Do M&P Shield mags ever get better?

[Joed49]

I've had my Shield .40 for about 1.5 years now. When I first bought it the mags were impossible to load, took an hour.

Just tried unloading and reloading again. No difference, the first 1 or 2 are fine but a gorilla has to finish loading.

Because of this I don't like the gun, don't carry the gun and am sorry I bought it.

Decided today it's time to sell it, doubt I'll buy another S&W auto.

 

[OKFC05]

UpLula magazine loader

 

[garddogg56]

Weellll Joed thats too bad.there great guns,maybe you should try the loader.My 84 yo Dad can load the mag.

 

[Joed49]

Weellll Joed thats too bad.there great guns,maybe you should try the loader.My 84 yo Dad can load the mag.

Bet he couldn't do it without a loader, I sure can't. I honestly think the springs are bad. Even the GLOCK 26 was horrible at first but after about 6 months got to the point that I can load it without a loader.

 

[Ranger17]

UpLula magazine loader

Exactly. Makes it much easier to load Shield mags. And just a guess but I will assume many single stack mags (regardless of brand) could be harder to manually load.

Guess if you like the gun and its just the mag loading trouble, then get an Uplula. At least it is inexpensive enough to try, and it can be used for other brands as well.

 

[Squarebutt]

You should have seen (and heard) me trying to load the seventh round into the 6-round .45 Shield magazine. It's stamped "6+1" just like the other one, but they're just kidding. Who knew you had to read the manual?

 

[schnee72]

You should have seen (and heard) me trying to load the seventh round into the 6-round .45 Shield magazine. It's stamped "6+1" just like the other one, but they're just kidding. Who knew you had to read the manual?

Same thing happened to me.

I 3d printed a loader for the Shield 45, makes it easy. I was spending a lot of time at the range trying to get the mags loaded quickly, but it was tough. Now I get through it pretty fast. I now have 5 of the 7 round mags, some of them are easier to load than others.

 

[Mister X]

I love S&W revolvers, but don't care for their pistol offerings.

If you like your Glock 26, maybe consider swapping out the Shield for a G43.

 

[SargeRN]

I'm full of....old sayings! "When all else fails read the instructions. When all else fails the 2nd time dig the instructions out of the trash and re-read them." Yeah my Shield .45 mags are a bit hard to load but even that stupid Caldwell that came as part of the rebates works relatively OK.

 

[Jessie]

I agree that the mags are a pain but my 45 shoots so darn well that I put up with it and an UpLula loader.

 

[GKC]

Because of this I don't like the gun, don't carry the gun and am sorry I bought it.

Decided today it's time to sell it, doubt I'll buy another S&W auto.

Well, it's your gun and your decision, but it seems kind of silly to me. I use an UpLula to load every magazine I own...and maybe it's because I'm 66 but ALL of them seem hard to load without the UpLula. I carry a magazine in the pistol and two in magazine pouches as backups; I don't carry a box of ammo, and don't anticipate reloading my mags when out and about, other than at the range. I'd rather have a stout spring that feeds the rounds well, than a weak one that ends up causing malfunctions.

If your gun works well in all other respects, simply selling it due to frustration over loading the magazines seems shortsighted. You could have some real problems with another brand/model of pistol.

 

[Bamabred]

My Shield 9mm wasn't that bad. I could load them fairly easy. I have MagGuts springs in them now and I don't remember they are better or worse than the OEM springs. However, nowadays I rarely load mags without my UpLula. It's so fast, easy, and effective there isn't a reason to load by hand.

 

[greeenteeee]

How many rounds have you fired? Have you tried keeping the mags loaded?

 

[Cheapskait]

I hand load my Shield mags until they're -1 or -2 and then take out my Leatherman and open the wide flathead screwdriver and stick the blade into the extractor groove of the top cartridge in the mag and press it down and finish topping up the mag. No fancy-dancey mag loader needed.

 

[FloridaS&W]

"Took an hour?"
Good gosh, don't sell your gun dude, wake up and get an Uplula; I've been using one for years with my 45ACP's - there's a reason the Israelis (Tal family) designed this military grade tool, they work brother!

 

[GKC]

I hand load my Shield mags until they're -1 or -2 and then take out my Leatherman and open the wide flathead screwdriver and stick the blade into the extractor groove of the top cartridge in the mag and press it down and finish topping up the mag. No fancy-dancey mag loader needed.

When you are as uncoordinated as I am, that sounds like a trip to the ER in the making, to have a screwdriver extracted from my palm...assuming I didn't set off a round by hitting the primer. Then we'd have to go to the laundromat as well.

 

[C0LUMB0]

Definitely invest in a Uplula as mentioned before. Best mag loader out there.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

 

[Old_Cop]

I bought the Shield to try because of the rebate. Loading the magazines has been an issue from the beginning. I have shot the gun, left the mags loaded and used an Uplula. No gun should require a magazine loader to fill the mags. Show me another single stack where this is required. I don't like how slim the grip is and would let it go if it had any value. Now there is a 2.0 version further reducing desirability.

 

[Bozz10mm]

I didn't know how much I relied on the UpLula, until I accidentally left it at home on one range trip. After 50 rounds through the Shield, I had to give it up for the day. At that time, the gun probably had 1200 rounds through it, so no, once you get past about the first 100 rounds per mag, there isn't much improvement.

 

[Jeppo]

I bought the Shield to try because of the rebate. Loading the magazines has been an issue from the beginning. I have shot the gun, left the mags loaded and used an Uplula. No gun should require a magazine loader to fill the mags. Show me another single stack where this is required. I don't like how slim the grip is and would let it go if it had any value. Now there is a 2.0 version further reducing desirability.

If that was the 9, they could be bought for $200 net, delivered. Even with the FFL fee, that seemed like an amazing bargain to me.