either.

It went back to the factory, and of course they said it was within spec (it probably was). The same issue occurred when it came back, so it was sold. The gent that bought it put a few hundred thru it the first weekend without a hiccup.

I think sometimes certain guns won't work for certain people...
Click to expand...
True! I sold my BG380 because of too many Light Strikes. New owner says, he has had no light strikes in over 1,200 rds!
 
petepeterson said:
That's interesting. I posted on here years ago about my girlfriend's 9mm Shield, right when they first came out. She would get light hits on the primer, and it wouldn't fully go back into battery (sometimes.) No real pattern to it.

We had three other shooters try it (2 men, one woman) and no one could recreate the problem. She doesn't have that problem with any other handgun, either.

It went back to the factory, and of course they said it was within spec (it probably was). The same issue occurred when it came back, so it was sold. The gent that bought it put a few hundred thru it the first weekend without a hiccup.

I think sometimes certain guns won't work for certain people...
Click to expand...

When I read things like that it always makes me scratch my head. I could be wrong, but I think limp wristing happens to some shooters more than we might think (even with experienced shooters), and I suspect this is often misinterpreted as a "mysterious gun issue."
 
1. 6 round magazines w/ latest followers & Wolff extra 5% springs.
2. Pistol clean & lubed. Magazines cleaned.
3. Factory 230 grain FMJ from various manufacturers.
4. FTF, when it occurs, is usually the second round in the magazine. Nose down and caught in the locking block.
5. Pistol returned to S&W twice - once a new RSA, once a slight throat and polish of barrel.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
This is just a thought, but it seems the failures are rounds nose diving into the mag itself. This would indicate a magazine and not a gun problem.
I know from experience how difficult it is to load the .45 mags.
Is it a possibility that sometimes the cartridge is not sitting fully back in the mag? I've noticed it happen not only in Shield mags, but occasionally in most magazines.
I try to ensure they are fully seated to the rear and always slap my loaded mags against my palm ( or years ago, my helmet) out of habit.
Maybe I'm just lucky, but no FTFs yet.
 
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