M&P Shield starting to have problems

[Ed L.]

My 9mm M&P shield is beginning to experience erratic extraction issues.

The gun has about 1200-1800 rounds through it. I don't have a more precise round count because I loaned it out to a few professional contacts for evaluation.

In 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 extraction 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 previously fired at least a box of this ammo through the gun issues. But this time I experienced the same issue with the Black Hills ammo as I did with the Ranger. The Black Hills ammo used Winchester casing, so I am wondering if this is somehow related to the Winchester casings. as illustrated in the photo below. For whatever it's worth, this occurred in a different magazine. Below is a photo of the last malfunction:



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 am planning to send 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.

Has anyone experienced similar issues?

thanks

[Fail-Safe]

I just noticed the rim on that empty casing

[KevinC]

I don't have that many rounds through my Shield yet, so no I haven't had similar issues.

I would send the empty casing back with the pistol. That cut in the rim may allow S&W to diagnose the issue quicker.

KevinC

[C4IGrant]

I build and see a lot of Shields. I have not run into any issues.

My guess is:

1. You more likely experience issues with Winchester brass (as it has a smaller rim.

2. Your extractor is worn out, spring is worn out or simply is out of spec.



C4

[ST911]

I've contacted Smith & Wesson and am planning to send 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.

Has anyone experienced similar issues?

Stovepipes and erratic ejection in my Shield are documented in my thread. If you look around the net, you'll find scattered reports of issues similar to yours and mine, some more credible than others.

When I spoke with S&W about mine, they were not surprised. They've had it for a couple weeks now.

Send it in.

[Ed L.]

Thanks, Guys.

The gun will be sent in early next wqeek.

What is amazing is that the gun had 1000 rounds through it before these issues began to surface.

[Magsz]

Extractor bounce.

Those loads that you're shooting are hot as hell...

I would imagine you need a new recoil spring, extractor spring and extractor.

[ST911]

The 147 Rangers are pretty mild, all standard pressure and under 1000fps according to Winchester pubs.

The BHA 115 TAC-XP is a +P load, but runs only ~1200fps and feels much milder than that. The added pressure from the longer bullet and seating depth doesn't translate to the shooter in my experience.

[Ed L.]

Skintop1911 is correct. The Black Hills Tac XP ammo chronographed at about 1070 feet per second out of a 4" barrel. Even though it is listed as +P, it really isn't that hot.

I remember something that Grant posted about the M&P 9mm fullsize sometimes having issues with Winchester cases. Maybe this is a weird similar thing.

[Ed L.]

1. You more likely experience issues with Winchester brass (as it has a smaller rim.

Oops, somehow I missed reading this post before.

Winchester brass has a smaller rim?

Disappointing but interesting. This would certainly explain why the Shield had the issues with the Black Hills and Ranger ammo since both use Winchester Brass, and why it functioned flawlessly with the non-Winchester brassed ammo that myself and a friend fired after the malfunctions.