Shield 45 RSA?

[1911luver]

I just picked up a shield 45 performance center model. Gun shoots great. However i've read online that recoil spring assembly can come apart. Is this something that will happen while it's in the gun and disable the weapon? Or is it something that will only come apart when it's being taken out of the gun?

Is there an aftermarket or newer s&w version that solves this problem? Thanks.

 

[Real Old Navy]

If it happens the spring can slip over the retainer end of of the rod...if this happens, it may come apart when you remove it. The gun will most likely not fail even if this happen until you remove the RSA. Don't worry about it...just inspect it when you clean the gun. If it does happen call S&W and they will send you a replacement...or you can replace it with a aftermarket RSA like I did. SS Stainless Steel Guide Rod....mine did not fail...the SS Stainless Steel Rod just makes it easier to rack the slide for me.

 

[Well Armed]

Mines has came completely apart. I can take pictures later when I get home... I had to go without carrying it until S&W sent a new one... To their credit, I emailed S&W, and they sent one out free of charge the next day... Still annoying though...

Oh, and this happened on a basically new gun that had only been to the range 3x at that time. The gun functioned flawlessly till this day; however, when I got how from the range and took the gun apart for clean, thats when the recoil springs went flying and the assembly was in two pieces... The new RSA looked a little different than the old one, but Im not sure if they fixed the issues...

I personally would suggest investing in an aftermarket RSA, and then keeping the factory one as backup...

 

[lkabug]

I have two .45 Shields which I shoot offten. Both about three years old, approx 100 rounds each a week. No problem for me yet. But I do inspect carefully with each cleaning after reading reports on the forum.
Shoot it, let us know how it handles the range time.

 

[1911luver]

I've shot it handles great. Who makes an aftermarket guide rod and what is the factory recoil spring rating for this gun?

Sounds like when/if it happens it won't disable the weapon. If this is the case I may just call S&W for a spare and keep it handy. Thanks for the info so far everyone.

 

[Real Old Navy]

Who makes an aftermarket guide rod and what is the factory recoil spring rating for this gun?

There are a few companies...I have an SS Stainless Steel Guide Rod...I like it but there's others. I think the factory RSA is like 22lbs...but I've seen aftermarket RSA's at 18lbs. You can see aftermarkets are better made than the factory RSA's. Like I say mine did not fail...I changed it only to make the gun easier to rack the slide. I have 2 factory RSA's extra.