9mm Shield Slow Fire

[hersandmine]

My wife shot her new 9mm Shield flawlessly with around 25 rounds of practice ammo after she received it, I cleaned it for her before she fired any rounds through it. It ate every round of the American Eagle 115 grain practice ammo she shot. My daughter-in-law wanted to try it a couple of weeks later. I had cleaned it again after my wife's initial use. Things went well for a few rounds, but when she pulled the trigger on a round there was nothing for a second or two, then the shell fired. She fired a few more rounds trouble free and I cleaned it again after she practiced with it, but I am not confident at all for my wife carrying it for CCW or carrying my own as we each own one. Any one else have this problem?

 

[Don 73]

Don't be too quick to blame the gun yet, it sounds more like a hang-fire than a problem with the Shield.

 

[hersandmine]

Is that a problem with American Eagle ammo? Just wanting a gun that goes 'bang' when you need it. We carry Gold Dot and Critical Duty for personal protection, but use American Eagle or Blazer for practice. A 'Slow Fire' doesn't do much for our confidence. Love the feel of the Shield, but if it doesn't go 'bang' when you need it it doesn't do much good to carry it. We both have a Ruger SR9C, but the Shield is much easier to carry concealed.

 

[Don 73]

A hang-fire is when for whatever reason, the primer or the powder charge doesn't immediately ignite, it's usually a primer issue. I would just keep shooting the gun and not get overly worried about it.

 

[RussC]

Hersandmine

The Shield from reading your post most likely has done her part. The firing pin is making contact otherwise the round would not eventually go bang.

I would suggest to eliminate any possibility there is a mechanical problem try either a different brand or the same only a different lot number.

If the problem persist it is the weapon and a simple call to S&W should initiate the warranty. If the problem goes away American Eagle has a bad lot.

You can find the lot number either stamped on the back or inside flap.

I would suggest writing down the number and contacting Federal Ammo.


Russ

 

[MSG Glenn]

As has been so aptly stated - a hang fire is not the shooter's or the gun's fault. Now that you know that a round has the possibility of firing later than you anticipated you also realize why you wouldn't want to immediately eject the bad round. In a firefight, yes, and let the chips fall where they may with a round firing on the way out during ejection. To be on the safe side if this happens again give it a good 30 seconds or longer before ejecting it & keep the gun aimed in a safe direction until the round is out of the gun one way or the other.

 

[CatSnipah]

Is it American Eagle, in general? No. I've had these types of issues now and then with many different ammo mfgs. Shoot enough, and it will happen. It's a manufacturing problem.

Think about it...even at Six Sigma performance level, you can have up to 3.4 defects per million opportunities.

In other words, out of every one million rounds produced, 3 or 4 will be bad. And with the way ammo mfgs are cranking it out, I'm willing to bet they are NOT operating at a sigma performance level of six.

 

[lhump1961]

+1...it's not the gun.

 

[hersandmine]

Thanks for all the replies. Just want to be sure it's not the gun so we have confidence in it when she needs it

 

[Venenoindy]

I would highly suggest that you buy 3 or 4 brands of ammo including some hp's, take to the range and run a few more rounds though to see if you experience the same malfunction again. I agree with the others about been ammo related rather than the gun but it could be a light primer strike problem so until you run more ammo through you won't know.

 

[Nakanokalronin]

Buy different ammo and try again. It's not the gun and sometimes ammo has bad lots or just a bad round. Have confidence in the gun since it's doing exactly what it was designed to do.