New M&P Shield 9 - Failure to Fire

[samlee1890]

Hey guys, I just bought my first M&P Shield 9 and I took it to the range right after I picked it up from my LGS.

Was super excited after waiting ten days... it was like christmas when I finally got to hold it in the shop.

Took it to the range and to my surprise... had many failure to fire. The staff told me it was because i was holding it little flimsy.. could be true.. but I was holding it the same way when I rented the Shield from the shop and it shot 100% perfectly.

He said its because it was broken in so it probably worked more smoothly.

Should I be worried? Is it because its just new and the slide isn't broken in yet? Read all these reviews about how the shield never has any FTF or FTE.

I would say 2/8 or 3/8 rounds would always fail to fire..

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[swsig]

Did you thoroughly clean and lube your Shield, following the owner's manual instructions, before going to the range? Did you use high-quality ammunition? Did you keep your thumb away from the slide catch so that it didn't interfere with the slide? Failure to do any of these may have led to your problems.

Shields are fine pistols, and you may be having some temporary break-in problems. Of course there is always a possibility that you got a lemon, but it's good to eliminate all other causes first. If you do that and problems persist, S&W is very good about standing behind their products, so don't hesitate to contact them.

Good luck with your new Shield!

 

[rwsmith]

Take your wrist out......

Take you wrist out of the equation by keeping it stiff throughout the shot and taking up the recoil more with your forearm. Limp-wristing changes the physical reaction of the slide and robs it of the inertia needed for a complete cycle by a 'dampening' effect, similar to a shock absorber.

Once you do that you can establish if something in the gun is keeping it from cycling smoothly and fully. Maybe it does need some 'breaking in'. Is it cleaned and properly lubed? If it isn't these problems there's a chance that there is really something wrong with the gun. Some semi autos can be picky about the type of ammo they will feed and eject reliably. Start with standard loads of full metal jacket ammo by major, well-known brands. No boutique, foreign, +P loads, just plain good ammo. The full metal jacket is the most reliable feeder in most semi autos.

 

[samlee1890]

Thanks guys! No sir - I did not clean or lube the gun. I just took it right out of the box to go to the range.

And the ammo I used was Remington UMC bulk ammo. It says its FMJ so hopefully that is good enough quality.

 

[armallard]

Did you thoroughly clean and lube your Shield, following the owner's manual instructions, before going to the range? Did you use high-quality ammunition? Did you keep your thumb away from the slide catch so that it didn't interfere with the slide? Failure to do any of these may have led to your problems.

Shields are fine pistols, and you may be having some temporary break-in problems. Of course there is always a possibility that you got a lemon, but it's good to eliminate all other causes first. If you do that and problems persist, S&W is very good about standing behind their products, so don't hesitate to contact them.

Good luck with your new Shield!

^^^ this... hope all works out for you

 

[caddy2507]

I personally do not like Remington UMC (dirty).

I would advise the following steps (I have a Shield and 3 other
M&Ps). They are all extremely reliable.

1 - Take apart and clean according to the manual.
2 - Purchase several types of hardball ammo to start
and use it to break the gun in:
PMC, Blaser Brass, Seller & Belloit (S&B is excellent and affordable).
3- Keep the pistol well lubed with an oil like Breakfree CLP, even
during your range sessions. Don't skimp on the oil during break in!

Once you run 2-300 rounds through it then you can get into more
defensive ammo such as: Hornady EXT, Corbon DPX, Speer Gold
Dots, etc.

I've been there and done that.

Good luck and keep on trying!!

 

[Ranger17]

the cleaning part missed likely played a role; as well as potential grip, form, etc as you get used to the gun and it is broken in.
As for UMC ammo, I have ran almost 3k rounds thru my full size and compact MP 9's with near all that ammo used split between UMC and Blazer Brass (115fmj's). And now over 300 rounds thru my new Shield (PC model) again split between those 2 brands. Not 1 issue at all over that 3000+ rounds.
Guess it is possible for some reason that your Shield doesn't "like" the UMC ammo but from my experiences it is good range ammo.
But one can always pick up a box of Blazer, try a box of Herters if near a Cabelas, and so on for some comparisons.

 

[Shield9mm]

that's not acceptable, doesn't matter if it is new (unbroken) or you didn't lube it before shooting, that's not an excuse for the gun not to fire. have some body else to shoot it and if it keeps failing contact s&w.

 

[redwood0_7]

I don't think your grip would have anything to do with pistol not firing. That would be more likely to cause failure to eject. Probably needs a good cleaning.

 

[Radco]

I agree with Red a poor grip will not make it NOT go bang! Sometime there is way too much left over grease in the gun/Striker area and just gunk from manufacturing ! Try a Good cleaning and Try different ammo it is a slim chance you have hard primers on some rounds ! So grab a box of another brand and burn em.. Even if it does work fine still field strip and clean the gun that is not yourself :O

 

[Stetto]

Samlee, my Shield 9 was purchased this last Spring and has failed to fire not even once, though I don't think I've gotten to 500 rounds yet. My range/plinking ammo is reman 124 gr. from Freedom Munitions, and the ONLY issues I have are a stiff slide spring and my shooting technique has me low and left at 20 yards. I can only suggest a tear down, cleaning and fresh lube. After that if you're still having issues maybe find a smith who can inspect the gun.

Good luck! I love my Shield!!

 

[msjdgman]

My best educated guess to the failures to fire is the lack of a proper cleaning and lubing prior to shooting it. I have gone straight from the lgs a couple of times myself, and that's when I encountered issues...failure to feed, failure to return to battery, failure to fire, you name it. But never have I had any issues with a gun that had the proper care prior to it's first range trip. ymmv.