Ive only had my shield plus for a few months. Bought it brand new. I noticed the roll pin at the back started looking rusty. Paid it no mind since it's just a roll pin I can easily replace.
I wear the shield plus 25% of the time and the rest of the time I wear the M&P Full size. Both bought new the same week.
Both stored the same when not in use. Both carried in the same brand kydex holster.

The other day I grabbed my shield plus from the safe. The slide had several very deep rust spots. #0000 Steel wool and oil couldn't knock it off.

Dehumidifiers are working as they should not one other firearm in my safe has any signs of rust. Blued, melonite, stainless. None of my knives, metal magazines, brass ammo etc None show rust. Just the shield plus.

Furious I didn't even bother to call S&W. I just put it all in the box. Dropped it off at the local pawn shop and put it on consignment.

Absolutely disgusted with what happened.
Never had this issue in 25 years of gun ownership.

It got the same care I give all my firearms.

Sadly it was the best shooting gun in it's size class that I have handled.

Would love to own another one but not if I'm going to be dealing with rust issues.

The only rust issues I know of was Shield mag release button rust from carrying . I have 9 year old Shield no issues maybe yours had defective finish.

It's stainless under that melonite. It shouldn't rust. Maybe they have cheaped out on both the stainless and the meloniting process for the Plus. Regardless, you really should give a carry gun a wipe down with a little CLP if it gets sweaty.
Also, and it doesn't matter now; don't use steel wool on any firearm finish. That's what bronze wool is for.

Guess it's on to find another gun that size or find a shield 2.0. I really liked the flat trigger. The trigger was great. It performed better in my hands than several others in it's class.

I am a big fan of the Shield but reviews like this make it hard to get excited about the Plus.

I carry my plus every day, live in Tidewater area of Virginia , never no issues with rust. I do wipe it down every few days with light oil. Range visit every three weeks or so, then a complete field strip cleaning

Zero problems with my IWB daily carried Shield Plus.

Sorry to hear you did.

Any pics??

I guess my only thought on this; if a newer gun does have an issue (whether cosmetic or mechanical), why not get it fixed before selling it? Instead of just dumping a potential problem on someone else to deal with……..

I may not be the biggest fanboy of S&W lately but...
I've owned and carried on the job, in coastal Florida salt environment, for more than 45 years, many Smith & Wesson's, including Shields and revolvers, and I have never seen rust on any of their stainless steel guns, period.

Somethings fishy with your claims.

I've known people who couldn't wear an electric watch because the chemicals in their body would discharge batteries. I've also known quite a few people who's sweat could rust anything they carried IWB (or pocket)... Even with regular oiling/protectant. Some have remedied the situation by using old fashioned Floor Polish/Wax on their pistols/revolvers.

Corrosive sweat is why Crossbreed, Remora and others incorporated 'sweat shields' / 'sweat guards' into their holsters.

A bit of a leap from guns and holsters, but my father's foot sweat meant that he could not wear leather soled shoes. He destroyed them in no time flat, and he probably weighted 160 lbs soaking wet.

I managed to sweat corrode the slide on a FEG Walther PP copy in a soft holster while helping somebody move house in August in Vegas. Won't make that mistake again.

__________________
Release the Kraken

There are other remedies besides selling....especially if you liked the pistol and shot it well. And it has a lifetime warranty.

Maybe you've got too much acid in your diet. I've seen M&P's sit in a duty holster for almost two years and come out without rust on them. I'm a little skeptical. And if it's true, you've only had the gun a few months. The factory would make it right.

I'd of liked to see a picture or two of the rust you have on it. I own a number of S&W firearms, live in SW VA (we have humidity like FL) and have yet to have any firearm I own rust.

What type of holster did you carry it in? Was it ever exposed to heavy rain with no care afterward? It is just weird that a pistol would just rust, in a very short time frame, without some other mitigating circumstances.

It has been one of the more humid summers in the North East that I can remember and I have been carrying my Plus daily. No issues with rust anywhere, gun looks new.

I can grab some when I visit the pawn shop. I don't think it sold yet. It's on consignment.

If my friends pawn shop is open tomorrow I'll grab some pics. It's on consignment. I carry it in the same brand Kydex holster I carry my M&P 9 full size in.

I've only carried the Plus a few times. I gave it the same treatment as any other gun I've owned. I always clean them up every few days. Mostly bc I carry OWB and I like to get all the lint out of the crevices.
Never been in any rain or water with it.

Like i said before. The roll pin at rear was the first to rust. It was within a few weeks. I didn't pay it much mind bc it's just a pin and I could easily fix that.

It had no rust on it and sat In my safe a couple weeks.
First thing I thought was maybe my dehumidifier wasn't working. Checked it and the bags and all was good. Took out every other firearm and noone of them has any signs of rust. Not even my knives, magazines, axes or ammo that isn't in a dry box.

It was very very odd to me that it the rust happened and it was all on the right side of the slide.

Someone else mentioned it having a lifetime warranty.
I just didn't figure S&W would honor a rust issue bc honestly, most any rust issue is the owners fault. Not cleaning it properly, storing it incorrectly etc. How do I prove to them it's not my fault? As I can see no reason for it to have happened.
I'd love to keep it but I'm skeptical of it altogether now. I'm even skeptical of replacing it with a different one.

The ironic part was the pistol sitting write next to it was a S&W M&P 22. It has been in the safe alot longer and not a single spot on it.

I'm a FL boy too. And yeah I've seen stainless Smiths rust, numerous times. Our office went to the Gen 1 M&P for a few years. I believe one of the reasons they switched back to Glocks was the rust issue. The Smiths rusted and the Glocks didn't. I've seen stainless Smith revolvers rust, especially with units that worked the coast or were marine units. My 686 rusted quickly on the boats. I switched to my old 669 and it rusted too although not near as bad or quickly. However one little overlooked spot of saltwater inside the hood grew a rust pit. Sometime in the 90s I saw a Federal LEO who worked a coastal refuge. He obviously wasn't a gun guy and it was inexcusable but he had a 66 or 686 sitting in his holster that I question if it even had a cylinder that would turn. Whoever was supposed to be supervising him need a swift kick too.

My M&P Shield 9mm Gen 1 rusts. The previously mentioned roll pin rusted pretty quickly. No big deal. The rear sight is a bit rusty along with it's dovetail. I've also had to address a little rust trying to grow in the grasping groove crevices. I'm not complaining as it's been carried AIWB a lot and has been well soaked in sweat regularly. It's certainly held up better than a traditionally blued gun would. I would expect any gun subjected to that environment to rust some.

However, my Gen 2 Glocks (all Austrian) have never rusted and my G23 was subjected to the same treatment as my Shield and for longer. It's amazed me. I don't know if the finish on the newer Glocks is as durable but it sure is on my Gen 2s, even where the black has turned silver and shiny.

I suspect the OP got a drop of sweat on the gun that got overlooked and then put it away giving the salt time to work. Not a reason to get rid of a working gun. Kind of ridiculous IMHO. Tools that are used will reflect it.

I have an older Belgian BLR that has beautiful bluing and I've taken care to keep it that way. But darn it, it has one little pencil eraser sized rust pit on a side of the receiver. Apparently when putting it away all wiped down I flung a speck of sweat on it.

Most anything will rust or corrode around salt.

Personally, I believe you acted a little hastily. My first M&P from 2005 or 2006 developed a rust problem. I've seen Glocks do the same. I've owned five additional M&P's since then and none of them have ever rusted.

The problem is that applying finishes is highly susceptible to atmospheric conditions and other variables. Anyone can have a bad finish. Even SIG has had many people complaining about the finishes of their Legion series.

Smith & Wesson has a lifetime warranty for the original owner. You could have sent it to them and had it taken care of and returned to you in likely less than two weeks. Now it's someone else's problem and you're going to lose money. Even if you didn't like other things about the pistol, it would have been better to send it to Smith and have it fixed before selling it. Next time, ask the question before you put a gun on consignment.

Stainless stains less. It's not stainfree. I had an M&P pistol rust in my safe when my others had not. It can happen because applying a finish consistently is not easy. There are atmospheric changes and other variables that affects finishes regardless of manufacturer. When manufacturers claim their finishes avoid rust x percent of the time, it's an average.

I'd just swap out the carbon steel roll pin with a stainless one.

Technically, the proper term in CRESS 416R or whatever alloy. Corrosion Resistant Stainless Steel.

I gotta figure out where to host the pictures I took. It's also under the rear site now that I look closer.

I called s&w and the customer service was not what I expected. After getting off the phone with her I took the pistol off of consignment.
The lady said you have 1 year warranty against rust. Sent me a FedEx label to my email. Im gonna send it in. They'll repair or replace it. I was really expecting a run around considering it was a rust issue.

Why not just post the pictures direct on here?

__________________
Release the Kraken

When I click the photo icon it asks for a url

IMG_20211004_100111533.jpg

IMG_20211004_100021827_HDR.jpg

IMG_20211004_100006051_HDR.jpg

Not sure If that worked out as planned with the pic upload.
Pic one: Shows pitted slide rust. It's on front and rear of slide.
Pic 2: shows the rear sight. Rusting appears to be beneath it.

Pic 3: that pin on the rear

Since my first S&W stainless revolver in 1966, I have never seen such a rusted gun as that one. There is definitely a hidden story here.

Hopefully S&W will figure it out. Never once in my life have a had a firearm do this and this firearm got the same treatment as all the others.

Again this particular firearm was never carried as much as my M&P 9. I carry it daily. Not a spot on it other than holster wear from the kydex.

Wow! Are the Shield plus guns still using roll pins instead of solid pins? I don't have any of the Shields, but several of the compacts and full-size 2.0s. All of them have solid pins.

__________________
The Penetration Channel

My early 45 ACP shield has roll pins and they Rust daily in Florida heat and humidity. Thinks its “ going down the road”, trigger is just horrible, can not get used to it.

I didn't like the roll pin myself. My M&P 2.0 Compact 4 inch barrel I bought around the same time as the Shield Plus has a solid pin. But when I registered the warranty on it. It was already several years old even though it was new in the box.

I'm on Anderson SC probably not as hot and humid here as Florida. Strange my daily carry M&P compact 4 inch barrel has zero issues. Well, the coating isn't as resilient when holstered in kydex. Already showing wear and not even 6 months old. At least it isn't rusting.

The shield plus I can't say enough about the trigger and how well I shoot it compared to others in it's class. I know every person can shoot the same gun differently.
I shot the shield 2.0 of my friends and shot it better than the Hellcat, the Sign and don't even get me started on the Glock 43.
My friend with hands equally as big as mine if not bigger shot the 43 great! I shot his shield 2.0 better than him. When I went to purchase one. The plus was there and that's how I ended up with it. The trigger to me is amazing.

I live in the south and get hot & sweaty.
My Shield 1.0 that I've had about 8 years has been great. The roll pin the OP mentioned, below the back of the slide, gets a bit rusty. They appear to be a regular spring steel roll pin like the ones you can get for pennies from industrial supply places.
I squirt mine with a little oil at times. I'll probably replace it (the roll pin) some day soon, just because. Otherwise, the gun operates fine.

Based on your thread I carefully examined my Shield9 Plus purchased June 26, 2021. I can't see anything internally after a field strip, the roll pin is enclosed. Externally there is no rust. It seems to have a black finish.

I saw your pictures directly upstream ^^^. I see the rust, no doubt. I think you did the right thing by sending it back to the factory. Everybody makes mistakes but what distinguishes a good company from a bad one is how they handle that mistake.

Please update us on the repairs S&W does to your Plus.