Shield 40 Mishap

[turbo38gn]

My first call would have been to S&W, not the internet.. just saying. I've bought more new and used S&W than I can list here. Never had a problem out of the box with any of them. I shoot em out of the box after an inspection. If there are no problems, I don't worry..

 

[turbo38gn]

By the way, stop blaming S&W, they didn't tell you to keep shooting it..

 

[2001gmc]

By the way, stop blaming S&W, they didn't tell you to keep shooting it..

I don't guess I'm blaming anyone. I been pretty positive through this whole thing. I'm just patiently waiting for federal to get back with me. By the way you will be seeing another one of these on here but much worse than mine. I was contacted and told not to discuss it on the forum and I'm not. You will see it soon stay tuned. Shield 40 BOOOMMMMMMMM!

 

[2001gmc]

I will tell you what really grinds my gears about this whole thing. I showed this to a few people before I sent it in. Every single one of them said it clearly shows it fired out of battery. I'm talking about the people that seen it in person not the pictures.

 

[Rastoff]

2001gmc,
You have indeed been gracious and patient with us. I'm glad you've stuck with this thread.

The most difficult thing with this is that it was an out of battery (OOB) discharge. This can be caused by many things. In fact, an OOB is not caused by the ammo. If S&W told Federal that they thought it was an OOB, why would they assume responsibility? If they find that the round was loaded to factory specs, I would expect them to do nothing.

In fact, it's entirely possible that it's neither of their fault.

The key clue to me is that this was a progressive problem. It got worse and worse until you had the OOB. This leads me to believe something was building up in the chamber or breech face.

The big issue is, if it was an OOB, why did it fire? I mean, the gun can't fire when OOB. Did it fire when you pulled the trigger or before?

 

[2001gmc]

2001gmc,
You have indeed been gracious and patient with us. I'm glad you've stuck with this thread.

The most difficult thing with this is that it was an out of battery (OOB) discharge. This can be caused by many things. In fact, an OOB is not caused by the ammo. If S&W told Federal that they thought it was an OOB, why would they assume responsibility? If they find that the round was loaded to factory specs, I would expect them to do nothing.

In fact, it's entirely possible that it's neither of their fault.

The key clue to me is that this was a progressive problem. It got worse and worse until you had the OOB. This leads me to believe something was building up in the chamber or breech face.

The big issue is, if it was an OOB, why did it fire? I mean, the gun can't fire when OOB. Did it fire when you pulled the trigger or before?

It fired when I pulled the trigger as far as I can remember. I just remember I was firing like a round a second and on the 3rd round it didn't go boom like a normal round sounds down the pipe. I mainly felt it in my hands and arms. The best way to describe the sound is maybe throwing a fire cracker in a trash can and putting the lid on it. More of a clunk than a boom. Like hitting a piece of steel with a sledge hammer sound. What pisses me off I was assured by smith it was nothing I done. It was either the gun or the ammo and it would be replaced. I guess we shall see.

 

[hangnoose]

"A SQUIB BLEW UP MY BUDDY'S GUN"?

Squibs don't blow up guns, it's shooters that don't recognize one, stop & check things out, & fire again. It's the next round that does the damage.

 

[worm5932]

I posted about it here in the forums. Was told to keep shooting it at least 300-500 rounds that the springs were stiff in such a small pistol. Also was told to keep the slide locked back all night one night to help weaken it up. Well guess what? I did. BOOOOOOM!

mine had a couple FTE and was very difficult to chamber a round. I contacted the gunsmith listed in my owners manual and was told the same thing, at least 300-500 rounds and leave the slide locked back until it cleared up. it made huge changes in operation in those first few hundred rounds. works great now.

 

[Thump-boom]

...... rarely accomplishes anything except cost you time and money. Yes, I know, it is cheap and easy......to file. What is not cheap and easy is the flood of paper that a large company will dump on you and each piece of paper will have to have a lawyer for the reply. And then there will be more paper and more cost.

Somehow, people have the idea that a small claims filing will bring huge companies to their knees and have them begging to fill your pockets. It does not happen. Ever.

And the 2nd point- getting a judgement from small claims court, or any other court for that matter, does not mean someone will pay the judgement. Most don't and then you have to spend more money for garnishments, skip tracers, process servers, etc., to try to get your money. Getting your judgement and getting your money are two very different things.

The whole point of small claims court is you don't need a lawyer, if they don't show up in court then they forfeit by being a no show. I suspect for this amount of money they (either S&W or Federal) will just agree to settle out of court with you. For $600 - $1,000 it does not make sense for them to go to the trouble of a court appearance. Just something to think about

 

[Toddgotfish]

Totally agree with above post. You don't need a lawyer. And when the court date is set, call your local television station and tell them you have a story for them. If anything I bet they bring the gun to court.

 

[Rastoff]

All you guys saying he should file in small claims need to stop. He's already said he's not going to do that.

Besides, do any of you have any idea how to do it or what it will cost? I'll bet my paycheck you don't. First of all, the claim must be filed where the defendant lives. This means he'd have to file it in Springfield. That means at least two trips from AR; one to file and another for the court date. How much will that cost? What about the time involved? And, yes, the plaintiff must be there in person or the case will not be heard.

I don't claim to know the whole system, but this one aspect alone would run me more than the gun was worth. Then there's court fees which will be at least $30. Then, if he wins, how will he collect? The courts don't do that for you.

See? Y'all need to just give it up. You don't know what you're talking about. All those who are adamant about, "I'd take them to court! " are just full of internet hot air. Stop pounding your chest and leave the guy alone. He's done everything a reasonable person can do.

Oh yeah, one more tidbit. It's not that you don't need a lawyer for small claims, you aren't allowed to have one. Neither does the defendant "forfeit" by not showing. If the defendant doesn't show, it just means his side won't be heard. That can certainly help, but it doesn't stop the judge from finding in their favor.

 

[Toddgotfish]

I have taken an out of state co to small claims before. The defendant showed up. Judge urged us to work it out which we did in less than 5 minutes. They paid. Cost me 35 bucks. Well worth it to me. I was only agreeing with the other persons post. This is only my experience and I am in no way offering legal advice. Do what you want.

 

[2001gmc]

Guys no need to argue about legal advice. It will never happen from me unless its a very bad situation. I'm just waiting patiently for Federal to contact me I expect it to be after the first sometime.

 

[ginzo]

Just read through this thread. Glad you are safe and well.

Just to add some info about Federal ammo. I chose Guard dog 165gr (I think) as my SD ammo. They were loaded in a magazine and 1 shell was chambered. After a few weeks, I wanted to try my Uplula and unloaded the mag. This is what I found.

I called Federal, they were gracious, sent a tag for ammo, sent more replacement ammo than I returned to compensate me for my issue. Never got back with them to find out what might be the problem, but the replacement ammo did exactly the same thing.

I sent it all down the range, it all went bang, and I switched to another brand of SD ammo.

No other brand of ammo I have used did anything like this.

 

[Toddgotfish]

BTW rastoff, where is that paycheck you bet?

 

[sdustin]

Just read through this thread. Glad you are safe and well.

Just to add some info about Federal ammo. I chose Guard dog 165gr (I think) as my SD ammo. They were loaded in a magazine and 1 shell was chambered. After a few weeks, I wanted to try my Uplula and unloaded the mag. This is what I found.

I called Federal, they were gracious, sent a tag for ammo, sent more replacement ammo than I returned to compensate me for my issue. Never got back with them to find out what might be the problem, but the replacement ammo did exactly the same thing.

I sent it all down the range, it all went bang, and I switched to another brand of SD ammo.

No other brand of ammo I have used did anything like this.

those rounds were left loaded?

 

[ginzo]

No they were removed upon seeing issue. Used Winchester JHP's while those were at federal and awaiting replacements.

Replacements did the same thing, were shoot at the range and replaced with another brand.

I just was not comfortable with denting while just loading/sitting in mag. Seemed to be right at bottom of where the projectile sat in the case.

those rounds were left loaded?

 

[sdustin]

Ginzo im asking was the fact that they were left loaded make them like that or were they like that out of the box?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[ginzo]

Sorry, vapor lock. They were perfect out of the box, loaded them in a 15 round mag, chambered the 1st one. After dry fire practice a few times, noticed the next one down looked odd. Unloaded all of them and that was what I saw.

Replacements from different batch of about 2 months did exactly the same thing.

1st batch came from Bass Pro Shop in FT, Myers FL and the second came directly from Federal.

New gun at the time, but to defend the new mag springs, no other brand has done that to me, and that's also adding 2 new mags to the original that came with gun. 2 mags always loaded and 2 are used at range regularly, but all 4 are rotated for EDC.

Ginzo im asking was the fact that they were left loaded make them like that or were they like that out of the box?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[jimbo883]

Just read through this thread. Glad you are safe and well.

Just to add some info about Federal ammo. I chose Guard dog 165gr (I think) as my SD ammo. They were loaded in a magazine and 1 shell was chambered. After a few weeks, I wanted to try my Uplula and unloaded the mag. This is what I found.

I called Federal, they were gracious, sent a tag for ammo, sent more replacement ammo than I returned to compensate me for my issue. Never got back with them to find out what might be the problem, but the replacement ammo did exactly the same thing.

I sent it all down the range, it all went bang, and I switched to another brand of SD ammo.

No other brand of ammo I have used did anything like this.

Could those marks be made by the tab on the Uplula you use to load the mag with?