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Shield recoil spring

5K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  SHIELDYOURSELF 
#1 ·
So I picked up my 9mm shield no thumb safety today and when I got it home I noticed it sometimes wasn't going into battery and hard to lock back. I wasn't concerned with the hard to lock back part more of the battery issue. I took it apart and noticed the spring looks like crap. So I called S&W and the guy (who made me feel really dumb) told me to shoot it it needs to be worn in... That does make sense so I did and it performed flawlessly for 2 mags and goes into battery now but what I wanted to know is do all the recoil springs look like a$$? I tried to get a good picture of it but you can't really tell how terrible I looks. Thanks
 

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#3 ·
If you mean the spring not being completely uniform and not flat at the retention clip, yeah mine looks like that. hasn't affected the performance. I've had maybe 3 fail feeds or ejects in almost 1000 rds.
 
#5 ·
PS. Mine was EXTREMELY hard to lock back before I fired it. In fact, i wanted to exchange it for another but the store convinced me shoot it a few hundred rds. I did, and now it racks and locks back with ease. I wish my CZ75 was as easy to field strip.
 
#7 ·
Mine looks pretty much the same, I haven't had one issue as of yet with about 800 rounds down range. Its amazing how how hard they are to rack at first, even more amazing that they break in so nice too. :)
 
#11 ·
I'm beginning to believe that S&W's customer service skills are falling on hard times. I've had the same issue with my Shield. It went back to the factory once. They took care of it for me, but it was not a warm and fuzzy experience. I'm afraid that my S&W days are limited. I have an SD9 with a bad firing pin that I can't replace. Its now a factory installed part. I remember when we were all told to keep a small supply if critical spares for our guns. They used to supply them easily (not to mean that they were always free). Now S&W won't even sell you the parts. Not a good sign to me.
 
#12 ·
I just took delivery of my second Shield (a 9mm no safety model.) I had forgotten how stiff these are when new!

My .40 has broken in nicely, so I'm not worried. One thing I did with my .40 that I've already started doing with the 9mm is to rack the slide repeatedly and then leave it sit with the slide locked back. A few days of that with my .40 made a big difference, and I suspect the same will happen with the 9mm.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I am not new to firearms. I've been a gun person since the late 50s. I carried one professionally for 36 years.

Having said that, I also have to say that I've had a range of guns, from 1911 style pistols to a pair of LC9s. I carry a Sig P938 on a daily basis. I also own a CM9.

I bought my Shield brand new. It has a test fire date in February of this year. I had test fired several other Shields before deciding to buy one. It was not possible to lock the slide back on it when I got it home. I talked to the shop and they said all Shields are like that when new. I have done business with them for years and had no reason to disbelieve them. I still don't. But to get the slide locked back on mine I had to push the front of the slide against my workbench. After a few hundred rounds of 115RN Federal the slide was still nearly impossible. I sent an email to S&W and they advised t hat they would send me a new recoil spring. They did exactly that. When it arrived the front part of the spring was bent. It would not move down the recoil rod very far because the front end was bent over. I tried to straighten it, and it popped off the guide rod. I managed to get it back on, but it would still not slide down the rod smoothly. It gouged the guide rod to the point that it left marks. I called S&W, and the asked to see the gun. They sent the prepaid label and I sent it in. It was handled expeditiously and I got the gun back in approximately 21 days. The sheet said that they replace the recoil spring assembly and did a function test. Careful nspection also showed some freshly retouched areas inside the slide as if it had been lightly filed. It was well done. The gun could now be racked back, albeit with a good bit of effort. It was clearly still very tight. I carefully marked the spring, the guide rod, and the barrel to be sure that I could duplicate the proper placement of the spring after cleaning. I photographed all of that. Then I took it to the range and put 300 rounds of 115 Federal through it. If functioned perfectly and was still as accurate as before it made the trip to the factory. I brought it home and cleaned it and carefully reassembled it. It was somewhat easier to rack, but still very hard.

I have since made several trips to the range and have well over a thousand rounds down the tube. The gun has again gotten almost impossible to rack. I have cleaned it and last night, I took the guide rod out, ran it through the ultrasound cleaner, and then left it soaking over night in TW25. The fluid from the ultrasound was silver in color. This morning, I reassembled the gun. I now have to push it against the workbench to lock the slide back.

I will admit to you that I will likely put the gun back in the box and put it on the shelf. I have two other M&Ps, an SD9VE, and a 637-2 revolver. I believe I have owned or been assigned 12 S&W guns over my lifetime. I have loved all of them - some more than others. This one has an issue. I am inclined to not fault S&W, but now I have found that I can't even order a new recoil assembly, nor will they consider replacing it under the warranty unless I send the gun back to them a second time, likely for another 21 days or more. I can see this cycle repeating.

And yet, I have a couple of friends, and a daughter who own Shields and love them. All of them tell me that all I have to do is go out and shoot it some more, and it will loosen up. With over a thousand rounds down the tub, I tend to disagree. Moreover, that thousand rounds has cost me about $300. I'm beginning to be unwilling to spend anymore on a gun that I am unlikely to use much.

Its very frustrating, but sometimes, all manufacturers have a product that has issues. I'm inclined to think my Shield is one of those.

But lets not be too quick to decide that anyone who is having issues with racking the slide on a Shield is simply a wimp or has a gun that needs to be broken in. Sometimes it really is the gun.
 
#14 ·
I am not new to firearms. I've been a gun person since the late 50s. I carried one professionally for 36 years. (snip)
I believe you - my new 9mm is very stiff, I think it's stiffer than my 40 was when new. Try locking the slide back and sticking it in a drawer for a week or two before you give up.

I assume racking the slide without the barrel or recoil spring installed is smooth?
 
#15 ·
I was playing around with mine this morning when I got home from work and it's still a pain in the rear to lock back(I'm 30 years old and not a whimp so it's definitely not me lol). Actually I decided I was going to carry it today and I went to load it, filled the mag put it in racked the slide, dropped the mag to top it off and couldn't get another round in... Because it didn't chamber one lol I didnt pull the slide back far enough so I'd say it's pretty stiff... I'm going to try and put a couple hundred rounds thru it tomorrow and see if it gets better I might unload it and leave the slide back over night
 
#16 ·
I, like a lot of you, was having trouble racking the slide. I'm 81 years old and have some arthritis in my hands which is part of the problem. I can rack it into lock but with difficulty. I also have some trouble rotating the takedown lever. (In the videos it looks like they just flip it down) it's stiff but again it is not imposable.
I have fired about 300 rounds so far and there may be a slight improvement but the gun functioned flawlessly!
On a different thread, someone mentioned a device called a handi racker. I looked it up and thought it looked like a good idea. IT is a bit pricey but now that I have it, I think it is worth the price.
Check it out at http://www.Handi-Racker.com.
The medium size fits the shield just right, and racking is a breeze!
 
#17 ·
I just picked up my brand new no thumb safety Shield 9mm today. I am worried about some of the same issues that yours is having with mine too. The spring is very very stiff, and it looks a little odd. When my Shield is taken down and I want to re-assemble it to put the slide back on; the slide sometimes will not want to go on properly; even after I triple check that the spring & barrel is seated correctly. Its like something is blocking it from sliding back on right and it gets locked up. It's the biggest pain to re-assemble mine for some reason and I've never experienced this with any other pistol ever. It's like it doesn't want to go back together half the time (It even happened to the guy at the shop too, maybe I shouldn't have bought it). I shot about 200 rounds through mine today and I did have some issues with it. The pistol would eject a spent casing and the slide would cycle and go back into battery; and then when I pull the trigger for the next round it would not fire. (Bad round?)...but the weird thing is I'd eject that round and then put it back in the mag and it would fire every time after so the round was good. I dunno what is going on with it. I'm not very experienced in shooting so I'm not for sure what kind of failure it was. It did not jam or stove pipe or anything like that. So far I'm not very impressed with it. It does feel a little more broken in now after 200 rounds and the slide is getting a little easier to use. Oh and another thing is the slide stop is damn near impossible to use because the spring is so tight. The only way to put a round in the chamber after a reload is the slingshot it...at least as of right now. I'm not liking it so far. Hopefully more rounds and everything will get better.
 
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