Shield Plus: Can't Remove the Slide

[AZ Desert Rat]

Hi,

I picked up a new Shield Plus Performance Center a couple of months ago, and I have enjoyed shooting it. I have probably put 200-300 rounds through it. I field stripped it the day I brought it home, and now a couple months later, I want to give it a thorough cleaning; I followed the break-down process, and I can't get the slide off. Have any of you had this happen? I did send SW an email, but I thought that maybe someone else had this issue.

Thanks.

 

[Saudade]

Well, you're not giving us a lot to go on.

Did you use the sear deactivation lever? How far forward can the slide go? Are you able to fully rotate the takedown lever? Does it stop like it's hitting something or does it just get too tight to slide?

Post a picture of it while stuck.

 

[jurek]

Sear deactivation lever is the first stop point. I'm hoping this is it.
Otherwise - as Saudade asked - we need more info.

 

[lkabug]

Have you dropped the Magazine, cleared the gun?

 

[Gun Geezer]

Make sure that the take-down lever stays in the complete-vertical position when attempting to remove the slide. Two of my M&P's (one being a gen 1 shield) have take-down levers that unless held in place, move out of position when I attempt to remove the slide.

As others have said, ensure that the sear deactivation lever is also in the full down position (or pull the trigger after ensuring the pistol is empty and it's pointed in a safe direction).

 

[HEADKNOCKER]

I saw on another forum & three folks had a similar problem & it was the slide stop spring or take down lever retaining wire that was the problem, All on a Shield Plus
There was one photo that I grabbed of the spring sticking up where the slide would catch on it & goof things up taking it apart

This is not my photo but a fellow named grandpa

Also saw that on some the Recoil Spring Assembly could turn slightly & on the Shield Plus it has two flat sides = Not Round

Looks like some Quality Control Issues on The Shield Plus

Good Luck AZ Desert Rat
Hope that Helps
A Call to S&W May Be in Order

Edited to add grandpa's photo
This was an issue on some Shields for 2018 too

 

[mckenney99]

I saw on another forum & three folks had a similar problem & it was the slide stop spring that was the problem, All on a Shield Plus
There was one photo that I grabbed of the spring sticking up where the slide would catch on it & goof things up taking it apart

This is not my photo but a fellow named grandpa

Also saw that on some the Recoil Spring Assembly could turn slightly & on the Shield Plus it has two flat sides = Not Round

Looks like some Quality Control Issues on The Shield Plus

Good Luck AZ Desert Rat
Hope that Helps
A Call to S&W May Be in Order

That spring coming out of it's relief in the frame was an issue on gen 1 Shield's also. I had to fix more than one that came into the shop. Got to a point where we were checking all the new Shields we received before we even put them out on the shelf. We found quite a few that hadn't come completely out of the relief but had never been fully seated on factory assembly. Again sloppy QC.

 

[HEADKNOCKER]

Makes me want to look at my 9mm 2.0 Shield just to see.

Doing it as I type

I see that spring & have never seen it before, Need magnification & even with my magnifying glass I can't but with the camera I can, See Below.
Appears to be the retention wire of the take down lever & not the slide stop spring as reported on the other forum..
Mine looks seated in the frame as it should be..
Just trying to Help Out!!

 

[HEADKNOCKER]

That spring coming out of it's relief in the frame was an issue on gen 1 Shield's also. I had to fix more than one that came into the shop. Got to a point where we were checking all the new Shields we received before we even put them out on the shelf. We found quite a few that hadn't come completely out of the relief but had never been fully seated on factory assembly. Again sloppy QC.

mckenny99 how was this fixed??
Did you just poke it back into it's recess with a small flat screwdriver OR?? Did it require a new spring & the removal of the take down lever?
Asking for those who have an issue..
THANKS!!
Gary/Hk

 

[mckenney99]

mckenny99 how was this fixed??
Did you just poke it back into it's recess with a small flat screwdriver OR?? Did it require a new spring & the removal of the take down lever?
Asking for those who have an issue..
THANKS!!
Gary/Hk

All of the ones we encountered, the spring was undamaged so no need to return to S&W. We were able to move the spring back into the frame relief, we then fully seated the entire spring into the frame relief using a small hammer and small flat faced punch and LIGHT taps. Never had one come back due to the spring working it's way back out again.

 

[Nonuthin]

Here's the fix

The fix is in this thread....

Fix Your Shield Before It Fails!!!

S&W never seems to re-engineer to fix its failures.

 

[HEADKNOCKER]

This looks like something every Shield or M&P owner should look at & pay attention too..
I will have to say on my Shield 2.0 9mm the take down lever is an absolute pain to move to the down position..

Hope this helps the OP

 

[otis24]

I had mine do the same thing. If the guide rod and spring aren’t put in correctly, the slide will lock. Have to whack the back of the slide with a rubber mallet. This is what caused me to dump my first Shield.

 

[Dave Haynes]

The manual says to push the magazine safety back down (page 28 fig32). It is a yellow colored bent piece of wire that moves up when the magazine is inserted. The slide will not come off until you get that safety lever in the down position. With the slide locked (Which may take your entire family to do) and that breakdown lever moved down to 6:00, the slide will come off. You might have to pull the slide back a bit to get to release or you can just push the slide lock down until it clears and watch the whole slide fly off. The springs on these things are so stiff that every control is almost impossible to work.

 

[rrk]

Slide will not come off

Have tried everything suggested in forum and YouTube. Slide will move forward half an inch but will not move any farther off the frame.

 

[rwsmith]

I had a similar problem.....

I had a problem with my old Shield and I've had that problem with the Shield EZ. I used a rubber mallet to TAP the slide back and then followed the directions EXACTLY and haven't had any trouble since. The whole Shield line seems to be able to stick a slide in an off position.

Something I found out about the EZ is that you CAN'T ACTIVATE THE GRIP SAFETY when disassembling the gun. It's difficult NOT to activate it but I had to figure out a way to hold it, none very good.

 

[DaSvenska]

Have tried everything suggested in forum and YouTube. Slide will move forward half an inch but will not move any farther off the frame.

Did you get this resolved?