MP Shield .40 blowing up???

So you don't like S&W because hot ammo blew your gun up and they won't fix it free? Why should they? S&W didn't make the ammo.

It's an interesting question, Smith makes a weapon that is 99.9999% safe, and the ammo manufacturers make a product that is 99.9999% safe, so when you get that one in 1 million convergence, it's going to be hard to get anyone to pay for it, buyer beware.
 
When ever I hear about a "Ka-boom", the first thing I think is bad ammo, usually a reload. Unless there is a fundamental flaw in the design of a weapon, which would be plastered all over the net in short order - It almost always the ammo, or an obstructed bore.

Larry


Same here... Soon as I hear another pistol(or rifle) had a Ka-Boom, my 1st question, was it shooting reloads???
 
Smith & Wesson engineers said they found problems with my Shield and they did replace it. I don't shoot hot ammo!
 
Seems to me that every blow-up has one thing in common. Winchester ammo.

Mine didn't.

It was HMR. I posted the pictures here.

I read a while back that they were having problems with some Shield 40s lighting off rounds slightly out of battery. Which would without a doubt stress the back of the case and cause a potential blow out situation. In fact I'm sure I've read at least one or two posts on here about guns FRB'ing. They were old posts though. One guy wrote a kaboom post on a Shield 40 and when he posted the pictures the gun clearly lit the cartridge off out of battery. There was a good bit of case sticking out the back of the chamber and every bit of exposed brass had blown away. There was just a tiny sliver at the top of the case holding the case head on still and the gun was completely destroyed. As everyone else has said this is few and far between but it does happen. Reading all the posts and internet hoopla made me decide to purchase the Shield 9 last year just to avoid any issues.

Sounds like mine, except that the pistol wasn't destroyed.
 
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sorry guys, but sometimes I really wonder about the validity of some of the stuff I see on these forums..

Every month or so the same old claims come up. It's like deja vu... IMHO, if there was an issue, it would be present in the thousands of Shield 40s already sold instead of only in the amount of cases that can be counted on one or two hands. More than likely, the shooters used a hot load...
 
What I find odd is Shield 40 owners reading and posting they are getting rid of their's because they're afraid of them blowing up, but yet I never see any extra mags for sale in the classifieds section...and we all know 2 mags are never enough so most everyone buys several spares...WHERE ARE ALL OF THESE SPARES?...are they keeping them as memento's?? I am constantly watching the Classified's of several gun forums and never see Shield 40 mags for sale...the occasional holster yes, but not mags!
 
The gunsmith at my LGS told me that he would not recommend buying a Shield in .40 but that the standard M&P FS or compact .40 was a better choice. I don't remember any specifics from his reasoning... just thought I would mention it. As mentioned earlier, I'm sure a "kaboom" can happen with any gun, any caliber, etc.
 
You know, I have read these threads on several different forums and some people continually either question the posters with the problems or even "attack" them.

Well, it is never a problem until it happens to you.

I don't know what happened to these guns or why they blew up, but I appreciate someone posting that it has happened.

Each person can then decide whether they want to believe it or take it with a grain of salt.

For me, I have decided to only use 165gr or less in my Shield 40 and no Winchester white box. No reloads, but I never use reloads, anyway. I might use them if I reloaded them, but I don't reload.
 
Just bought my shield last week in 9mm.I almost bought a 40 but after a lot of thought went with the 9mm.Kabooms had nothing to do with me selecting the 9mm.I do have to say the shield is very thin.I will use +P ammo but not +P+ for that reason.I do think after reading here they may be something wrong with the shields in 40.Maybe the chamber is supported less in some barrels than others.But than again i cant believe smith would keep makeing it if they thought there was a problem? I do think glock is best in 9 or 40 for hot ammo.My 19 glock has always lived on +P+ 9 and my 27 in 40 has run some of the hotest 40 with no problems.But than again they are thicker and stronger build than a shield i do think
 
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But than again i cant believe smith would keep makeing it if they thought there was a problem?

From my reading on this forum, several manufacturers have made 40s that have chambers with less than ideal support. (Glock included)

The sentence I quote above is the key. S&W is not going to knowingly mass produce a firearm that has a problem. The kabooms are due to bad ammo. Those rounds ruin an otherwise excellent firearm that functions safely as S&W designed it. If they produced them with known problems, then the number of kabooms would be high where less-stout rounds were blowing them up.
 
I've been following this subject for months, literal months.

So far, from what I've gathered, I've only been able to "prove" 6 actual kabooms posted online. It seems the same person has posted on at least a dozen forums. His pictures are regurgitated all over the net.

Of the 6 cases I've found, 4 were proven caused by reloads, and one was speculated to be caused by bullet set back. The other is a mystery as he posted once and dropped off the internet.

-edit-

The information I've posted pertains ONLY to the shield .40 cal.
 
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