Stickman
08-05-17, 23:37
During the S&W Shield push of 2017, Smith and Wesson dropped their pricing and used rebates to gain a lot of sales and followers. This was a smart move by S&W to take away from some of the single stack Glock magazine sales, as well as to take some of the sting out of losing the US Military contract to Sig, in the form of the P320.
While we have no idea what the numbers are that S&W pushed out with the Shield during this time frame, there were complaints online from people that S&W Shield quality had dropped a bit. One of the more common complaints was barrel peening, but that isn't the topic for this article.
It is common knowledge that magazines tend to be the weak link in almost every weapon system. If we take out dirty weapons and insufficient lubrication, the magazine becomes almost the sole issue in the realm of weapon problems.
In the case of the Shield magazines, the 9mm magazine follower is not totally devoid of flashing from when it came out of the mold. That is the first issue, and one which is easily fixable. In the same way that you would clean flashing off a model airplane/ tank / car, take a sharp knife and simply trim the protruding section off. The area is shown circled in the image below, and the picture was taken after we had already cleared off the offending matter. While the piece of flashing was not gigantic, it doesn't change the follower hung up quite often, and did NOT want to move freely under spring pressure (the follower kept binding and locking in place). After this quick fix, the improvement was very noticeable.
http://68.media.tumblr.com/85ed66ba3bb76b4e769e441d68b6fe0a/tumblr_ou8wm31FP41rrcg2fo1_1280.jpg
The second issue that we alluded to, is the interface between the follower and spring. The spring does not lock into place in any way, shape, or form. It doesn't even come close. There are certainly other companies that don't lock the spring and follower together, but it doesn't change the fit between the follower and spring on the 9mm Shield magazines are a sloppy fit at best. Followers are a simple item to mold, and adding a section for the spring to lock into wouldn't be difficult at all. Hopefully S&W engineers or the right people will pick up on this. Molds wear out, and this would be a natural progression as no doubt S&W will find a better follower design as they continue to improve the product lineup.
http://68.media.tumblr.com/45436cee46d9ec886b1081e04cce54dd/tumblr_ou8wohyvO31rrcg2fo1_1280.jpg
Lastly, we still think the S&W Shield is a good design, and a nice shooting platform. Yes, there are smaller single stack 9mm weapons, like the Kahr series, the S&W isn't so small that it is unpleasant to shoot. If we come up with anything else we feel note worthy, we will update this. If anyone hears of replacement followers being available, please let us know.
Feel free to add your thoughts, comments and input!
While we have no idea what the numbers are that S&W pushed out with the Shield during this time frame, there were complaints online from people that S&W Shield quality had dropped a bit. One of the more common complaints was barrel peening, but that isn't the topic for this article.
It is common knowledge that magazines tend to be the weak link in almost every weapon system. If we take out dirty weapons and insufficient lubrication, the magazine becomes almost the sole issue in the realm of weapon problems.
In the case of the Shield magazines, the 9mm magazine follower is not totally devoid of flashing from when it came out of the mold. That is the first issue, and one which is easily fixable. In the same way that you would clean flashing off a model airplane/ tank / car, take a sharp knife and simply trim the protruding section off. The area is shown circled in the image below, and the picture was taken after we had already cleared off the offending matter. While the piece of flashing was not gigantic, it doesn't change the follower hung up quite often, and did NOT want to move freely under spring pressure (the follower kept binding and locking in place). After this quick fix, the improvement was very noticeable.
http://68.media.tumblr.com/85ed66ba3bb76b4e769e441d68b6fe0a/tumblr_ou8wm31FP41rrcg2fo1_1280.jpg
The second issue that we alluded to, is the interface between the follower and spring. The spring does not lock into place in any way, shape, or form. It doesn't even come close. There are certainly other companies that don't lock the spring and follower together, but it doesn't change the fit between the follower and spring on the 9mm Shield magazines are a sloppy fit at best. Followers are a simple item to mold, and adding a section for the spring to lock into wouldn't be difficult at all. Hopefully S&W engineers or the right people will pick up on this. Molds wear out, and this would be a natural progression as no doubt S&W will find a better follower design as they continue to improve the product lineup.
http://68.media.tumblr.com/45436cee46d9ec886b1081e04cce54dd/tumblr_ou8wohyvO31rrcg2fo1_1280.jpg
Lastly, we still think the S&W Shield is a good design, and a nice shooting platform. Yes, there are smaller single stack 9mm weapons, like the Kahr series, the S&W isn't so small that it is unpleasant to shoot. If we come up with anything else we feel note worthy, we will update this. If anyone hears of replacement followers being available, please let us know.
Feel free to add your thoughts, comments and input!