Had some FTEs with My Shield

[xzhync]

I have a 9mm Shield that I purchased on the 2nd day after they hit the market. I had put approximately 1000 trouble free rounds through it...until today. I took 100 rounds of Winchester fmj's (the Walmart stuff) to the range this morning and experienced 4 failure to ejects out of the 100 rounds. This really caught me by surprise since I had yet to experience the slightest problem with this gun. The failures were all stove-pipe type fte's where the spent casing didn't fully clear the chamber. The fte's also occurred with both of my magazines. I know that this type of fte is usually associated with limp writing, bad extractor or ejector. Since I have never experienced this before with this gun I am just not sure what was different today. I rarely limp wrist and maybe I could understand 1 fte due to that but not 4. I came home and fully cleaned the gun then went back out with 100 American eagle and 100 of the same Winchesters. This time I only had 1 fte with the Winchesters and 0 fte's with the American eagle fmj's. Perhaps I got a bad batch of Winchester FMj's. I had previously put many hundreds of the winchesters through this gun without a problem. It could be the ammo, but why now?

Has anyone experienced this type of fte with a 9mm Shield? I am thinking about trying to order a replacement recoil spring/guide rod and extractor from S&W to see if that helps. With the recoil spring, maybe it is getting worn to the point where cycle timing is affected. I would rather not send the gun in for warranty work. Invariably, they will say that they couldn't reproduce the problem. It would be great to hear of any similar experiences and what actions were taken.

 

[Badkarma 1]

I think you got a bad batch of ammo. The American Eagle rounds worked as advertised, while the Winchester didn't leads me too believe its more ammo related than anything. Try some Speer Lawman next time and see what happens. WWB has been notoriously weak of late. Dale

 

[kodiakpb]

You know I see a lot of these types of posts and it seems the first thing people want to do is "fix" the weapon. This implies a lot of trust and confidence that the cheap mass produced ammo is perfect and not to blame.

I'm going to say there is nothing wrong with your weapon. I've never seen you shoot, but by your own admission you try not to limp wrist. Given that, it is more likely a ammo/shooter combination.

 

[Shielded]

Answer, WWB. It is what it is. Run a higher grade of ammo & I'm sure all will be as it should. By your own admission, your only probs has been with the WWB. When I use the cheaper stuff and have an issue or two I usually pay it no mind, I just shoot it & go on. I think you'll be fine!

 

[Badkarma 1]

You know I see a lot of these types of posts and it seems the first thing people want to do is "fix" the weapon. This implies a lot of trust and confidence that the cheap mass produced ammo is perfect and not to blame.

I'm going to say there is nothing wrong with your weapon. I've never seen you shoot, but by your own admission you try not to limp wrist. Given that, it is more likely a ammo/shooter combination.

And I suppose that mass-produced weapons are? Any weapon can fail, even one that has proven 100% any other day if the week!
This stinks of low quality ammo and that's all. The OP already stated that his/her Shield was working fine with previous WWB ammo. Trying a different brand at this point would be the best route. If it continues with more than one brand of ammo then it's time for a trip back to Springfield. Dale

 

[patbelly]

Answer, WWB. It is what it is. Run a higher grade of ammo & I'm sure all will be as it should. By your own admission, your only probs has been with the WWB. When I use the cheaper stuff and have an issue or two I usually pay it no mind, I just shoot it & go on. I think you'll be fine!

This. Exactly. Not the only gun to have some problems with WWB. Like was said, "...just shoot it & go on."

 

[MichiganScott]

I've never had any problems with WWB, but your issue sure sounds like an ammo problem.

Your post also shows the need to keep a pistol cleaned and lubricated. Do you lube with a good gun oil as shown in the owner's manual, or do you use grease on the rails?

 

[Maddmax]

You might just be amazed what a good cleaning can do.

Breaking in a new gun (of any type),I like pushing it to the limits just to see how dirty I can get it and what it will take to make it start to fail. Then a good cleaning to check for wear and any other problems. After that,I clean the gun everytime I shoot and have zero failures 99.99% of the time. All my M&P's will eat and shoot anything I feed them.

 

[Vespers]

With One box of WWB I had several Failure to Ejects in two different guns. Another box ran fine with either gun . I figured it was the ammo in that box?

 

[Fercho64]

Winchester WB from Walmart. I send back all 800 rounds (100 round boxes) I got full of **** on the brass and red marking compund on the primer to Winchester. Never seem anything like it. The same day I bopugh some from Bass Pro Shop and all the rounds were clean. NEVER AGAIN will I buy ammo at Walmart!!! I reveiced 16 50 round boxes instead.

 

[RobzGuns]

WWB 100 round 'Value Packs' (as opposed to the 50 round boxes in racks) have been shown to have inconsistent OAL, inconsistent rim shoulders (some rounded, some squared off) and inconsistent chrono speeds. It almost seems like the 100 round Value Packs are close to being 'Factory 2nds'. I stopped buying the 'Value Packs' a couple years ago due to the various problems.

OTOH... So far, the Federal Champion 100 round Value Packshave been running flawlessly (and are a couple $ less expensive than WWB).

 

[kodiakpb]

This stinks of low quality ammo and that's all. The OP already stated that his/her Shield was working fine with previous WWB ammo. Trying a different brand at this point would be the best route. If it continues with more than one brand of ammo then it's time for a trip back to Springfield. Dale

That's exactly my point

 

[mewisemajic]

WWB 100 round 'Value Packs' (as opposed to the 50 round boxes in racks) have been shown to have inconsistent OAL, inconsistent rim shoulders (some rounded, some squared off) and inconsistent chrono speeds. It almost seems like the 100 round Value Packs are close to being 'Factory 2nds'. I stopped buying the 'Value Packs' a couple years ago due to the various problems.

OTOH... So far, the Federal Champion 100 round Value Packshave been running flawlessly (and are a couple $ less expensive than WWB).

I just bought one value-pack of WWB for the first time in years. I've been using Federal Champion with no issues whatsoever. Oh, well.

 

[xzhync]

Just a follow up. I went back to the range today with 100 rounds of PMC 124gr FMJ's. I had 100% reliability today. With all the responders saying that the WWB from Walmart is problematic I am going to believe my FTE's were, indeed, ammo related. I hope so because I really like this pistol.

 

[j.glock]

Had problems w wwb at 200 rd mark. Ian at 1300 rds no problems since. It loves federal champion and speed lawman