[DaveInOroValley]

I will keep an eye out as I have carried and shot my Shield Plus PC now for a couple of years without an issue. We actually have two of them. Thank you for all the detail made on previous posts. I guess I have been lucky with S&W customer service when needed but I've always done email correspondence, so no one live. I hope they can up their game since they have always gotten good customer service marks in the past.

 

[flyingbrass]

My Shield Plus came with a dead front night sight, warped optic cover, and didn't want to lock open after the last round. Sending back the first time got the front sight replaced and the optic cover somewhat straightened out, but the slide lock was still weak and iffy. The problem wasn't from my thumb riding the slide stop (which is common). My slide would drop very easily from lock. Several times, even setting it down on a bench caused the slide to drop. This is backwards from what is typical with these pistols.

I sent it back a second time for the slide locking problem. As I figured would happen, they "tested," found nothing wrong, and sent it back 5-6 weeks later. I tried to buy a replacement slide stop from them, which they wouldn't sell to me, saying it's only for factory installation. WTF? Funny they sold me a couple slide stop springs without trouble. So, I bought a new slide stop on the gray market and installed it myself. Slightly better, but didn't solve the problem. The slide was still reluctant to lock and dropped easily. I ended up slightly reshaping the slide stop notch using a triangular diamond file. I didn't do much, fearing I might do more harm than good. It helped. The slide locks better now, though after some shooting and wear on the slide stop itself I think I need to do some more alteration of the slide stop notch.

Another issue I've had all along is erratic ejection, as in brass flings off in many angles. There is a brass mark inside the slide below the ejection port where the mouths are hitting. Cases are being ejected at too low of an angle, hitting the slide, which then bounces them off willy nilly. At my request, S&W sent me a new extractor. No change. I called them again back in May of 2023, and they were supposed to be sending me a new ejector when back in stock. It is January, 2024 as I write this, and nothing has arrived.

I wanted to have a spare ejector before working on my original, but I was impatient. I lowered the contact point some, which helped a little. I still get an occasional case over my shoulder, but haven't had any more hit me in the chest or face. The ejector needs to be lowered even more, but I don't plan to attempt that until I have a replacement in case things turn worse. I'm doubtful that taking it as low as it can go will completely solve the problem. I suspect the issue isn't with the ejector itself but the dimensions of the slide or frame rails. Something is off that is causing the ejector to hit the case heads too high.

I've also had the trigger safety pin walk out. I first noticed it after firing about 170 rounds. I didn't know if it came that way or happened after firing. I tapped it back in place. Today, after 773 live rounds and a bit over 2000 dry fire, I noticed the pin had walked out again to the right by about .042". I again tapped it back in place. I'm debating what to do to better secure it because I'm sure now that this will happen again if nothing is done.

While working on things and I had the optic cover off I noticed that the optic slot is horribly milled. It has tall machining ridges that will prevent an optic from seating flat. I've seen much better on cheap Chinese parts. S&W should be ashamed.

I've never had so much trouble with a pistol. I'm extremely disappointed.

As for the checks advised by the OP, #1 isn't correct. The striker doesn't reset to being behind the safety block until the slide returns forward and the striker contacts the sear. If you dry fire the pistol and then retract the slide and lock it open, the striker will still be forward of the safety block in its fired position. This is normal. Nothing acts on the striker to retract it until the slide moves forward and the striker contacts the sear.

Dry fire the pistol. Cycle the slide fully as you would to chamber a round. Now retract the slide a second time and lock it back. You'll find the striker is behind the safety plunger where it is supposed to be. If not, you have a problem.

On these pistols it's a good idea to regularly check that your striker block is still working because that interface gets peened over time and can wear to the point that it doesn't work. To do this, first retract the striker so it is behind the safety plunger - pull the striker all the way rearward. Then push forward on the striker. It should be stopped by the block and not protrude into the breech. Then, while maintaining a little forward pressure on the striker, press in the safety plunger. The striker will move forward. This is how it should be.

Light primer strikes can be caused by poor timing of the trigger bar disengaging the safety block. How much the trigger bar's "shepherd's hook" that engages the sear is open or closed affects when the sear is released in relation to the position of the trigger bar. If the bar isn't rearward enough to disengage the safety block when the sear releases the striker will contact the block as it moves forward - not nesessarily enough to stop it, but can be enough to slow it. This is related to what I mentioned above about checking for safety block function because after enough peening occurs on the striker the block can fail to actually block the striker. The pistols I've examined all have some degree of peening of the striker in that area. I suppose this is normal. Keep an eye on it though, and perform a striker block test each time you clean the pistol. I have a spare striker assembly in case S&W happens to be out of stock if/when mine fails.

 

[71Sandman]

No where in the owners manual for the M&P Shield does it say that you can't dry-fire. It doesn't even mention the subject. You can download the manual and see for yourself.

The M&P Shield definitely can be dry fired a lot. I personally recommend using snap caps (inert dummy rounds) to reduce wear and tear.

In the case of my defective Shield Plus, dry firing a couple times after cleaning to check function certainly is not excessive. Doing that caused me to identify an issue where the gun wouldn't fire due to a deformed trigger bar and a piece of metal that sheared off of it. Thankfully I didn't discover the problem in a situation where I needed to defend myself. In this scenario dry-fire helped me greatly, perhaps it saved my life. Hopefully I don't have to draw my gun in self defense ever again.

In the case of my Shield 2.0, which is running like a champ with nearly 3K live rounds and well over 10k dry-fires through it, just do the math on the cost of a new firing pin verses 10k+ rounds of ammo. So again, in this scenario dry-fire helps me greatly.

When a part breaks due to being worn out, I'll be happy to replace it on my dime if I don't have the time to send it in for a free warranty repair.



You're speaking of this like a person who's never been in a brutal fight, never taken a hit so hard it fractures your skull, never been swept off your feet, never been sucker punched, never defended against multiple attackers, never defended against someone who's wielding a blunt weapon or a knife, never defended against someone with a gun, and never drawn a gun themselves in self defense.

All these are things I've experienced, most of them more than once... except just once against a knife, once against a 357 magnum, one skull fracture, and once against multiple attackers which was five of them.

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face
-Mike Tyson

Mike was right.

At most ranges, all you can do is shoot at a target that's sitting still, right in front of you, while you're standing still behind a line. In a defensive situation, you won't be still and your target won't be still. Furthermore, at a lot of ranges you can't even draw from the holster, especially if it's from concealment.

With dry-fire, it's about dynamically practicing all of the motor movements that come before the point where you pull the trigger.

 

[71Sandman]

No where in the owners manual for the M&P Shield does it say that you can't dry-fire. It doesn't even mention the subject. You can download the manual and see for yourself.

The M&P Shield definitely can be dry fired a lot. I personally recommend using snap caps (inert dummy rounds) to reduce wear and tear.

In the case of my defective Shield Plus, dry firing a couple times after cleaning to check function certainly is not excessive. Doing that caused me to identify an issue where the gun wouldn't fire due to a deformed trigger bar and a piece of metal that sheared off of it. Thankfully I didn't discover the problem in a situation where I needed to defend myself. In this scenario dry-fire helped me greatly, perhaps it saved my life. Hopefully I don't have to draw my gun in self defense ever again.

In the case of my Shield 2.0, which is running like a champ with nearly 3K live rounds and well over 10k dry-fires through it, just do the math on the cost of a new firing pin verses 10k+ rounds of ammo. So again, in this scenario dry-fire helps me greatly.

When a part breaks due to being worn out, I'll be happy to replace it on my dime if I don't have the time to send it in for a free warranty repair.



You're speaking of this like a person who's never been in a brutal fight, never taken a hit so hard it fractures your skull, never been swept off your feet, never been sucker punched, never defended against multiple attackers, never defended against someone who's wielding a blunt weapon or a knife, never defended against someone with a gun, and never drawn a gun themselves in self defense.

All these are things I've experienced, most of them more than once... except just once against a knife, once against a 357 magnum, one skull fracture, and once against multiple attackers which was five of them.

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face
-Mike Tyson

Mike was right.

At most ranges, all you can do is shoot at a target that's sitting still, right in front of you, while you're standing still behind a line. In a defensive situation, you won't be still and your target won't be still. Furthermore, at a lot of ranges you can't even draw from the holster, especially if it's from concealment.

With dry-fire, it's about dynamically practicing all of the motor movements that come before the point where you pull the trigger.

There's a lot more to dry-fire than going clicktyy click against a picture on the wall. If you're already an accurate shot, you can practice getting on target faster, drawing from concealment, drawing while quickly moving backwards to break contact, you can practice engaging multiple targets, and a whole lot more. The point of all if it is to develop muscle memory and to practice until you can't fail. Moreover, if you're practicing with a proper tight squeeze on the gun, like with live fire, you're literally working out those muscles, increasing grip strength, and thus improving recoil management which is necessary for follow up shots.

Until you realize there's a whole lot more to gun fighting and self defense than pulling the trigger, the gun you carry is little more than an emotional support animal.

I hope you never learn the hard way, like I have.

As far as this thread goes, we're far off topic, which I don't mind, and I don't mind debate either. I'm happy to share knowledge where I can and I know there's many here who have a lot more knowledge and experience than I do.

Where do U live? Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome? Sounds like a lawless City 2 me.

 

[wormraper]

got my shield plus back from S&W today. they stated they changed the trigger bar...and guess what... not a *****ing thing has changed. I can still get a dead trigger when I pull it.

talked to one of the gunsmiths AT S&W and explained how my finger naturally rests so that the curved "crease" of my first knuckle is what engages the dingus and not the pad of the finger and he stated that was the problem. the gun was designed to fire with the flat of the finger pulling it, not the curved part of the knuckle as it won't disengage the split trigger safety.. which means I either have to train around it or sell it.

most likely going to sell it because a carry gun that can't have the trigger pulled from just about any angle is a liability since you can't control EXACTLY where it falls when quick drawing in a high stress situation.

looking at it objectively, they designed that split trigger where it actuates WAY too low on the trigger face. on my glocks, caniks etc you can actuate the dingus all the way at the very top of the dingus, while this one requires it to be pretty low. Just a bad design mixed with my particular trigger finger

 

[Schulzie]

I purchased a Shield Plus in 9mm, with the CT optic, this past fall. I have run around 250-300 rounds though it, with no issues until this past week.
Going into my 3rd magazine, the trigger started to feel different - a little gritty, and harder to pull. After a couple more shots, the last pull was at a hard stop when it fired. It then would not fire again. I field stripped it, didn't see anything obvious, but still no luck.

I filled out the form online to see about a repair on Thursday, no response yet (Sunday). I checked it against my original Shield last night, and noticed that the sear isn't releasing all the way. It looks like the hook on the trigger bar is bent, and further forward. I'm guessing somewhere along the way it started to deform, and then caught the sear and it's not bent to where the sear will not release the striker.

I'll give S&W a couple days, then call in if I need to. Hopefully it's an easy/fast fix and return. I also hope this isn't something that will be a re-occuring issue. I have 3 other M&P's, and haven't had any issues. As a follow up, are there any aftermarket triggers that have the trigger bar, and maybe a better design?

 

[Elmerfudd]

1st thing I do When I get new automatic is take of Slide Turn Slide upside down and insert a round behind extractor.
f you wand gun to fire every time and not double stack the extractor has to have good bite on rim of shell to extract .
I take extractor clear to side of shell so extractor point is not getting chipped or shaving brass
in gun it grabs it every time second chance is Boloney.
3 strokes with diamond file on pad of extractor that rides on slide reasemble and check how ever many times it takes to bring point to side of shell .
Dont ever fire shot shells in auto .
And throw away Dumby Rounds for Dry fire Firing pins havent Broke since 80s designs.
The Design of the Double Action Striker Fire Auto Pistol.
You Notice empty gun you only have to pull slide Back a half inch to Fully Cock Gun.
Because you are not Chambering Round .
So when round is in chamber
the double action only Trigger Bar has to reach 1/2 inch to grab The sear firing pin pull back firing pin and let it go to Fire.
That Tells you the Trigger bar and sear cock latches at end of slide motion ,
Where as old auto with hammer slide cocked hammer at other end of slide motion as slide was being stopped running into Frame and Hammer cock.
So on your Striker Gun its Slide is getting a full run at the sear and trigger bar at end of slide motion .
The Lead Steel Bullet friction on Ramp usually Is softer hit Because it acts like Brake.
So when you pull back slide all the way and release it Without bullet you are causing
Sear and Trigger bar to Hammer.
And frame and Slide stop too.
Same thing is happening with plastic snap caps .

So unless you are Chambering Live round in any auto .
DO NOT RACK AND RELEASE SLIDE , LOWER IT INTO BATTERY!!!!!!!!!!!
It will also trash the Slide Rails..

Long winded but as simple as I can put it .

And point hand gun at ground and all ways pull back slide of gun from rear of Slide or youl Blow Your Hand off.
More likely with pocket pistol
Please be safe use common sense Guns were made to go off.
Carry license is quite the Commitment.

 

[Elmerfudd]

And just cause you can force 15 rounds in a mag and it says 15 rounds on it.
its still a 14 round clip and depend on Gun and Mag.
Dont let your Ego Decide clearing that first jam is the way to go.
Thats Gun Nerd stuff

 

[wormraper]

1st thing I do When I get new automatic is take of Slide Turn Slide upside down and insert a round behind extractor.
f you wand gun to fire every time and not double stack the extractor has to have good bite on rim of shell to extract .
I take extractor clear to side of shell so extractor point is not getting chipped or shaving brass
in gun it grabs it every time second chance is Boloney.
3 strokes with diamond file on pad of extractor that rides on slide reasemble and check how ever many times it takes to bring point to side of shell .
Dont ever fire shot shells in auto .
And throw away Dumby Rounds for Dry fire Firing pins havent Broke since 80s designs.
The Design of the Double Action Striker Fire Auto Pistol.
You Notice empty gun you only have to pull slide Back a half inch to Fully Cock Gun.
Because you are not Chambering Round .
So when round is in chamber
the double action only Trigger Bar has to reach 1/2 inch to grab The sear firing pin pull back firing pin and let it go to Fire.
That Tells you the Trigger bar and sear cock latches at end of slide motion ,
Where as old auto with hammer slide cocked hammer at other end of slide motion as slide was being stopped running into Frame and Hammer cock.
So on your Striker Gun its Slide is getting a full run at the sear and trigger bar at end of slide motion .
The Lead Steel Bullet friction on Ramp usually Is softer hit Because it acts like Brake.
So when you pull back slide all the way and release it Without bullet you are causing
Sear and Trigger bar to Hammer.
And frame and Slide stop too.
Same thing is happening with plastic snap caps .

So unless you are Chambering Live round in any auto .
DO NOT RACK AND RELEASE SLIDE , LOWER IT INTO BATTERY!!!!!!!!!!!
It will also trash the Slide Rails..

Long winded but as simple as I can put it .

And point hand gun at ground and all ways pull back slide of gun from rear of Slide or youl Blow Your Hand off.
More likely with pocket pistol
Please be safe use common sense Guns were made to go off.
Carry license is quite the Commitment.

Lol. Name fits

 

[Elmerfudd]

No disrespect was intended .
I do sometimes get carried away .
I try to pick up where the license teachers left off for people who were trained half fast.
S&W should have known what to tell you the first time you called .
But the guys answering phone arent that smart .
Own you dry racked your gun to death .
its still dry racking with snap caps.
If you dont listen your Pinch.
Im not a funny Guy.
and if to stubborn to take help Buy a Revolver.
Good Trails

 

[Argee]

The M&P Shield definitely can be dry fired a lot. I personally recommend using snap caps (inert dummy rounds) to reduce wear and tear.

In the case of my defective Shield Plus, dry firing a couple times after cleaning to check function certainly is not excessive. Doing that caused me to identify an issue where the gun wouldn't fire due to a deformed trigger bar and a piece of metal that sheared off of it. Thankfully I didn't discover the problem in a situation where I needed to defend myself. In this scenario dry-fire helped me greatly, perhaps it saved my life. Hopefully I don't have to draw my gun in self defense ever again.

In the case of my Shield 2.0, which is running like a champ with nearly 3K live rounds and well over 10k dry-fires through it, just do the math on the cost of a new firing pin verses 10k+ rounds of ammo. So again, in this scenario dry-fire helps me greatly.

When a part breaks due to being worn out, I'll be happy to replace it on my dime if I don't have the time to send it in for a free warranty repair.



You're speaking of this like a person who's never been in a brutal fight, never taken a hit so hard it fractures your skull, never been swept off your feet, never been sucker punched, never defended against multiple attackers, never defended against someone who's wielding a blunt weapon or a knife, never defended against someone with a gun, and never drawn a gun themselves in self defense.

All these are things I've experienced, most of them more than once... except just once against a knife, once against a 357 magnum, one skull fracture, and once against multiple attackers which was five of them.

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face
-Mike Tyson

Mike was right.

At most ranges, all you can do is shoot at a target that's sitting still, right in front of you, while you're standing still behind a line. In a defensive situation, you won't be still and your target won't be still. Furthermore, at a lot of ranges you can't even draw from the holster, especially if it's from concealment.

With dry-fire, it's about dynamically practicing all of the motor movements that come before the point where you pull the trigger.

There's a lot more to dry-fire than going clicktyy click against a picture on the wall. If you're already an accurate shot, you can practice getting on target faster, drawing from concealment, drawing while quickly moving backwards to break contact, you can practice engaging multiple targets, and a whole lot more. The point of all if it is to develop muscle memory and to practice until you can't fail. Moreover, if you're practicing with a proper tight squeeze on the gun, like with live fire, you're literally working out those muscles, increasing grip strength, and thus improving recoil management which is necessary for follow up shots.

Until you realize there's a whole lot more to gun fighting and self defense than pulling the trigger, the gun you carry is little more than an emotional support animal.

I hope you never learn the hard way, like I have.

As far as this thread goes, we're far off topic, which I don't mind, and I don't mind debate either. I'm happy to share knowledge where I can and I know there's many here who have a lot more knowledge and experience than I do.

Totally agree. I also dry fire a lot with a laser training cartridge. It gives instant feed back on shot placement. It pays off when I do live fire on my range.

 

[Stalwart]

My wife can't use hers due to her hand size, with her hand fully choked up on the grip her finger naturally rest near to top of the trigger. This causes it to lock up the trigger, if she angles her finger down it messes up her shots. All in all a bit of a worthless gun for her, but it works fine for me since my finger covers the entirety of the trigger. Should probably take it apart to see if it has any of these other issues though.

 

[M48a1]

Wow, what a read! I have and do carry semi autos, colts, Para, ruger. My everyday carry is a 70+ year old revolver. Granted I don’t live in a high crime area. (Situation awareness is king). Point being I have never been fully comfortable with semi autos, where your relying on a magazine and or a pistol with plastic parts. There are some pretty strong opinions on this topic that why we are all responsible for our own safety. Carry accordingly! Hope everyone stays safe and never has to test their theories.

 

[wormraper]

My wife can't use hers due to her hand size, with her hand fully choked up on the grip her finger naturally rest near to top of the trigger. This causes it to lock up the trigger, if she angles her finger down it messes up her shots. All in all a bit of a worthless gun for her, but it works fine for me since my finger covers the entirety of the trigger. Should probably take it apart to see if it has any of these other issues though.

Exact same problem I had. Ended up selling it

 

[Stalwart]

Exact same problem I had. Ended up selling it

Was curious to see if I could stick the old trigger in, my wife shot the old version just fine which is why we bought it without looking at it in person

 

[wormraper]

Was curious to see if I could stick the old trigger in, my wife shot the old version just fine which is why we bought it without looking at it in person

I did the same, and found out the hard way that the pivot point on the dingus in the middle is way too low and if you have a high grip it chokes the trigger. I still LOVE my shield 1.0 (I still have 2 of them, sold the 3rd to get the shield plus) but think that I'll either go back to the shield 1.0, or decide between the 43x or the P365xl for a micro compact

 

[Stalwart]

I did the same, and found out the hard way that the pivot point on the dingus in the middle is way too low and if you have a high grip it chokes the trigger. I still LOVE my shield 1.0 (I still have 2 of them, sold the 3rd to get the shield plus) but think that I'll either go back to the shield 1.0, or decide between the 43x or the P365xl for a micro compact

Found out you can stick the hinged trigger from the 2.0 in the plus, someone said you could use 1.0 as well. A few said this solved that issue, but my wife is so annoyed that she's probably going to just get a G43X as she shot my Dagger Micro just fine.

 

[BackToTheRange95]

Very disappointed with my M&P Shield Plus after about 400 rounds. Trigger still works fine. My problem is consistent failure to eject. It's worst with the 10 round magazines; the failures seem to occur mainly on those, with 7-8 rounds in the mag. Ammo type doesn't matter. The last straw was today: Just got back from a practical shooting event and I had two failures within 10 rounds. Got lots of practice clearing those while being timed. Definitely NOT a gun to trust your life with. The other thing was that it shipped with the front sight visibly off to the right of center, which I had to get fixed. All in all there seem to be major quality control issues going on here. I'm glad S&W doesn't make airliners. With all the stories about the delays in service I'm just going to eat the $400 and get something else.

 

[CouchPotato]

Very disappointed with my M&P Shield Plus after about 400 rounds. Trigger still works fine. My problem is consistent failure to eject. It's worst with the 10 round magazines; the failures seem to occur mainly on those, with 7-8 rounds in the mag. Ammo type doesn't matter. The last straw was today: Just got back from a practical shooting event and I had two failures within 10 rounds. Got lots of practice clearing those while being timed. Definitely NOT a gun to trust your life with. The other thing was that it shipped with the front sight visibly off to the right of center, which I had to get fixed. All in all there seem to be major quality control issues going on here. I'm glad S&W doesn't make airliners. With all the stories about the delays in service I'm just going to eat the $400 and get something else.

In various M&P groups on Facebook, I'm also seeing people there who are reporting FTF issues. I guess it's enough now to rule out people limp-wristing the gun.

I dont know the cause but I'm wondering if it's a magazine related issue.

The Shield has a reputation for eating any ammo that's fed to it.

 

[Argee]

In various M&P groups on Facebook, I'm also seeing people there who are reporting FTF issues. I guess it's enough now to rule out people limp-wristing the gun.

I dont know the cause but I'm wondering if it's a magazine related issue.

The Shield has a reputation for eating any ammo that's fed to it.

Magazine issue is a possibility. I purchased a 13 round magazine for mine that gave me problems..took it back and got another 10 rounder..it eats everything I feed it and no problems with the trigger or trigger safety dingus.