M&P SHIELD 0.40 CALIBER MAGAZINE DROP PROBLEM POLL

[Bikemobile]

I shot 2 mags of speer gold dot 180g through my DXX1### .40 cal shield yesterday. No mag drops.

Today i bought 100 rounds of the cheapest stuff i could find at walmart. No mag drops. Slowfire, both mags, rapid fire.

It was really accurate at 15 yards. Tight groups in an 8 inch circle. Im really happy with how well it shoots. I hope to get to 300 plus rounds in the next few weeks to really give it a workout and see if the mag drop problem develops.

 

[Paints-n-cows]

I have a question that I am sure that some will find stupid but others may not.

Has anyone with a Shield in .40 tried to swap to the 9mm barrel and mag and see if it still has the magazine drop issues?

I see where some people have bought both of the Shields and was just curious.

I was on the fence about buying a Shield in .40 and after reading about this issue, I am going to sit on the sidelines and wait until it is resolved.

Life in stressful situations is tough enough without having the slightest doubt in the back of your mind if you are going to be able to win the encounter. Been there, done that

 

[pyro]

250 rounds using both magazines. Zero problems. serial number DXTxxxx

 

[MacDanny]

Has anyone actually got one back that was happy with the fix?????

Mine sent in 7/20, to help others with the queue. Called S&W earlier today and they said that it was fixed, just waiting for test firing (the range was closed this week). Told to call next Friday if it hadn't shown up yet.

I tried to prompt a response by saying, "Hey, I know you guys are aware of the mag-drop issue with the Shield 40's and are working on it. Do you have a fix?"

The answer was "Oh, yeah." No specifics. I didn't know enough to probe - I'm a relative newbie.

We'll see. This may have been a stock we'll-fix-it answer. Not holding my breath. Will report as soon as I get it and can put a few rounds through.

 

[OKShooter]

Sure wish I had read this forum before purchasing my .40 Shield. Took it to the range today for the first time. The 7 round magazine dropped after every round fired. Didn't have the 6 round magazine with me so I couldn't test it. Serial No DXXnnnn.

This is really disappointing. I've got several M&P Fullsize pistols and have never had any problems. I was really looking forward to having this Shield for my daily CCW. Assuming S&W can fix the problem, I'm not sure that I will be able to ever fully trust it.

 

[mcmerrill]

My Shield .40 is doing the same thing. I took it to the range a few days after I received it, unaware of this issue. With the extended mag, it released repeatedly, always inserted the mag with slide open. Fired 150 rds that day, no problems with the flush mag. Thought it might be my grip, Took it back out the next Saturday and focused on my grip, made sure I was not touching the mag release,fired another 150 rds, it still did as bad that day. I did have 2 failures with the std mag. Serial # DTX3xxx. I have not yet contacted S&W at this point, I've been hoping to see that someone has experienced a solution. I have 2 other M&P's full size and have never had any problems with them. After they return to work, I'll give them a call, but I'm not sending it in until they actually come up with a solution. One more thing I noticed, when comparing the shield to my M&P 45 full size, the fs mag release has to be pressed virtually all the way in to release the mag ,where the shield you barely need to touch it.

 

[Wayne]

FWIW, no problems on my .40, 150 rounds with a DXP serial number, which was the first ones that were received locally, on the release date.

 

[Dean1818]

I am waiting on the sideline as well.....

But if I had one, and had problems, I would be tempted to modify the mag or mag well that would push the mag forward against the catch ever so slightly.

After having an M&P 45C, and seeing how the mag catch works is seems that With the shield 40, the mag is slightly too small, which forces the lip on the catch to miss or unhook under a strong recoil(40 cal)

The looseness reported in the mag confirms this.

You shouldnt have to modify a new carry weapon, EVER, but this would seem to do the fix.

When S&W finally owns this problem, I bet that the solution is a just a slightly modified mag that is slighlty thicker in back, pushing the mag toward the catch.

 

[vigil617]

I've reported no problems with my 40 Shield already (and am included in CJ's count) but wanted to add my serial number begins with DXP. I received the pistol in late May and have been 100 percent happy with it.

I sympathize with those of you who've had problems with mag drop and you have every right to be p.o.'d about it. My hunch is that in ramping up production to meet the greater-than-expected demand, a problem developed that wasn't revealed until hundreds of the pistols were in your hands and the problem became evident. But why their CS has seemed oblivious in the face of what must be dozens of inquiries and many returns, is puzzling to me.

I also think S&W should have either a marketing type or an engineer monitoring threads like these and having a presence on them. Can't figure out why they wouldn't -- their customer base is right here, day in and day out....

If you guys with the drop issues can see your way clear to waiting this out, I know you'll be pleased with your Shield in the long run. This, though, from admittedly one of the most impatient guys on the planet...

 

[Paints-n-cows]

To me, it is now a matter of confidence. In my way of thinking, there are only a small portion of people that are computer saavy and are thinking about researching a problem with a weapon online. And perhaps even a smaller portion of those would know about this forum or even this thread.

So the real question is how large of a percentage of the population of firearms actually have this problem yet are unable to voice their concerns.

I actually always been a big S&W fan but until they own up to the issue and actually step up with a repair/recall/whatever, I won't be spending any cash on anything other than their traditional firearms.

 

[dereksfl]

Duct tape will fix it!

 

[MacDanny]

If you guys with the drop issues can see your way clear to waiting this out, I know you'll be pleased with your Shield in the long run. This, though, from admittedly one of the most impatient guys on the planet...

Sure hope you're right. After doing my research, I came to to the conclusion that Glocks and S&Ws would be my weapons-of-choice. Similar enough for learning how to clean/maintain and both supposedly reliable.
This has caused a serious crisis-of-confidence for me on S&W. First M&P, and this has made the gun un-usable for CCW. Even spent time and money on training to make sure I was shooting correctly. I'm not LE, so this was for the extreme off-chance of SD in the case of my S&W or HD in the case of my Glock. Perhaps jumped in too fast, but still... Gives me pause. Serious pause.

Glad to read about others NOT having the problem. Truly. At least I can wrap my head around how a production set-up could lead to the problem, AND it indicates that there may be a solution. If, for example, someone used to building a different-sized M&P and not aware of the nuances of the Shield 40 grabbed the wrong part (that worked for their weapon). The worst would be a poor design, but I figure that all Shield 40s would have experienced the issue.

The fact there seems to be early serial numbers that are okay supports this theory. Perhaps S&W pulled some people over to the Shield assembly line in response to the heavy demand. Those people grabbed the wrong mag catch/spring/thingee.

Again, DXV6nnn as a reference of my serial #. Seems like DXV, DXW and DXX are the problems so far, right?

 

[insomniac]

No problems with mine. DXT3xxx serial number.

Two folks have had trouble with a DXV and one with a DXX. If people with the trouble could list their S/N prefix, maybe we could get a better idea of a trend.

i forgot to mention that mine is DXTxxxx and has not had any problems.

could one of you who are having issues please try my idea mentioned in post #21 to see if this cures the problem?

 

[oneiron]

Fixed Loose Mag

Loose mag was bothering me because it seemed that I would soon be having mag dropped problem. I put one thin strip of lead tape (golfers tape) on the back of both mags and both fit perfect now. Shot 150 rds and wife continues to out shoot me with this gun;however, not by much this time. Shield is going to be her ccw as she has no problems with recoil from this gun. I will be getting an XDs....prefer 45 and XDs will be lighter that my current carry. (Bobtail Dan Wesson 1911)

Very happy with how well Shield shoots and conceals.

Windage & Elevation

 

[WxManOZ]

i forgot to mention that mine is DXTxxxx and has not had any problems.

could one of you who are having issues please try my idea mentioned in post #21 to see if this cures the problem?

I will give this a go this week, won't make it to the range until this coming weekend though.

 

[FLSTFI]

Have shot over 500 rounds through mine. Have shot roughly even number with both mags. Mag dropped once or twice the first day, but I think I may have hit the release with my thumb. I do not remember which mag was the problem. I then saw comments about hitting the release with your thumb on the forum and have been conscious of it ever since. No mag drops since.

However, I have mostly been shooting five rounds at a time. (My OCD likes to have nice even numbers on all the targets when the box is gone.)

I will go home this week and fire with full mag +1 and report back. Serial #DXP0.

 

[pfurrer]

I can't believe Smith is unaware of this issue. I'm sure there are some on here that are employees. Being as this is more or less a Smith owners forum. I can't imagine that Smith management wouldn't be monitoring this site from time to time. Just makes good business sense.

 

[insomniac]

I will give this a go this week, won't make it to the range until this coming weekend though.

good for you!

if you are not sure what to do, take the mag apart (remove baseplate, spring and followert) and slide the mag body into the pistol until it seats. now you can look down inside the mag with a torch and see exactly where the mag-catch contacts the mag.

just push the top edge of the slot in the mag (that contacts the mag catch) out a millimeter or so. a few good whacks with a punch and hammer from the opposite side should do it.

my pistol does not drop mags, i did this for piece of mind. now that it's done, the mag release button must be pushed in much farther to get the mag to release, and i know that the mag is being held in the pistol much more securely than before.

good luck and let us know if this helps

 

[Tman72]

Just went to the range and shot 100 rounds through the .40 , used both 6 and 7 round mags with Hornady CD and Winchester FMJ . I even mixed the ammo in each mag 3 & 3 and 4 & 3 staggered . No magazine drop no FTE/FTF ...now my shooting is another story lol ....wasn't to bad I had all six headshots from 10 yards at 25 yards 5 center mass 1 flyer. Serial # is DXP3***



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Teddydog]

I don't own a Shield 40 (but want to buy a 9), but have read through this thread. If the mags really are undersize a bit and this is causing the problem, a person might try adding a strip of black electrical tape to an appropriate part of the mag to see if that tightens things up and helps or eliminates the problem. NOT suggesting this as a permanent fix, but as a testing procedure. If they are loose front-to-back, try some tape on the front and/or back of the mag. If side to side, put a strip on the side. Worth a shot, I'd say. Good luck!

Rob