Hey guys I wanted to let you know about an issue that I just discovered. I picked up an extra 13 round magazine at Cabelas in Grandville Mi and noticed that it would not drop free. At first I thought that it might be my gun. Then I tried the 13 round and the 10 round magazines that came with the gun. Both of them worked flawlessly. I did notice that the finish on the magazines are different as well. The two factory magazines are more of a matte blue and the new 13 round is a polished blue. I do not think the finish is a factor in the new magazine not working but it may serve to be a flag of sorts for a bad run of magazines?

Has anyone else run across this issue? I could run the magazine back to the store and get a replacement (that works) and be done but I think it would be good to send it into S&W and maybe they would recall these if it is a bigger issue than just one magazine. I might try calling or emailing them next week.

Jayman

It's a factory magazine? It appears ProMag makes a drum magazine for the Plus but I don't see any standard style made by them.

I'd definitely return it and try the new one, may just have been one bad example. Would probably let Cabela's deal with the factory or parts distributor, they will have more pull with the factory.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Are sure it is a S&W factory mag? Sound like a Pro Mag magazine.

Yes guys it is a 100% factory 13 round magazine.

Unless... Promag is allowed to use Smith and Wesson packaging and stamp the Smith and Wesson logo into the magazine body.

Bought 4 mags a couple of weeks ago. All function as should. Take it back.

I will run the bad one back this afternoon. I mainly was wondering if anyone else has seen any of these gloss blued ones and if they did had the same issues. It would be interesting to know if this is a common thing or not.

Jayman

Have many extra 10 and 13 mags all drop free.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Just out of curiosity, are all of them matte blued? My matte blued ones work perfectly the high gloss blued one that I bought does not drop free.

Jayman

Kinda funny it's the shiny one that hangs up.

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Release the Kraken

Someone else said this about an Act-Mag. That makes me guess it is not a mag problem.

If it not a mag problem and his other mags work flawless what other than the mag could it be?

Smith & Wesson(R) Bodyguard(R) .380 ACP (32) Rd Drum - Black Polymer - ProMag Industries
Was waiting for the M&P.380 plus but this'll do until then
Kinda defeats the concealability aspect though......

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Forum consigliere

So here I am a month later from this thread starting. I picked up a new 13rd mag earlier today. It also has a shiny blue finish compared to the older mags.

It does drop free both loaded and unloaded though I won’t get a chance to shoot the pistol with this mag until tomorrow. I’ll report back then.

New mag on the left, old on the right-might be hard to tell but the new definitely has a bright shiny finish as opposed to the older mag.

I just bought a shield plus and have this issue also, however I have figured out what is wrong. If you look at the pics posted you will notice the mag on the left, the one that doesn’t eject has the follower that tips towards the back more than the one on the right . This allows it to bypass the little catch up by the chamber that puts the pressure on the spring and ejects it. If you load that mag it will function properly, I’ve done it. Also, any that don’t eject, all you have to do is lock open the action, and with one finger push down on the front of the follower until it pops below that little catch. It was a little disappointing for me too , but really not an issue, because like I say, load the mag and just cycle the action til empty and the mag will eject free.

Besides the difference in finish, the magazines appear to have 2 different magazine tube designs as well.

There's quite a difference between the two.

I bought some from Cabelas but it was last winter and they are all matt finish and work great. In fact I just went out shooting last Thursday afternoon and hadn't loaded the extras back up and this thread reminded me to do that.

The other think with my 13 round mags is, to get that 13th in is really hard. The spring coils are all touching I’m thinking. I loaded my 13th and couldn’t seat the mag so I slapped it and to my surprise, the slide dropped. I won’t put 13 in again. I feel these mags should have been called 12 round. Now I’m thinking I better check my 10 round to see if it actually holds 10. A little disappointed.

Since the Plus has come out difficulty loading to 13 has been a common comment. I always use an Uplula and that allows to get 13. Others also say to leave them loaded for a couple of weeks, haven’t found that to make a difference.

Also in my photo it’s the angle the mags are resting on the pen make the follower of the new one look like it’s at a different angle in the tube-it’s not.

Another note is that the design of the new mag is also true for the 10rd version. You can see it in the one I have for sale in the accessories subforum. Mag redesign is not uncommon at all, something all of the major companies have done over the years.



I’ve owned other M&Ps and Glocks that have also gone in to battery when inserting a mag. Not an issue for me. Range trip in a few hours, I’ll report back how the new one functions.

Just got home from the range. No issues of any kind with the new mag. I looked at all the other new mags for sale and they all have the high luster blue finish.

Just brought home the Shield Plus bug out combo...the 3 shiny 13 rounders do not drop free. The less shiny ones, 10 and 13 rounders, drop free nicely. Pretty disappointing.

You had me wanting to go check the new magazine I bought last week for the Plus
You are correct that the finish is shinier than the older ones from about a year ago & the ridge is different in the manufacture
On mine they both drop free the exact same except the newer one has more spring tension being it has never been loaded
I will put up a photo as I took one while down in the dungeon

The one on the Left is the NEW Magazine & the other two factory supplied ones from 06/21/21
Gary/Hk

Attached Images

Shield Plus Magazines.jpg (139.6 KB, 32 views)

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MightShowYouHisSmith&Wesson

Called S&W and the rep wants me to send in the pistol and the mags. I will probably shoot it first and see if the behavior changes after leaving the mags loaded for a week. I noticed the follower damaged/scratched after a few dry fires.

I own 16 of the 13rd mags for my 3 Shield Plus', all have the shiny finish, all function perfectly and drop free w/o difficulty.

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His Universe, His rules.

After fully loading the 2 problematic mags and letting them sit for a few days, the mags now freely drop when either loaded or unloaded. One of the mags, though, does not lock in place into the pistol when the mag is fully loaded - regardless how much force I use. There is no way I will be able to get 13+1 with that one.
Yes, I marked all the mags, so I identify them.

At some point regardless of platform there will be problem mags. I have 2 Wilson 1911 mags that won’t allow the slides to lock on multiple pistols-they are regulated to range use only.

The first M&P 1.0 I bought when they first came out had one that wouldn’t go to capacity no matter what. Again strictly for range use and I told the buyer such when I sold the pistol.

Been there...At the range, about 4 rounds into a brand new P365 15 round mag, the base plate popped off and dropped ammo all over the floor. I re-installed everything and same result. I even had the range master verify I did not assemble the mag incorrectly.

I ended up calling Sig and without hesitation, they shipped me a replacement. I asked if they wanted the bad mag, and the rep just told me to toss it!

Bought two MecGar mags for a Witness .38 Super. (BTW I consider MecGar the gold standard) One came from the factory with the follower installed backwards. I didn't notice until it was nearly full and resistance increased. Obviously wouldn't feed. Had to disassemble the mag to remove the rounds and reassemble correctly.

If there are humans involved, Murphy supervises.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

I had the exact same problem as you. I bought the bug out deal with the 3 extra mags. All mags except for one 13 round magazine would lock the slide back and eject properly. The one 13 rounder would not lock the slide back or eject from the gun. This was all done without any ammo or firing the gun. Just by looking at the defected mag you could tell the follower was sitting higher than all the other mags. Called S&W customer service and they sent out 4 new magazine springs and that fixed the issue with the one bad mag.

The follower is sitting much higher on the mag to the left. I had the exact same problem the slide would not lock back nor would the mag drop free. I called S&W and told them the problem and they sent out 4 new mag springs for the 13 rounders. I replaced the spring in the mag that was not working and that fixed the problem. I now have 3 extra mag springs. You can also see the small change in the original mag and the shiny mag. If you look at the area where you can see the hole in the follower the slope of the metal section from the corner to where it curves up is just a little longer in the shiny mag compared to the flat black mag. I bought the bug out bag that came with 3 extra mags and all 3 were the shiny mags compare to the flat black 13 rounder and 10 rounder that came in the S&W box.

I own a 2.0 Shield and a Shield Plus. I gave my sister a 1.0 when she could no longer pull the trigger on her loaned 66. I bought the Shield Plus last year. I purchased 2 13 round mags at Cabelas when they became available. They all three are the less shiny finish. All function and drop free perfectly. Unfortunately one can only hold 12 rounds. I use an upula but am unable to get the 13th round in. I have tried unloading and reloading that particular mag without success. ???

A friend wants to purchase the 2.0. I'm thinking of replacing it with another Plus. I want to get the bugout package with the 5 mags. My question is will I get 4 13 and 1 10 or all 10s?

I have 4 gloss black ones that were part of the"bugout bundle". All work fine. I was actually impressed with the finish compared with Sigs on the edge of rust mags.

I got 1 of the 10 rounders and 4 of the 13 rounders. You have to give it a lot of force to get the 13 rounders full.

After owning a lot of Sigs I would suggest you look at where the mag is made. With new Sigs, they usually give you Mec-Gar mags made in Italy, while the packaged ones are usually Check Mate made in the US. The Italian mags have a higher quality feel to them but they both work the same in my experience. I wouldn't be surprised if S&W has a similar approach. If they say Philippines they are ACT and definitely cheaper made.

Thanks for the replies. I am glad to hear that Smith & Wesson is interested in fixing the problem. I have been on the look out for some 13 rounders but there just isn't that many out there on the store shelves. I could buy online I suppose.

Jay

Just a moment...

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His Universe, His rules.

I know some may disagree, but even though companies market guns as +1 on the rounds, I don't think the design is really to allow for +1. Gun mags are designed to be loaded full then inserted in a gun with the slide open. Not inserted in a gun with the slide shut. When the mag is full, typically the top round is difficult to push down any further. Since that last round is pushed down by the slide when it is closed, it can become a problem.

Rosewood

I think the Remington R51 in 9mm is the perfect example. Rumor control says that taking 1/8" off the follower legs largely fixes any +1 issues. For sure, a fully loaded R51 magazine has a minimal amount of "slop" when when you press on the top round.

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Release the Kraken

i would think there's been evolution in gun engineering and design to make +1 feasible? gun handling has changed quite a bit.