Shield Plus extremely difficult to rack with full mag

Just got a Shield Plus, and it is really hard to rack the slide when either sized magazine is full. It's near impossible with my non-dominant hand. If I remove 1 round from the mag, it's fine. Whether a round is in the chamber doesn't seem to affect it. Might be a non-issue as long as I start with the slide locked open.

Also very hard to fully insert a mag when it's full.

Anyone else experiencing this? Did this happen with the previous Shield version?

I haven't shot it at the range yet. It's also my first subcompact pistol, only had my M&P 9's for 4 months. Got comfortable enough with them that I decided to start practicing with smaller conceal carry guns.

Off topic, but the trigger on dry fire feels somewhat nicer. I prefer the less rough stippling on the grip. Safety is tough to activate, but not too bad to switch down. At least it's not in the way like the oversized safety paddles are on the M&P 9. The takedown lever is very hard to turn, and I think it gets easier if I first press inward on it. If the barrel/guide rod isn't seated properly, the slide can get stuck after I return the takedown lever. Then I need to try to unlock the already tough takedown lever.

To summarize the thread: The slide is difficult to rack from battery, after inserting a full 13-round magazine. You can avoid that by locking open the slide before inserting a magazine, chambering, then topping off the mag. But then I also noticed that the case of the 13th loaded round still gets dented by the bottom of the center rail of the slide when in battery.

After a month of leaving a full 13-round mag in the safe, and a couple trips to the range, I didn't notice much of an improvement. I have a long wait for my CCW license, maybe long enough for replacement parts to go on sale, so I decided to take risks and alter the magazine.

I cut 1 loop off the magazine spring, in the end, I don't think it helped much. I then noticed that the bottom of the follower might be touching the insert plate, see picture, so maybe the follower is pushing the 13 rounds into the bottom of the slide.

I shaved off 1mm off the bottom of the follower, but I'm not sure if it helped. When I load brand new cartridges, I see some scratches but no huge dents.

I was having trouble with the slide locking open on empty magazine, with the cut magazine spring. So I got an M&P 9 magazine spring, tried to bend the top 3 loops to the approximate shape of the Shield Plus spring. It was an improvement, but not reliably locking open.

Finally, I put the shortened original spring back in, and bent and lowered the resistance of the slide lock spring. Slide is now locking open at the range, so far. I expect failure to feed to occur to the shortened spring, earlier than an unshortened spring.

Should have just left it alone in the first place and kept the same round at the top of the mag to take all the dents and scratches

I experience the same with all 3 of my Shield Plus's.
I don't clean after every range trip so the stiff takedown lever, while a nuisance, is a non-issue for me (ymmv).
I've adapted to not being able to rack the slide w/a full mag by no longer attempting it. Rather, I insert a partially loaded mag and chamber the first round before topping off the mag (then it takes a good slap to seat the fully loaded mag) or as you mentioned, loading w/the slide locked back.
The stiff slide release isn't as bad as on my 2.0's and should get easier over time (I'm old-school, to me it's a slide release, not a slide stop).

newpewpew said:

Just got a Shield Plus, and it is really hard to rack the slide when either sized magazine is full. It's near impossible with my non-dominant hand. If I remove 1 round from the mag, it's fine. Whether a round is in the chamber doesn't seem to affect it. Might be a non-issue as long as I start with the slide locked open.



Also very hard to fully insert a mag when it's full.



Anyone else experiencing this? Did this happen with the previous Shield version?



I haven't shot it at the range yet. It's also my first subcompact pistol, only had my M&P 9's for 4 months. Got comfortable enough with them that I decided to start practicing with smaller conceal carry guns.


Off topic, but the trigger on dry fire feels somewhat nicer. I prefer the less rough stippling on the grip. Safety is tough to activate, but not too bad to switch down. At least it's not in the way like the oversized safety paddles are on the M&P 9. The takedown lever is very hard to turn, and I think it gets easier if I first press inward on it. If the barrel/guide rod isn't seated properly, the slide can get stuck after I return the takedown lever. Then I need to try to unlock the already tough takedown lever.

Click to expand...

Experiencing the same issues hoping for more improvement over time and usage. I was thrilled with the arrival of the plus and find it shoots very well and after trips to the range it is now my EDC. I have found loading and inserting the mags is improving with usage. I expect these annoyances to improve with more range time.

my thoughts
Lock the slide to the rear, Insert fully loaded mag then release slide. Drop mag add that one (1) more round and insert back in the gun and let it sit for a day or two. The top round pressing against the bottom of the slide will depress the mag spring I bet within 2 days that problem will be gone

Ck out Julie Golobs video on youtube it will explain it.

hmmm glad or maybe unfortunate that i'm not the only one experiencing this. guess i'll just wait and see if the mag spring softens over time, or maybe adjust how i load a round in the chamber during snap cap exercises or at the range. initially thought about cutting off 1 turn of the mag spring

It's very common on lot's of pistols, not just S&W.

The takedown issues will ease with use. My 1.0 Shield was hard to rack, turn the takedown lever and very sensitive to rsa placement initially. Now I can almost just look at it to command in to disassemble/reassemble. OK, it's still hard to rack but I've learned the "technique".

Insert a full mag on closed slide may or may not get better. The stack in the mag is nearly fully compressed. With the slide closed it needs to compress a bit more to latch in. Basically, the spring bottoms out. Some have clipped a turn off the spring (as you suggest) but that may cause feeding issues later on as the spring weakens. I'd be careful whacking the mag to force it to seat as it could damage the top round.

I would be worried about damaging the top round as well. I would just run it with a full mag, then charge it, leaving the mag 1 round down for a few weeks, and see if the gun breaks in better, before loading it +1.

My journey of unnecessary tinkering continues.

I messed up the extended mag's spring by cutting off 1 loop. It did make racking the slide with full mag a tiny bit easier, but it wouldn't lock on last round 50% of the time. I glued pieces of an old credit card to the slide lock tab that gets pushed up by the magazine follower, and the lock on last round worked again, but I thought it was too bootleg or possibly could send debris into the magazine or chamber if the glue failed.

So then I bought a spring for a M&P 9 and cut it down to the correct number of loops. But the top 3 loops are too wide at about 0.46 inches, while the Shield Plus spring's top 3 loops are about 0.4". I put a 0.3" metal rod inside the loop (spring wire is about 0.05" thick), and bent/narrowed the loops with large pliers. Slide locks on last round without bootleg glued credit card pieces. But slide is back to being super hard to rack with full mag.

Then I decided to file off about 1mm from the bottom of the "legs" of the follower in the extended mag. Because: while the mag was full, I removed the floor plate and it looked like the legs were in contact with insert plate. Maybe it wasn't a problem with too many loops in the spring, and the 13 rounds + the follower just wouldn't fit in the magazine without crushing the rounds. After filing the follower, the 13th round now sits a hair lower inside that round-count window, and slide is a little easier to rack. Was too afraid of filing more in case it affected how the follower traveled inside the magazine. Not entirely sure if I'm imagining the difference.

Maybe I should've just let the full mag sit in my safe for a few more months and see if softening the spring was all that was needed. I don't even have a CCW, supposed to take at least 4-5 months to get the license sent to me.

New magazines have stiff springs , they need to be " broken in " ...steady use will do it ... another trick is to fully load the magazines and leave them stored like that ... the stiff spring will relax after a while and then loading 8 rounds will be easier and the gun will fire all eight .
I wouldn't advise cutting anything off springs , followers or guns ... you will likely be buying new parts down the road .
Gary

Take your new gun to the range. Get a speed loader and put few hundred rounds through it. Practice sight alignment and trigger control until it becomes second nature. Once you focus on those things for a while you will look up one day and you slide and magazine issues will be a thing of the past.

catcus-jack said:

Ck out Julie Golobs video on youtube it will explain it.

Click to expand...

Just watched the vid ... thanks for mentioning this.

In addition to some failure to feed issues, I too am having the same experience as OP

Speed Loader?

Speed loader is the way to load your clip. A few weeks ago a got a shield .40 and had difficulty loading a full clip. My son-in-law told me that he always uses a speed loader, being new to guns I had no idea want he was talking about. Joined a local sportsman club and talked to one of the members. He mention getting a speed loader, I believed he said lookup Magula . I now under what a speed loader does and have no problem loading a full clip. There are many types of speed loader. I went to my local gun store, asked for a speed loader and they showed me a Magula brand loader. The slide is very stiff to pull back, but getting better with use. Also I sling shot the slide and do not use the slide lock. With the slide lock, pull back on the slide and let go. I have found if I try to ease the slide forward the chamber may not load correctly. Please note I am new to guns and forums, this is just what I found after firing about a 100 rounds and watch videos on you tube.

I had a hell of a time getting the 13th round into the extended magazine, simple solution, load only 12 rounds, if I can't get the job done with 7 or 8 rounds, it's time to head for cover.

Keep shooting it and it will smooth itself out.

newpewpew said:

If I remove 1 round from the mag, it's fine.

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Sounds to me like you discovered the solution before you asked the question.

The Shield Plus holds 13 rounds in the mag. Is having "only" 12 really that big of a problem?

newpewpew said:

My journey of unnecessary tinkering continues.

I messed up the extended mag's spring by cutting off 1 loop. It did make racking the slide with full mag a tiny bit easier, but it wouldn't lock on last round 50% of the time. I glued pieces of an old credit card to the slide lock tab that gets pushed up by the magazine follower, and the lock on last round worked again, but I thought it was too bootleg or possibly could send debris into the magazine or chamber if the glue failed.

So then I bought a spring for a M&P 9 and cut it down to the correct number of loops. But the top 3 loops are too wide at about 0.46 inches, while the Shield Plus spring's top 3 loops are about 0.4". I put a 0.3" metal rod inside the loop (spring wire is about 0.05" thick), and bent/narrowed the loops with large pliers. Slide locks on last round without bootleg glued credit card pieces. But slide is back to being super hard to rack with full mag.

Then I decided to file off about 1mm from the bottom of the "legs" of the follower in the extended mag. Because: while the mag was full, I removed the floor plate and it looked like the legs were in contact with insert plate. Maybe it wasn't a problem with too many loops in the spring, and the 13 rounds + the follower just wouldn't fit in the magazine without crushing the rounds. After filing the follower, the 13th round now sits a hair lower inside that round-count window, and slide is a little easier to rack. Was too afraid of filing more in case it affected how the follower traveled inside the magazine. Not entirely sure if I'm imagining the difference.

Maybe I should've just let the full mag sit in my safe for a few more months and see if softening the spring was all that was needed. I don't even have a CCW, supposed to take at least 4-5 months to get the license sent to me.

Click to expand...

So you are now messing around with something that could make your gun less reliable because it's hard to rack?

Maybe you should try a revolver?

You do realize that the magazine spring is pretty important for the function of the gun?

smithra_66 said:

So you are now messing around with something that could make your gun less reliable...

You do realize that the magazine spring is pretty important for the function of the gun?

Click to expand...

Yes I know making alterations to any part of the gun has risk of affecting its normal functions. Everyone should already know this with any precision machine. If they didn't, the warning is in every user manual.

I know that the magazine spring is important: minimum amounts of elastic force/potential energy on a compression spring is needed to feed the next round or to lift the slide lock against the slide lock spring before the slide closes after recoil.

smithra_66 said:

... because it's hard to rack?

Click to expand...

No, the problem is not the slide serrations or the recoil spring being inherently hard to rack. As multiple people have already replied, the problem is the 13th round fully loaded into the 13-round magazine.

The 13th round is pressing so hard on the edge of the center rail of the slide. So hard in my gun that it's denting the casing. In addition to making it hard to move the slide, I'm also worried about whether these dents in the casing is a safety issue.

It's hard to get a clear picture of the reflective Hornady Critical Defense round with my cheap phone, but I attached a picture.

smithra_66 said:

Maybe you should try a revolver?

Click to expand...

A revolver is not going to help. Again, the thread is about the 13th round in the 13-round extended magazine. Loading only 12 rounds avoids the problem. I'm not aware of a 9mm revolver of similar size as a Shield that can hold 12 rounds.

Inserting a fully loaded 13-round mag with the slide open, chambering, and then topping off the magazine again helps with tough racking, but it doesn't help with the topped off 13th round still crushing against the bottom of the center slide rail.

One conservative solution is to leave the fully loaded magazine in the safe and wait for the spring to soften. I still want to unload it when taking the gun to the range, so then I'd have to keep remembering to put the dented round back on top when I get home.

I'm also not sure that it's the spring that's pushing the stack of 13 rounds against the bottom of the slide. I think the follower might be too tall. If I remove the base plate of the magazine, I can see the follower sitting directly on top of the insert plate, which is being pushed against the magazine body by the grip extension.

If that's the case, then waiting for the spring to soften might not work. There might be some improvement if there is a small amount of permanent compression on edges of the plastic follower.


I didn't clearly explain it in my previous posts, but I thought the risk was acceptable because I cannot EDC the Shield Plus for many months. I submitted my CCL application earlier this month, and the current wait time is averaging 6 months, according to the state's monthly news bulletin.

If I damaged the function of the magazine spring and follower, I thought the failure to feed and not locking on empty would only affect range visits. I hoped that replacement springs would be available for purchase 6 months from now.

I'm also impatient. These reasons were why I decided to take some risk instead of waiting.

The altered M&P 9 15-round magazine spring doesn't reliably lock on last open. I couldn't bend the upper 3 loops to the exact size and shape for smooth travel of the follower.

I put the -1 loop original magazine spring back in. Then I bent the slide lock spring so that it had slightly less resistance, but not enough that the slide stop could have any free play. I've taken the gun to the range a couple of times, and the lock open function now works again. Still haven't had any failure to feeds, but I'm guessing it will happen earlier than with an unaltered magazine spring.

Below is the slide stop spring. (1) is like a stake to keep the spring secure inside a groove on the locking block. (2) is the section I bent very slightly upwards. (3) is the part that contacts the slide lock, and I bent it slightly downward so that the slide lock didn't have any free play.

I am not recommending anyone to do what I did. I just thought I would share.

Rack Solution

This worked for me without spending a fortune I grabbed an old Pipe I made the lip fits the slide I cycled it forever the wood pipe leave zero marks and saves a bunch on ammo hope this helps