Re-Assembly of 7rnd .45 Shield Magazine

I just went through the process of cleaning the 7-round mag and after about 30 minutes of head scratching and cursing I got it back together correctly. If you are mechanically challenged don't disassemble the magazine, take it to your LGS and let them clean it for you.
 
Could you tell me whether the "arms" of the interior plate are supposed to be inside the magazine tube, or on the outside like pictured in the owners manual?
 
I just got off the phone with S&W customer service, and I got the feeling that they didn't know how the 7 round mag is designed...he asked me if the "dimple" on the floorplate catch was facing correctly. The 6 round catch might have a dimple, but I'll be hanged if I'm going to take that magazine apart to see.
 
By the way, no luck in assembling the thing out in the garage...I don't think if I had 6 hands I'd be able to assemble this cursed magazine.

I'll try S&W again later today.

Thanks again.
 
Bonephish said:
The "arms" go outside the tube and they retract into the floorplate when slid into place.
Click to expand...

Correct. When the baseplate is slid into position the arms will tend to tilt towards the front of the front of the magazine. Pull the arms rearward and they'll snap in and retract into the baseplate.

Once you've done it a few times you'll get the knack of sliding the baseplate and the holding the arms in just the right manner for them to pop into place together.

A Qwik-Clamp makes a good "third hand" for the procedure if one lacks vise.

An incredibly stupid design that complicates the normally simple task of cleaning and maintaining one's magazines. Many users may want to simply adopt a cleaning procedure using a polymer-safe aerosol pressure blast product.
 
Success!

sonofthebeach said:
I thought that a rolled narrow piece of the flat metal was supposed to slide into the first turn of the spring, when apparently it wasn't attached to the spring at all.

When I put it together without the attachment, the floor plate finally slid over the stainless ledges of the bottom of the magazine tube.
Click to expand...

Thank you, sonofthebeach! I made the same mistake, and leaving the spring unattached solved it for me too!
 
I tell you what. That 7 round magazine for the shield 45 is no joke...lol It drove me nuts for a little while. I finally got it back together and you have to line it up just right for the backplate to go on.
 
Sorry for the late reply. I took the mag to a local gunsmith, and he got the thing together. I don't think I could do it myself.

The YouTube video is helpful, except that the magazine used is more or less a commonly available design that I'm used to taking apart and putting together. The Shield 7 rounder has that cursed metal part that I'm having trouble with.

The one thing that the YouTube video does very well is stress the importance of cleaning magazines once in a while since they can also get gunked up over time, and it's very easy to never take them apart since the insides aren't visible (out of sight, out of mind).

Thanks for all who helped me with this.
 
Last edited:
Lee in Quarzite, while I was editing my last reply, I noticed you added videos that are available that will definitely help me with the Shield mag.

I started a thread early this morning in which I brought up another problem with my pistol...I'm having problems with the slide locking open after one or two rounds successfully firing and ejecting, leaving the 2nd or 3rd round in the magazine never moving up into chambering position.

I already sent the pistol to S&W for this, and the problem still exists. I am happy with S&W's service...they picked up the tab on the freight, even if they apparently aren't aware of the problem so they can fix it.

Thanks again everybody.
 
I found myself cursing myself for disassembling my two 7 round mags last week! took me an hour to figure it out, the trick mentioned here removing the metal piece from the spring did the trick for me. immediately went together after that

Sent from my S7 Edge on Tapatalk
 
Lee in Quarzite, while I was editing my last reply, I noticed the additional videos at the end of the first one that will definitely help me with the Shield 7 rounder mag.

I started a thread early this morning in which I brought up another problem with my pistol...I'm having problems with the slide locking open after one or two rounds successfully firing and ejecting, leaving the 2nd or 3rd round in the magazine never moving up into chambering position.

I already sent the pistol to S&W for this, and the problem still exists. I am happy with S&W's service...they picked up the tab on the freight, even if they apparently aren't aware of the problem so they can fix it.

Thanks again everybody.
 
I gotta ask this. No disrespect intended, but WHY do you take apart brand new magazines? In over 50 years of shooting, the only magazines I have taken apart were 10-22 magazines after thousands of rounds.
 
Why do you guys all feel like you need to take your mags apart. Do they drop in mud and get stepped on? I only take mags apart when I've REALLY gotten them dirty.

Not criticizing, just curious.
 
Re-assembly of 7rnd .45 Shield Magazine

Put it back as you took it out, after cleaning. As you see the two metal forks on the side of the mag, they are slanted toward the front of the mag. You have to use a scratch-awl or ice-pick that is very narrow, push it up into the hole in the bottom of the baseplate, when it pushed the metal with the fork attached, parallel to the baseplate, it will snap into place. Dealing with these magazines I wonder why I clean them so often, habit I guess. They are very poorly designed. I bought my Shield for Christmas, just tried it out, shoots great, but the extended mag is better, but I had trouble with both magazines. The smaller one the dimple inside to lock the mag, doesn't match with the baseplate, got to go to the manufacturer
 
I had a heck of a time getting my extended mag together too. If I ever take it apart again I will drill a small hole through the bottom of the plastic floor plate, after its apart, so a small punch can be inserted to hold the front of the metal plate down in front. I think that would force the little arms in position so it all can slip in place. One hole is not enough to push the metal plate down without the front end popping up and not letting the arms be in the correct position.
 
I had to remove the bottom steel plate from the spring to get it back together, I wrestled with it for 2 days lol, before I saw that tip on this forum

Sent from my Galaxy S7 Edge on Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Push back on prongs

Talking to Smith-Wesson once floorplate is on the 45 7 round magazine and pushed all the way back. The prongs are to be pushed backwards and they will retract into the floorplate due to the pressure from the spring. They slide back into the grooves.
I had one of two with the reassembly problem.
Then troubleshooting the issue on the other one ended up with the same problem. So now I have two magazines not useable. While talking to support one actually sprung back, really surprised me when it happened.
I also had a slide release problem with the 45 Shield in which two hands could not get the slide release to work and had to send it back. So I iincluded all the magazines. Before I boxed them, that second one snapped back in place, but this shouldn't be so hard for cleaning etc..
I also had hard time getting more than 3 rounds into those magazines without my UPLULA, very stiff springs. Never had this much trouble with rounds except for the last 1 or2 rounds.
But this is what I found to share.
 
To get the baseplate off you push the springplate in and the "forks" pop out at an angle and the baseplate can now be removed. Easy peezy.

Slide the base plate off, and yes the springplate on the spring IS threaded on the spring.

To reassemble push the spring thru the magazine (only goes one way)....push the springplate down into position with the forks on the outside of the magazine, slide the baseplate back on and all the way back and you see the "forks" angled (just as you did when you initially pushed the baseplate to get it all off). Now with one hand hold the front nose of the baseplate on, pushing backwards, and use a screwdriver to slide one of the forks backwards, this will line both "forks" up straight and it will spring load back into the grooves in the base plate. Baseplate is now locked on. DONE.

Super easy once you get the hang of it. Dumb *** design.

Pics if you need.
 
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