These prior posts seem to be from people that have never had the 40 mag drop issue. The way one was written, it sounds like they don't believe there was or is a mag drop problem, it was all operator error (shooters that are pressing the mag release button, while shooting).
What you are asking is a legitimate question. Even though you have not experienced a mag drop, if the dimpled mags solve the mag drop problem, then they would add an extra margin of safety to a gun that has not had the drop, as they hold the mags in more securely. I can't answer your question if S&W is shipping dimpled mags, as I have not ordered mags from S&W. I would also like to know the answer to that question.
I wrote a complaint letter to all S&W's top executives, back in August. I received an October dated letter from S&W's legal counsel, and they acknowledged what they called a "minor" mag drop issue. They called it a "fit issue". This letter went on to say that their engineers have now made improvements to the Shields from "field returns" which will "enhance the overall fit of the magazine well and magazine catch".
So for those of you that think it is an operator issue, you are WRONG. If you follow these threads, you will find that the vast majority of the mag drop issues are with the Shield 40. However it is documented that some Shield 9mm owners have also had the mag drop issue.
The known issue is that "some" Shields have excessive side to side play with the magazines inserted into the mag well. In the act of firing the gun, the magazine catch fails to hold the magazine in, and the magazine falls out. S&W wants to call it a minor issue, but who really knows what that number really is? Is it 100, 1000, or 10,000? Who really knows, other than S&W, and you know they are not going to release the figures. I asked S&W what is the final fix, for the mag drop issue, and did not get an answer. We do know the "dimpled/bumps" on the magazines was one fix. Others think they have had the magazine catch replaced, but are not sure.
Even though S&W's letter to me stated that they had "enhanced the overall fit", some people buying Shield 40's with the fired casing date of middle October and later, are still having the mag drop issues. So it is not totally fixed. I find it unbelievable that a company the size of S&W has not got on top of this issue. They are still selling defectives guns after five months of fixing defective Shields. My gun was shipped to S&W back in June.
Yes my Shield 40, which I purchased in late May, had the mag drop issue. S&W had me send the gun in for repair. They had my gun for seven weeks. They did nothing internally with my Shield, but returned the gun with the dimpled mags. This did fix my mag drop problem. My 40 is now a super concealed carry gun, now that it no longer drops the mags.
For those non-believers I can assure you there was a problem and it still exists on some Shield 40's with the test fired casing date up through at least mid October. I had the problem and sent off a letter to S&W's company executives. I got a reply from S&W's legal counsel. I doubt I would have received a reply from S&W that acknowledged there was a mag drop issue, if there was none. I doubt I would have received dimpled mags from S&W, if there was not a mag drop problem.
Bob
Oh well, my pistol hasn't dropped a mag yet, so I'll shoot it some more with the new mags and see how it does.
