M&P SHIELD 0.40 CALIBER MAGAZINE DROP PROBLEM POLL

[Mooseburger]

Update: S&W answered my email before I could call on Monday. (a good thing) They required I send it back for service to look at the sighting issue. I also mentioned I was very concerned about the mag drops I was hearing about and I was told "The issued with magazine was only on a small lot of guns. If you have concern you can have them check when guns comes back in include magazine when you ship".
I've included all of my magazines. I'll update again when I get it back. Hopefully all will be corrected.

I stopped at my local shop on the way home today to look for a replacement and there aren't many small CCWs that have a manual safety above 9mm. Which is one of the things I like most about the shield.

 

[Repli-can't]

I put 100+ rounds through my returned Shield .40 today with no dropped mags or any other issues. Definitely good news to me. I did notice (just like before the repair) that once you have shot the first two mags they get very loose compared to when the gun is cold. Seems not to matter now...

It seems to be more accurate than before the repair so another positive. (I am not as accurate with the Shield as I am with my G23 gen4 but I am a new-ish shooter. It took me a number of visits to the range to get comfortable with the Glock when I first got it. "Practice makes perfect").

Looks like I'll keep it and order the Apex trigger and night sights, too!

I bought and installed the Trijicon SA37 night sights and the Apex trigger and I couldn't be happier. The combo has helped me be much more accurate with the Shield. The trigger is much smoother and nice and crisp. Feels very similar to my Glock 23 gen4 in terms of pull weight and that is keeping me right on target!

 

[xknightrider]

I have a HAD11XX serial with a test fire date of 9-18-12 and mine drops mag every other shot, better with the 6 rd mag but no reliability with the 7rd at all. Tried different ammo, grip angles it's got to be the gun. Calling S&W CS tomorrow.

Edit: Oh and another issue is that yellow sear release I think it's called fell out of my gun during breakdown, I know it's not a necessary piece but wow to just fall out!

 

[junkshop]

Shield 40--Bad News

I bought my Shield 40 3 months ago. After 1 week, I sent it back for several problems- drop magazine, sights mis-aligned, FTF's. trigger pin not staying in. S & W kept it 3 weeks and sent it back to me "fixed". NOT SO. Sights not fixed, dimple put on magazines, new magazine lock. After 1 trip to range: sights bad, FTF, trigger locking up. I sent it back again. Another 3 weeks and I get a phone call saying manufacturers' engineers decided to send me a new gun. New gun arrives 2 weeks later when I was told only a few days. Sights visibly off center on replacement gun. No quality control, poor CSR's providing inferior customer service. No more S & W guns in my future.

 

[xknightrider]

Called CS, gun is going in. They said they needed the gun and mags as both have to be modified. Quoted 4 weeks to get turned around. They did not deny the issue at all, and with others getting theirs fixed I feel like it has a good chance of gaining my trust back.

 

[robkarrob]

Pretty hard to deny the issue when so many that had the problem. Looks like since mid October S&W finally got the issue fixed for the production of all new Shield 40's. You also had the sear release lever fall out. Not as bad as the recent thread that their Shield came with the ejector missing. Great quality control. At least when you get it back you will have a great gun.

Bob

 

[bobnieder]

Bob, I want to personally thank you and other Shield .40 owners who persevered and got Smith & Wesson to address the mag drop issue so that other buyers (like me) would receive guns that function right out of the box. If everyone just blamed it on shooter error and ignored the possibility of a manufacturing defect, I would be stuck sending it back to S&W or having to deal with a lemon. Thanks, guys!

 

[FstRngr]

I bought my shield on Saturday and finally had time to fire it yesterday. That was after reading all of the posts about the drop. I am happy to report that my weapon fired flawlessly. Nice group and no drops! My SN is HAP####. I have plans to get together with another owner, who has had no problems, on Sunday. We usually put a lot of ammo down range so I'll report anything significant.

 

[bobnieder]

Yes, as I reported on another thread, my mfr. date number is 2333, which corresponds to November 28, 2012, and my serial number (most of it) is HAP03XX.

 

[Mooseburger]

Update

Update: S&W answered my email before I could call on Monday. (a good thing) They required I send it back for service to look at the sighting issue. I also mentioned I was very concerned about the mag drops I was hearing about and I was told "The issued with magazine was only on a small lot of guns. If you have concern you can have them check when guns comes back in include magazine when you ship".
I've included all of my magazines. I'll update again when I get it back. Hopefully all will be corrected.

I stopped at my local shop on the way home today to look for a replacement and there aren't many small CCWs that have a manual safety above 9mm. Which is one of the things I like most about the shield.

Received the gun back with replaced magazine catch and all of my mags had the dimple on them.

Sights are back in alignment and the paperwork said "within spec".

Took it to the range and it seems fine now. Since a replaced magazine catch wouldn't fix the cockeyed sighting problem I don't know what else they did.....

Either way I'm happy to have it back and it's shooting good at this time so I'm keeping it. If I can find a 9mm I might just swap for it so my ammo is cheaper

Thanks for all the info and good luck to the rest of you who have the .40.

 

[Bobbj22]

Have had my Shield 40 since April or May of last year. Two weeks ago, it started dropping the extended mag at the range. Called customer service the next day and was on hold for 15 minutes. Finally talked to a rep and he asked if I would like my prepaid mailing label sent to my home address or email. I chose email and he stated it should be in my inbox in the next 2-3 days. A week went by and I received nothing. I sent an email to customer service a week ago to see what happened. The next day I got an automated email with a link for prepaid and pre-insured warranty return shipping label. Filled out the fields and submitted my info. Called customer service again today and they actually had sent it to me a couple days later but it had ended up in my spam box (Doh!). I'll let you guys know how everything pans out in a few weeks.


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[Bobbj22]

Got my Shield 40 back and went to the range the other day. I believe they replaced my leaf spring with a stronger one. Magazine drop problem was fixed in the extended mag but the flush mag had one failure to battery. The 3rd bullet in the mag was pointed down so the slide caught the lip of the casing and held the chamber open. I might sell it because I'm conflicted with trusting it. I'll probably clean the mags and try again before making any decisions. Thoughts?


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[Soldiernurse]

Copy GLOCK in how they make their pistols??!! How dare you say that on a S&W forum!!

Sorry, I had to beat some die-hard S&W fan to the punch. OBTW, I agree with you about a mag design change (clips for those who cringe at the word).

I just wish S&W had also copied the "no safety" part too.

Edmo

LOL, how dare someone speak of a handgun that's not S&W. I had the Shield .40S&W w/same f'n drop mag malfxn. I worked on the mags as previously mentioned. The drop mag became less frequent. Nonetheless, very unacceptable. I sold it! Maybe it would have been a different story in the 9's.

Love my M&P9c. Not much bigger than the Shield but greater mag cap. It's very ergonomic. I did have the trigger assembly replaced w/Apex DCAEK. This guy is a keeper. Oh yea, I like the external safety. When disengaged (safety off) it makes for a great thumb rest, which facilities a higher grip when shooting.

However, I must say my G4G19 & G4G30 have been flawless.

 

[Soldiernurse]

I bought my Shield 40 3 months ago. After 1 week, I sent it back for several problems- drop magazine, sights mis-aligned, FTF's. trigger pin not staying in. S & W kept it 3 weeks and sent it back to me "fixed". NOT SO. Sights not fixed, dimple put on magazines, new magazine lock. After 1 trip to range: sights bad, FTF, trigger locking up. I sent it back again. Another 3 weeks and I get a phone call saying manufacturers' engineers decided to send me a new gun. New gun arrives 2 weeks later when I was told only a few days. Sights visibly off center on replacement gun. No quality control, poor CSR's providing inferior customer service. No more S & W guns in my future.

I felt the same way when I sold my Shield .40S&W. However, about 1.5yrs later bought a used (excellent condition... owner decided its all Glocks for him) M&P 9c. I'm very pleased. I did have the trigger assembly replaced w/Apex DCAEK. Nevertheless, my M&P 9c is a keeper.

 

[ajrut]

Finally a Fix!!!!

I have spent the last 3 months or so reading internet forums and watching YouTube videos of the mag drop problem with the .40 S&W Shield, but nothing offered a solution to the problem, with the exception of someone putting nylon tubing into the weapon which somehow manipulated something, but there was no proof it worked. I also have fallen into the category of owners who contacted S&W to try and remedy the problem but was unable to. I finally went to a local gunsmith (Duke at DCF Guns in Castle Rock CO) who was aware of the problem, but had no idea how to fix it. Well after some fiddling around by both him and I, he got a crazy idea. First he said "Get a new mag release part from S&W, if they charge you, I will pay for it." I got on the phone right there at his desk and ordered the part which was free of charge. He then shared his plan. he was going to use the smallest Dremmel bit he had and would remove some of the material from the magazine release in order to allow the release to slide a little bit further into the gun. He removed an extremely small amount of material around the little lip of the magazine release that stops it from sliding completely through the receiver from right to left. It took a few trial and error shots on his range but finally the mag didn't drop. Now, just to be sure, I stayed on his range and went through a little more than 100 rounds as quickly as I could load them up and shoot, and did not have issue. I tried to explain the best I can, and unfortunately I don't have any pictures to show here, but this is the only true fix I've ever witnessed or even heard about. Luckily it was for me.

 

[KKECK5]

Have gone to the range 5 times with a S&W Shield 40.... No issues with the magazine dropping. SO, either they have fixed the problem, or people are hitting the release button. I'm a LEFTY, so my fingertips are no where near the release. THE only thing i will note, is that sometimes i find i need to give the mag a extra little push to seat it completely in.

 

[Nakanokalronin]

Have gone to the range 5 times with a S&W Shield 40.... No issues with the magazine dropping. SO, either they have fixed the problem, or people are hitting the release button. I'm a LEFTY, so my fingertips are no where near the release. THE only thing i will note, is that sometimes i find i need to give the mag a extra little push to seat it completely in.

They're more than likely fixing them silently. The 9mm Shield I owned did not pop out mags when fired, but I had to barely breath on the mag release for them to drop out. A lot more sensitive than any other firearm I've owned, except one. I had the same thing with a KelTec PF9 and when sent back to KT for repair, it was found that the frame was out of spec. I'm not sure if it's the same with the Shields, but I'll bet it's not user error for the most part.

 

[NickSaban]

I bought a shield 40 in January. No problems to speak of after 300 rounds

 

[DeeBee]

So have we come to any conclusions,about this matter? What really fixes the problem? I just bought a new shield in 40, put 250 rounds through it with no mag drops. (born 4-2013).
But for some reason, I dont trust it? Like the other guy said, you practically need to just breathe on the mag release, to actually drop the mag.
None of my mags are dimpled, the mag seems very loose in the mag well.
I wonder if S&W has done anything about this problem?
What is the last born on date someone has had this problem?
This thread is so long, its hard to read every repsonse, but I believe DXX guns were the last to have reported this problem??... or was it HAD serial?? Please correct me if I am wrong?

 

[The_Unknown_Surfer]

I was just at a Gun Show in Ohio last weekend,
and three different dealers had Shield 40's on their tables.
All of them had serial numbers beginning with HB,
none of them had dimpled magazines,
and the release didn't seem to really click like my DXX serial
number does now after having been back to S&W
where they replaced the magazine release, and dimpled the magazines.

So the question(s) now for me are,
did S&W fix it some other way with the HB serials,
or are they still ignoring the problem until you call them about it,
and if I buy an extra magazine off the shelf should I dimple it or not?