Updated w/ pictures New Shield chamber problem?

[RussC]

I carry Gold Dot 124 grain jhp +p short barrel in my Shield.

At $1 a round it collects dust and I purchased extra flush magazines so I don't need to empty the magazine and reload every time I target practice.

I found Winchester 124 fmj NATO at .30 per round has a similar recoil to +p if a person wants to experience the extra kick at a 3rd the cost.

The reason I like my Shield is I can shoot with zero failures Federal Champion which has the lowest power factor of major brand ammo. Less recoil means everything will last longer including the recoil spring.

When I owned my Beretta Nano I had to shoot NATO or defense ammo if I wanted to avoid failures because Beretta designed the gun for high pressure ammo.

In fact when they did their 1,000 round with no lube YouTube video they shot black hills ammo which at the time at Cabelas was .70 per round. ($700 for 1,000 RDS not realistic on my budget)

How can the average middle class person afford to practice with their ccw if the tolerances of the weapon require you target practice with $1 per round ammo?

S&W did it right when they made the Shield to handle .20 per round Walmart ammo. Cheaper ammo equals more practice time.

Yes the gun may take more punishment shooting defense ammo over the stiffer Nano but if I am shooting my $1 per round ammo it will be to save a life and the few rounds shot will not make much difference but what will make the difference is my practice time and a ccw that will not fail with light loads is going to have more rounds fired through the weapon.

Smart thinking S&W for making a practical ccw that will handle what most people use when target practicing.

Russ

P.S. If you own a 9mm conceal weapon which requires you practice with defense ammo at $1 per round to avoud failures wouldn't it make more sense to buy a 40 or 45 caliber ccw?

You will save money on ammo when target practicing and have more lead in a life threatening event.

 

[OneJzsupra]

Wow that's some crazy stuff right there, hope it all works. Do they want the whole gun or just the barrel?

 

[3hounds]

So what ever happend happened ?

Can you finish this thread, did you get your gun or barrel back fixed ?

3

 

[pazzo]

All my Shields, 2-9's and 1-40 have a chamber cut like this. Not sure if it's as much, but mine were all beveled.

Placed rounds in the chambers and none looked unsupported.

 

[pennyrilehunter]

Still waiting on S&W. Called them last thursday and they said it had been rebarreled and shipping was running a few weeks behind. Hopefully I'll get it back this week. I'll post a update and let everyone know the outcome.

 

[NucPhysics]

All my Shields, 2-9's and 1-40 have a chamber cut like this. Not sure if it's as much, but mine were all beveled.

Placed rounds in the chambers and none looked unsupported.

My chamber on my Shield 9 is cut like that too. I have to say I haven't had any bulged casings at all but I haven't shot any +P, I shoot both Speer 124g and 147g Gold Dot standard pressure, not the +P.

 

[gfanikf]

I'm having the same problem with my Shield. Not interestingly the case deformation was on the test round that the gun shipped with. It's appeared on FMJ and JHP that was +P. I'm giving S&W a call about it tomorrow. Any chance they'll just ask for the barrel back or the whole gun?

 

[Pistol Pedro]

Hmmm....

My new 9mm Shield chamber looks a lot like yours. Maybe not quite as bad but the feed ramp definitely extends into the chamber. I have not noticed any bulged cases though.

 

[JNewell]

Still waiting on S&W. Called them last thursday and they said it had been rebarreled and shipping was running a few weeks behind. Hopefully I'll get it back this week. I'll post a update and let everyone know the outcome.

Could you please post your gun's serial number with XX for the last two digits?

 

[pennyrilehunter]

Got the shield back today. no explanation other than call if you have any questions. Of course I have questions, what did you do to the gun for starters. I am somewhat dissapointed. The overcut appears to be a little better but still not what I would consider good. Maybe this is how its going to be. The test will be if it is still bulging cases. The roughness on the side of the feedramp and chamber looks somewhat like I gave my 10 yr old the barell and a round file. You can feel the ridges in the feedramp with your fingernail and when you slide a loaded case up the ramp. Would you be satisfied?

 

[Jyezahn]

Call them and see if you can send them the pics you just posted. Except this time, ask if they will just send you a new barrel since you've already been weeks without your gun.

 

[hedgehorn]

my m&p 9c doesnt look like that

 

[Rastoff]

The proof will be in the shooting. However, before you shoot it, could you post a pic of your barrel with a round in the chamber? A view like this would tell us a lot:

 

[pennyrilehunter]

May just be the way the picture looks but your chamber looks way more supported than mine does. Any opinion on the waves in the ramp?

 

[rwsmith]

Wasn't this the Glock issue

The pictures show it all. The barrel is screwed up. The ramp has been extended and cut up into the chamber, causing no contact at the bottom of the barrel with the casing, and thus the swelling.
Bob

Wasn't that the problem with early Glocks. i.e. case head bulging/failure from a feed ramp cut too deep? Glock was compelled to change their design. Too bad S&W is repeating a mistake that was fixed by a competitor.

 

[duro]

So what ever happened with this? Smith modified my barrel too because I was getting light strikes and ftf's with winchester white box. Premium ammo. and blazer worked fine, although on occasion, the primer would still indicate a light strike.

I haven't had issues with the modified chamber, but it appears to be not fully supported near the feed ramp, like in the picture above, but not quite as severe.

Should I request a new barrel?

 

[scooter123]

IMO what we are seeing is a result of the compact size of the Shield. Shrink a semi auto down to near pocket pistol dimensions and you end up facing a choice between reliability or feed ramp intrusion into the chamber.

The problem is that as you reduce the barrel length you also reduce the length of the recoil assembly. In addition it's also very typical for the Slide Overrun to be reduced in an effort to keep the recoil assembly as long as possible. So, what has to be done to provide reliable feed when the Slide Overrun is reduced. You can either move the feed ramp towards the the front of the chamber or you can make the feed ramp steeper. Guess what happens when you make a feed ramp steeper? You create a semi that is EXTREMELY picky about the shape of the bullet and has a strong tendency to jamb.

So, what's to be done about this. It's rather obvious that cases used in the Shield aren't a good choice for reloading. If that bothers you, Tough. There are plenty of other semi's on that market that feature fully supported chambers.

It's also rather obvious that the Shield wasn't designed to be a Range Gun. One aspect of the shortened recoil assembly in the Shield is that I expect the springs will require replacement at rather frequent intervals, probably every 750 rounds fired. I would recommend those who purchased a Shield for Defense shoot it just enough to maintain proficiency with it and no more than that. You'll also want to keep a log of the rounds fired so you know exactly when to replace recoil and magazine springs.

 

[Smitty357]

My converted Shield barrels appear to be perfectly even on spacing. .40 on left and 9mm on right.

As for the recoil spring, we're not even going to talk about how many thousands of rounds I have through mine. But you could say i have more than plenty of rounds through it. And it still performs top knotch.

 

[Sqhertz]

It's also rather obvious that the Shield wasn't designed to be a Range Gun. One aspect of the shortened recoil assembly in the Shield is that I expect the springs will require replacement at rather frequent intervals, probably every 750 rounds fired. I would recommend those who purchased a Shield for Defense shoot it just enough to maintain proficiency with it and no more than that. You'll also want to keep a log of the rounds fired so you know exactly when to replace recoil and magazine springs.

im curious if smith and wesson has put a life expectancy on these pistols like kel tec did thiers (6k or more rounds).

while it may be designed with concealed carry in mind, the quality and materials say it can take range use fine, imo.

my P95 has polymer guide "rails" and ive read numerous reports of people having 5k+ rounds through theirs with no issues or excessive wear on them.


this is what mine looks like...its fired and spit out every round ive put through it so far. havnt checked the empties though and i did feed it a few +p...

 

[kodiakpb]