Recoil guide rod question on a Shield 45

Don~Z~

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Is this normal? I have been shooting my shield 45 since October, I have 1500 rounds through it. It has performed flawlessly, no exaggeration, flawlessly... if this is normal then I am gonna keep on shooting, it's my EDC and I need it to perform very well...
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Take a look at the face of the "rotating take down lever" where the end of the recoil guide rod sets when assembled. See if there is a bump or some casting slag on it, if there is it may need filed flat to the face. None of the 4 M&P's I have show that kind of wear.
 
There was a casting mark on my take down lever that needed to be filed off.
 
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So this is the best pic that I can upload, it is the rotating take down lever... i looked at it as best that I could and it seems like it is flat, could that little circle mark be the culprit?


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My phone camera kind of sucks, if that casting mark is causing wear on the recoil guide rod... should I email S&W or not even worry about it?


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Something is gouging the disk on the end of the RSA and that's not normal.

Does the take-down lever feel smooth when you run your finger over it? If not, it may be the culprit and a quick couple of passes with a flat file might fix it. But you'll still have a gouged up disk on the RSA, whether that bothers you or not.

Another area to check is the place on the barrel where the disk of the RSA rests when it's assembled. It should also be smooth. If it isn't, I'd leave the barrel fixing to S&W.

Either way if you call customer service they will more than likely send you a return shipping label to send it back to them for evaluation/repair. It sucks having to be without your pistol during that time, but at least it will be fixed correctly.
 
New shield 45 owner here...first 100 shot today...gun ran perfect.. I also own 9mm shield... my RSA is showing the start of the same marks?? The RSA doesn't seem to have too much "pressure" holding it in place... my other pistols sure seem a lot tighter.. is this normal for the 45??
 
Shot my Shield 45 today. After the first 50 rounds, this is what I see. The round circle on the upper left flat is actually an impression of some sort. I can feel it. Looks like it's were it was cut off a tree...like plastic model parts.

Is that how they make these?

I'm going to polish it a bit.

9aa53a24f9272cba15bc7ea0e898a275.jpg


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Shot my Shield 45 today. After the first 50 rounds, this is what I see. The round circle on the upper left flat is actually an impression of some sort. I can feel it. Looks like it's were it was cut off a tree...like plastic model parts.

Is that how they make these?

I'm going to polish it a bit.

9aa53a24f9272cba15bc7ea0e898a275.jpg


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That is what I filed off of mine
 
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Update! So this is what Smith and Wesson says about this...
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lol, a couple of options then are, call back and speak to a different CS person and see if they'll send you a return label and send it to them and let them physically look at it. The other option is to make sure the flat face doesn't have anything protruding from it and if it does take a flat file and file it smooth like snuf said he did.

Or, just leave it be. The depth of the gouge in the disk on the RSA doesn't appear to be that deep so I doubt it will cause any problems, but is definitely something to monitor.
 
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If the people that built the gun say it's cosmetic and nothing to worry about, then why worry about it?

If you can't trust the people that built the gun, then you better find a different gun!
 

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