Shield is difficult to rack the slide

[jehu1290]

I recently bought a Shield for my wife as her first handgun. Out of all the brands we researched and she tried, the Shield was her choice and I whole heartedly agreed (I am a proud M&P 40 owner and love it). However, this Shield was a booger for her to rack the slide. I tried and had difficulty as well. We checked this forum and other internet sources and found that many others had this same problem. We tried the many suggestions mentioned in these articles, but the problems remained. She was so discouraged with this situation that she was ready to give up on shooting altogether, thinking she did not have what it takes to be a competent handgun lady. But, I suggested we first try to return it.
The dealer where we bought it has a very liberal "Satisfaction Guaranteed" policy, so we returned it for an exchange. The salesman tried racking the slide and immediately recognized it was defective; it was not her after all. She exchanged it for an XDS. I know that does not set well with many of us S&W devotees, but it renewed her interest in shooting with me so that makes it all worth it to me.
I wanted to write this, not to discourage anyone from the Shield because it is a great gun, but rather to encourage those who are having the same problems to have theirs checked out. To work with a gun that is troublesome to operate can be a safety issue. One may find out that it is not a problem with S&W Shields, but like us, just happened to get a defective one.

 

[ivanwi11iams]

Nice 'save'. Curious, did the Dealer try another slide on the SAME gun? Mine seems fine, albeit when I bought it last week I noticed how stiff it was compared to my G19 gen 4. It seems much better now and I've only shot 175 rounds.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm

 

[Kadonny]

They are tight when new, but not to the point you can't rack the slide. Shame you got a bad one.

 

[Stratajema]

>>The salesman tried racking the slide and immediately recognized it was defective;<<

All you needed to do was remove the recoil spring, reassemble the Shield and see if the slide moved freely. If it did move freely, then you could have called S&W and had them send you a replacement recoil spring without having to send the gun in.

Now you own the XDS, which despite positive remarks by the fanboys, it has a design that is highly susceptible to limp wristing. Be sure she goes to the range soon to test it.

 

[jehu1290]

Nice 'save'. Curious, did the Dealer try another slide on the SAME gun? Mine seems fine, albeit when I bought it last week I noticed how stiff it was compared to my G19 gen 4. It seems much better now and I've only shot 175 rounds.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm

No, since it was new and only had 100 rounds shot through it, the dealer gave us a choice to send it to S&W for repair, exchange it for another Shield, or for any other option. My wife (rightly) felt that one should not have to struggle with their weapon until or unless it got "broke in." Without complete confidence in her weapon, she would not have the confidence she needed in a dire situation.

In response to STRATAJEMA, yes we disassembled it, which was very difficult too; as well as we cleaned and oiled it, etc. When we took it back, the salesman could not get the slide to work properly and proceeded to disassemble it. Like with me, he could not get it to break down without trying 3 different times. The reason we did not continue to pursue the options of sending it back to the factory, exchanging it of another one, etc. was because (as I said) my wife was already discouraged enough with this that she was ready to give up altogether. All it would have taken would be to get another Shield that was less than perfect. Since the XDS was our 2nd choice and she wanted to get it, I did not hesitate. I know from my research that every gun out there has their pros and cons, but I still believe the XDS (from research, as well as personal experience) is a very good choice.

Thank you all and may God bless.

 

[rdtompki]

Your story is concerning. Manufacturers for decades have been with good reason eliminating QC during the manufacturing process in favor of well-controlled processes. I can't imagine, however, how a bad slide could get through any form of final inspection. For that matter how did the Shield get out of the LGS? In order to handle the Shield you've got to drop the magazine and rack the slide to clear the firearm.

 

[gc70]

However, this Shield was a booger for her to rack the slide. I tried and had difficulty as well.

Out of curiosity, did you or your wife try racking the Shield's slide before you bought the gun?

 

[RussC]

I recently bought a Shield for my wife as her first handgun. Out of all the brands we researched and she tried, the Shield was her choice and I whole heartedly agreed (I am a proud M&P 40 owner and love it). However, this Shield was a booger for her to rack the slide. I tried and had difficulty as well. We checked this forum and other internet sources and found that many others had this same problem. We tried the many suggestions mentioned in these articles, but the problems remained. She was so discouraged with this situation that she was ready to give up on shooting altogether, thinking she did not have what it takes to be a competent handgun lady. But, I suggested we first try to return it.
The dealer where we bought it has a very liberal "Satisfaction Guaranteed" policy, so we returned it for an exchange. The salesman tried racking the slide and immediately recognized it was defective; it was not her after all. She exchanged it for an XDS. I know that does not set well with many of us S&W devotees, but it renewed her interest in shooting with me so that makes it all worth it to me.
I wanted to write this, not to discourage anyone from the Shield because it is a great gun, but rather to encourage those who are having the same problems to have theirs checked out. To work with a gun that is troublesome to operate can be a safety issue. One may find out that it is not a problem with S&W Shields, but like us, just happened to get a defective one.

I love my Shield but if my wife ever decides to pack I will stear her in the direction of the Ruger LCR 38.

In my opinion the best ccw for the novice or physically challrnged is a revolver.

No racking and if the round fails to discharge you pull the trigger to clear the chamber.


Russ

 

[jehu1290]

Out of curiosity, did you or your wife try racking the Shield's slide before you bought the gun?

Yes and no. Yes, she tried the one on display, which was pretty stiff for her, but was told it would get better with use. No, on the one she received. When she decided on the Shield, they went to their inventory room and brought out the new one. In retrospect, it would have been wise to have tried that one before leaving.
However, the one she bought worked properly some of the time. There were only times when both of us had trouble getting the slide to lock back; and then getting it to release. It just so happened when we returned it, the salesman encountered one of its stubborn moments too. That is when we found out it was not just us.
I will interject this while here; when it was working correctly on the range, she and I both hit dead on with it. I was grouping within a 5 inch circle at 20 yards (better than that at closer range).
We are still Smith and Wesson fans. She loves shooting my M&P 40. It's just too big for her to carry.

Off to Church now. All have a great day.

 

[gc70]

However, the one she bought worked properly some of the time. There were only times when both of us had trouble getting the slide to lock back; and then getting it to release.

I really feel for you; intermittent problems are absolutely the worst kind to have.

 

[catach22]

My wife had the same problem with her shield. After examining the gun over and over i saw some chatter make on the polymer guide rod. it appeared as though the spring was binding on the rod. I replaced it with a stainless steel guide rod. She was very happy with the results , as was i it was like a whole different gun

 

[timn8er]

My wife had the same problem with her shield. After examining the gun over and over i saw some chatter make on the polymer guide rod. it appeared as though the spring was binding on the rod. I replaced it with a stainless steel guide rod. She was very happy with the results , as was i it was like a whole different gun

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get the guide rod?

 

[stevet1]

My wife had the same problem with her shield. After examining the gun over and over i saw some chatter make on the polymer guide rod. it appeared as though the spring was binding on the rod. I replaced it with a stainless steel guide rod. She was very happy with the results , as was i it was like a whole different gun

The guide rod on the Shield is steel not polymer.

 

[Bud_Dub]

My girlfriend recently bought one and the slide was sticky too. It was hard for me to rack it all the way back to clear the chamber. But so far we've put 100 rounds and has been getting smoother. I had one failure to extract and one failure to lock rack back after final round in magazine. But my 45c was similar in beginning and flawless now. Just out the box tension needs to get shot out

 

[Stratajema]

The recoil spring assembly on the Shield has poor quality. On a more problematic assembly, when it is in a certain rotated position, the slide is hard to retract and can not be easily pushed back far enough to disassemble the gun. This was discussed in other posts during the past year. The follow-up posts by the OP indicate this was the source of the problem. It's a shame the guy at the gun shop could not figure this out because it is not rocket science to diagnose by someone familiar with pistols.

I am also a member over at XDTalk and I can tell you that the XDS has far, far more problems with limp-wristing than the Shield. In fact, I rarely see posts about Shield problems due to limp-wristing. Contrary to popular belief, limp-wristing often exposes an underlying problem with a gun such as its design and/or the stacking of part tolerances during manufacturing. I'm not a Shield fanboy by any stretch of imagination. My advice is that your wife shoot a few hundred rounds thru the XDS before relying on it as a self-defense pistol. The emphasis is on your wife shooting those rounds and not you. Best of luck. I hope your XDS is problem free for your wife so that she is not discouraged.

 

[jehu1290]

Thanks Statajema and everyone else that responded here. I appreciate your input on this and will definitely be closely observing her progress in this matter. After all, she is much dearer to me than anything else. If the direction we chose proves to be a bad choice, I will not be too proud to change again.

 

[SANDDART]

I also bought a new 40 shield & can't rack its so hard . Oiled it everything but havent fired yet but it shouldnt be that hard just to clear it. Abuddy just bought a new Glock (yuck) he hasnt fired a round through it yet & can rack with 2 fingers anysuggestion be sides returning it

 

[Muss Muggins]

I love my Shield but if my wife ever decides to pack I will stear her in the direction of the Ruger LCR 38.

In my opinion the best ccw for the novice or physically challrnged is a revolver.

No racking and if the round fails to discharge you pull the trigger to clear the chamber.


Russ

Wait, what?

 

[jehu1290]

I also bought a new 40 shield & can't rack its so hard . Oiled it everything but havent fired yet but it shouldnt be that hard just to clear it. Abuddy just bought a new Glock (yuck) he hasnt fired a round through it yet & can rack with 2 fingers anysuggestion be sides returning it

Sanddart: This seems to be the nature of these, at least when new. Some are having success by breaking them in at the range. These are great guns and I would not encourage you to get rid of it out of frustration. My original post was however, to encourage those who think their weapon is unusually difficult to rack and lock back to have a pro check it out and confirm whether or not there is a problem beyond the naturally stiff spring. We are glad we did because it was discovered that her Shield was indeed defective, which was a safety concern. If everything checks out ok, then it is a personal decision as to what you do. But, by all means you must be comfortable with and confident in your weapon.

 

[BigDog99]

My wife and I each got a brand new Shield 9mm 5 weeks ago. I have been shooting for almost 25 years but she is new (only one year) and I have shot many different types and brands of guns including new and old semi autos. I also own the FS M&P 9mm and .40 as well as several Glocks and others. I have a lot of "experience" racking the slide of these and others. My wife found the Shield a little harder to rack the slide than on her Walther PK380 (obviously) as well as my Glock 17. She shot a handful of guns to decide which one she wanted for her EDC. I told her that the Shield will get easier with use and that has proven to be true. I did not notice either of our Shields to be difficult to rack but as I said, I have been doing this a long time and plus, I am a "big strong guy" (her words) HaHa. I do not know the details of the various parts of the Shield but I have been VERY happy with mine and she is now enjoying hers as well.