Hi Everybody,
Newbie Bob Helt here. I have been reading of several people having problems pulling the slide back and the difficulty in pulling it back far enough so as to lock it back.
I have the same problem with my recently aquired Shield.
I have been able to ease it somewhat but still am having great difficulty in locking the slide back manually. Otherwise, the gun is great...love the trigger after shooting the LC9 for a year or so.
OK, now for what I stumbled upon. Be aware that I'm a newbie and have been known to be wrong before. So please check this out with your own Shield and the video I'm about to mention. Feedback will be appreciated.
I just happened to be looking at Hitchcock 45's closeup video of the Shield.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCWPS3cQtOY]
At 0.14 seconds into the vid, he shows a closeup of the left side of the slide. Look at it carefully and you will see the slide locking tang is located right above the locking lever. You will see this in the gap between the slide and body of the gun.
Now look at your Shield. Do you see the locking tang there? In my Shield (made around the end of 2013) the locking tang can't easily be seen this way. But remove the slide and on my Shield the locking tang is another 1/2 inch over the right. If all of this is correct, this means my slide must be pulled further back by around 1/2 in. to lock it back. No wonder it is so hard to do.
It looks like S&W relocated the slide locking tang. If so, that could account for the problems some of us are having while others do not.
What do you think?
Newbie Bob Helt here. I have been reading of several people having problems pulling the slide back and the difficulty in pulling it back far enough so as to lock it back.
I have the same problem with my recently aquired Shield.
I have been able to ease it somewhat but still am having great difficulty in locking the slide back manually. Otherwise, the gun is great...love the trigger after shooting the LC9 for a year or so.
OK, now for what I stumbled upon. Be aware that I'm a newbie and have been known to be wrong before. So please check this out with your own Shield and the video I'm about to mention. Feedback will be appreciated.
I just happened to be looking at Hitchcock 45's closeup video of the Shield.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCWPS3cQtOY]
At 0.14 seconds into the vid, he shows a closeup of the left side of the slide. Look at it carefully and you will see the slide locking tang is located right above the locking lever. You will see this in the gap between the slide and body of the gun.
Now look at your Shield. Do you see the locking tang there? In my Shield (made around the end of 2013) the locking tang can't easily be seen this way. But remove the slide and on my Shield the locking tang is another 1/2 inch over the right. If all of this is correct, this means my slide must be pulled further back by around 1/2 in. to lock it back. No wonder it is so hard to do.
It looks like S&W relocated the slide locking tang. If so, that could account for the problems some of us are having while others do not.
What do you think?