M&P Shield Plus - Known Issues

[LVSteve]

Failure to Feed
Empty magazine won't lock the slide
Very gritty trigger
Light primer strikes

These are issues for magazine-fed handguns in general, not the Shield Plus.

Also, let's do simple math. If we assume at there are 500,000 Shield+ models in circulation, at even a 1% failure rate, that means 5,000 Shield+ models are defective in some way. Out of that 5K, probably 4,500 are issues that are fixed with a replacement parts, and 500 are un-repairable.

The point is all gun makers put out defective products. Glock, H&K, Beretta, Colt etc. Your post assumes that all machines from reputable manufactures are always perfect... which has never been true no matter the industry.

And frankly, melodramatic posts are one thing, but recommending Taurus autoloaders over a S&W Shield is laughable.

The first four points in this post make me wonder why? Semi-auto handguns should be a mature technology by now. What tweaks are being put into new designs that make them go wrong? Is it because of patent issues, or is it change for change's sake?

As for recommending a Taurus over a particular model of Shield, maybe it has come to that. I recently bought my first Taurus, a TS9. I've yet to shoot it and the purchase was made because this pistol uses an interesting variation on the typical tilting barrel action. Like everyone else on the Web, I was disappointed in the feel of the trigger on receipt. After a bunch of dry firing, the trigger is perfectly acceptable, and certainly better than my M&P 1.0 pistols that have never totally smoothed out with time.


Trigger break-in with low cost, polymer pistols seems to be a thing with a lot of manufacturers. I've experienced it in another brand new pistol, something else I snagged just because it's different. It's what keeps costs down. There are notable exceptions to this. The two Caniks I have both came with good triggers out of the box, and my Grand Power Q100 has a stellar trigger for a $420 pistol.

 

[Dave Lively]

The first four points in this post make me wonder why? Semi-auto handguns should be a mature technology by now. What tweaks are being put into new designs that make them go wrong? Is it because of patent issues, or is it change for change's sake?

Pushing the limits on how small and light a 9mm handgun can be seems to be causing a lot of the issues. Particularly if you actually shoot them on a regular basis.

I currently own a couple of M2.0 Compacts and used to own a Glock 19 and a Browning high power. All of which got shot on a regular basis and only failed when fed obviously bad ammo. They were reliable right out of the box and with every type ammo I tried.

My results with small 9mm guns has been mixed.

The Kahr PM9 I bought shortly after they came out worked great for a few hundred rounds and then started dropping magazines to a plastic magazine catch. Kahr sent me a metal replacement and the gun worked for about 500 rounds then started stovepiping or failing to feed. I new recoil spring helped but I sold it to someone that wanted it despite the issues.

The Glock 43 I replaced it with works well unless I try to use 147 grain JHP which occasionally jam on the feed ramp.

I bought a Sig P365 a couple of years after they came out and the initial problems had been supposedly had been corrected. After a few failures to return to battery during the first couple of magazines it worked great for few hundred rounds and theny started to fail to eject. I would get a double feed or the slide would lock back the empty case still in the chamber. Sig replaced the whole upper half of the gun and it has not failed since.

The Sig P365 XL has been reliable but the trigger is gritty and not as good as the other Sig. When new it also had a weird issue where if you try to check what the reset is like by dry firing the gun, holding the trigger back and pulling the slide it required so much force it was nearly impossible to do so. Didn't hurt reliability but seemed wrong. I don't shoot it any better than the smaller P365 and plan to sell it.

My Shield Plus has been reliable but came with a dead tritium capsule and the three extra 13 round magazines it came with would not drop free. S&W sent me a new sight and replaced the magazines but it was still disappointing.

There is a a limit to how light a conventional semi-auto handgun can be. The current micro 9s are pushing that limit pretty hard and are just not as reliable as larger guns. On the other end of the power spectrum larger handguns chambered in 10mm also seem to be pushing the limit. I have considered trying to carry my 2.0 Compact but its heavy enough I always seem to find an excuse not to. Despite the problems I am sticking with the smaller 9mm guns.

 

[Lee in Quartzsite]

I've owned my Shield Plus for over a year and carry it daily. I have countless rounds through it without one failure of any kind. I have utmost trust in the gun.

A week ago I traded my 4 year old Sig P-365 in on the new S&W Equalizer. So far I have about 200 rounds through the gun, again without one failure. The grip safety is a non-issue and I don't even think about it when shooting the gun. It also has less felt recoil compared to my Shield +, even with 135 grain +P ammo.

I traded the 365 because it had a few intermittent issues, mainly failing to lock back on the last round. The other reason is the arthritis in my 80 year old hands appreciate the ease of racking the slide on the Equailizer. It will be my EDC once I get another 100 rounds through the gun. The holsters for my Shield fit the Equalizer and the magazines are interchangeable...another plus for the gun.

 

[CouchPotato]

I've owned my Shield Plus for over a year and carry it daily. I have countless rounds through it without one failure of any kind. I have utmost trust in the gun.

A week ago I traded my 4 year old Sig P-365 in on the new S&W Equalizer. So far I have about 200 rounds through the gun, again without one failure. The grip safety is a non-issue and I don't even think about it when shooting the gun. It also has less felt recoil compared to my Shield +, even with 135 grain +P ammo.

I traded the 365 because it had a few intermittent issues, mainly failing to lock back on the last round. The other reason is the arthritis in my 80 year old hands appreciate the ease of racking the slide on the Equailizer. It will be my EDC once I get another 100 rounds through the gun. The holsters for my Shield fit the Equalizer and the magazines are interchangeable...another plus for the gun.

The first center fired gun I fired in my life, when I was 12, which was 1992, was a Smith & Wesson model 15 revolver from the early 1970's. Since then (until recently) I've held Smith & Wesson in very high regard.

I've owned my Shield 2.0 PC for going on 3 years and have carried it daily. I have thousands of rounds through it and easily 10k+ dry fires, all with no issues.

I upgraded to a Shield Plus PC for a slightly larger grip circumference and higher capacity. With a few range trips and cleaning after each, I had no issues. With another range trip, I had reached 500 rounds still with no issues so I decided it was ready to become my new EDC. I cleaned the gun and after reassembly, I began dry fire to function check. Something seemed off with the trigger pull and with a few more trigger pulls, the Shield Plus wouldn't fire, just a click and a pop. Something clearly was wrong. I disassembled it and found small bits of metal loose inside.

Long story made shorter...

After examining my new Shield Plus, my Shield 2.0, and another copy of the Shield Plus, I diagnosed the problem as a deformed trigger bar with a piece that sheered off the corner where it meets the sear.

I sent the Shield Plus to Smith & Wesson. They agreed that the problem was a bent trigger bar and they replaced it. When I got it back I immediately realized that the new trigger bar was also bent in exactly the same way.

When I called S&W, this time I encountered a customer service representative who had a bad attitude and hung up on me. So I called again, got a new RMA number, and sent it back to S&W along with notes and a picture of some cosmetic damage from tool marks that were left on my frame from the first repair.

Once the second repair was completed, when they created the shipment label, I immediately got an email from FedEx. I called them right away to see what the repair notes said. The customer service rep, a woman this time, told me that they replaced the striker and firing pin. Once I began to explain that the issue wasn't with the striker, she began interrupting me, raising her voice, and accused me of interupting her. I forget which one of us hung up on the other one.

I called back and got a different customer service rep to get a supervisor involved who then pulled it from shipping and put it through service again. That supervisor escalated it to the supervisor of their repair department who then personally examined my Shield Plus after the 3rd repair was completed.

Upon receiving it after the 3rd repair, they did replace the trigger bar with a good one, but that also comes with a new trigger shoe. I noticed that they didn't fix the tool marks they left from the first repair and that the new trigger wouldn't pull due to a stiff spring in the inertial safety. I called regarding the trigger and tool mark and encountered another customer service representative with a bad attitude who simply wanted to talk over me and yell, and then he hung up.

Afterwards I realized there was another issue which was that the safety plunger wouldn't reset on it's own. Naturally I called S&W again and I also brought up the subject of two defective 15rd magazines..

Despite my Shield Plus getting worse every time they touch it, it's now back at S&W for a fourth time and I've been told that the head of their engineering department as well as the head of their repair department are both working on it in order to make sure that it meets spec before it gets shipped back to me.

The newest, least experienced, and least sophisticated repair tech at S&W should be capable of ensuring that a gun meets spec before being sent back to a customer, but they don't. Furthermore, there should be some type of standards as well as accountability in their customer service department, but apparently there isn't.

The whole situation is unacceptable and inexcusable.

As it turns out, my situation is not unique. Many are having the same issues that I'm having with my Shield Plus and they're also having similar issues with S&W's customer service.

Unless something at Smith & Wesson changes, we'll continue watching a 171 year company with an iconic brand destroy itself. Sadly, we've seen that before.

 

[TM44]

It's tough to get good help.

 

[CouchPotato]

It's tough to get good help.

That can be resolved (much faster than what you'd think) by firing fast and then hiring slow, based on qualifications and cultural compatibility.

Edit: There are rumors, now perpetuated by the YouTuber named Chuke, of S&W pursuing diversity requirements over qualifications as their hiring practice. With some of the major institutional investors who are involved with S&W, there potentially is a grain of truth to the allegation.

I can only speculate on what's happening, however I do know that diversity based on gender and race can be achieved while maintaining standards of qualifications and cultural fitment. Involvement and outreach in the grass roots of the local customer base is necessary. Too many companies approach the topic of hiring as if they're throwing tomatoes against the wall in order to see which ones stick, which obviously sets the whole organization up for failure.

Based on my professional experience and the experiences I've had with S&W's customer service and repair department, I'd say their problems reach deep into the management culture and dogma of company policy.

There's a lack of accountability, minimum expectations are not enforced, and toxic employees appear to retain their employment with the company. Employees don't seem to be empowered to affect change and they cannot communicate across departments. Information doesn't seem to flow well and appears to get quashed in a very linear chain-of-command style communication path. All of that tends to manifest with low moral and creates an environment where employees just don't care and that's because they can't do anything about the problems they encounter.

There's simply no valid excuses for what we're seeing happen at S&W

 

[kbm6893]

Out with it, man. Don't hold back, tell us what you REALLY think!

I am sure reports of your post at S&W headquarters have already caused several suicides...

But they didn't use a Shield Plus. They'd still be here if they had.

My own has been flawless, although I admit I have only fired 400 rounds or so. All my own handloads. The magazine is tough to load but an Uplula solves that. After several cycles it gets way better.,

On MY Shield Plus, if I lock the slide to the rear without a magazine and no round in the chamber, the slide lock is very hard to use as a slide release. If the gun fires to empty on a empty mag, the slide lock works easily as a release. If I drop the magazine and then eject the round, the release is also very stiff. None of this matters to me since I use the slingshot method.

 

[TM44]

I don't think you appreciate how difficult it is these days to hire competent, willing to work staff. It takes time to train new employees. This is not confined to Smith & Wesson. Most companies can't find enough workers good or bad. You're living in a dream world if you think you can just fire and hire a problem away. Yes S&W has problems but I'm sure they're aware of them. These issues are more of a society that has deteriorated with far to many people with "I want everything free without any effort" attitude.

 

[CouchPotato]

I don't think you appreciate how difficult it is these days to hire competent, willing to work staff. It takes time to train new employees. This is not confined to Smith & Wesson. Most companies can't find enough workers good or bad. You're living in a dream world if you think you can just fire and hire a problem away. Yes S&W has problems but I'm sure they're aware of them. These issues are more of a society that has deteriorated with far to many people with "I want everything free without any effort" attitude.

If you say so...

In my opinion and in my experience, it starts with good leadership.

 

[556A2]

The first four points in this post make me wonder why? Semi-auto handguns should be a mature technology by now. What tweaks are being put into new designs that make them go wrong? Is it because of patent issues, or is it change for change's sake?

They are a mature technology now and I argue that firearms in general are leaps and bounds better today than even 23 years ago. Nearly every budget bolt-action rifle is 1MOA right out the box, quality AR-15s can be built for under $500 with parts significantly better than an off-the-shelf model, and all the major manufactures have polymer striker-fired pistols that can take abuse that would make the 1911/BHP into paperweights.

It breaks down into simple manufacturing defects which are still much lower compared to the good old days before CNC and the fact the consumer is conditioned to expect a $500 price point for a polymer SFA that can be ran over with a tank in the mud, dug out, and then shoot a case of ammo without lubricant. They are outfits that will make you a custom Glock & Wesson & Koch for twice or thrice the prices to remove the trigger slop, but even then it's a wash for what you actually get for glorified parts swappers, not craftsman gunsmiths which generally are not needed for modern firearms.

And in fairness, I have a Shield Plus with the angled optic cut that ran out of elevation on my RDS. My options are call S&W and demand a replacement OR slide that is machined correctly or I spend $90 for re-machined slide and Cerakote on the optic pocket. Either way, in less than a month, I'll have a fixed handgun that cost me $350 and is built so much better than the crud of yesteryear and support unlike the dubious surplus Eastern European service pistols that littered the pages of Shotgun News.

 

[Old cop]

I bought the M&P 2.0 Compact a few years ago from a friend and only use it for LEOSA qualification. No issues thus far but after reading through this thread I’m going to run a lot more rounds through it.

 

[CouchPotato]

I bought the M&P 2.0 Compact a few years ago from a friend and only use it for LEOSA qualification. No issues thus far but after reading through this thread I’m going to run a lot more rounds through it.

The M&P Compact, like the full size, is probably rock solid.

With the Shield Plus specifically, people should check two things. One is to make sure the trigger bar gets underneath the sear instead of just a corner to corner contact point. The other is to make sure the safety plunger can reset itself. To do that, just clear the gun, dry fire, go straight into slide lock, then pull the striker with your finger to see if it moves or if the plunger locked it back like it should.

Probably the plunger/striker block on all striker fired guns should be examined from time to time.

 

[CouchPotato]

After seeing multiple photos from multiple people, I added another to the list of known problems

Magazine Spacer Split In Half - On extended OEM magazines (more than 10rds) the plastic spacer above the base plate can split in half, even without being dropped.

 

[Well Armed]

After seeing multiple photos from multiple people, I added another to the list of known problems

Magazine Spacer Split In Half - On extended OEM magazines (more than 10rds) the plastic spacer above the base plate can split in half, even without being dropped.

I believe that's old news that has been fixed a long time ago.

 

[CouchPotato]

I believe that's old news that has been fixed a long time ago.

Yesterday in the private Facebook group called S&W Shield Plus a member created a thread with photos of his broken magazine... so it's either still happening or it's happening all over again. Numerous replies claim that the same happend to them.

On July 3rd on the forum called MP Pistol a user created a thread with photos showing the same problem.

 

[Spats McGee]

Huh. Interesting. I started carrying Shields around 2017 and have had 3 (a) a 1.0; (b) a 4" 2.0 PC .45; and (c) a Plus. The first was flawless, the second never would feed well enough for me to trust it for CC and the Plus took about 150 rounds to break in. After that, it's had no problems whatsoever. I ordinarily avoid "first edition" guns because I don't want to be a beta tester. On the Plus, though, I pretty much ran out and got one as soon as I could.

Of all the problems listed in the OP, though, the only one that I've seen consistently reported on any of the gun sites I haunt (primarily The Firing Line, The High Road, and GlockTalk) is that the last round is hard to load into the magazine. (I have that problem with my own mags.) I have seen occasional mentions of the slide stop being hard to operate, and also of retention pins walking out, but as I said, those have been "occasional mentions," not "consistent complaints."

 

[Well Armed]

Yesterday in the private Facebook group called S&W Shield Plus a member created a thread with photos of his broken magazine... so it's either still happening or it's happening all over again. Numerous replies claim that the same happend to them.

On July 3rd on the forum called MP Pistol a user created a thread with photos showing the same problem.

When did they purchase their examples though? Just because the post is recent doesn't mean that their examples were purchased recently or are recent stock. The July 3rd post you referenced was in 2022. The Shield Plus was released mid 2021. While I heard a handful of people say it happened to them, I recall seeing a thread or video of someone showing difference between the previous problematic mags that split and what S&W replaced it with......

I purchased my Shield Plus when they were doing a rebate back in 2022. I got the Bugout Bundle that came with the extra 13 round mags for a total of four, a bag, night sights, and optic cut. I have pics of the mags I received. I believe S&W was doing either $50 or $75 off or something like that as I only paid like $400.

Some of the mags I received have a flat matte finish and others a glossy finish to them. You can't really tell from the pics, but the two on the right are flat matte and the other two are more glossy. The difference is very noticeable in person.

As you can see, some of the followers crooked and the springs arw showing at varying amounts. This is from the factory.

The polymer follower on the mag on the bottom right only is being sratched and nicked up. The black squiggly line on the top left mag was there from the factory, but I'm not sure what it denotes.

I don't believe S&W manufacturers their own magazines. Most firearm manufacturers outsource magazine production. My guess is that what ever company or companies that was trying to keep up with demand dropped the ball. There's no way S&W can test each and every mag. The fact that the mags I recipe have different finishes (glossy and matte) leads me to believe the mags are being manufactured at different facilities.

 

[Well Armed]

Either way, I'm typically carrying my 686+ 2.5", Shield 45 PC, or Kahr K40. I don't trust or carry my the Shield Plus. My Shield 45 has been 100% except for the RSA which I plan of replacing with an aftermarket offering.

Either way, I'm typically carrying my 686+ 2.5", Shield 45 PC, or Kahr K40. I don't trust or carry my the Shield Plus. My Shield 45 has been 100% except for the RSA which I plan of replacing with an aftermarket offering.

The early 2014ish to 2019 Shield 1.0 and 2.0s 9mm and 40s&w had a strong reputation for trustworthiness and reliability. The Shield Plus, not so much. I believe part of the problem was COVID restrictions, being shorthanded, and having unprecedented demand. S&W manufactured over 2 million firearms out of mostly one facility in 2021.

 

[Ethang]

I bought the M&P 2.0 Compact a few years ago from a friend and only use it for LEOSA qualification. No issues thus far but after reading through this thread I’m going to run a lot more rounds through it.

I have had the 2.0 Compact since it was first announced so it's a VERY early one. Several thousand rounds no malfunctions at all and more accurate than my full size. I expect yours will be the same.

 

[Well Armed]

I have had the 2.0 Compact since it was first announced so it's a VERY early one. Several thousand rounds no malfunctions at all and more accurate than my full size. I expect yours will be the same.

I purchased a 2.0 4" Compact when they first came out too. I've only put about a box or so through it in several years, but I have faith in it. I've completely broken it down as well frame and all, and nothing stood out.

I honestly believe their Q/A on their semiautos started to suffer more than usual when they moved manufacturering facilities and with the increase in demand with COVID from early 2020 until today.