Shield .40 picky on ammo?

[Kolohe76]

Not sure where to post this thread, ammo or on here, ah oh well.

So I've had my Shield .40 for about a month now and the first trip to the range I was pretty disappointed. After reading and talking to several friends I anticipated that this S&W was suppose to be a joy to shoot. I bought different boxes of ammo to see what works best, Magtech FMJ , Winchester (white box), and Remmington UMC.
After 3 magazines of Winchester's I was really happy, so reading that the shield would eat any brand ammo was not a lie. I loaded my next rounds with Magtech. After 2 shots the gun jammed, cleared it, and proceeded to fire the next, and jammed again. We stripped it down and checked to see if it was the gun itself but everything looked good. We loaded the Magtech ammo again....it jammed. At this point I was irritated...so I decided to load it with the Winchester...it fired off like a champ, so did 3 magazines of the Remmington UMC.
My buddy had a glock and we loaded the Magtech ammo in his and it worked flawlessly.
So the shield is picky on ammo...well looks like I know what brand it hates so far. Has anyone else had these problems with any other brands?

 

[tim c]

my 40 shield feeds everything flawlessly from my own re-loads to any factory brand

 

[Kolohe76]

Hmm...maybe the Magtech ammo was a bad batch? Now I'm curious, maybe I'll buy another box from a different store and head back to the range...hopefully it doesn't have a malfunction.

 

[Dandecoteau]

Ok, let's get some things strait here.

First off, is this firearm brand new out of the box?

Second, you didn't mention if you properly cleaned it before you shot it.

Third, how experience are you with firearms? Lack of proper grip, and many other factors can make the shooter think the firearm is acting up.

These things are important to know in the diagnostic process.

 

[mustangman]

I've got a little over 700 rounds through mine with only 2 feed issues in the first 50-75 with WWB. I put those on me, not being familiar with the Shield yet and limp wristing.
Brands I've used include American Eagle, Magtech, Winchester, Freedom reman, Speer Gold Dot and Hornady CD, both 165 & 180gr., FMJ and 3 different types of hollow points, no problems.
I actually feel that the Magtech 180gr FMJ performs better than any of the other FMJ stuff I've shot.
Hopefully you just experienced a little glitch, and things with straighten out with more range time.
Have fun and be safe.

 

[CaptRon956]

It does state in the Shield's owners manual,

"Some brands of ammunition may cause difficulty in extracting
spent cartridge cases from the chamber. If this situation occurs,
thoroughly clean the chamber with solvent. If this condition persists,
we recommend changing to another brand of ammunition".


In addition I know that for example, if a shooter was to use steel cased ammo then switch over to brass cased ammo during a shooting session at the range then problems may arise due to a thin buildup of carbon in the chamber, what that does is not allow the round to be fully inserted causing the slide to get out of battery or cause ejection problems.

 

[Kolohe76]

Ok, let's get some things strait here.



First off, is this firearm brand new out of the box?



Second, you didn't mention if you properly cleaned it before you shot it.



Third, how experience are you with firearms? Lack of proper grip, and many other factors can make the shooter think the firearm is acting up.



These things are important to know in the diagnostic process.

Yes it was brand new out of the box. The gun was stripped and cleaned before it was used at the range by my experienced friend who shoots on a regular basis.

As for me I've been shooting on and off for about 5 years, I don't go to the range as much as I want to but I go as much as I can. I guess I'm still an armature compared to most of the guys. I do own several firearms and clean/inspect them after a day on the range.

I shot it when it jammed and then my experienced friend shot it and jammed on him. I was though corrected on how I was holding it.

 

[Kolohe76]

Glad to hear some feedback...I'll be heading back to the range hopefully next week. I did enjoy the shield on the latter part of that day though. Hopefully I gain more experience the more I go and reading this forum is helpful.
I'm planning on buying a new box of magtech and bringing the old one just to see what happens. Hopefully nothing bad happens.
I'll update this thread to give you guys a report....

 

[RobzGuns]

I bought different boxes of ammo to see what works best, Magtech FMJ , Winchester (white box), and Remmington UMC.

After 3 magazines of Winchester's I was really happy, so reading that the shield would eat any brand ammo was not a lie. I loaded my next rounds with Magtech. After 2 shots the gun jammed, cleared it, and proceeded to fire the next, and jammed again.
My buddy had a glock and we loaded the Magtech ammo in his and it worked flawlessly.
So the shield is picky on ammo...well looks like I know what brand it hates so far. Has anyone else had these problems with any other brands?

Well... It IS documented that MagTech .40 ammo can cause a critical failure in the Shield40. Read the details here: S&W update 3 on shield 40 blowup
(Looks like the link doesn't work... Go to MP-Pistol Forum and search for that thread title.)

Magtech did make things right and cut the owner a check for a new pistol (written in this followup thread, also on MP-Pistol Forum: It's offical! ), but still... Consider yourself lucky that all it did was jam.

 

[timn8er]

I've no experience with Magtech. White box, Remmington, Federal, & even Ultramax, which isn't exactly high end ammo. No problems at all. I always shoot 180gr no matter what brand; I don't know if that makes any difference.

 

[NCW Ray]

My Shield 40 digests WWB, Fed American Eagle, Freedom Munitions and Fed HST 180 gr ammo. No issues with any of it and I only buy American made ammo.

 

[Kolohe76]

RobzGunz -
Holy ****! Maybe I won't try to shoot the Magtechs next week. Thanks for the info.
I'll stick to ammo that's suggested by this forum.

 

[B Phillips]

My 40 shield has eaten everything I feed it. Flat points, hollow points even reloads. 165 grain and 180 grain. All work great.

 

[Richjh]

I have had no issues with my 40 Shield as far as eating all ammo I have tried but I have only tried Freedom 150 RNFP reman, and Winchester 165 target loads. The rest of the 1000+ rounds have been my own handloads. I use 165 and 180 gn Xtreme copper plated bullets and HS-6, WST and TiteGroup powder since this is what I can find. I want to try Win231/HP38 since I use to use that with my 10mm. What I have found is that my results are consistent by load but accuracy varies by bullet weight and powder charge. My 40 shoots 180 gn more accurately than 165 gn. Even some 180 gn load accuracy varies by powder type and charge.

When folks say their shields are accurate, I don't really know what that means. I'm trying to put rounds in a 2" bullseye at 5-7 yards and a good load is 3-4 out of 7 in the bullseye and and the other 3 within a 4" circle. I don't really know what my expectations should be. I love how it handles, is easy to conceal and mine has worked flawlessly. I did install the Apex tactical kit to improve the trigger and recently swapped the factory sights for the XS Sight Systems Big Dot. I shoot mine 2-3 times a week and typically shoot around 50 round per trip of various loads I want to test.

 

[DelFuego]

I am used to my Glock 27 working with ALL ammo. A couple of weeks ago my new shield would not even feed one round of Perfecta ammo (I know, the real cheap stuff) from four different boxes. But, it did shoot my Federal Bulk S&W without a hitch. The G27 doesn't care who comes to the party. Unfortunately, my G27 doesn't fit my hand well which is why I bought the Shield. Now, I am having second thoughts about getting rid of the Glock.

 

[Bob O]

The only ammo that didn't function 100% in my Shield was Magtech that I bought while visiting an indoor range.