.40 Shield Kaboom

[LieutenantFF]

I experienced a failure with my Shield .40. After I loaded my mag with winchester white box ammo, I chambered the magazine, racked the slide and aimed down range. I pulled the trigger and Kaboom! My hand started burning, blood was pouring down my face, I threw the gun down and walked to my buddy, we stopped the bleeding and realized I had metal pieces in my face on the right side, not to mention my shooting glasses collected 2 pieces of metal from going into my right eye. The gun suffered the worst of it, blew off the trigger, sheered the take down pin, blew the right side of the polymer, blew all the pieces of the mag well and the magazine completely out of the gun. Aside from the physical wounds to my face, my right hand suffered numbness on the palm, (which was 4 days ago) still has other than normal feelings that hasn't gone away. I've been in contact with smith and wesson and winchester.

 

[jimmib]

WOW!!! glad you weren't hurt worse...that is scary stuff....hope they can figure out what happened...hope your hand gets better

 

[AR-Getsome]

WOW! Glad you are ok. There is a similar thread about another Shield 40 doing that. I haven't seen anything about the Shield 9 doing that. What has S&W and the ammo company told you?
http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-m-p-pistols/338155-shield-40-mishap.html

 

[LieutenantFF]

Smith and wesson wants me to send it back so they "X-ray it and such." Still waiting on word from winchester.

 

[pibulloncrack]

.

If it were me I would speak with an attorney before doing anything.

 

[timn8er]

Glad you're relatively unscathed. I hope this is an isolated incident.

 

[jwalts27]

Like I said months ago in the SHIELD 40 MISHAP thread. Smith knows something is up with those 40's and isn't correcting the issue. This is about the 4th or 5th one I heard about in the last 6 months. A guy at my range had the same thing happen to him using Magtech ammo

 

[LieutenantFF]

I have an idea of what could have happened. But since i was unable to recover any shell casing that were any bigger than what was lodged within the slide and my face.

 

[cmj8591]

The lesson we take from this unfortunate incident is: Never, never, EVER shoot without glasses!!

 

[LieutenantFF]

Here are my glasses

 

[trophyhunter]

Oh Lord that's ugly, glad everything's still attached and you had glasses on!

Have you checked the barrel to see if the bullet made it out? Obviously the case blew and sent a lot of pressure back out of the chamber.

I'd be very interested in seeing what the fired case looks like around the feed ramp area that came from the factory in the original box.

 

[Rastoff]

WOW! Glad you are ok. There is a similar thread about another Shield 40 doing that. I haven't seen anything about the Shield 9 doing that. What has S&W and the ammo company told you?
http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-m-p-pistols/338155-shield-40-mishap.html

That was an out-of-battery issue, was this?

You didn't show pictures of the chamber. Did the chamber come apart or did the round fire out of battery?

I also agree with at least talking to a lawyer before sending it to either company.

 

[modraker]

I experienced a failure with my Shield .40. After I loaded my mag with winchester white box ammo, I chambered the magazine, racked the slide and aimed down range. I pulled the trigger and Kaboom!

First, I want to say I'm sorry to hear about your mishap and that I'm glad you are not seriously injured.

I'm worried. This is the second Shield .40 kaboom I've seen on this forum. The Shield .40 is my EDC and I use Winchester White Box as my range ammo. Please keep us posted on what Smith & Wesson and Winchester have to say.

Edit: Make that five Shield .40s --- members WallyJJ, 2001gmc, L2R, LieutenantFF and keithhefferman45 have all related similar experiences.

 

[Fishinfool]

How about posting a few pics of the gun in question?

Larry

 

[LieutenantFF]

i was trying to post a few pictures last night, but being at the fire station held me back! Anyways, the projectile went to the target, striking it. It was a 7 round mag, I had 7 rounds TOTAL in the magazine (to include the one in the chamber) after everything was said and done, I unloaded the mag, by hand of course, and there were still 6 unfired rounds in the chamber, though a little worse looking than before.
The chamber seems to be intact, though I am unable to remove the slide, due to the internal damage, the chamber didn't split, there was nothing lodged in the barrel prior to shooting. I pulled the spent case from the round out the box, it appears to be normal, aside from a dings and dents that don't appear to be normal, the base seems to be normal.

I am in no big hurry to send the gun back to the factory, like they requested. I am still undecided what I want to do, my dad suggested I talk to an attorney as well, am going to research my options today about what I should do. The guy I talked to in the warranty department, joe, said it would "be in my best interest to send it back asap so they can figure out what happened" And I replied "the serial number on my gun wont change this week or 5 weeks from now, ill take my time, it will still be broken then, too"

If you guys want any pictures of the gun in areas that I haven't posted yet, please let me know, ill take and post!

 

[Bkreutz]

View attachment 141454

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i was trying to post a few pictures last night, but being at the fire station held me back! Anyways, the projectile went to the target, striking it. It was a 7 round mag, I had 7 rounds TOTAL in the magazine (to include the one in the chamber) after everything was said and done, I unloaded the mag, by hand of course, and there were still 6 unfired rounds in the chamber, though a little worse looking than before.
The chamber seems to be intact, though I am unable to remove the slide, due to the internal damage, the chamber didn't split, there was nothing lodged in the barrel prior to shooting.

Sorry to hear about this. Someone must be watching over you. You use the word chamber twice, the first seems like you're talking about the rear part of the barrel (which is the correct term) and the second you seem to be using it to describe the magazine. (I hope you didn't have 6 unfired rounds in the chamber, but I'm sure you're a bit rattled, I would be). Is there any way you can get a picture of the rear of the barrel through the ejection port? That would be a good indicator if this was an out of battery firing or a failed barrel.

 

[CommonCents]

contact an attorney. I would not send the gun back before getting advice. Have S&W send out a tech to inspect the gun in your presence.

 

[bronconagurski]

You have injuries. See an attorney. Stop talking to anyone about it and let your attorney do the talking.

 

[LieutenantFF]

youre correct, i typed the wrong word, the chamber appears to be in good condition, as does the barrel. i am unable to separate the slide from the lower, there is no way i can do this, without causing more damage than already done. Since i only have my iPhone, i cant get a picture from the ejection port, though i can get one from the muzzle end down to the port. i will do that after a while, i will be busy on the phone with a product liability/personal injury lawyer. ill be back later!

 

[modraker]

I pulled the spent case from the round out the box, it appears to be normal, aside from a dings and dents that don't appear to be normal, the base seems to be normal.

When you say "box", do you mean a certain part of the gun?