Ultra tight recoil spring on Shield

well after an afternoon at the range and about 150 rounds down range I came home ready for a good cleaning.

taking it apart and cleaning .... no problem.

putting the slide back on ... good lord man.

after a few cuss sessions I finally got it back on. how can it be that hard to do? so what do I do? I disassemble the stinking thing and try it again.

after a few more cuss sessions I hike my skirt up and finally get it back on.

the wife came home and looked at my hands. looked like I had been sliding down a tree and trying to grab on. well at least she got a laugh out of it.

btw.... the range time was well worth it.
 
DJFaninTN said:
well after an afternoon at the range and about 150 rounds down range I came home ready for a good cleaning.

taking it apart and cleaning .... no problem.

putting the slide back on ... good lord man.

after a few cuss sessions I finally got it back on. how can it be that hard to do? so what do I do? I disassemble the stinking thing and try it again.

after a few more cuss sessions I hike my skirt up and finally get it back on.

the wife came home and looked at my hands. looked like I had been sliding down a tree and trying to grab on. well at least she got a laugh out of it.

btw.... the range time was well worth it.
Click to expand...

Lol yep!!! I was wondering how could I have screwed it up so bad hat it won't go back together right

Put another 150 rounds through it tonight and it is much easier to rack and break down and put back together. It does loosen up considerably the more rounds through it


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
After 3,000 rds my Shield is still difficult to release the slide, using the tab. I am happy with that though, because I don't think the spring has weakened enough to replace.
 
2tango2 said:
I took my .40 Shield apart last night for its initial cleaning as I plan on going to the range this morning

It comes from the factory pretty wet. Smells like the used Shooters FP10 to lube it up. Pretty much just wiped down the excess oils and ran a few patches down the barrel with Mil Pro 7. Finished up by lubricating per manual. Used Tetra Grease on rails

When I went to put it back together I thought I was doing something wrong as I couldn't get the slide to lock back in order or flip the breakdown switch back into the locked position Even with putting a magazine in the slide would not lock back I could see that the slide wasn't going back far enough to line up the cutout in order for the flip up to take place

Finally after taken it down numerous times to see if I was doing something wrong I was able to get it to lock back in order to flip switch up.

Now I'm a normal size guy and have a decent amount of strength but this thing is a bear lol. I thought for sure I was doing something wrong

I find also that I have a very difficult time releasing the slide with an empty mag in it. This is when pulling slide back and using slide release button If I drop the mag no problem

I guess the question is, does the Shield spring loosen up with use? I'm about to go to the range and put 100 rounds of WWB 165gr through it

I can see where someone with below avg strength would have a difficult time here. Heck even avg strength people

Does what I'm explains sound normal or do I have jacked spring? Compared to my new FS 9 it is amazing how much stiffer the double recoil spring is
Click to expand...

I had the same thing happen with my new 9mm Shield a couple of days ago while reading the stripping and assembly instructions and performing the first cleaning before the first shooting. After MANY, MANY attempts to re-assemble the slide and having it not going back the full rail distance to rotate the take down lever back up to secure the slide, my wrist was at the point of laceration from the front sight-this is a VERY heavy/stiff recoil spring.
The Shield recoil spring has a full round butt plate that wedges into a notch at the barrel lug, unlike a similar fit on my .45 Colt Combat Commander which has an eliptical cutout on the recoil spring butt plate that makes for a perfect centerline replacement match.

The fix: The Shield recoil spring needs to be PERFECTLY placed horizontally and fore and aft in the slide. I saw that although the recoil spring was PERFECTLY placed vertically as per figure 35 and 36, it was a degree or two off parallel to the edges of the slide as per figure 33 and 34. Once I made the Figure 33 and 34 re-alingnment, the slide traveled full length and I was able to reset the take down lever abeit a VERY stiff slide to rack.
 
i was having the same problems with the slide reassembly and slide release. i was able to fix the assembly problem by cleaning the gun and just disassemble and reassemble a bunch of times and constantly racking the slide after it was put back together. for the slide release, i had seen that youtube video about sanding down the back of the slide release ever so slightly with 600 grit sandpaper, that worked perfectly. it's still a little hard to press, but i figured after i shoot it, it will loosen up a little more, so i didn't want to go to far with it. i am going to polish the back of it with 1000 grit, just to smooth it out a little.
 
Yup, same issue with reassembly and using the slide stop. I just did as though everyone else did and muscled through getting it back far enough to flip the takedown lever. I can use the slide release lever just fine while empty by pulling back on the slide, and of course when I insert a loaded mag all I do is pull back a little and it racks itself just fine. When I insert a full mag after the slide is locked back I don't even try using the slide release. Learned this method at my LGS while trying to operate the lever on an XDs while it was empty and the slide was locked back. Took skin off my thumb before I finally swallowed my pride and asked what I was doing wrong lol. Now I hardly ever use the slide stop lever at all in any of my pistols, just pull the slide back and let it go. I'm sure all you experienced guys knew this, but I didn't so I thought I might pass it on just in case.
 
fwiw, I bought a Shield 9mm yesterday and broke it down for a Frog Lube treatment last night. After I finished it went back together and was able to rack the slide without a hint of what my 40 gave me.....was it the Frog Lube? Shrug ...who knows but I don't have to bust out my Hulkamaniac to rack the slide heh
 
Mine was the same at first. The only way I could reassemble the Shield and reset the take-down lever was to install an empty magazine. It is better now after about 400 rounds through it.

And, not trying to start a flame war or anything, but it is a slide-lock, and not intended to be a slide release. I always hand-rack anyway, but see this pop up frequently as a problem with the Shield, when it is not a problem at all, but intentional.
 
zotzer said:
Mine was the same at first. The only way I could reassemble the Shield and reset the take-down lever was to install an empty magazine. It is better now after about 400 rounds through it.

And, not trying to start a flame war or anything, but it is a slide-lock, and not intended to be a slide release. I always hand-rack anyway, but see this pop up frequently as a problem with the Shield, when it is not a problem at all, but intentional.
Click to expand...

Lol, I actually figured one or the other was technically correct but I didn't know which one. That's why I used both in my post. Thank you for correcting me.
 
I was also having the same issue as described above. I did notice, however, as stated by others here, if you keep installing the RSA, eventually, you find that sweet spot where you will finally rack the slide with ease.

I looked at the spring and I found the issue... Check out how the spring goes above the top of the RSA... When I install it correctly, I insert it and have to move the base over to one side to mash the spring down straight. Now that I'm looking for it, I can install it where it works 100% of the time. I'm thinking about getting S&W to send me a new RSA though... I just bought this gun today and don't want to go through this every time I field strip this thing. My hands are also KILLING ME.

spring_zpsfd0087d3.jpg
 
Recoil Spring

The recoil spring may be the cause of some of the problems. I have noticed sometimes it may need to be adjusted sometimes. Given that the springs are inserted correctly front forward, rotating sideways solves the problem. For whatever it is worth, it worked for me.
 
shoots said:
The recoil spring may be the cause of some of the problems. I have noticed sometimes it may need to be adjusted sometimes. Given that the springs are inserted correctly front forward, rotating sideways solves the problem. For whatever it is worth, it worked for me.
Click to expand...

Yea, if I adjust the RSA a few different ways, I can finally get it where it works but you shouldn't have to do that. I'm not even going to fire this weapon until I get the new RSA from S&W. Kills all the joy of owning a new firearm... Especially one that I've been searching for for a freakin' year.
 
S&W M&P Shield Slide Issue

I just bought my 9mm Shield a couple days ago. Haven't fired it yet, but while playing with it, I too noticed the same issue as many others have seen regarding the slide grinding the last 1/4" or so before making it to the slide release lever detent. Sometimes even stopping before making it to the slide release lever detent and then needing to rack the slide pretty hard to get the last 1/4" out of it.
Good news (I guess), I think I have solved the problem, but hopefully a few others can verify my findings.

The recoil spring is a beefy dual-spring assembly.
Each coil measures an outer diameter of .465".
Due to the amount of pressure the spring has, it kind of warps and leans to one side or the other as it sits around the spring rod assembly. I measured the worst-case warp from the outermost spring coils. It measured .520". So there is a bit of a warp to the spring.
The cavity that the recoil spring sits into has an inside diameter of .492". The spring tolerance is a bit tight, but it does fit (.465" diameter spring into a .492" diameter cavity).
However, since the spring has a warpage of .520", it actually scrapes against the inner sides of the cavity (silver channel under the front slide rails). When I slowly rack the slide, I can feel the individual coils of the spring scraping against the cavity.
I am figuring that when I rack the slide and it stops about 1/4" from the rear, a coil spring must have gotten stuck on the front side of the metal cavity opening.
After a bit of playing, I disassembled, rotated the recoil spring a little, then reassembled. Tested the slide again. Still sticks. Repeated again and again until I did find a point that I was able to rack the slide all the way back without any grinding.

This racking problem is probably not an issue when shooting since the recoil force is plenty to overcome a slightly sticking spring coil. But over time I am guessing there will be significant wear marks and scoring on the recoil spring and the cavity in which it sits.

I attached some pics to show what I found.
I used whiteout on the one pic to better highlight the scrapes from the spring when racking the slide.

Thoughts?
 

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Yea, the spring that I had was worse off. The spring was so far over the top of the rsa, I couldn't even get it to seat. The new one they sent me was as you described, I had to find that spot where it didn't grind. Gun performs just fine and am happy.
 
All things being equal, there are two ways most modern semi-auto pistols control the slide speed during recoil... The first is slide mass or weight and the second is spring tension. They balance these two based on the recoil energy of the round being fired.

If they reduce the weight of the slide (as with most smaller guns) they have to increase spring tension. It is that "no free lunch" saying rearing it's head.

You will find the springs will become easier to work after a few range sessions. They will then stabilize into a slightly lighter "feel" than they were when new. They will always be stiffer than your other guns with full sized (read: heavier) slides.

Edmo
 
I believe I read in the manual that their is an orientation of the spring when replacing it. the end of the coil had to face upwards. It may have been another pistol manual I read it in, but I have always replaced mine doing this.
 
I had the same problem where the slide could not be fully retracted when the recoil spring was in 2 out of 6 rotated positions. The flat recoil spring is made like sh-t and I sent my Shield back to S&W for that problem and other problems.

I can't believe some Shield owners have accepted the recoil spring working in only some rotated positions. You think the recoil spring won't move when fired? You think a company like S&W shouldn't be hassled because of their crappy quality control of the flat spring?

The replacement recoil spring works in all rotated positions but the flat spring on it was also poorly cut and bent.
 
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