45 Shield Mag dropping- Bad followers?

[Bigmaxdog]

First post here- felt compelled to share my recent experience, hopefully to help others. I just purchased a new 45 Shield, and brought it to the range for the first time yesterday. The issue I was having was that the magazine was coming loose while firing, then causing a round to not feed. I have 3 of the 7 round magazines and 1 of the 6 – and the problem was on all mags, with a variety of different ammo- and yes the mags were always properly seated. Seemed it happened ½ way through a mag. I figured it was my fault- I am used to Glocks and 1911's so thought I was maybe hitting the mag release with my thumb. So I called S&W customer service yesterday and the gentleman I talked to immediately said I needed a new magazine release assembly, and that he would send me one. I then started researching posts on this forums and read that people had success fixing this problem by either changing out the mag release Or having the magazine followers changed out. I thought the follower being an issue was interesting so I did an experiment- I took the slide off and inserted a magazine in- looking down from the top I could see the orange follower hitting the metal nub that holds the magazine in place. If you closely look at the mag release button I can even see it move as the follower hits the nub.

So I called back today and this time the guy I got immediately said the issue was not the magazine release assembly - but it was in fact the followers. He was actually upset that the original person was sending me a mag assembly. He is sending me 4 new followers- he says the new followers have a relief cut (notch?) cut out so that the follower does not contact the metal nub that holds the mag in place.

I will let everyone know if this solves my issue once I get the followers and test them out. If the followers don't fix it I will also have a new mag release assembly to install I guess.

So my question is- if S&W knows there is an issue with the Shield 45 magazine followers hitting the nub that holds the mag – why are they not recalling the original mags? Clearly they have a new design available to fix this known issue.

 

[LAA]

So my question is- if S&W knows there is an issue with the Shield 45 magazine followers hitting the nub that holds the mag – why are they not recalling the original mags? Clearly they have a new design available to fix this known issue.

Must not be a consistent issue, because I've got at least six mags for a 45 Shield that's getting close to a year old, and they just don't drop. I do give them a nice palm smack, when I insert them. If that makes any difference.

In the meantime, some do have mags that drop. And a few different solutions.

 

[BigDog48]

I have a new Shield 45 build date of June, I think. I have 6 mags (3 7 round and 3 6 round) and none drop, so I'm not sure what the problem is with the ones that have that issue

 

[cervri]

I have one six round three seven rounds and have never had a clip drop

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Bigmaxdog]

I received the newly designed followers today- they have a channel cut down the length of the corner edge, obviously to prevent the followers from making contact with the metal magazine retaining nub. I suspect this is what my problem has been- the follower hitting the metal nub that holds the magazine in place.

The arrow in the pic points to the channel, the old follower behind it does not have the cut.

 

[Bigmaxdog]

Problem Solved!
Put over 100 rounds through it today- no issues with mag drops and ran great- was as accurate and comfortable to shoot as my old Glock 30. Used a mix of 230g ball reloads and factory, and Federal 230g HST - no issues even with rapid fire drills. The first time I shot it last week I had mag drops on almost every other mag.

In addition to changing out all 4 magazine followers with the improved ones S&W sent me- I also replaced the Mag release assembly that they sent. However I still don't think the issue was the release assembly , the new one was identical to the old one in every dimension and detail, unlike the followers which were redesigned with the new notch.

 

[rock doc]

I received the newly designed followers today- they have a channel cut down the length of the corner edge, obviously to prevent the followers from making contact with the metal magazine retaining nub. I suspect this is what my problem has been- the follower hitting the metal nub that holds the magazine in place.

The arrow in the pic points to the channel, the old follower behind it does not have the cut.

Are the inside dimensions the same in the new followers in the corner where the channel was cut? I'm wondering if the corner edge can be altered with a file to achieve the same results.

 

[ScaryWoody]

I sanded down mine to get some clearance. I did as little as possible but looks like there is plenty of material. A couple seconds on a belt sander should yield the same result.

 

[Bigmaxdog]

The old followers seem have the same overall dimensions as the new ones- only difference is the channel cut into the new ones. The notch that is cut is not a symmetrical "V" though- more like an "L" with one leg longer.

So yes I guess you could file the old ones, but you would have to remove the follower out of the mag anyway to create the groove down the entire length of the corner- might be tough to recreate it exactly.

I would suggest just calling S&W and asking for new ones to be on the safe side- I called them on a Thursday and I got mine in the mail by Monday, free of charge.

Here is a pic from the top to show it a little better.