First time on range with new Shield 9mm

[Schmood]

Hi. I'm Schmood and I'm new to the forum and to Smith & Wesson handguns. I own several Ruger, Remington, and Colts, but never had a S&W until now.

I've been lurking around the forum reading the posts about the Shield and I decided it was time to get one for myself. Well, today (after waiting over 2 months) I was finally able to get my hands on a new 9mm Shield, and figured it was time to join the forum.

I took the Shield to the range and shot 200 rounds of different brands of ammo. Only had one fail-to-eject in the first magazine, which I will attribute to my getting used to the gun. Trigger action is smooth and the break is consistent. Recoil is more manageable than my .380 LCP. My groupings got smaller as the ammo count went higher.

One thing has me scratching my head. About half way through my third brick of ammo, the slide jammed open. I was not out of ammo and did not have a fail-to-eject. My first thought was that I accidentally hit the slide lock lever, but the slide lock was off. I could even easily move the slide lock up and down. I removed the magazine and the slide still did not come forward.

On further investigation, I found that I could not move the slide backwards at all. The slide was jammed at the maximum rearward travel. At this point I gave the slide a sharp rap with my palm and it slide forward. I broke the gun down and could find nothing unusual. Put the Shield back together and cycled the slide a couple dozen times and nothing. So I loaded up again and finished off my 200 rounds.

Anyone have an idea what happened?

 

[Shielded]

Welcome to the forum! & Congrats on the Shield! As to your slide prob I'm not sure what would cause that, perhaps a burr or something. I'm sure others will chime in with some better ideas.

 

[pyro]

Possible rim lock from the top bullet in the magazine to the one beneath it. This is not supposed to happen with this magazine, but it happened to me when I was stripping the bullets from the magazine with my thumb. They locked up and I couldn't move them until I figured out what was going on. This is not likely, but you never know.

 

[GKC]

Just taking a guess, but did you clean the pistol before firing it? And, depending on the brand of ammo you were using, which some is "dirtier" than others, it could have bound up on some accumulated "crud." Maybe give it a good cleaning and use some "cleaner" brand of ammo (if you weren't, already) until it breaks in good.

 

[Schmood]

Just taking a guess, but did you clean the pistol before firing it? And, depending on the brand of ammo you were using, which some is "dirtier" than others, it could have bound up on some accumulated "crud." Maybe give it a good cleaning and use some "cleaner" brand of ammo (if you weren't, already) until it breaks in good.

Yes, I always clean, inspect, and lightly lube as indicated in handbook, before ever shooting any gun.

I was trying several different brands of ammo. I had already shot 50 rounds of American Eagle 115gr FMJ, 50 rounds of Herter's 115gr FMJ, and was in the middle of a brick of Winchester WB 115gr FMJ when the slide hung.

The ends of my index and middle fingers were black when I was done shooting, so at least some of the ammo was pretty dirty. It just took a light rap to get the slide to move again, it wasn't like I had to pound it with a mallet or anything. So maybe it could have been some unburned powder that hung the slide up.

(EDIT)
I guess this is just something to keep an eye on for now. Other than that, I love the gun. It fits my hand perfectly and handles well. So far the Ruger LCP has been my pocket gun and will remain my pocket gun. If the Shield performs well over the next couple hundred rounds, then for all other instances, the Shield will be my go to CCW..

Schmood

 

[mudman bob]

Welcome Schmood, and congrats on your purchase of a schmield(couldn't resist ). No hangups with mine either, I would bet too on a burr or fouling. My last trip out with Blazers, I had a couple rips in the target that I assume were alien burrs or some other unknown projectile.
Again, welcome aboard.

 

[ccpacker]

I am very comfortable with my Shield 40 as a pocket gun. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Schmood]

Thanks for the welcome guys!

This is a great gun. Just what I'm looking for in CCW. I'll get some pictures posted soon.