Why do Some 9mm Shields have FTE? And what is the real cause?
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DeeBee
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100 is not enough. Get back to us when you put 300 trouble free rounds through it. Mine took till about 90 rounds before I had my first FTE.
I should not be so hard on the shield,but if I get a few jam's I never trust them . There are lemon's with all auto's. I liked the pistol,but not how it was made or worked. I love there vintage pre-lock wheelgun's.
Seems like there are a lot of people here who would rather spend the time and effort whining on a forum than contacting S&W and give them a chance to make things right. Maybe it's just me, just because something doesn't work perfectly right out of the box, I won't trash can, sell/trade it, (can't afford that 'method'), I'd like to think I have a bit more patience also. One of my carries is an aforementioned Kel Tec,a PF9. Made two trips back to the factory plus some tweaking by me, works absolutely perfect now. The fact that I put some 'sweat equity' into it makes it a bit personal. By all means, if after more than a few attempts, you don't trust something, time to move on.
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DeeBee
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S&W has had mine for 2 weeks so far, and I havent heard anything. I guess no news is good news? Except that this is a backup gun for sworn LE work. 
Glad I have the 40s!
Glad I have the 40s!catalyst686
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I had this same issue with my shield, put about 600 round down range and had at least 20 failure to extracts with numerous types of ammo. I sent it in, S&W replaced the barrel and recoil rod assembly. I got it back, put 400 rounds of various ammo through it and had another 20 FTE malfunctions. I sent it back in last week so hopefully it gets fixed this time.
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DeeBee
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Sounds like it's getting costly. I think they need to replace the slide assembly. I still believe it has something to do with the breach face.
S&W semi autos can be fairly fussy with ammo selection. I had a 41 that I used in bullseye shooting that had stovepipes, FTE's and jams. I tried Remington, Winchester, Federal and Eley match ammo without success. Then I tried CCI Green Tag and have fired hundreds of rounds (knock on wood) without any problems at all.
Not saying that your problem is ammo, but these hand held machines can be very tempermental and it could be something very minor. One thread that I read talked about an overly large ramp cut causing bulged cases. Another post showed a shield with a very rough ramp that looked like my grandson had taken a round rat file to it.
Perhaps S&W is pushing these guns out so fast that they are not getting the final tweaking that they should.
I would look the gun over with a magnifier and touch up any areas that appear rough. Polish the chamber and ramp and make sure that you keep it lubed. Also run a patch through it every 100 rounds or so.
Also, keep in mind that in a carry situation, you are most likely not going to fire 600 rounds in succession. If the weapon fires 2 or 3 mags without issue, is cleaned and lubed and fires 2 or 3 more again without issue, I would feel very safe carrying it for self defense.
PS: My new 9mm shield with the 10.5 pound trigger arrived in MA yesterday and hopefully I will pick it up later today. I will follow up after I have had an opportunity to send some lead down range with mine.
Not saying that your problem is ammo, but these hand held machines can be very tempermental and it could be something very minor. One thread that I read talked about an overly large ramp cut causing bulged cases. Another post showed a shield with a very rough ramp that looked like my grandson had taken a round rat file to it.
Perhaps S&W is pushing these guns out so fast that they are not getting the final tweaking that they should.
I would look the gun over with a magnifier and touch up any areas that appear rough. Polish the chamber and ramp and make sure that you keep it lubed. Also run a patch through it every 100 rounds or so.
Also, keep in mind that in a carry situation, you are most likely not going to fire 600 rounds in succession. If the weapon fires 2 or 3 mags without issue, is cleaned and lubed and fires 2 or 3 more again without issue, I would feel very safe carrying it for self defense.
PS: My new 9mm shield with the 10.5 pound trigger arrived in MA yesterday and hopefully I will pick it up later today. I will follow up after I have had an opportunity to send some lead down range with mine.
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I have a 9mm M&P shield that is beginning to experience erratic extraction issues. The gun has about 1200-1800 rounds through it. I loaned it out to a few professional contacts for evaluation, so I don't have a more precise round count. It was one of the Shields that forum member Wayne Dobbs used for his excellent article that appeared in the Summer 2013 issue of Surefire Combat Tactics.
Within the last few hundred rounds I began to notice extraction issues that were not present before. The gun is typically cleaned after shooting, with attention payed to the extractor area in the form of a plastic brush pushing patches soaked in Slip 2000 followed by dry patches. I have not removed the extractor--as that is a bit out of my level.
Below is a photo of one of these situations. In it the case fails to extract and seems to be half in and half out of the chamber. It seems like the extractor lost grip of the case in midst of the sxtraction cycle.
The first instance occurred the second to last time I was shooting the gun with some Ranger Talon 147 grain loads. Since this was the first malfunction I experienced with the gun, I considered it a fluke, and fired another 40-50 rounds of the Ranger Talon ammo without issues.
A few days ago when I took the Shield shooting and experienced the same type of malfunction with the third round out of the gun, which was a round of the same Ranger Talon 147 Grain JHP. At this point I figured that perhaps the Ranger Talon was not a good fit, so I switched to some Black Hills 115 grain Tac-XP +P JHP. I'd fired at least a box of this ammo through the gun in the past with no issues. Well, low and behold, I experienced the same issue with the Black Hills ammo as illustrated in the photo below. For whatever it's worth, this occurred in a different magazine:
The only common denominator between the Black Hills ammo and the Winchester ammo is that they both used Winchester cases.
After having these issues, myself and a friend went on to fire over 200 rounds of mixed ammo through the gun, including brass cased Privi Partisan, Federal, American Eagle, and Estate ammo without any further issues.
I've contacted Smith & Wesson and sent the gun back to be checked. My concern is that it is some type of tolerance stacking issue that they won't find that only manifests itself with certain ammo. To me this would mean that something is indeed wrong with the gun and a potential issue that could show up later with other ammo at an unexpected time.
Within the last few hundred rounds I began to notice extraction issues that were not present before. The gun is typically cleaned after shooting, with attention payed to the extractor area in the form of a plastic brush pushing patches soaked in Slip 2000 followed by dry patches. I have not removed the extractor--as that is a bit out of my level.
Below is a photo of one of these situations. In it the case fails to extract and seems to be half in and half out of the chamber. It seems like the extractor lost grip of the case in midst of the sxtraction cycle.
The first instance occurred the second to last time I was shooting the gun with some Ranger Talon 147 grain loads. Since this was the first malfunction I experienced with the gun, I considered it a fluke, and fired another 40-50 rounds of the Ranger Talon ammo without issues.
A few days ago when I took the Shield shooting and experienced the same type of malfunction with the third round out of the gun, which was a round of the same Ranger Talon 147 Grain JHP. At this point I figured that perhaps the Ranger Talon was not a good fit, so I switched to some Black Hills 115 grain Tac-XP +P JHP. I'd fired at least a box of this ammo through the gun in the past with no issues. Well, low and behold, I experienced the same issue with the Black Hills ammo as illustrated in the photo below. For whatever it's worth, this occurred in a different magazine:
The only common denominator between the Black Hills ammo and the Winchester ammo is that they both used Winchester cases.
After having these issues, myself and a friend went on to fire over 200 rounds of mixed ammo through the gun, including brass cased Privi Partisan, Federal, American Eagle, and Estate ammo without any further issues.
I've contacted Smith & Wesson and sent the gun back to be checked. My concern is that it is some type of tolerance stacking issue that they won't find that only manifests itself with certain ammo. To me this would mean that something is indeed wrong with the gun and a potential issue that could show up later with other ammo at an unexpected time.
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DeeBee
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It is not ammo related. As I have shot Winchester through two different Shields. One has fte issues, and the other has no issues...Same ammo, 300-400 rounds through each.
highaltitude
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Try cleaning the extractor claw...
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DeeBee
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My guns are spotless...
catalyst686
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Looks like my shield is on it's way back to me, I sent it out on the 11th. I'll post again with a range report. Hopefully it works this time.... 3rd time's a charm!
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DeeBee
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Update on mine:
I just got my gun back from S&W yesterday. The work order said nothing on it, so I called and asked what they did. They replaced the recoil spring, extractor, and "modified the barrel? whatever that means?
Took it to the range today with 325 rounds of factory ammo.
Shot it all up without a hiccup. So I assume it is fixed. I will put another 300 through it before I trust it.
Keeping my fingers crossed!
I just got my gun back from S&W yesterday. The work order said nothing on it, so I called and asked what they did. They replaced the recoil spring, extractor, and "modified the barrel? whatever that means?
Took it to the range today with 325 rounds of factory ammo.
Shot it all up without a hiccup. So I assume it is fixed. I will put another 300 through it before I trust it.
Keeping my fingers crossed!
catalyst686
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Mine came back with a blank sheet of paper as well. The first time I got my shield back it listed what they had done to it on the paper. I called, after being transferred to a few different people over nearly 45 minutes I talked to a guy who said they changed the extractor and extractor spring. I'll follow up as soon as I can find some factory ammo.
LSP 972
Member
This is what is bothering me.
I have a 9mm Shield, and it has fired 1000+ trouble-free rounds... so far. And that by several different users, with a variety of factory ammunition and reloads. So its a pretty fair "test". No erratic ejection, etc.
I personally don't shoot it well, because it squirms in my hands and, from the holster, my practice "groups" look more like shotgun patterns. Standing sedately, slow fire, taking my time, it shots quite nicely. But my second/subsequent shot when doing presentation drills is consistently getting away from me.
No, it is not me; I don't have the issue with any of my other carry pistols.
I relate that only to explain why I am not carrying the pistol. I want to like it; I really do. It is delightful to carry, and I suspect I can train myself, mainly via more shooting with it, to overcome the squirming issue.
But two things are worrying me; magazine availability (more precisely, the lack thereof), and concern that what we have here is another Gen4 Glock... IOW, some of them work, and some of them don't.
I ran across another one the other day, NIB at a killer price; the owner was worried about the recall-that-wasn't and rather than send it back he offered it to me. I checked it per the S&W directive, it didn't display the problem, but he said he didn't trust it, etc., etc. This gun was unfired (aside from factory proofing) so I bought it from the guy... more to get the magazines than to have a spare pistol. What a damn shame, eh?
I plan to keep it unfired for now; it will be more saleable that way if I decide not to pursue this "platform". I also plan to keep working with the other one (it has been loaned out yet again, to another interested LE guy for him to try out).
IMO, it is, by far, the best example of the recent spate of mini-9mm CCW pistols... but much work remains before I'm ready to carry it.
.
highaltitude
Member
I have a 9mm M&P shield that is beginning to experience erratic extraction issues. The gun has about 1200-1800 rounds through it. I loaned it out to a few professional contacts for evaluation, so I don't have a more precise round count. It was one of the Shields that forum member Wayne Dobbs used for his excellent article that appeared in the Summer 2013 issue of Surefire Combat Tactics.
Within the last few hundred rounds I began to notice extraction issues that were not present before. The gun is typically cleaned after shooting, with attention payed to the extractor area in the form of a plastic brush pushing patches soaked in Slip 2000 followed by dry patches. I have not removed the extractor--as that is a bit out of my level.
Below is a photo of one of these situations. In it the case fails to extract and seems to be half in and half out of the chamber. It seems like the extractor lost grip of the case in midst of the sxtraction cycle.
The first instance occurred the second to last time I was shooting the gun with some Ranger Talon 147 grain loads. Since this was the first malfunction I experienced with the gun, I considered it a fluke, and fired another 40-50 rounds of the Ranger Talon ammo without issues.
A few days ago when I took the Shield shooting and experienced the same type of malfunction with the third round out of the gun, which was a round of the same Ranger Talon 147 Grain JHP. At this point I figured that perhaps the Ranger Talon was not a good fit, so I switched to some Black Hills 115 grain Tac-XP +P JHP. I'd fired at least a box of this ammo through the gun in the past with no issues. Well, low and behold, I experienced the same issue with the Black Hills ammo as illustrated in the photo below. For whatever it's worth, this occurred in a different magazine:
The only common denominator between the Black Hills ammo and the Winchester ammo is that they both used Winchester cases.
After having these issues, myself and a friend went on to fire over 200 rounds of mixed ammo through the gun, including brass cased Privi Partisan, Federal, American Eagle, and Estate ammo without any further issues.
I've contacted Smith & Wesson and sent the gun back to be checked. My concern is that it is some type of tolerance stacking issue that they won't find that only manifests itself with certain ammo. To me this would mean that something is indeed wrong with the gun and a potential issue that could show up later with other ammo at an unexpected time.
It will be interesting to hear the update when you get the gun back from S&W. I have about 1,000 rounds through my Shield 9mm. I've personally only experienced 1 FTE and it was with WWB. WWB casing I believe has a thinner lip than most other casings... which could be the contributing factor.
Badquaker
Member
That picture is a perfect example of an extraction failure. You can clearly see where the extractor pulled over the rim. Either the case is moving away from the extractor (oversized breech face cut to fit a 40sw?) or the extractor is not getting a full bite on the rim (weak spring or contamination blocking the arms movement). An extremely rough chamber could come into play, but you would expect it to be more consistent.
It would be interesting to tinker with one that was a known problem child.
It would be interesting to tinker with one that was a known problem child.
There have been some recent threads regarding unsupported chambers in the 9mm shield barrel. Wonder if this may also attribute to the case moving away from the extractor as you suggest.
firecontrol123
Member
Mine runs fine with everything except Remington 115 gr FMJ. With Remington's I've experienced FTF and FTE.
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