45 Shield Slide Lock on Partial Mag

[LapuaDriver]

About 500 rounds through it so far, only failures have been what I thought was the slide locking back on a partial magazine (happens on both factory mags). i thought maybe i was getting my thumb into the slide lock, but found yesterday that the slide lock is not in fact engaged, the slide is just shy of being far enough back to engage the lock. It appears that the slide is picking up the next round but that round is nosediving in the magazine binding things up. Racking the slide frees things up and allows the round to chamber. Seems to be happening within the first three rounds fired from either the 6 or 7 rd mag., happened three times in 250 rnds yesterday. Any ideas

 

[MacA]

Exactly what ammo are you shooting?

 

[LapuaDriver]

Federal Champion 230 gr FMJ (the stuff in the 100 round boxes) and Winchester Ranger 230gr SXT

 

[MichiganScott]

If the lock is not being engaged and the rounds are diving into the magazine instead of feeding normally into the barrel, you probably have magazine issues.

 

[LapuaDriver]

If the lock is not being engaged and the rounds are diving into the magazine instead of feeding normally into the barrel, you probably have magazine issues.

I agree, that sounds logical. I only have the two original magazines, have some additional on backorder, but doesn't look like they're plentiful yet. Basically just wondering if others are experiencing this with the 45 and if there's a solution. Hickock45 briefly mentioned the slide locking back with a partial mag on his review video but not sure if it might have been the same issue.

 

[Bonephish]

Mine did that so I called S&W and they emailed me a return label, sent it to the factory. Turnaround is 3 weeks, should be back next week.

 

[SwflG17Guy]

Hickok talked about the slide NOT locking back for him but also said he probably hit it with his thumb.
I did another 200 rds today with mine, I love this gun. I also had a friend whos in the army shoot it and he bought his own while we were there.

 

[ABMI]

I've had mine lock open twice in 350 rounds & I think I put upward pressure on the slide stop during recoil because the slide was as if I locked it open, the round in the magazine was sitting normal not pointing up or nosed down. I just dropped the slide & was off & running. Since then I've been more aware of where my hand is when shooting & hasn't happened again. Also it happened in the same shooting session.

 

[REARSPROCKET]

I rented one at my LGS (10 for $10.) because it was the only one in stock. It felt much larger in the grip than my 9 and for some reason the trigger felt wider as well?. The first shot hit POA and then the slide locked open and the second round was nose down in the mag, I was like W T F ? Anyway I pulled the mag and slapped it on the back reinserted and the next 9 rounds went POA without issue. It put a bad impression on me that stuck, I really want one but I've never had an issue like this with my XDS. Another poster said the slide lock on his did the same until he adjusted a little off where it was making contact with ball ammo only. What I don't understand is how would the slide lock catching make the next round nose down in the mag ?

 

[Bonephish]

It put a bad impression on me that stuck, I really want one but I've never had an issue like this with my XDS.

I sold my XDS because it started to malfunction after about 200 rounds. Sometimes it failed to lock into battery. So I bought the .45 Shield and it developed the slide issue. I'm starting to believe these little .45's are all temperamental.

When it gets back here I'll report on what the factory did to repair mine.

 

[REARSPROCKET]

All most all of the XDS FTRB issues are due to the extractor being to tight IE: dirty or in need of adjustment. When shooting dirty ammo (AE) this issue pops up sooner. To clean the extractor, it's channel and spring the roll pin needs to come out and most people don't go that far. A lot of people traded in perfectly good XDSs because of this and provided some great deals for lightly used examples.

 

[kthom]

I have found that the magazine width from front to back is very tight in the .45 Shield mags, especially with some ball ammo. When loading, it is necessary to make certain that each loaded round is completely against the back wall of the magazine. When using my Uplula loader, it is necessary for me to hold pressure against the tip of the bullet until the loader is completely open or the tongue will pull the cartridge back toward the front just enough to cause the bullet tip to either catch or rub against the front wall of the mag. If the bullet tip rubs, it can cause the round to bind and not allow the bullets to continue to be pressed down in the mag while loading. A simple whack of the mag against the heel of my hand to seat all rounds to the rear cures the problem. Once I figured out what was happening, all that's required is to pay close attention while loading to keep each round fully against the rear wall of the mag.

I can see that there might be a possibility where a bullet tip is dragging against the front wall that it might be hindered while fully rising to be loaded and therefore be tipped downward if it hangs up as the follower raises it to be chambered. I make it a habit to smack all fully loaded mags against my hand to seat the bullets to the rear. I can always hear a "click" indicating that there is movement of all or some of the rounds in any of my semi auto mags. With the .45 Shield, I believe this is a necessity due to the close tolerances inside the mag. That was necessary in order to fit the large .45 ACP round in a magazine that would keep the smaller framed Shield grip it's present size.

These thoughts are just my opinion, except for the fact that the .45ACP rounds will touch the front of the mag wall and either hang up or rub unless fully seated toward the rear wall. I've not had any slide locks to the rear unless the mag is empty, and I've had no failures to feed while shooting, but I have had issues when loading the mags. Once the rounds are loaded and moved fully to the rear of the mag, they are not likely to move forward till they are moved by the slide during chambering unless the mag were to be dropped while loaded. If that happens, I say you need to smack the rear of the mag against your hand or leg or something to re-seat all rounds to the rear! I hope this posted opinion is of some help!

 

[MacA]

....A simple whack of the mag against the heel of my hand to seat all rounds to the rear cures the problem...

For as long as I can remember, I have always done this to magazines I load. It is just an unconscious habit now. I don't know if this is the cause of the OP's problem, but worth considering for sure!!

 

[Bonephish]

For as long as I can remember, I have always done this to magazines I load. It is just an unconscious habit now. I don't know if this is the cause of the OP's problem, but worth considering for sure!!

It's not loading the magazine that's causing the slide to lock open before the mag is empty. The problem is more likely to be a weak slide lock spring. The slide rail isn't touching the round in the magazine, it's locked back and not jammed. Sling-shot the slide and resume firing. I was thinking the problem is running ball ammo, but it does the same thing running hollow points. And no, my thumb isn't contacting the slide stop. Mt gun should be back in a few days and hopefully the factory techs found and fixed the problem.+

 

[dben002]

There are numerous reports of the slide not locking after the last round fired.. there are numerous mentions of it on YouTube reviews (Hickok45) being just one.

I got on chat with S&W to ask about this and their claim was that they had no knowledge of this being a problem.....Mine has not done it and it may never do it, but it's happening toooooooo much to be a fluke........

Will with hold final judgement until mine does it..............or S&W own up to a possible problem....until then all is good......

 

[MacA]

It's not loading the magazine that's causing the slide to lock open before the mag is empty....

If you read the original post above, he states, "It appears that the slide is picking up the next round but that round is nosediving in the magazine binding things up." (which locks the slide open). Making kthom's theory worth considering, which is all I suggested. Nothing wrong with keeping an open mind to all the potential causes whether everyone agrees with them or not.

 

[earthtone31]

I have shot 250 rnds through my new Shield 45 and have had not one single malfunction and I am very careful loading my magazines up to make sure all the rounds are seated back as far as they can go in the magazine just by habit. The Shield has locked back on me perfectly after every last round like its supposed to and never in between. I know the springs on those mags are super tight and so is the recoil spring, I left my mags loaded for a few days fully before my first range trip and I also racked my slide like 100 times literally while watching tv as well to help break in the recoil spring. I can now tell a difference in the way the gun feels, its smoothing out a lot.

 

[bigbob76]

I'm running a bunch of rounds through mine to break it in or to convince myself it is reliable enough to carry. Today the slide locked back twice while there were still rounds in the mag. If it turns out that there is a fix for that I'm probably going to pay a gunsmith to fix it rather than send it back to the factory. Here in CA the Shield .45 is not on the approved list for purchase at an FFL. You can legally buy one from a private party that brought it here one way or another and do the legal transfer (PPT) at an FFL so that it shows up as being registered to you. I can have (3) guns listed on my concealed carry license but they all have to show up in the computer as being registered to me. That is the problem I have with sending it back to the factory. If S&W decided to replace it for some reason I would be screwed and not able to register the new one. Not to mention the fact that I had to pay a huge premium to get a Shield .45 that was already here.That means I would not even be able to take possession of it. This has already happened to me twice over the years with different manufacturers. I sent guns back to them and rather than work on them they sent me new guns which caused problems here in CA. Our laws are terrible and getting worse. I don't vote for the idiot politicians that make these laws. Before you tell me to move to a free state think what it would be like to leave all of your friends and everything behind.

 

[FLS&W]

I had a problem with the 7 round mag releasing prematurely after 150 rounds. This happened to me, my instructor, and the range/gun shop manager in one outing. We made sure that our fingers were not on the slide stop. Sent it back to S&W and got it replaced, as well as getting my 642 fixed. They didn't tell me what was wrong, only that they replaced the internals of the mag. The only thing I can think of is that somehow the follower, or spring, was engaging the mag release as it went up since it always happened on the 3rd of 5 rounds.

I also make sure that the rounds are seated fully when using the Uplula loader.

 

[PScherer88]

I've had the same problem and noted the down angled round. I called S&W and they said I hadn't cleaned it good enough out of the box. After reading these comments though, it sounds like the rounds need to be reloaded. I will be following this thread to see what else develops. I absolutely love this gun (I have the 9m as well), and would hate to think there's a major issue with it. I only have 300 rounds or less through it at this point though....