First day with Shield 40

[Fire75]

So today I fired my new shield 40. My first impressions, from a newer shooter.
Has plenty of kick! and the brass goes flying! I shot 50 rds of TulAmmo BrassMAXX 170gr FMJ and 50 Freedom Munitions 180 gr RNFP. I had maybe 4 fail to feed. 2 times the round was chambered but no click from the gun (slide not fully forward?) and the mags didnt click in very well.

I see many posts that guns need to be broken in. I have plenty of ammo and hope to fire a couple hundred more with this gun.

As for the FTF, it was on the last round in the mag. But my range has a STUPID 3 rd rule. So after I chamber the first rd, the gun only cycles twice. So was it the gun, the mag, because it was the last round in the mag? How to tell?

 

[robkarrob]

3 round rule? They only allow 3 rounds? Still would not matter, as the gun should always fire and always go back into battery.

First I would look at the ammo, for the loading issues. I have never had a loading issue with my Shield 40 with thousands of rounds fired. Some people like Tula, but just as many do not like Tula. Except for an AK I had, I never use it. I have heard of too many issues with it, but again I read other comments that have never had a problem. The AK's have very loose tolerances, so no loading or ejecting issues.

You know the gun will not fire if not in battery. If the ammo is a little out of specs, diameter and length wise, this might be a cause. But the other FTFs' are a mystery. Did you check the primers, to see if they were light hits? There is no reason the gun should "click" on the last round, or last round in the mag. A little more info and I am sure we can diagnose the problem.

I do not find the recoil to be excessive. I do exercises to strengthen my wrists and arms. I do mostly one handed shooting. That is also a possibility to the loading problems. If the shooter allows excessive gun flip, you can get loading and ejection problems. Not saying your doing it, just mentioning it.

Bob

 

[SmurfHunter]

3 round rule? They only allow 3 rounds? Still would not matter, as the gun should always fire and always go back into battery.

First I would look at the ammo, for the loading issues. I have never had a loading issue with my Shield 40 with thousands of rounds fired. Some people like Tula, but just as many do not like Tula. Except for an AK I had, I never use it. I have heard of too many issues with it, but again I read other comments that have never had a problem. The AK's have very loose tolerances, so no loading or ejecting issues.

You know the gun will not fire if not in battery. If the ammo is a little out of specs, diameter and length wise, this might be a cause. But the other FTFs' are a mystery. Did you check the primers, to see if they were light hits? There is no reason the gun should "click" on the last round, or last round in the mag. A little more info and I am sure we can diagnose the problem.

I do not find the recoil to be excessive. I do exercises to strengthen my wrists and arms. I do mostly one handed shooting. That is also a possibility to the loading problems. If the shooter allows excessive gun flip, you can get loading and ejection problems. Not saying your doing it, just mentioning it.

Bob

I think he means you can't shoot more then 2-3 rounds consecutively

 

[Romac]

Were you 'riding' the slide? In my experience the m&p line seems to be more sensitive to this than most, and could've kept it from being fully in battery. Be sure to sling shot it, or power stroke it, or slide release it or whatever you want to call it; just make sure it flies home with some momentum.

Hope you get it figured out!

 

[fullmetal1911]

Interested in details on the 3 round rule?

Is it that you can only fire 3 rounds and then must pause (to deter rapid fire) or can you only load 3 rounds in your mag at a time, because that would sure make it impossible to test your mags out to make sure they feed and function reliably from full to empty.

That said, my M&P9c had issues not fully returning to battery when I first got it. You could pull the trigger, but the firing pin would not striker the primer due to the slide not being completely forward. I cleaned the heck out of the gun and lubed the slide and where it rides on the frame with Tetra Gun Grease and have not had a single problem since then.

 

[Fire75]

The 3 round rule means 3 in the gun. It sucks. I meet the stupid old memeber that claims credit for the rule. I plan to go to the next meeting to see how to change it. Everyone i have talked to at the range hates it. The club is going to lose memebers over it. Try putting 3 in your revolver. Click click click boom! So much fun! The fishing is great and i dont want to have to spend another $170 to join a club just because of the 3 rd rule!

As for the gun, i dont think i was touching the slide. Im hoping it just needs to be broken in. I will be shooting more though it. But so far with the few problems and i didnt mention i feel the mags dont fit well either, not loving the gun.

 

[robkarrob]

Fire75

You mentioned new shooter. Does this mean never shot much, new to pistol, or? If you have previous shooting experience, with what gun style, pistol or revolver, and what caliber. You said not liking the gun, I know many that just don't like shooting the 40 S&W. It is a higher power caliber, with more of a "snappy" recoil. Was there a reason you picked the 40, as opposed to 9mm? These answers help to figure out you issues.

Also with the FTFs', did you check the primers for indents marks?

Bob

 

[Fire75]

I have a m&p 40 also so i have over 3000rds. Thats part of the reason to get the shield in 40. I am on the newer side of shooting but we have more than a couple now.

Didnt really check the shells on the fte.

I also aways test the fire w/o mag installed. The first time the case came straight down the mag well and the second time it "stove pipe" but none of the case was above the top of the slide.

 

[Nutshell]

Did you clean and lube your Shield prior to shooting it? If you didn't, I suggest you do.

 

[jhc37013]

Three round rule and a guy is actually proud he started the whole thing, wow. Did you join before or after the rule was created because if the rule came after you joined I would demand my money back period.

I hope you just have a ammo issue I love my little Shield, try some good quality ammo like American Eagle 180gr and see how it goes.

 

[Soldiernurse]

... I also aways test the fire w/o mag installed. The first time the case came straight down the mag well and the second time it "stove pipe" but none of the case was above the top of the slide.

Why do you test fire w/o mag loaded (w/3rnds, lol) & in the mag well?

 

[Fire75]

Yes i cleaned it before first use.

I joined for the fishing! No trout under 12" and lots of big ones. Now i use the range.

I test fire w/o the mag to verify it does what it is supposed to do. Isnt that the whole point of testing a gun?

 

[Soldiernurse]

... I test fire w/o the mag to verify it does what it is supposed to do. Isnt that the whole point of testing a gun?

Testing a gun w/o a mag seems pointless. Do you carry w/o a mag seated in the mag well?

A good op check should include a mag loaded & seated to ensure proper feed fxn.

 

[SmurfHunter]

Testing a gun w/o a mag seems pointless. Do you carry w/o a mag seated in the mag well?

A good op check should include a mag loaded & seated to ensure proper feed fxn.

What's to say you don't get mugged. Bad guy grabs gun and hits mag release. You now have your mag on the floor. Bad gun in front of you. Don't you want to know that you 1 rnd is still going to fire? There is no reason not to try it out.

 

[Rastoff]

Testing a gun w/o a mag seems pointless.

Not pointless, but not super necessary either.

The best scenario is during a tactical reload. You've already shot one or two bad guys and there's a lull in the action. The smart thing is to take out the partially depleted mag, retain it, and insert a fresh one. As you stick the partially depleted mag in your pocket, one of the bad guys, that you just shot, starts aiming a gun at you. You have no magazine, but one in the pipe. Are you going to wait until you have the new mag in or shoot that last round?

Obviously that is a choice that can only be made should the situation arise. In training I've always opted to shoot the last round then insert the new mag and rack in the first round.

 

[robkarrob]

Fire75

With or without the mag inserted, the casings should be ejecting normally, not dropping down the mag well or stovepiping. There is an issue there. Do they otherwise eject normally, except with the mag out? You are an experienced shooter and understand that the lighter, smaller Shield is going to produce more felt recoil, than your full sized. The full sized is heavier, which helps reduce felt recoil, plus you can get a stronger hand grip on the larger full sized grip. Next time at the range, carefully eject and check the primer on all FTFs'. This will at least tell you if it is gun related (no primer indentation), or ammunition related (primer indented by striker).

Bob

 

[Fire75]

With the mag in, the shells fly! I had trouble finding them!

I hope to hit the range soon but we have a few NO KID days, the range is not high on the wife's to do list.

 

[robkarrob]

Fire75

Try some different ammo. Could be the extractor is not grabbing the rim properly. If it continues with different ammo, contact S&W as it might be an extractor issue. I have seen guns with no ejector still toss the casings out, but not very far. Those guns had good extractors. That is why casings going down or stovepipe would make me think there might be an extractor problem. Under normal conditions all casings should be tossed out 6-10 feet, to the right.

Keep us posted on your next results.

Bob

 

[Fire75]

100 rds of win 165gr today. 3 times with the flush mag the last round did not feed.

 

[Rastoff]

100 rds of win 165gr today. 3 times with the flush mag the last round did not feed.

Did the feeding problem look like this?

I had this same problem. I polished the chamber and replaced the extractor with one S&W sent me for free. The gun has been trouble free for 1,800 rounds now.