New .40 Shield Jamming

[fstkmaro]

Hi all, I searched through the forum and although I found good information on other issues with the shield .40, I did not find any regarding what I am seeing with my brand new gun. I purchased this gun this past weekend, I took it home and cleaned it using the typical Hoppe's and some remington oil. I then took it to the range and using the 7 round mag, I had several FTFs. In these, the spent case cleared every time but the new case would get stuck as if the tip of the round was hitting the top of the chamber on the barrel.



I took it to the range today with the 6rd mag and had the same situation. I suspect and hope that it is a breaking situation but I had a 9mm shield before and had none of this happen to that one nor have I had a similar problem with my M&P .40 or M&P 9mm full size guns.

Anyways, any suggestions will be appreciated. I really would like this gun to work out as the only other small ultra-concealable gun that I have is a P230 which I don't really care much for, its just a pretty gun
I will clean the gun again and head out to the range sometime this week.

 

[rsrocket1]

Push the back side of the extractor with a dowel or dull pencil tip and see if it pivots freely. You may have left some packing grease residue in there and it is not moving freely.

You can also push the extractor back and forth on the breech side to make sure it moves freely and there is no "gunk" on the extractor claw.

Does the FTF's happen with both magazines? Did you push down the followers to make sure they aren't binding?

 

[Well Armed]

Hi all, I searched through the forum and although I found good information on other issues with the shield .40, I did not find any regarding what I am seeing with my brand new gun. I purchased this gun this past weekend, I took it home and cleaned it using the typical Hoppe's and some remington oil. I then took it to the range and using the 7 round mag, I had several FTFs. In these, the spent case cleared every time but the new case would get stuck as if the tip of the round was hitting the top of the chamber on the barrel.



I took it to the range today with the 6rd mag and had the same situation. I suspect and hope that it is a breaking situation but I had a 9mm shield before and had none of this happen to that one nor have I had a similar problem with my M&P .40 or M&P 9mm full size guns.

Anyways, any suggestions will be appreciated. I really would like this gun to work out as the only other small ultra-concealable gun that I have is a P230 which I don't really care much for, its just a pretty gun
I will clean the gun again and head out to the range sometime this week.

Did you try different ammo as well?

 

[gunny4053]

What ammo were you shooting? Ball, HPs, flat nose? Maybe try some different ammo. Then, give this a try.

Remove the slide from the pistol. Then try and slide a cartridge case up the breech face and under the extractor claw. You're looking for any burrs or bends that may prevent the new cartridge from seating, including the area where the breech face and the back wall of the slide meet. Also, check the feed ramp and chamber throat for machine marks or burrs that could impede the new cartridge from entering the chamber. A little polishing in these areas may provide a solution.

Good Luck and good shooting.

 

[RalphMP9FS]

The inside top barrel hood has machine marks that can impede feeding IMO. Smith and Wesson is really dropping the ball on this one. It should not be necessary to polish anything with a new pistol. My FS 9 runs fine after 400 rounds through it, but that was not disclosed in the owners manual.

 

[Well Armed]

The inside top barrel hood has machine marks that can impede feeding IMO. Smith and Wesson is really dropping the ball on this one. It should not be necessary to polish anything with a new pistol. My FS 9 runs fine after 400 rounds through it, but that was not disclosed in the owners manual.

As a Shield 40 owner and as the OP has mentioned, this is a rare and new problem that is not really common. If Smith and Wesson did drop the ball with the Shield 40 barrel design, one would think that several other people would have this same exact problem, so it would be well documented.

I'd look at the ammo first then move from there. What ammo are you using OP? I noticed that the writing on the box i in different language.

 

[RalphMP9FS]

I meant the entire M&P series, not just the 40 Shield. This fail to feed issue is more common than you think. Several law enforcement agencies have suspended or discontinued use of the M&P for this very reason.

As a Shield 40 owner and as the OP has mentioned, this is a rare and new problem that is not really common. If Smith and Wesson did drop the ball with the Shield 40 barrel design, one would think that several other people would have this same exact problem, so it would be well documented.

I'd look at the ammo first then move from there. What ammo are you using OP? I noticed that the writing on the box i in different language.

 

[bunkshaner]

Shooting "limp wristed" will also cause that to happen. My kids and I shot 300 rounds out of my .45 m&p yesterday. If my kids were limp wristing it would happen. Which ended up being a good training tool for my kids. Because once I explained why and how they never did it again and didn't have any other issues

 

[Dikinalaska]

Maybe they just started closing up the chamber a little after all the complaints of loose chambers and KB's? Maybe we got what we asked for lol. But in all seriousness I'd agree with seeing what kind of ammo you have first. I've never had ammo-related feeding issues with any of the ammo I've tried, but than again I've never had that ammo before either.


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[Muss Muggins]

Have somebody else shoot it . . . .

 

[ca survivor]

Remington oil is the lowest choice, in oil, that I would use.

 

[fstkmaro]

Hi all, thanks for the many responses and suggestions. I was using the Aguila 180gr FMJ. This ammo is not a regular for me but was what was available at my LGS at the time of pick up. For the most part I try to shoot Winchester white box when I go out to the range on my M&P 40 but also never have had issues on that gun with this ammo. I will give it another shot with different ammunition for sure.

Bunkshaner-- thanks for the reply, no limp wrists here, the Lord blessed me with some catcher mitts for hands LOL and I always watch my discipline. Note that I don't have this problem with none of my other guns and that includes USP .40, M&P .40 full size, a couple of 9mms .380 etc.

Gunny 4053-- Thanks for the reply. What I noticed with the jammed round is that it does get jammed even before the round reaches the extractor. It is like it gets stuck as soon as the action starts pushing the round into the chamber. Note that this happens with the small magazine also. The times this happened, the round had not reached the extractor. The feed ramp looks OK and the rounds pretty much get past it when it happens.

Well Armed and RS Rocket-- Thanks for the replies. I have not yet tried different ammunition in this gun and will do so this weekend when I return to the range. I will also inspect the operation and appearance of the extractor.

Again, thanks very very much for your help on this. I have purchased many guns since getting my permit and this is the only one that has shown this problem. Granted, I tried only this type of ammo which is arguably not the best there is but it is factory ammo and that has to count for something
I will report progress once I get back to the range.
Thanks again.

jd

 

[Nomadic Vagabond]

This sounds like the same issue I had with my Shield 40. The ammo didn't matter and I wasn't limp-wristing either.

Long story short, I had to send it back to S&W twice to get it perfect. At first they polished the feed ramp and swapped the guide rod spring - worked better but still not perfect. Second time they replaced my barrel altogether.

Works like a charm, no issues whatsoever and eats everything - even when I intentionally one-hand limp-wrist. Would trust it with my life now.

Still, kinda irked me that I needed to send it back not once, but twice, to a company whose been making guns for 162 years to get it right.

Send it back to S&W and ask them to replace the barrel and guide rod spring. Specifically ask them to not simply polish the feed ramp as a remedy, you want the barrel and the spring replaced.

 

[Dikinalaska]

Did you check the inside of your chamber for any machining marks or deformities? If you end up sending it back, will you take the barrel out and get a picture of a round in the chamber to see how tight it is? A before and after you send it in (assuming they change the barrel) to see if the chamber dimensions change might help. Not saying it's really the cause of your issue, but after the KB's as of late I wonder if they've started changing them at all.


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[H Richard]

If this happens that frequent with ball ammo, I would recommend doing what Nomadic Vagabond did, send it back to S&W with a complete description of when, how, and how often and with what ammo this happens. Call them for a return label.

 

[71velle]

My Shield 9 did not run well at first, tried different oil and ammo made sure I was not limp wresting for no change. After 400 or so rounds the issues went away.

 

[Fastbolt]

The last couple of brand new Shield 40's I've seen come through our range have run boringly reliable using our 180gr Remington HPJ/Golden Sabre duty ammo.

If it were me, I'd try different ammo (meaning something made by one of the major American ammo companies), and check the recoil spring assembly (protruding spring ends, seating in gun, etc).

When you start running reduced slide length (and slide travel) pistols that can have increased slide velocities, with captured recoil spring assemblies using more than 1 spring, it's apparently not uncommon to see the little guns be somewhat "less tolerant" of both ammo influences (especially power levels) and shooter issues (unlocked wrists, even if you have huge hands).

I don't use Rem Oil for any of my pistols. Maybe on one of my folding or fixed blade knives, now and again.

If the problem continues to occur when using different ammo, I'd call and ask them for a different recoil spring assembly, or just let them have the gun under warranty.

BTW, sometimes a case rim can 'bounce back' off the extractor during a feeding stoppage, and look like it never reached the extractor. This can complicate diagnosis if that's all someone may be focusing on when trying to trouble-shoot a particular gun. This may occur if a case has a rim that's a bit on the overly generous end of normal tolerances (I've been told by S&W).

Might also be a magazine issue at times. Have you cleaned the mags, checking for any excessive amount of packing oil that's hardened? If round movement (upward) is slowed by excessive oil/goo, feeding "timing" can be adversely affected when a round doesn't get exactly up under the lips in the right timing to be picked up & stripped from them.

These little guns have some tight recoil spring assemblies, though.

Just some thoughts.

 

[emory]

Strip it and re-seat the recoil spring. Pull the slide back by hand and make sure it goes all the way back without binding. Do it numerous times. It should come back far enough to lock open on an empty magazine.

Also, try unloading a full magazine by pushing the cartridges out with your thumb. If they 'nose dive', you may need to disassemble the magazine and flip the spring around under the follower. Push down on the nose of the top bullet. It should be firm.

 

[fstkmaro]

Update

Hi all, I wanted to thank you all for the comments and suggestions. I wanted to provide a quick update.

The other night I took the gun apart and inspected it for any imperfections or deformities on the barrel assembly. I could not find any and comparing it to my M&P 40 chamber, they looked very similar.

So, I again scrubbed the entire gun using hoppes 9. I did notice some type of residue in the chamber that was a bit difficult to remove. I used a brass brush to do this and it all came off.

I also re-lubed the gun entirely using frog lube. I did not have anything else worth using so I decided to give this a try. It has an interesting smell. Anyways, I put the gun together and took it to the range tonight.

I used the american eagle 165gr fmj ammo this time. I was able to run an entire 50rd box without a single failure this time. I did not have any of the original ammo left over to compare but I was pleased by the experience tonight.

Anyways, I feel 50rds is not good assurance but it looks promising. I will keep trying and see how it goes.

One thing I noticed is that the slide spring on my M&P .40 is much lighter than that on the shield. Other than that, I could not tell any other difference.

Hopefully I will be seeing what to do with the trigger as this is the MA compliant model and this gun is definitely stiff.

Once again, thank you very much for the comments and suggestions, it is nice to be here in this forum. I will post any developments later.

regards,

jd

 

[Rpg]

Send it to S&W !!

Many of these work:

Some don't.

I wouldn't be confident with this pistol for sd.

It could turn out to be a fun paper target pistol: but never a sd weapon I'd want.

Too many pistols that work out there to fuss with this one.

Just my opinion, of course.