Sear Deactivation Lever - S&W Shield

[WrongEnd0fTheGun]

I recently bought a Shield in 9mm to serve as my wife's CCW. Based on feedback from the members here, I expected it to be reliable and accurate. However, we always test our guns before betting our lives on them.

We took our new S&W to the range, and it functioned exactly as expected. POA and POI were dead on, and we shot through 200 rounds with no malfunctions. Then.......... the wheels fell off.

After firing round # 201, my wife stated she had a dead trigger. I took the gun from her and began troubleshooting (no pun intended). Our semi auto pistol had turned into a single shot. I had to manually put my finger behind the trigger and push it forward before the gun would fire again. I field stripped the weapon to investigate the problem. When pushing the sear deactivation lever down, the entire lever fell out of the gun.

Well, as far as trigger function goes, problem solved. Apparently, the loose deactivation lever was getting wedged somewhere it shouldn't have and was causing the trigger to malfunction. After it fell out, the gun functioned just fine.

Honestly, I could do without the lever, and I don't mind pulling the trigger to field strip the weapon; I have to do that with my Glock already. However, I didn't know if the pin and spring that were supposed to hold the lever in place were broken and still in the gun somewhere. If there were other loose parts in the gun, they could get lodged in a place that might cause the gun to malfunction again. I am not an armorer and did not want to detail strip the gun to be certain no other parts were still present; so, I emailed S&W and asked them to make it right.

S&W replied 4 days later and instructed me to send the pistol to them for repair. FedEx tracking indicates the gun arrived at their facility on 4/7 and I received it back on 4/28. When I received notification that the gun was on its way back to me, I sent an email to S&W asking what the root cause of the problem was. They replied...

"Dear Customer,
It looked like improper installation but the senior gunsmith repaired the issue.
Smith&Wesson values its customers and we are happy to have served you today. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require further assistance.
Regards, ***"

Ok, cool. I understand these things happen. After all the good experiences I have read about on M4C, I figured the gun would be GTG when I got it back, and I was eager to put it through its paces and finally be able to carry it. Well......

I just opened the box and dry fired it several times. It seems the trigger has gotten a bit heavier than I remember it. I attempted to field strip it for inspection. After locking the slide to the rear, lowering the newly installed sear deactivation lever, rotating the take down lever 90○, and disengaging the slide stop, I could not get the slide to move forward off of the frame. I rechecked to ensure all the levers were in the proper position.

Sear deactivation lever fully lowered? Check.
Take down lever fully rotated? Check.

Wonder what the problem is. I pulled the trigger and heard the distinct click of the sear disengaging and the striker slamming forward. Bingo! I can now remove the slide from the frame.

Hmmmm....... The sear deactivation lever doesn't seem to be working as intended. So, I reassembled the weapon and dry fired it several more times. The trigger is functioning perfectly (aside from the heavier pull). One problem though. The trigger should not be functioning, as the sear deactivation lever is still in the down position. Further, it is firmly stuck in the down position, and I cannot insert a magazine into the magwell due to the lever's position.

It seems that S&W has improperly installed the sear deactivation lever...... again.

I know others have had good luck with this gun, but I do not think my wife or I can ever have enough faith in this weapon for CCW. Very disappointed. I guess we'll have to give the Walther PPS M2 a shot.

What do you guys think?

[lazerblazer]

I recently bought a Shield in 9mm to serve as my wife's CCW. Based on feedback from the members here, I expected it to be reliable and accurate. However, we always test our guns before betting our lives on them.

We took our new S&W to the range, and it functioned exactly as expected. POA and POI were dead on, and we shot through 200 rounds with no malfunctions. Then.......... the wheels fell off.

After firing round # 201, my wife stated she had a dead trigger. I took the gun from her and began troubleshooting (no pun intended). Our semi auto pistol had turned into a single shot. I had to manually put my finger behind the trigger and push it forward before the gun would fire again. I field stripped the weapon to investigate the problem. When pushing the sear deactivation lever down, the entire lever fell out of the gun.

Well, as far as trigger function goes, problem solved. Apparently, the loose deactivation lever was getting wedged somewhere it shouldn't have and was causing the trigger to malfunction. After it fell out, the gun functioned just fine.

Honestly, I could do without the lever, and I don't mind pulling the trigger to field strip the weapon; I have to do that with my Glock already. However, I didn't know if the pin and spring that were supposed to hold the lever in place were broken and still in the gun somewhere. If there were other loose parts in the gun, they could get lodged in a place that might cause the gun to malfunction again. I am not an armorer and did not want to detail strip the gun to be certain no other parts were still present; so, I emailed S&W and asked them to make it right.

S&W replied 4 days later and instructed me to send the pistol to them for repair. FedEx tracking indicates the gun arrived at their facility on 4/7 and I received it back on 4/28. When I received notification that the gun was on its way back to me, I sent an email to S&W asking what the root cause of the problem was. They replied...

"Dear Customer,
It looked like improper installation but the senior gunsmith repaired the issue.
Smith&Wesson values its customers and we are happy to have served you today. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require further assistance.
Regards, ***"

Ok, cool. I understand these things happen. After all the good experiences I have read about on M4C, I figured the gun would be GTG when I got it back, and I was eager to put it through its paces and finally be able to carry it. Well......

I just opened the box and dry fired it several times. It seems the trigger has gotten a bit heavier than I remember it. I attempted to field strip it for inspection. After locking the slide to the rear, lowering the newly installed sear deactivation lever, rotating the take down lever 90○, and disengaging the slide stop, I could not get the slide to move forward off of the frame. I rechecked to ensure all the levers were in the proper position.

Sear deactivation lever fully lowered? Check.
Take down lever fully rotated? Check.

Wonder what the problem is. I pulled the trigger and heard the distinct click of the sear disengaging and the striker slamming forward. Bingo! I can now remove the slide from the frame.

Hmmmm....... The sear deactivation lever doesn't seem to be working as intended. So, I reassembled the weapon and dry fired it several more times. The trigger is functioning perfectly (aside from the heavier pull). One problem though. The trigger should not be functioning, as the sear deactivation lever is still in the down position. Further, it is firmly stuck in the down position, and I cannot insert a magazine into the magwell due to the lever's position.

It seems that S&W has improperly installed the sear deactivation lever...... again.

I know others have had good luck with this gun, but I do not think my wife or I can ever have enough faith in this weapon for CCW. Very disappointed. I guess we'll have to give the Walther PPS M2 a shot.

What do you guys think?

This issue sounds very disappointing, I would not chalk it up to an overall problem with S&w or Shield but rather your single pistol. From the sounds of it you may just have a lemon pistol and that is why you had your initial issue. There most likely is a manufacturing issue with some of the parts in your single sample. I would send in again, most likely they'll get you a new pistol. I have had no issues with 3 shields in my possession since they were first introduced, 2 9mm 1 .40 . Best of luck in your search for a confidence inspiring ccw.

[WrongEnd0fTheGun]

I agree that is most likely just my particular pistol. However, I am surprised that S&W did not take the time ensure that everything functioned correctly before sending the gun back to me. It took me all of 2 minutes after receiving the gun back to discover this problem.

[Kenneth]

My shield is 100% and I'm sad to hear about yours. I love that little gun.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Edmo]

WrongEndOfTheGun, sorry to hear about your Shield. I know it doesn't help you, but my Shield has been as "GLOCK-like" in performance as you can get. Once they fix it correctly I'm sure you will be very happy with the performance. If you decide to quit the Shield, my GLOCK 43 has been like every other GLOCK I own... Perfection and highly recommended.

Now to S&W customer service. They will eventually make it right. Call them and ask for another FedEx shipping label. It will be in your email inbox ready to print within minutes. It makes the whole process a bit quicker than waiting for an email reply which may take days. Their CS number is (800) 331-0852.

You aren't the only one with S&W production quality or repair quality issues... My 640 Pro Series J frame revolver is on it's fourth trip back to S&W for repairs. It keeps going back to fix thing which were wrong new in the box, or things they didn't correct during the numerous trips to their repair shop. I can only assume they will correctly fix it before they run out of shipping labels!

Good luck and keep us posted.

Edmo

[civiliansheepdog]

I think this is clear example of a lemon. My Shield has been flawless and is my current EDC. There are tons and tons of Shields out there performing very well. I would not let this deter you from resolving the issue through S&W and/or getting another one. Hope the issue is resolved soon for you.

[MegademiC]

With the slide off, move the lever back and forth, you should see it move the sear. Then send it back and tell them what it's doing, and us too, cause I'm curious.

At least that's what I'd do.

[wanderson]

The smart money thing to do is send it back again for repair. Not sure what their current policy is on replacement but that would be the best possible outcome.
If it comes back again and seems to be operating fine, that's when it's time to decide to keep or sell. The Shield's a great pistol, no issues with mine. But there's too many great choices out there to be carrying something you're not 100% confident in.

I've had a PPS M1 for 3 years, no issues, very light, low recoil and my most accurate single stack 9mm. If you ditch the Shield this would be a great follow up.
But the M2 is pretty new, and based on what I've read they really dropped the ball on the CCP, there's a LONG list of reported issues with the CCP.

Also had a Kahr PM45 for two years and 1k rounds, never carried it, never got 100% reliable. Used every trick I had, but once in a blue moon it'd fail to feed. Didn't seem to be break-in related as it ran the same from the first mag to the last. Shame, it was a great pistol. Seemed well built, good smooth trigger, a lot of muzzle flip but was surprisingly accurate for a short barreled .45acp. But once I sold it, I was done with Kahr.

And I also picked up a Ruger LC9s a few months ago. So far it's not failed to feed or fire but last time I took it out, the front sight was loose. Which seems to be a common problem for these going back for years. It's an easy fix, so far still a good pistol. But no gun is perfect.

I also can't help but wonder if a lot of issues with the new generation of small carry pistols are related to the 'lawyer lock' safety features. I like the fact that I can get a Shield with or without a safety (mine has a safety) or an LC9s with or without a safety & mag disconnect (again, with a safety). But on my PPS M1, the disassembly procedure says to remove the backstrap. That releases the striker if it's cocked, same as pulling the trigger on a Glock, then it comes apart exactly like a Glock does. But if the backstrap isn't installed properly, or if it comes off, it acts as a safety and disables the trigger. It's not a common issue, but it's not necessary either. And the strange part is that you can disassemble without removing the backstrap, just ensure the chamber is empty and pull the trigger. I think they learned their lesson, the M2 doesn't have any of this nonsense.

[Schulze]

That is an unfortunate turn of events. Here's what I'd do: pull the striker block out of the gun and dump the sear release in the trash, spring, pin, and all.

[williejc]

Unfortunate event. I think that the people repairing Smiths aren't the same ones who put then together. Also, currently made Smiths do not require hand fitting other than bending something, and when one fits the lemon profile, nobody knows what to do. Likewise, I think that pesky Glock issues with extraction and ejection exist for the same reason. The techs may not know why something happens and what to do about it. Of course, somebody somewhere knows but is keeping quiet.

You would think that test firing repair guns would save Smith money in the long run.