Dead trigger on new S&W Plus

shipwreck

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I ordered a Shield Plus 3.1" Performance Center pistol almost 2 weeks ago. I really like the platform, and I already have a 4" Shield Plus Performance Center, a 4" 2.0 Shield Performance Center, and a 3.1" Shield Ver 1.0.

Well, it finally shipped this week, and arrived yesterday afternoon. I went to pick it up this morning at the FFL...

Well, the pistol is broken and has to go back to where I bought it from.... On the very first trigger pull, the striker did not release... I noticed that sometimes it took 2 or 3 trigger pulls to release... Not every time, but initially 1/2 the time...

The employees at the gun shop didn't believe me, and that started to irritate me, as I have owned 3 digits worth of handguns over 30 years..... So, they tried it, and it worked. But, it did it 1/2 the time for me (of course, I was trying it more than they were).

I even showed them, and they insisted the striker was releasing - despite no noise...

They were getting me irritated because I knew I was right.... I even illustrated it in front of them... I could pull the trigger, nothing happens... Let go of the trigger and then pull it a 2nd time (without working the slide)... And, THEN it would release.

Finally the owner came out (he is a gunsmith), and after he tried a few tries, the trigger was 100% dead... All of the time at that point...

So, I contacted the dealer I bought the gun from, and they emailed me a label. When they get the broken Shield Plus back, they will reship a new one.

I don't remember on what forum I saw it, but in the last 2 weeks - I swear I read someone else with the same problem on a new Shield. They sent it back to S&W, and then it came back working fine afterwards...

This sucks.
 
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This can happen with any of mass production tools.
Handguns are precision tools so even small imperfection may make it non functional.

Once you get a new pistol you will forget about that issue :)
 
Sounds like a bent trigger bar.

Did you check with the slide off that pulling the trigger moved the sear? Did you check the trigger spring?
 
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I had the same thing happen on my M&P M2.0 CORE 9mm 5". I sent it back to the mothership, turn around time was six weeks. Good deal that your vendor handled the problem directly. S&W didn't say what the problem was other than something vague like "adjusted trigger". OK, whatever. It works fine now.
 
Imagine an assembly line making toasters, that's S&W today. Apparently, one shot and it is not even cleaned, boxed and sent away, away, anywhere but back to the toaster assemblers. I bought a new Cal Compliant Shield 9mm and pick it up tomorrow. I will have to spend several hours deburring the insides, lubing it and manually working the slide. It is not like the old days. At the shop, I took a look at a 38 sp bodyguard, or what S&W says is a bodyguard. What a honking ***. cylinder release was like it was made of rubber. In fact every control or tab on it would not work smoothly. The finish was so thick that parts wouldn't turn and I'd bet the ranch that you couldn't just drop in a 38 special cartridge. Any old S&W, even the ones made in the 70s when Bangor Punta owned them, were like a Colt Officers model by comparison with the toasters coming off the line today. It was sickening to see and they wanted almost $700 for their toaster. I have a friend that is firearms officer for a police department of a medium sized Calif city. He told me that he ordered a small shipment of Glocks about a dozen. He always checks any firearm upon arrival. Two of the brand new Glocks had live rounds in the chamber. So I guess they're all making toasters.
 
Same problem with a new Shield Plus

I was reading to see if anybody else had a problem like mine, looks like it's not isolated..I bought a Shield Plus last week and after looking at the case model they grabbed me a new unopened box out of a stck of 6. I then made a mistake I never have made in 30 + years of buying guns.
When they opened the box to verify the serial number I didn't ask to examine the pistol for an operability check.
I went home and unboxed for a teardown, inspect and lube prior to going to the range. I dropped the mag, racked the slide and cleared and pulled the trigger...Dead...alot of grittiness and no striker release. Racked the slide again, same outcome..I immediately looked at the disassembly lever for the sear and it was in the correct position. Attempted another function check and after 5 trigger cycles the striker released. After that dead again...I looked for anything obvious and couldn't find anything so I called up Smith and reported it to them. I was pissed when I called them and when I asked leadtime they stated 6-8 weeks... I said how did this pistol even get past test? They couldn't seen to answer that and that they were very sorry blah blah blah... this is my first time sending a gun back but when a brand new pistol, unfired is inoperable, that's a problem and should be sent to the front of the line.
Unacceptable... This is a carry gun so it'll take a while ( and hundreds of rounds fired) to trust it enough to carry it.
Stay tuned...
 
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