My M&P .40 Shield came back from S&W
today.
I put 6 rounds in magazine walked
Out in my yard and fired 5 shots
before it stopped working again.
Gun seems to cock and trigger
releases the striker but it fails
To dent primer. End of firing pin
looks good. My guess is plastic
Tube that striker travels in is
damaged or has debris in it.
Will call for another shipping label
Monday. It was gone 12 weeks
maybe I can ask for faster service
This time.

Why not just take out the striker assembly yourself and check it, before you wait another 12 weeks?

If there is something in there obstructing it, you could take care of it yourself, and you would save allot of headache.

It's the easiest thing in the world to do if you have any kind of mechanical skill.

How to Remove & Disassemble a Firing Pin from an M&P Shield - YouTube

Did S&W say what specific repairs they made? Failure to fire may be due to 1) A weak or blocked striker, 2) The slide not returning fully into battery, or 3) A hard primer on your ammo. If the factory replaced the striker, that should have eliminated the first cause. If they replaced the recoil spring assembly, that should have eliminated the second cause. Eliminating the third cause is up to you. Try some different ammo. Before I converted my M&P 40c to .357 SIG, I shot a lot of Lawman 40 cal. ammo, and it always fired, so you might try that. Good Luck!

__________________
What, me worry?

From one who knows absolutely nothing about these guns, but A LOT about commercial entities, let me speculate a bit about the problems you're encountering, and suggest a solution---and then speculate a bit more about the REAL problem.

Actually we'll do it hind part to, and deal with the REAL problem first crack out of the box---because that's the way I've been trained---and the way I worked. My training comes from what I call Problem Solving School. That's where the very first thing that gets beaten into your head is to make sure you know what the REAL problem is---lest you waste valuable resources trying to solve symptoms---or apparent problems.

So---what's the REAL problem? I see the REAL problem as an entity who's philosophy goes like this: We will be successful if we build our products at the lowest possible cost---and also operate our support services at the lowest possible cost----rather than build our products to be the best possible for the price---and operate our support services with the best staff possible. The symptoms I see are, on the one hand, what I see/presume is a fairly new product that doesn't work as it's supposed to---and a woefully understaffed service facility---which is incompetent to boot! (12 weeks spells understaffed--or a flood of defective products---or both.) (Returning a still defective product spells incompetent---or a haste makes waste environment----to keep costs down.) Combine the two as a recipe for failure.

Are these people stupid? Not likely---just hamstrung by penny pinching.

So what about my gun? You have three choices: 1. Keep on beating a dead horse with the expectation of reviving it. 2. As already suggested, have a go at fixing it yourself------and likely learn something worthwhile along the way. 3. Find someone who gives a rat's behind about their customers---and KNOWS how to fix your gun. And #3 requires that you not fuss and fume about having to pay this someone.

Me? I vote for #2---because I've been there and done that! What that got me was NEVER having to pay anyone to fix my gun-----not counting when I was maybe 16-17 years old, and managed to lose a hammer screw off a French made, muzzle loading, double barrel shotgun---a hammer screw with an engraved head, and with a slot that formed part of the engraving pattern on the lock when it was tightened. I found a someone who could do and did that---and then I fussed about the cost. That was explained to me like this: "Half was for my time. The other half was for knowing what to do."

That was the first AND LAST time I ever fussed about the fee charged by a professional---and that has served me well!!

Ralph Tremaine

I have no doubt that I can find the cause and
Replace or repair faulty parts.
But why should I gun was sold with a guarantee.
Like a lot of forum members I have other guns
I can use . I think I should give S&W one
More chance to fix it .
Not much of a gun in my opinion.

Take the slide off, remove the rsa and barrel. Depress the striker block and push the striker forward. Does it move smoothly? Does the tip extend beyond the breech face?

Release the striker and block. The striker should fully retract. Now push the striker forward. It should not extend beyond the breech. Now press the striker block and try again.

Why did you send it back before?

"But why should I gun was sold with a guarantee."

An at least predictable response-------

How 'bout 12 weeks without your gun for a reply?

Let's see now, 12 weeks + 12 weeks = a hell of a deal!

Back in the day, when we were dealing with an outfit whose philosophy was to build the best possible product for the price-----and take the best possible care of our customers, I sent in a Satin Blue (the funky finish) to have it refinished in Bright Blue---the best of the best!

I had it back in less than 3 weeks---a thing of beauty and a joy forever! And the cost? Lunch money!

Them there was the good old days!

Ralph Tremaine

Ralph , like you I have more hand guns than years on
This earth . And not having a this plastic gun
For 24 weeks is not a hardship.
When gun is fixed by S&W or me I will find it
a new home.

Assuming S&W did not replace any parts, call their customer service line and while being real nice to the customer service agent, ask them to send you a new striker and a new recoil spring assembly. I've done that in the past an have gotten both free of charge. Usually you should get them in about a week.

__________________
What, me worry?

This is what S&W fixed

Attached Images

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It looks like you have a new striker, so that should eliminate it as a source of your problem. I have a Shield 9, a Shield 45, and an M&P 40c, with nearly 30,000 rounds combined, and their strikers have proven to be extremely reliable. Since they didn't replace the recoil spring assembly, it might be the culprit. It could have weakened (if your Shield has lots of rounds through it), or it might be defective. In such a case, it may not always return the slide fully to battery, leaving the firing pin too far away to make contact with the cartridge. So ask S&W to send you a new recoil spring assembly. Then there's the ammo. Some brands have occasional "hard primers" that don't always fire (or even dent) when struck. In my experience, Sellier & Bellot ammo seems to have more of these than other brands, but there may be others as well. I'd try some different ammo, just to check.

__________________
What, me worry?

What ammo are you using? Some have hard primers that are meant to be fired from PCC's.

I agree 100%. I buy quality handguns and I expect them to work properly out of the box; or they go back. I don’t pay what I pay for a gun that’s almost done and is sent to me to finish.

I have bought Smith & Wesson handguns for 50 years and will continue to do so. In the past I contacted them with a problem gun and they sent me shipping labels and they went back to be fixed. In those 50 years and probably over 100 guns I’ve had to do it three times. Twice things went as they should. More recently I had a Performance Center M&P with a terrible trigger. They wouldn’t fix it and I had to buy an Apex trigger. Things are just as bad with most other customer service encounters anymore.

It seems like S&W would have a form so that when you send a gun in you could check a box for them to fire so many rounds of factory ammo and include that in the bill. I would gladly pay for a box or two of ammo for my gun so they could test it to 100% reliability before sending it back.

I’d ask for a refund if it was me.

__________________
Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)