[PilotLisa]

ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE: Bought Shield 9 after attending a women’s safety class on Pistols (I have a Taurus 32 revolver). Instructor suggested a Shield 9 as had just received a shipment. Took his advice and bought it. Picked it up and I HATE THIS GUN. Soooo disappointed. It’s TOO HARD TO RACK and the safety is difficult as well. The EZ is not CA Compliant. CAN I CHANGE THE SPRING? Would that make it easier? I made a poor purchase.

 

[Iggy]

Lock the slide back and leave for for a week or so.. Then shoot it a bunch.. It will improve some.

 

[mrerick]

Hi Lisa, and welcome to the forum.

The recoil spring in these small guns is quite strong. This is necessary in a small light gun (especially the small polymer pistols).

There are alternate techniques for racking a gun that will help you through this.

You to not want one of the EZ pistols. I've examined a number of these, and had students show up to class with them. They are constructed to a lighter mechanical standard, and I've seen them fail very early in their service life. One student had new one jam on the third round shot at our range during a class.

First, if you want to replace it, consider the HK VP9SK. This polymer pistol has a bit more capacity, and a couple of small ears at the rear of the slide that help with the grip. These are expensive guns compared to your Shield.

Second, if you want to learn a better technique, start with these links:

You don't pull the slide over the frame... you hold the slide steady, and push the frame under the slide. There are stronger muscle groups available to do the second technique.

I perform the technique with my hands more extended than the instructor in the video, still pushing the frame under the more stationary slide.

Consider taking a basic pistol class from an instructor that can observe you and coach you one step at a time. It can make a great deal of difference.

 

[Abby'sDad]

The close to the chest "push-pull" method works fine. You push with your firing hand on the grip and pull the slide with your off hand. By holding close to your chest (finger off the trigger obviously) you can maximize your strength.

 

[O4L]

If you hate it, sell the Shield and get something else.

I am personally a fan of the gun and have carried one for several years but I'm a big burly guy so no problems with racking the slide for me. I know of some guys that whine about how difficult it is to load the magazines but I don't find it to be an issue.

My only other suggestion would be to practice racking the slide by pushing the pistol more than pulling on the slide.

Good luck!

 

[ShooterGranny]

Get a Handi Racker in the size for your Shield. They come in different sizes. I do not believe you will ever get that Shield to the point where it will be easy for you to rack, but as long as you can pull the locked-back slide back and release it to load the first round from a magazine, you should be OK with a Handi Racker to assist you in getting the slide back to slide lock.

Changing to lighter springs is MOST likely to result in a gun that is totally unreliable.

I know that you folks in CA are very limited in what you are ALLOWED to buy. A few bucks for a Handi Racker might well make that gun usable for you.
Safest way to rack your pistols Handi-Racker I keep mine in my range bag at all times to help others, since the only gun I have left that needs it is my Glock 42 and that will be going to my granddaughter fairly soon. All of my other guns are easy to rack.

 

[ShooterGranny]

OH -- also get a UpLula in the right size for your gun to make loading the magazines very doable.

 

[Golphin]

ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE: Bought Shield 9 after attending a women’s safety class on Pistols (I have a Taurus 32 revolver). Instructor suggested a Shield 9 as had just received a shipment. Took his advice and bought it. Picked it up and I HATE THIS GUN. Soooo disappointed. It’s TOO HARD TO RACK and the safety is difficult as well. The EZ is not CA Compliant. CAN I CHANGE THE SPRING? Would that make it easier? I made a poor purchase.

I agree with most of the advice above. I have owned a couple of the Shield 9mm. They do have stiff springs and they do get better after a lot of use. You will get better after practice racking it also. The technique used can make a world of difference and done correctly does not take a lot of strength.

 

[Golphin]

You could also try the Pachmyer slide rack assist. It is on Amazon and attaches the rear of the slide and should make it easier to rack the slide. after using that for a while I think you would get better at racking the slide.

 

[PilotLisa]

Lock the slide back and leave for for a week or so.. Then shoot it a bunch.. It will improve some.

Okay ... I can do that! Thank you Iggy

 

[Curt360]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Hopefully the suggestions provided will help with your situation.

 

[sparkyv]

Howdy, from Texas.

 

[TN622]

Funny, a friend of mine bought a Shield9 because she could rack it. She is in her upper 60's. I pulled mine out of the safe as I have been trying to sell it. My buddy's wife can't rack the slide on the semi-auto's. I tried mine as I haven't shot it in years. I have probably 2000rds through it. It's still pretty stiff.

I wonder if there is a lighter aftermarket recoil spring assembly available for them? I did take my friend to Academy and we found the EZ in both flavors. Maybe the .380 would work for his wife. She asked me about training etc again. I explained that we took her to the range 6 years ago and she has done nothing. Some people's wimmins.

And yes, a mag loader is a good idea for the mags. They are very stiff.

 

[O4L]

Okay ... I can do that! Thank you Iggy

So have you found a way to make racking the slide any easier?

 

[mrerick]

From my experience, you really don't want the "EZ" line of pistols. I've seen them fail pretty quickly when brand new.

I'm sure a number are just fine, but we're talking the need for reliability in self defense here... After seeing the number of failures, and returns to customer service to "make it right", I simply don't recommend them.

 

[tjctransport]

the same can be said about any new gun these days .there just is no such thing as "quality control" anymore

 

[Tsump]

Get the stainless steel guide rod, just don't use +p rounds , smith and wesson guide rods have alot of problems, the smaller spring sometime bind and sometime the big spring comes off the end,

 

[mrerick]

So have you found a way to make racking the slide any easier?

Use an alternate technique for racking the slide. The alternate technique uses stronger muscles in your arm.

Instead of pulling the slide rearward over the frame, hold the slide stationary, and push the frame forward under the slide. Once you've pushed it forward all the way, simply let the slide go to close on it's own and chamber the round.

 

[TN622]

Get the stainless steel guide rod, just don't use +p rounds , smith and wesson guide rods have alot of problems, the smaller spring sometime bind and sometime the big spring comes off the end,

Then there is a defect in the design. Glock has plastic in their RSA's, same with other MFR's and very seldom have a problem. Militarys, LEO's use them. In the past on Glock forums some goober has to play around with the guide rods. They get all kinds of problems and come crying to the forums on what's wrong.

Internet horsecrap mods for owners that aren't gunsmiths, or designers just have to put aftermarket trinkets on a perfectly fine firearm. Some people just have to screw with something that is perfectly fine. If the S&W guide rod wasa problem ytOOb would be on fire with complaints. This forum would be full of complaints. Change the sights if you need to futz with a personal defense gun. If it works? Leave it alone.

I bought 2 different RSA's for 2 of my perfectly running .40 Glocks. Average ammo jammed them up after the swap and no real improvement to recoil, and muzzle flip. They're in a baggie in the safe.

 

[mrerick]

Not one of the newer guns, but I bought a used 4566TSW (police surplus, hand tuned by the custom shop firearm) a number of years ago.

It racked "rough"... I checked it over thoroughly and lubricated it properly and it still racked "rough". It did cycle OK, but felt odd. Hesitant in cycling. So... I looked into things and found out that this was common to the plastic recoil spring guide rods that they had used. These are simple (not compound) springs. So... I checked around and found a metal guide rod, replaced it using the same recoil spring and the problem has been permanently solved for the past 20 years...