Shield Plus Potential Issue?

I've carried a M&P Shield 2.0 PC 3.1" for about 3 years and I recently upgraded to the M&P Shield Plus PC 3.1" for the purposes of increased capacity, slightly larger grip circumference, and an improved trigger. I've put 500 rounds through it without any problems.

The only issue I noticed was that during takedown, sometimes the trigger could not be pulled in order to release the slide, and the yellow sear deactivation lever had to be manually moved down. Not a big deal. I thought maybe it was a break-in related issue.

Last night I cleaned it and reassembly was a challenge because the trigger wouldn't engage the sear... there was just some crunching and a popping sound. Another disassembly and reassembly fixed the problem but during dry fire afterwards, the issue returned. At first it worked but after about a dozen trigger pulls the problem started again and the trigger would not engage and would not release the striker, there was only some crunching and a popping sound.

So then I disassembled the gun again and flooded all components in the grip with pressurized Rem Oil and set it upside down to drain. While cleaning up the Rem Oil with a Q-tip I noticed a tiny metal shaving laying in between the front of the sear housing and the back of the trigger bar. It was loose and the Q-tip picked it up. I wish I had taken a picture.

After cleaning up all the excess Rem Oil, and reassembling the Shield Plus, I can not recreate the issue during dry fire, it works every time. I've taken it down and put it back together a dozen times and it works 100% during dry fire.

I can however recreate the issue during take down if I don't use the sear deactivation lever and try to release the slide with a trigger pull. Unless I pull the slide back a little to align with the back of the frame, the trigger will not engage the sear and there's only a popping sound.

With my Shield 2.0 PC, during disassembly, when I drop the slide, it automatically returns to home and I can just pull the trigger to release the side. I don't have to line up the slide at all in order for the trigger to work.

To further test, I put my Shield Plus slide on my Shield 2.0 frame, and the Plus slide also went to home and allowed a disassembly with a quick trigger pull. I then put my 2.0 slide on my Plus frame and again during disassembly I had to fidget with the slide position in order to allow the trigger to engage.

If it wasn't for the ongoing takedown anomaly, I would have dismissed the shaving of metal laying near the sear as a break-in issue, because obviously that shaving of metal interfered with the sear and trigger bar in some way.

Because i can recreate the issue during takedown, and the inconsistency between the Plus and 2.0 frame during takedown, I'm concerned this may be the first or second sign of a larger issue developing in my Shield Plus.

What are your thoughts? Is it good to go? With this being a carry gun, this issue does undermine my confidence level.

I was planning on going shooting with the Plus tomorrow but now I'm not sure if i should. Customer service for S&W is closed for the weekend and with tomorrow being a holiday, I don't know if they'll be open then either.

On your Shield Plus, during takedown do you have to manually position the slide in order for the trigger to engage and release the slide?

I'm trying to determine if this is an issue or a non-issue.

I guess my next step will be a couple hundred dry fires on snap caps in order to see what happens.

Thanks for the help.

You said:

With my Shield 2.0 PC, during disassembly, when I drop the slide, it automatically returns to home and I can just pull the trigger to release the side. I don't have to line up the slide at all in order for the trigger to work.

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Are you hitting the slide release and letting the slide whip forward like it would during a reload?

When disassembling a polymer gun that requires me to lock the slide back to work a lever, I release the slide under control so it moves forward slowly and squeeze the trigger as the slide gets to the "in battery" position.

LVSteve said:

You said:



Are you hitting the slide release and letting the slide whip forward like it would during a reload?

When disassembling a polymer gun that requires me to lock the slide back to work a lever, I release the slide under control so it moves forward slowly and squeeze the trigger as the slide gets to the "in battery" position.

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No. I also release the slide under control.

I now have appx 100 more dry fires through it and have taken it down and put it back together a dozen more times and it's been 100% reliable when the trigger gets pulled.

The takedown anomaly still exists.

I'm thinking a component had a burr left over from the factory, something that's not totally unheard of with anything that's mass produced.

My current theory is that once the burr came loose, it sat somewhere that was out of the way. When I cleaned the gun, that metal shaving moved and got tangled up near the trigger bar or sear when I tried to dry fire afterward.

It was small, less than a 1/4 of an inch long, and as thin as a hair with a couple loose metal bits.

The flush with rem oil obviously got it out.

- - - - - - -

Upon further inspection, at least in comparison to my Shield 2.0 PC, the trigger bar on my Plus PC appears to be out of alignment causing it to only partially engage the sear, and hit it at a funny angle. The rough edge and wear pattern on the part of the trigger bar that hits the sear is the likely source of the metal shaving/burr. Because the sear is not fully being engaged, its visibly sitting higher in my Shield Plus, which in theory would make it harder to disengage. Furthermore, the wear lines on the top of the trigger bar that hit the striker saftey indicate that the bar has traveled around and past the plunger without depressing the plunger and deactivating the saftey.

I'm not a gunsmith but I feel that's possibly the explanation for the popping sound I was talking about, especially since the striker won't release while in that situation.

I would advise on a call to S&W after the holiday so they can issue you a return authorization and shipping label. You have to have absolute confidence in your carry gun and you’re simply not going to have that until it’s fully inspected and the kinks properly addressed.

I wonder if not pushing the yellow lever down and pulling the trigger to field strip it causes a problem.
I've been pulling the trigger rather than pushing the yellow lever down.
Maybe I'd better stop.

There could very well be a sketchy part in the gun somewhere. It would probably be worthwhile to have S&W look it over to be sure.

The manufacturer's instruction for takedown of the M&P models say to use the internal lever to disengage the sear during disassembly. Pulling the trigger also achieves that, but it runs contrary to the designer's instructions. While I don't know the full reason the pistol was designed this way it's always better to strip the pistol in the recommended way. It's not a Glock.

You don't have a problem. Read the manual! You should never pull the trigger, it's not a Glock. Clear the weapon, lock the slide to the rear, lower the yellow sear deactivation lever, rotate the takedown lever, release the slide allowing it to move forward, and remove the slide from the frame. Just that simple. Will pulling the trigger release the slide, yes, but not by design. Reassemble in reverse order, install the slide, locking it to the rear, rotate the takedown lever to the up position, take a finger and push the sear deactivation lever to its upright position, or insert an empty magazine which will accomplish the same thing. Then there's the oil. Flooding the firearm with oil only creates a **** magnet. Every piece of dirt, dust, lint, or unspent powder will stick to it. It won't improve anything. Disassemble it properly, clean it properly, lube it properly, reassemble it properly, then go shoot it.

I've had at least 6 Shields in one configuration or another, and not one has required a trigger pull to remove the slide, and every one required you to "manually" lower the sear deactivation lever.

gunny4053 said:

You don't have a problem. Read the manual! You should never pull the trigger, it's not a Glock... Will pulling the trigger release the slide, yes, but not by design.

Then there's the oil. Flooding the firearm with oil only creates a **** magnet. Every piece of dirt, dust, lint, or unspent powder will stick to it. It won't improve anything. Disassemble it properly, clean it properly, lube it properly, reassemble it properly, then go shoot it.

I've had at least 6 Shields in one configuration or another, and not one has required a trigger pull to remove the slide, and every one required you to "manually" lower the sear deactivation lever.

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Generally I do use the sear deactivation lever since proper saftey procedures involve sticking a finger in the chamber anyway, I might as well go the extra step and flip the switch.

Don't mistake that yellow lever as anything other than a lawyer switch, so as to allow disassembly without a mandatory trigger pull. If no tool is available, and the gun needs to be taken down, with proper saftey procedures, it's perfectly acceptable to use a trigger pull.

The whole reason we're even talking about it is because as part of a trouble shooting process, it's the only way to recreate what happened during normal fire, albeit dry fire. Instead of releasing the striker, first the trigger went crunch and then went pop. Sometimes a second trigger pull would release the striker. Then it stopped working completely. It felt as if there was an obstruction. Visual inspection yielded nothing, thus the flood of rem oil, which worked, and dislodged bits of loose metal.

CouchPotato said:

Don't mistake that yellow lever as anything other than a lawyer switch, so as to allow disassembly without a mandatory trigger pull. If no tool is available, and the gun needs to be taken down, with proper saftey procedures, it's perfectly acceptable to use a trigger pull.

It's not perfectly acceptable to pull the trigger, otherwise S&W would have told you so in the manual. If you call S&W and tell them what you're doing, they will tell you, lawyer lever or not, that is the proper procedure and since you're not following it, you may have damaged your firearm and voided your warranty.


The whole reason we're even talking about it is because as part of a trouble shooting process, it's the only way to recreate what happened during normal fire, albeit dry fire. Instead of releasing the striker, first the trigger went crunch and then went pop. Sometimes a second trigger pull would release the striker. Then it stopped working completely. It felt as if there was an obstruction. Visual inspection yielded nothing, thus the flood of rem oil, which worked, and dislodged bits of loose metal.

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And yet you continue to do it incorrectly just to recreate a result. I guess the ultimate question would be, does it do it when you follow the procedure in the manual? If not, then why do you keep doing it? As far as having a tool, unless you're shooting naked, there's always something available, pin on your belt buckle, pocketknife, keys, the tip of a stick. So far, the only reason to not do it right is because "you" don't want to.

I said my peace, so continue to do what you want, my gun works fine. I'm out.

Although not recommended by the factory, you should be able to disassemble the shield plus by pulling the trigger instead of by using the sear deactivation lever. If you use the pulling the trigger method, you must remove the magazine, make sure the chamber is empty and triple check to make sure there is no ammunition in the weapon. Failure to safety check the weapon before pulling the trigger could result in death or serious injury to you or someone else.

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VKEBzslB0bw[/ame]

I got ahold of a friend's Shield Plus PC 3.1", the same model as mine, and my suspicion about the trigger bar and sear engagement appears to be confirmed.

So as to not provoke certain forum members, the yellow sear disconnect lever was used during takedown

When I look down the back of each frame, while the trigger is depressed, the back of the sear sits higher in my Shield Plus, and his sits lower, like in my Shield 2.0 PC.

As shown in the photos below, in my friend's Shield Plus, the trigger bar is fully engaging the sear with almost the entire face of the bar, just like in my Shield 2.0. In my Shield Plus, only the edge of the trigger bar is hitting the sear, and that edge is worn down.

The trigger bar design incorporates a loop that bends back around in order to create the face that hits the sear. In my Shield Plus, that loop sits noticeably closer to the body of the trigger bar than it does in my Shield 2.0 and my friend's Shield Plus.

Despite my issue, this troubleshooting process has given me an appreciation for the internal design of the M&P Shield. Despite being misaligned and digesting a shaving of metal, it's still a functional gun. The open design and the simplicity of the trigger bar may be a stoke of genius. It appears to be the reason why the Shield runs so reliably, as expected with a M&P, despite dirt, fowling, rust, etc.

Well, I called S&W and they want me to send it in, so that's what I'll do.

CouchPotato said:

Well, I called S&W and they want me to send it in, so that's what I'll do.

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You will feel better once you get it back.

I have a Shield v1. I don't think I've ever used that yellow sear disconnect lever. When our S.O. issued M&P 45s we were told we could use either method. I gave it back without firing it. I was grandfathered in and decided to stick with my wheel gun. The S.O. didn't stay with them very long but I don't remember why. I know they did have finish issues and rusted. They carry 9mm Glocks these days. Probably nobody with a wheel gun now.

I can see a difference between the connector cam as part of the connector when compared to your buddy's shield . The gap between them is different and I would try to ease a small screw driver between the connector and cam and widen the gap and that would align the can and sear .

Mine is as OP describes . Can not be disassembled by trigger pull. I have none of the other issues . I don't count rounds but 500 to 1000 without a hiccup.

I just use the disconnect lever as per manual .

Any updates?

gunny4053 said:

Any updates?

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As of now, I've sent it to S&W and they've confirmed receipt of it. I'll update when I get it back.

I got notification today that S&W created the return shipping label so I called customer service to find out what they ended up doing.

They told me that both the trigger bar and the sear were replaced.