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.