Got my new Shield 40 this morning

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nickn10

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Picked up my new Shield this morning and immediately took it to the range. I had Win. 180grn HP, Blazer 180grn fmj, re-loaded 180grn hard cast SWC, I55 grn Rainier and a hot load 135grnNosler HP with 12grn Bluedot ( supposedly matches Cor-Bon Load at 1350 fps). All shot without a miscue, I wasn't trying for accuracy as much as reliability. At 7-10 yds 2 distinct groups of 2" CTC, within 2.5 in of each other. total of 35 rds. I am pleased with both the inherent accuracy from a spanking new pistol and the very pleasant recoil from all of those various loads. The Nosler 135 grn/Bluedot combo has been accurate in a Glock, an XD and now the Shield, (if anyone is interested in re-loading.) I'm happy so far, I hope the falling magazine gremlin stays away!
Nick
 
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Hi Nick,
Glad you like your Shield, I'm looking forward to mine. How long did it take you to get yours? I've have mine order for 2 months now.
Mark
 
mcmerrill said:
Hi Nick,
Glad you like your Shield, I'm looking forward to mine. How long did it take you to get yours? I've have mine order for 2 months now.
Mark
Click to expand...

I hate waiting so I went on Gun Broker and had it in 3 days. Sure it costs more but I rather have that pistol in my hand than $50 sitting in my wallet!:rolleyes:
 
I dropped my mag on my third shot with my Shield 40. Found the thumb grip kind of angles my thumb down towards the release. If I keep my fingers stretched tight around the grip, my thumb can't contact the release. The easiest way was to just concentrate on keeping my thumb straight, and no more mag. drops. I find the mag. release spring to be soft, so a light press releases the mag. I would like to see someone eventually making a stronger mag. release spring.

Bob
 
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Bob I'm a lefty so my thumb is on the other side. Went out again today and shot another 50 rds without any problems. Tried the 5-5-5 drill managed to succeed 3 out of 5 tries. The slow fire group of 5 rds at 5yds was less than an inch. :)
 
I am having ther magazine drop problem. gaaaa. Left handed I am, I also had a friend go with me on 071112 and did not tell him of the problem. He is right handed and had the problem also. Ok, what is the solution anyone know? I called s/w and told them. They are sending a new release spring. Maybe that will be the fix. Maybe it is just the same spring. Answers, more questions. It is occuring on the 7 rounder most often.
 
Megzamani reply

If S&W is sending out a new mag. release spring, then they are thinking what I posted earlier, that the spring may not be strong enough (pressure) to hold the release so the mag. doesn't drop by accident. The spring is only a thin straight wire type spring. Once you get it installed and test fire, let us know the results.

Bob
 
Well, the magazine release spring is all they said. Should I call back and ask for a new magazine also? The problem being it occurs mostly with the 7 magazine but did occur with the six also. Confusing at best really. I really like the pistol and would like to see a fast fix for it yet this summer so I can enjoy going out to the range with it. It is my first .40 i have had so nothing to compare it to.
 
When does it happen, at the beginning when the mag. is full or when the mag. is near empty? Is it consistently dropping or just once in a while? If near the beginning with the seven round mag. full, it is likely caused as the seven round mag. will exert more pressure on the mag. release than the six round mag. If the mag. release spring is weak, it may be causing the drops. A new spring could solve the problem. This would be better than sending the gun in for warranty repair. Likely would take three to four weeks minimum to get the gun back from S&W. Smith's gunsmiths are way behind due to a high amount of custom work and repairs. The Shields are great guns, but like everything mechanical, once in a while you can get a defective part.

My Shield 40 came with a very "gritty" striker blocker which resulted in a gritty trigger pull. I am a Tool & Die Maker and experienced with gun modifications and repairs. I took the blocker out and found a machining burr in the blocker channel. I was able to remove the burr and smooth the channel. Put it back together and now the blocker moves in and out with no extra drag. This fix made the trigger pull very smooth.

Bob
 
Hey Bob, and others. I made a few videos showing the problem that I will YT and post the link. To answer your questions. 7 round mag , round 1. Then several after that. Also seven round magazine with four loaded. The six rounder does it too. Also had a stove pipe on magazine seven, round one. Various times. Both magazines. A real problem at best. Both left and right handed. Only one stove pipe though so far. Could be limp wrist one hand shooting.
 
It is a design problem with the release and or spring. I spoke to S&W about an issue with my gun and asked the rep if there were any issues with mag drops. He said that "engineering" was looking into the issue as they have had many guns back for that problem. So it is not an operator problem, but an issue with the magazine release/spring.

Bob
 
Your YouTube link is not working. Try playing your video and copy the share link at the bottom and paste that link into your post. That should get us to your video. Present link says "an error occurred during validation"?????

Bob
 
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thank you. Yt link is now corrected. SW sent me a magazine spring today. Looks like a straight needle. Well is an interesting part for sure. Was expecting a V shape but looks like a bar pin
 
Megzamani reply

Yes you have a serious problem. SD weapon need to function correctly all the time. Advise if replacing the release spring helps or not. Yours is not an isolated incident. Many others are having the same problem and S&W is working on the fix.

Bob
 
While I was watching the YT vid, I took a good look at my 40 Shield as well as my 40c. I have maybe 500+ rnds through the 40 Shield and more through the 40c and have not had this problem. Maybe it is the spring. But the release itself (the part that you push to release the mag) is made of same polymer material as the frame. Maybe on these guns that fail to hold the mag, the mag catch on the release may be malformed. Since mine doesn't have this problem I can't say for sure. I'd like to compare mine with one of these that fail. Maybe they should make this part out of stainless steel like the slide. Or maybe there is a SS after-market release. Well, probably not yet...

But I do like my shield.
 
Congrats on the shield! Hope your problem gets resolved soon. I'm watching this thread and hopefully my new shield 40 doesn't have this problem
 
Yeah waiting on mine also. Hopefully the fix will be in by the time it arrives.
 
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