SHIELD MAG DROP - S&W REPLY

[shawn mccarver]

Firecontrol123 has a 9mm and did not mention anything about a mag dropping.

Suggest you go back and re-read

Sorry, my bad.

When you said, "I didn't hear any functioning problems in your thread either??," I thought you were referring to the topic of the "thread," which is magazine drops, not just Firecontrol's "post," which was about quality control in a more general way.

 

[CJWig]

Keltec PF9 is a good 9mm weapon weighing 12 oz. I've got a two year one with 1500 rds going strong and just helped my father in-law through about 200 rds of another one with great success. This second PF9 has a much better finish than my two year old one. It is really hard to beat for $275.

 

[ccpacker]

I smell whining.

 

[ajrut]

Finally a Fix!!!

I have spent the last 3 months or so reading internet forums and watching YouTube videos of the mag drop problem with the .40 S&W Shield, but nothing offered a solution to the problem, with the exception of someone putting nylon tubing into the weapon which somehow manipulated something, but there was no proof it worked. I also have fallen into the category of owners who contacted S&W to try and remedy the problem but was unable to. I finally went to a local gunsmith (Duke at DCF Guns in Castle Rock CO) who was aware of the problem, but had no idea how to fix it. Well after some fiddling around by both him and I, he got a crazy idea. First he said "Get a new mag release part from S&W, if they charge you, I will pay for it." I got on the phone right there at his desk and ordered the part which was free of charge. He then shared his plan. he was going to use the smallest Dremmel bit he had and would remove some of the material from the magazine release in order to allow the release to slide a little bit further into the gun. He removed an extremely small amount of material around the little lip of the magazine release that stops it from sliding completely through the receiver from right to left. It took a few trial and error shots on his range but finally the mag didn't drop. Now, just to be sure, I stayed on his range and went through a little more than 100 rounds as quickly as I could load them up and shoot, and did not have issue. I tried to explain the best I can, and unfortunately I don't have any pictures to show here, but this is the only true fix I've ever witnessed or even heard about. Luckily it was for me.

 

[Rgoodwin]

Congrats Ajrut!

 

[rforgy]

I can't prove my theory but I believe the problem in my 40 is that the plastic follower actually pushed the mag lock out part way when it gets to the point opposite the notch. My 7 round mag has not had the problem but my 6 round one has it all the time and it is usually whit one or two rounds left in it.

 

[danr81]

That does it for me. Time to sell this piece of **** and go with a Springfield.

 

[hurley842002]

That does it for me. Time to sell this piece of **** and go with a Springfield.

You join the forum just to tell everyone that?

 

[Smitty357]

I wonder if some people can read the dates of old threads?

 

[AR-Getsome]

He posted in several threads about the same thing. Opening up old threads. smh....

 

[55speed]

Hi everyone, I took my Shield .40 S&W yesterday to the range for the first time and I was very impressed with the performance of this firearm. I shot about 100 rounds of 165 and 180 grain factory ammo with zero malfunction and the recoil was very minimal considering this gun is so light in weight. This firearm is very accurate and I didn't experience the mag drop problem that other people have. I used the 7 round mag that came with the gun and 2 other 7 round mags from Smith and Wesson that I bought after I got this weapon. I'm so impressed with the performance of this weapon that I'm thinking about getting another one. This is my off-duty weapon from now on.

 

[DocSunShine]

Bob,

Sucks your Shield .40 had an issue, but I think Smith is correct that it only affected a small number of guns. My Shield .40 has been perfect along with several other Shield .40s that I know of in the hands of friends & family (most popular gun in my circle).

 

[Smitty357]

He posted in several threads about the same thing. Opening up old threads. smh....

He probably owns a Springfield anyways.

 

[bonjorno2]

^^^ an xds going back in for warranty work.

 

[robkarrob]

Hey guys. This is a very old thread. The Shield 40s' affected were built from May through October 2012. S&W has since corrected the problem and the Shields are not experiencing that mag drop issue. I have a FFL friend, that deals with Smith, and he was told they had a "boatload" of Shield 40s' with the mag drop issue. It was not a minor problem, but it was hit or miss, and could not be tied to specific serial numbers. Some dropped and others didn't. The problem was the mags were somewhat loose in the mag well, and when the gun was fired, the mags would drop out. Not sufficient mag catch penetration into the mag slot. They never explained the final fix. All affected guns were repaired by Smith. Some had to be returned twice for the fix????

What was originally tried to fix the issue was: new mag catch which worked in some guns and didn't in others; then a magazine modification to allow the mag catch a better hold of the magazine (the magazine bumps). The new 40s' do not come with the magazine bumps, but they do not drop the mags. The issue was too little mag catch penetration into the mag slot along with excess side play of the mags in the mag well. When the gun fired, the recoil and possible frame flex would cause the mags would drop out. I don't know what the final change was to fix the problem, but I would put my money on a revised mag catch the allowed for deeper penetration into the mag slot.

Bob