I've carried a M&P Shield 2.0 PC everyday for nearly 3 years, I have thousands of rounds through it, more than 10k dry fires, and there's never been an issue. Moreover I've been a fan of S&W since I was 12, which was 1992, with the first center fired handgun I ever shot, a S&W model 15.
I upgraded to the Shield Plus PC for the larger grip circumference and higher capacity. After reaching 500 rounds, my problems with the gun and with Smith & Wesson began.
Im posting here because I know there are others who've had the same issues and also have had issues with S&W. Currently my Shield Plus is at S&W and going through service for a 4th time.
It's a long story, so first here is what you need to check on your Shield, especially the Shield Plus.
There's two things
1. Check to make sure the safety plunger can reset on its own.
Here's how:
Clear the gun, dry-fire it, bring it straight into slide lock, turn it upside down, and pull on the striker to see if it moves. If you fail at achieving slide lock on the first try, you'll need to dry fire it again, and then go straight to slide lock.
Otherwise: disassemble the gun, with a tool depress the plunger and hold it in, pull the striker in to expose the firing pin and hold it, release the plunger, now release the striker. The plunger should reset on it's own and you shouldn't he able to move the striker again without depressing the plunger again.
On some, something is catching and not allowing the plunger/striker block to reset on its own which means the striker and firing pin are free to move. This obviously can compromise safety in a big way. In my gun, and the others I've seen with the issue, when the slide cycles, the sear catches the striker in the last 1/4 of an inch and allows for the plunger to reset. In theory, the issue could worsen and the plunger won't reset at all, and during the course of normal operation there would be no way of knowing. The plunger is supposed to reset on its own.
2. Check to make sure your trigger bar is not deformed.
Here's how:
Disassemble the gun, set the slide down. In the frame, bring the yellow sear deactivation lever back to the up position. Pull the trigger and with it pinned, look to make sure the trigger bar is getting underneath the sear. Make sure that the trigger bar and sear are making more than corner-to-corner contact. These pieces are designed to interact via their flat faces and not on their corners.
If the trigger bar and sear are only touching each other at the corners, it can wear more quickly and cause the gun to not fire when the trigger is pulled. In this scenario, a hang fire is also possible.
Here's what's been happening with my situation:
With my new Shield Plus PC, after several range trips and a cleaning after each, I had reached 500 rounds still with no issues so I decided it was ready to become my new EDC. I cleaned the gun after the final range trip and after reassembly, I began dry fire to function check. Something seemed off with the trigger pull and with a few more trigger pulls, the Shield Plus wouldn't fire, just a click and a pop. I disassembled it and found small bits of metal loose inside.
Long story made shorter...
After examining my new Shield Plus, my Shield 2.0, and another copy of the Shield Plus, I diagnosed the problem as a deformed trigger bar with a piece that sheered off the corner where it meets the sear.
I sent the Shield Plus to Smith & Wesson. They agreed that the problem was a bent trigger bar and they replaced it. When I got it back I immediately realized that the new trigger bar was also bent in exactly the same way.
When I called S&W, this time I encountered a customer service representative who had a bad attitude and hung up on me. So I called again, got a new RMA number, and sent it back to S&W along with notes and a picture of some cosmetic damage from tool marks that were left on my frame from the first repair.
Once the second repair was completed, when they created the shipment label, I immediately got an email from FedEx. I called them right away to see what the repair notes said. The customer service rep, a woman this time, told me that they replaced the striker and firing pin. Once I began to explain that the issue wasn't with the striker, she began interrupting me, raising her voice, and accused me of interupting her. I forget which one of us hung up on the other one.
I called back and got a different customer service rep to get a supervisor involved who then pulled it from shipping and put it through service again. That supervisor escalated it to the supervisor of their repair department who then personally examined my Shield Plus after the 3rd repair was completed.
Upon receiving it after the 3rd repair, they did replace the trigger bar with a good one, but that also comes with a new trigger shoe. I noticed that they didn't fix the tool marks they left from the first repair and that the new trigger wouldn't pull due to a stiff spring in the inertial safety. I called regarding the trigger and tool mark and encountered another customer service representative with a bad attitude who simply wanted to talk over me and yell, and then he hung up.
Afterwards I realized there was another issue which was that the safety plunger wouldn't reset on it's own. Naturally I called S&W again and I also brought up the subject of two defective 15rd magazines..
Despite my Shield Plus getting worse every time they touch it, it's now back at S&W for a fourth time and I've been told that the head of their engineering department as well as the head of their repair department are both working on it in order to make sure that it meets spec before it gets shipped back to me.
During this whole three month process, I've joined various private fan groups on Facebook dedicated to the Shield or the M&P line. Through those groups I've encountered numerous people with the same problems described above. Many others have also been having issues with S&W's customer service and repair department. Others have had other issues that appear to be reoccurring and ongoing.
I'll post a whole list of known issues as a reply to this post. People need to be made aware of this stuff.
I upgraded to the Shield Plus PC for the larger grip circumference and higher capacity. After reaching 500 rounds, my problems with the gun and with Smith & Wesson began.
Im posting here because I know there are others who've had the same issues and also have had issues with S&W. Currently my Shield Plus is at S&W and going through service for a 4th time.
It's a long story, so first here is what you need to check on your Shield, especially the Shield Plus.
There's two things
1. Check to make sure the safety plunger can reset on its own.
Here's how:
Clear the gun, dry-fire it, bring it straight into slide lock, turn it upside down, and pull on the striker to see if it moves. If you fail at achieving slide lock on the first try, you'll need to dry fire it again, and then go straight to slide lock.
Otherwise: disassemble the gun, with a tool depress the plunger and hold it in, pull the striker in to expose the firing pin and hold it, release the plunger, now release the striker. The plunger should reset on it's own and you shouldn't he able to move the striker again without depressing the plunger again.
On some, something is catching and not allowing the plunger/striker block to reset on its own which means the striker and firing pin are free to move. This obviously can compromise safety in a big way. In my gun, and the others I've seen with the issue, when the slide cycles, the sear catches the striker in the last 1/4 of an inch and allows for the plunger to reset. In theory, the issue could worsen and the plunger won't reset at all, and during the course of normal operation there would be no way of knowing. The plunger is supposed to reset on its own.
2. Check to make sure your trigger bar is not deformed.
Here's how:
Disassemble the gun, set the slide down. In the frame, bring the yellow sear deactivation lever back to the up position. Pull the trigger and with it pinned, look to make sure the trigger bar is getting underneath the sear. Make sure that the trigger bar and sear are making more than corner-to-corner contact. These pieces are designed to interact via their flat faces and not on their corners.
If the trigger bar and sear are only touching each other at the corners, it can wear more quickly and cause the gun to not fire when the trigger is pulled. In this scenario, a hang fire is also possible.
Here's what's been happening with my situation:
With my new Shield Plus PC, after several range trips and a cleaning after each, I had reached 500 rounds still with no issues so I decided it was ready to become my new EDC. I cleaned the gun after the final range trip and after reassembly, I began dry fire to function check. Something seemed off with the trigger pull and with a few more trigger pulls, the Shield Plus wouldn't fire, just a click and a pop. I disassembled it and found small bits of metal loose inside.
Long story made shorter...
After examining my new Shield Plus, my Shield 2.0, and another copy of the Shield Plus, I diagnosed the problem as a deformed trigger bar with a piece that sheered off the corner where it meets the sear.
I sent the Shield Plus to Smith & Wesson. They agreed that the problem was a bent trigger bar and they replaced it. When I got it back I immediately realized that the new trigger bar was also bent in exactly the same way.
When I called S&W, this time I encountered a customer service representative who had a bad attitude and hung up on me. So I called again, got a new RMA number, and sent it back to S&W along with notes and a picture of some cosmetic damage from tool marks that were left on my frame from the first repair.
Once the second repair was completed, when they created the shipment label, I immediately got an email from FedEx. I called them right away to see what the repair notes said. The customer service rep, a woman this time, told me that they replaced the striker and firing pin. Once I began to explain that the issue wasn't with the striker, she began interrupting me, raising her voice, and accused me of interupting her. I forget which one of us hung up on the other one.
I called back and got a different customer service rep to get a supervisor involved who then pulled it from shipping and put it through service again. That supervisor escalated it to the supervisor of their repair department who then personally examined my Shield Plus after the 3rd repair was completed.
Upon receiving it after the 3rd repair, they did replace the trigger bar with a good one, but that also comes with a new trigger shoe. I noticed that they didn't fix the tool marks they left from the first repair and that the new trigger wouldn't pull due to a stiff spring in the inertial safety. I called regarding the trigger and tool mark and encountered another customer service representative with a bad attitude who simply wanted to talk over me and yell, and then he hung up.
Afterwards I realized there was another issue which was that the safety plunger wouldn't reset on it's own. Naturally I called S&W again and I also brought up the subject of two defective 15rd magazines..
Despite my Shield Plus getting worse every time they touch it, it's now back at S&W for a fourth time and I've been told that the head of their engineering department as well as the head of their repair department are both working on it in order to make sure that it meets spec before it gets shipped back to me.
During this whole three month process, I've joined various private fan groups on Facebook dedicated to the Shield or the M&P line. Through those groups I've encountered numerous people with the same problems described above. Many others have also been having issues with S&W's customer service and repair department. Others have had other issues that appear to be reoccurring and ongoing.
I'll post a whole list of known issues as a reply to this post. People need to be made aware of this stuff.
