Shield45 stovepipes

[1sailor]

A few years ago I bought a Shield 45 for my son as a present. It was a really sweet shooter and never gave either of us any trouble. I liked it so much that I ended up buying one for myself. I've been carrying an M&P340 for years and thought I'd try carrying the shield. My new holster arrived and everything looked good until I took it out shooting yesterday. I was with a couple of friends and I brought a box of WWB, some Blazer, and some assorted handloads. Out of the roughly 125 rounds fired I had maybe 4 or 5 stovepipes. Didn't matter which ammo was being used. Obviously this is unacceptable for a carry piece. My sons pistol never needed any break in time. Maybe this one does. Has anyone had to go through a break in period with theirs. Had any stovepipe issues. Of course, the snubbie has come out of the safe until I can get this sorted out. The gun was thoroughly cleaned and lubed before our range session. This really struck home as to why I've carried a J frame all these years.

 

[cmj8591]

If you are used to shooting revolvers, the problem may be in your grip. The semi needs a solid base for the slide to recoil against. Pay attention to holding the gun a little tighter and locking out your arms and I bet your stove pipes will go away.

 

[kraynky]

Try swapping mags with your son's gun and see if it still happens. Weak magazine springs can make good guns look bad.

 

[1sailor]

While I'm no expert, my grip should have been fine. Been shooting nearly 60 years and do have a lot of experience with semi auto's. I should have brought my 7 round mag. That way I could have tried a second mag. I will go out again by myself and put a couple hundred more through it and see how it behaves. It's just kind of funny that on this trip at least my auto did the things I always accused them of. On the plus as always my Beretta ran like a top and got a lot of praise from my buddies who shot it.

 

[mckenney99]

With a new small gripped pistol like the Shield 45, it doesn't take your grip being "off" much to create a problem. Also, Winchester white box ammo is well known for being weak or quite variable in power. I would also disassemble the magazines, clean, dry lube and confirm the springs are installed properly (I have found numerous S&W magazines with the springs put in backwards). While my Shield 45 was one of the very earliest produced and it has never malfunctioned, your pistol might just be a little stiff and require a little break-in. The little pistol is well worth the effort to break-in and for you to get acquainted with it.

 

[1sailor]

I haven't given up. My sons Shield 45 ran perfect. This will be my EDC if it settles down but, it has to be perfect or no dice. I have nothing in particular against semi auto's but I hate surprises. Never had a revolver surprise me. We'll see how it goes next time out. I understand that the WWB is pretty much range fodder but if that would be enough to knock my pistol out of action then I think a new pistol would be better than having to baby it. But I will try again. I'd really like to get it to work correctly. Otherwise it's no more reliable than my Ruger PC9.

 

[Well Armed]

A few years ago I bought a Shield 45 for my son as a present. It was a really sweet shooter and never gave either of us any trouble. I liked it so much that I ended up buying one for myself. I've been carrying an M&P340 for years and thought I'd try carrying the shield. My new holster arrived and everything looked good until I took it out shooting yesterday. I was with a couple of friends and I brought a box of WWB, some Blazer, and some assorted handloads. Out of the roughly 125 rounds fired I had maybe 4 or 5 stovepipes. Didn't matter which ammo was being used. Obviously this is unacceptable for a carry piece. My sons pistol never needed any break in time. Maybe this one does. Has anyone had to go through a break in period with theirs. Had any stovepipe issues. Of course, the snubbie has come out of the safe until I can get this sorted out. The gun was thoroughly cleaned and lubed before our range session. This really struck home as to why I've carried a J frame all these years.

Could be you're grip (limp wrist or riding the slide with your grip), too strong recoil springs (needs to be broken in), or out of spec extractor or extractor spring would be my guess. Would be better if your son went with you. You could then swap and mix-n-match RSA and slide assembies. You could also shoot your son's Shield and have him shoot yours to see if the problem still exists. Process of elimination.

I owned a standard 45 Shield and a Performance Center Shield 45. I forgot which one had the issue, but one had a bad RSA from the factory. The RSA busted apart after my first range visit. It was 100% at the range, but when I field stripped it at home, the RSA busted apart. S&W sent a new one free of charge. It was 100% after that.

 

[1sailor]

I'm sure I have at least 400+ rounds through my sons pistol with no issues. It was difficult to really concentrate on what was going on. I brought the only target stand and with two other guys joining me they were both anxious to get their turn. I usually go out by myself which is what I'll do next time. Not off to the best of starts but, we'll see.

 

[swsig]

1sailor, I ran across an old post of yours from 2020 where you said you'd had a Shield 45 for three years and had never shot it. If this post is referring to that same Shield 45, it is probably an early one with the old followers. Owners of early versions, including me, had many problems with stovepipes and failures to feed. Smith & Wesson responded by redesigning the magazine followers and sending them free of charge to all Shield 45 owners. After the redesigned ones were installed the feeding problems disappeared. If your Shield still has the original followers, they could be the cause of your problem. If so, contact S&W customer service, and they'll send you new ones.

You can tell which type of follower you have by checking the follower's right front corner. The redesigned ones have a vertical groove, and the old ones don't. Below is a photo of each. The arrow points to the groove on the redesigned follower:

 

[1sailor]

swsig, I think you might have hit it. I do indeed have the early style follower. I purchased this Shield when they first came out in .45 and had the $75 rebate. It has just sat in my safe ever since. I recall the early follower issue but since the other shield worked fine I figured we had gotten the later style. Hopefully I can get a couple of followers from Smith. Definitely worth a try. Thanks again.

 

[biku324]

I learn something useful here every day.

 

[swsig]

swsig, I think you might have hit it. I do indeed have the early style follower. I purchased this Shield when they first came out in .45 and had the $75 rebate. It has just sat in my safe ever since. I recall the early follower issue but since the other shield worked fine I figured we had gotten the later style. Hopefully I can get a couple of followers from Smith. Definitely worth a try. Thanks again.

You're welcome. I have 8,000 rounds through my Shield 45 and I love it. It's had no problems since the new followers were installed, at around 2,000 rounds. I carry it regularly on days I don't wish to carry my heavier M&P 40c. As to ammo, I've found my Shield 45 to be most accurate with American Eagle 230g FMJ, with Winchester Service Grade 230g FMJ close behind. For SD ammo, I carry Federal Tactical Bonded 230g HP, which may be unobtanium these days.

If you shoot yours regularly you'll find that it's extremely accurate for a small gun. It also has surprisingly manageable recoil. So go ahead and shoot the heck out of it. My guess is that you'll love yours, too.

 

[Well Armed]

swsig, I think you might have hit it. I do indeed have the early style follower. I purchased this Shield when they first came out in .45 and had the $75 rebate. It has just sat in my safe ever since. I recall the early follower issue but since the other shield worked fine I figured we had gotten the later style. Hopefully I can get a couple of followers from Smith. Definitely worth a try. Thanks again.

What's weird is that I we purchased our Shields at the same time. The Shield 45 was released around April 2016. I purchased my first one in late 2016 BEFORE the rebate. Then we both purchased ours around the same time during the rebate $75 rebate S&W was running. My followers have the groove.

[Edit] I take that back. I just checked all of my other mags (I have several). I just realized that by the luck of the draw, the magazines I've been mainly using and EDCing are the newer magazines I purchased from another member. I do in fact have some of the older style followers.

I'll be calling S&W on Monday to get replacements too. I have used the older style followers without any issues, but I haven't put more than a box of ammo through them years ago.

 

[1sailor]

Got a reply email from S&W asking for my address so they could send me a couple of new followers. I was actually kind of surprised to hear back so quickly. I really do hope this cures my issues. Like I said earlier, I put hundreds of rounds through the one I gave my son and had zero issues. Does anyone know if the followers are complete? Isn't there some sort of an insert also?

 

[gunny4053]

The metal insert is molded into the follower, so when you get them, they're ready to go.

 

[1sailor]

Great, thanks.

 

[1sailor]

I'm ordering a couple of parts from Numrich also. Since I'm going to be taking the 7 rounder apart anyway, I may as well put it back together as a six rounder. Sure a lot cheaper than buying a six round mag.

 

[gunny4053]

I'm ordering a couple of parts from Numrich also. Since I'm going to be taking the 7 rounder apart anyway, I may as well put it back together as a six rounder. Sure, a lot cheaper than buying a six round mag.

If you have no use for a 7 round mag, I guess that makes sense. Just remember in addition to the 6 round baseplates, you'll need the 6 round locking plate as well. The locking plates are different with the 7 round having the legs that set down in the 7 round baseplate.

 

[1sailor]

Zero use for the 7 rounder. In addition to the 6 round spring, I'm also buying a new locking plate. I will use the stock 6 round base plate on one and install a Pearce extended baseplate on the other. I tried to trade the 7 shooter for a six but nobody else seems to want to trade for a 7 shooter either.

 

[Michaelp57]

Curious

Zero use for the 7 rounder. In addition to the 6 round spring, I'm also buying a new locking plate. I will use the stock 6 round base plate on one and install a Pearce extended baseplate on the other. I tried to trade the 7 shooter for a six but nobody else seems to want to trade for a 7 shooter either.

Out of curiosity, why do you have no need for the 7 rounders? I tend to use them for when ik carrying in the winter and dont have to worry as much about printing. May not be much, but it's nice having that extra round.