2 Problems with 2 Shields

[Jlhilden]

Hello, in my introduction thread, I mentioned how I just bought two Shields and had to send both back for work. More details.

First was a new 9mm ported performance center. The problem was when pulling the trigger, it catches on something. I believe this is caused by the inner safety mechanism within the trigger. One of the reason why I bought this pistol was because I heard the PC triggers were excellent. Compared to the M&P 45 Shield, this trigger is like a kids cap gun. Off it went back to the factory. Speaking of the 45...

I also bought a M&P Shield 45. The first thing I did out of the box was attempt to field strip it - and can't. The slide will NOT come off. Pulling the trigger, sear lever, you name it, I tried it and this thing will not come off. You can rack it no problem, but when you allow it to slam back, it gets stuck and a real pain to slide back again. I don't know for sure what is wrong, but if I was a betting man, I would put all my money on a defective recoil spring. I really would love to fire a round off to see if it knocks it right but no way in hell would I fire a gun that cannot be field stripped.

I called S&W customer service and they were very helpful but ultimately, I was told to send them and these two paperweights are on there way to MA.

Rant on:
These were my first M&P semis and have to say, I am not one bit impressed. If it wasn't for the other S&W firearms that I have, I would write off the whole company. To have two pistols with two defective components is not a confidence booster at all; especially one that is a Performance Center item. I have bought over 50 new and used guns and never had an issue out of the box. I've heard great things about these pistols, but with a 2 for 2 record of having to send back will most likely keep me away from ever purchasing another M&P pistol.
Rant off

I'll keep everyone updated whenever I get these back

 

[Com 45acp]

Don't feel bad I just ordered a new 9mm shield safety version. When fired on paper it printed 6-8" low and 6-8" left. Unlike my 40 shield that shoots point of aim. Unfortunately this shield is no longer in the flock!

 

[kmanick]

slap down the front of the barrel when it's racked back, I bet it will come forward then (I had this problem with my 9mm shield)

 

[V0OBWxZS16]

The PC Shield uses the PC sear, but doesn't change the frame or trigger body. Have you handled another PC Shield? It may be the way your finger is interacting with the hinged trigger.

 

[Maxshield]

I have purchased a FS9, 9C, Shield 45 and Shield 9 in the last year. The last 2 in the last 2 months. All have been 100% in every way. Put the first 150 through the Shield 9 this morning and it's flawless as are all the ofhers

I have owned hundreds of firearms over the last 40 years, not one has gone back to its maker.

2 for 2 for you? That's crazy

 

[caddy2507]

I have three M&P's in 9mm: The full size, the compact and the
shield. No complaints with any of them. They all shoot to point
of aim, no functioning issues and are easy to shoot well (good ergonomics).
I've put hundreds of rounds through each of them.

Using the full size I put over 600 rounds through in a weekend training
session without a hiccup -- and it wasn't cleaned until I got home.

These I purchased about two years ago, so unless S&W changed
something in the meantime, it's really odd to see all these issues
with two new pistols.

 

[LAA]

Within the last two years. Smith & Wesson 40 CORE, 9mm, & 45 Shield. Not a bit of problems. The new 45 Shield just constantly amazes me. I've shot many brands of ammo, in all kinds of configurations, as well as hundreds of hand loads. It hit the bullseye on the first shot, as well as my wife's first shot with it. I don't sit & count every round I shoot, because I go through a ridiculous amount of ammo, every time I head to the desert. Bet I've put close to a 1000 though the 45 in the last two months. It always helps to reload! I think it's a great piece of engineering to put 45 ACP in a small package, with high reliability. Not even a wimper of a problem. Needless to say, when I see a rant, 2 for 2, and how much **** the products are................I do wonder. I've never sent a firearm back either.

Now, if it was the Beretta Nano we owned, then? Sold it.

 

[PSC617]

Bought the Shield 45 - no issues. However, if I were having problems...it would shake my confidence immediately. I once owned an XD 45, it had issues and out the door it went. At the end of the day, I enjoy my S&W...but if I had to choose a 100% reliable go-to...it's my G27 Gen 3. 10 years of EDC and going strong.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bigwheelzip]

It's been a while, but one forum member bought 2 Shields simultaneously and posted pictures of both recoil spring assemblies, broken from the box, before the first shot was fired. Rare, but it happens.

 

[jstanfield103]

I have 6 M&P's all good. Sorry to hear about you're problems.
On one of mine I did have that little catch in the trigger. It was not my Shield 9mm PC though. It was the safety of the trigger just catching the grip frame when the trigger was pulled. Little filling with a jeweler's file on that safety catch to just clear the grip frame and all is good.
I bet they come back up to you're standards and fixed correctly. To bad though, a company has to put a lot of effort into getting customers but it takes only once to loose them and you are X2 of that.

 

[Jlhilden]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

It is comforting to hear accolades for the products and do hope they come back up to standard. I owned many guns from multiple mfgs and never had to send back until now. This was two purchases within a week of each other from two different retailers.

I guess I'm really upset over this because I bought and have been very satisfied with S&W products before. Look at the M&P 15 Sport. After my years in the Marines, the one rifle I would never consider owning would be any variant of the AR-15. I was deadly accurate with an M-16 but could not get over how three grains of sand in the action would jam it up. Sure, buy the time I was issued the rifle, it was already handed down from multiple users who rode them hard and in the worse conditions, but still, it was more sensitive then a millennial searching for a safe zone.

I ended up purchasing the M&P 15 because of the all the whining and crying of how evil the AR is and that it should be banned; a pure case of "I'm buying it because I can! " The 15 looked to be a good value from a name I trust and for me, it delivered exceeding my expectations tremendously. I love this rifle.

Before the Shield purchases, my last S&W purchase was the 4" .500 Magnum Big Rock Sports Exclusive. Again, I love this personal artillery piece. The trigger is outstanding and a heck of a lot of fun to shoot. Watermelons and 500 magnum HPs are an awesome combo for great fun.

I will repeat that after contacting S&W, I was very happy with the customer service after hanging up. The last thing I wanted to hear was "You need to send the pistols back", but I give S&W props for a very painless phone call. Some companies make these calls worse then colonoscopies.

 

[Pointblank2U]

I bought two 9mm Shields maybe three years ago for my wife and myself. They were fine at first, but the longer we had them, the less dependable they became. After some online researching I found a lot of people were having problems with the recoil spring assembly. I called Smith & Wesson customer service several months back and was politely told that the RSAs for the Shields were "not in stock" and that due to demand, they were NOT maintaining a backorder customer list. This made me think that there was a hidden recall and that S&W was not being completely honest. From reading user posts on this Forum I found an independent vendor who made stainless steel RSAs. Both pistols have been flawless ever since. To say the least this has shaken my confidence in the company.

 

[Fastcast]

Looks like you purchased yours close to the same time frame as mine so with that being said, I'd recommend you get back on the phone with customer service and ask if your pistols have the "newly engineered" mag springs, based on their build dates. If not tell them to send you 2 of the newest "engineered" mag springs as well, for your inconvenience. The last thing you want is to get your pistols back and then deal with another issue and wait another 2.5 weeks for them to ship you new springs...Search the forum for "bent magazine springs" for more info.

See the below pic of my mag springs, one mag made it a whopping 21 rounds before folding in half, the other made it 325 rounds in the 8 round mag than I switched it to the 7 round mag and 21 rounds or 3 loadings later it folded over as well.

They have apparently had a bad run of mag springs, bad heat treating appears the culprit but all they will acknowledge is there were some problems and the engineers have redesigned them and all current stock is the newly engineered and improved ones....Well, I'd hope so, lol.

My front sight was also WAY off center and needed drifted (pounded) to center so hopefully you checked those out closely before returning, if not you better have a BFH and a quality set of heavy duty brass punches or a sight pusher.

Has my confidence in these pistols and S&W been effected, you bet! With that said though, I still really like this Shield and I have not had any malfunctions (FTF or FTE) only the slide not locking back with the bent mag springs. The new springs seem fine so far but time will tell....

They obviously are more concerned about pumping these things out to market than QC...That's a shame, because I believe they have a fantastic product and warranty but why are so many having to use the warranty, with a company of S&W reputation?

 

[chopshopcop]

it was more sensitive then a millennial searching for a safe zone.

I'm stealing that line

 

[Duster42]

Two weeks ago I brought home my new Shield .45 and went to disassemble for cleaning it before going to the range.

I removed the mag and racked the slide back and the sear deactivation lever fell out. I went to remove the slide and that could not be removed.

Called S&W CS and sent my NEW Shield back to them the next day. Still waiting for Return.

I have two other Shield's that are trouble free.

 

[Big Cholla]

So here I am with about 500 rounds downrange thru my Shield 9 mm. With a little familiarization of the innards of a Shield I would be capable of fixing any sort of small anomaly that might occur in mass production. BUT, no.......my Shield has been 100% reliable after the first magazine full was shot. The POI is exactly POA. The trigger is wonderful and far, far better than I expected in a striker fired pistol. The ergonomics with the 8 round magazine is perfect. The price in this day and age is a bargain. It carries CCW in IWB holster just like it should. I have no complaints.

Darn, if I had received one of those "Bad Quality Control" Shields I could have had a great time telling how much pistol smithing this new issue from S&W needs by experts like me..............But, nooooo, the only thing I can do every time I look at my Shield is to smile...........

 

[Fastcast]

Well, too bad we can't pistol smith collapsed springs but I did smith my front sight, though shouldn't really have to!

They definitely have a QC problem whether you gentlemen that have been the lucky ones like it or not....

 

[Jlhilden]

Update #1: The PC 9mm Shield arrived yesterday with a new trigger. Went right to the range and put 150 rounds through it.

Well, have to say, this thing is sweet. Not one failure and the trigger is gold. Hit the black consistently with no problem from 25 yards.

As for the ported barrel:

Was not a major issue during night fire. Not a pitch black condition, but dark enough that when I started fresh, it was tough to see the target. Compared to a non-ported, I found the "V" after affect provided a little better clarity for acquiring the target straight ahead then the "circle" image that was dead center in my vision. Still, I was pretty much blinded by both with the ammo I was using.

Snappiness - I have not fired a non-ported 9mm Shield, but for such a light weapon, I found through my rigorous non-scientific study, the recoil about equal to a Glock 19 - at least it felt that way in respect to getting the sights back on target.

So far, S&W is 1 for 2. I just got the email that the 45 Shield is on it's way back and should be in Friday. Crossing my fingers for a 2 for 2.

 

[kramden]

Sorry your having problems. I bought 2 . A standard and a PC. Love them both and absolutely no issues.