[WestCoast]

I thought that I should start this post covering my pistols brass ejecting and trigger pull concerns, since the process will take 4 weeks or more. I put a trackback with this post, back to tsburns Aug. 26th post, but not sure it will work because I am no forum expert.

In part, his post was:
This is a work in progress. In a word, the pistol is an OUTSTANDING 9mm handgun.

This was my first shooting of the firearm. I believe that I shoot it better than my Beretta and SA XD. Shot it at an outdoor range with wind blowing. Scroll to second post for targets @ 15 yds. For me, this was good. One shot a second. No failures of any kind. Was more concerned about operation and reliability than accuracy, but I am pleased with this first outing.

Shot <50 cartridges-excuse- took a bunch of photos there, below.

Ergonomics- 5 Stars
Recoil - a 'dream' - 5 Stars
Trigger-excellent 6.6# (only measured twice)- 4 Stars
Overall- 5 Stars

Cons: quite a time seating 7 rd magazine with +1
Initial shot fired (only), hot brass struck me in face below my right eye. Eye protection is really important.
Problematical for most women and handicapped or weakened men due to strength initially required in manipulating/retracting the slide and engaging the slide stop.

My posts were:
Very nice looking Shield.

I have the CA compliant 40 Shield. You are lucky to have a 6.6. pound trigger, I measured mine on 8-25 and found it to be 7 lb. 9 oz., the first four mags at 7 yds. are 1-1.5 inch groups, it slowly creeps out to 3 inch groups at the end of a 50 round box.

You also noted a face strike by a ejected case. My pistol ejects cases out from 2:00-6:00 o'clock and 3-15 feet in distance. Would like to know where your and other posters Shield pistols eject the cases? I shoot in the National Forest and have never been able to recover all of my Shield brass. My other pistols (not S&W pistols) always eject their cases in small groups and are easily recovered.

I sent a message to S&W on Monday about my brass ejection and trigger pull concerns. Waiting for their reply. S&W says the Shield has a 6.5 pound +/- trigger pull. I would take that to mean, +/- in ounces and not +/- pounds.
and
For Bill in TX.

If part of your post refers to my ejection concerns, my 40 Shield is not new, it has ejected the brass in every shooting session in this wide pattern since my new in box purchase.
and
Just received a message from S&W, they want my 40 Shield shipped to them. They are sending me a prepaid shipping label in 5-7 days.

I will try to keep everyone informed during the process. I am lucky, this Shield is not my only concealed carry pistol.

 

[Texas40]

All I can say is my 2 shields chuck the brass right at least 8/10 ft away when shooting outdoors at uncovered area. IE no roof walls etc.
I have never had one come anywhere near the shooters face.
Interested as to outcome from s&w

 

[WestCoast]

Marva of Smith & Wesson sent me a message on Aug. 27, 2014 stating that I would receive a shipping label in 5-7 business days. I never received that label, I checked my email and junk email, and no label in USPS box or at my home address.

I called S&W today (Sept. 8th ) and only had to wait 5 minutes to speak with someone. F. Rodriguez of S&W heard my complaint of no label, and waited on the line for me to receive the shipping label that she had just sent by email. Compliments to F. Rodriguez on outstanding customer service!

Pistol and problems list shipped out today by FedEx to Smith & Wesson.

 

[WestCoast]

I received my pistol from Smith & Wesson Monday Oct. 6th. It was shipped to S&W on Sept. 8th, arrived at S&W on Sept. 10th, 2 days shipping there, 22 days at S&W, 4 days shipping for the return trip, for a total of 28 days of down time.

I sent the pistol with a problem list with 3 concerns. The pistol was ejecting brass from 2-6 o'clock (150 degree arc), gritty trigger which I thought was due to burrs on the striker block or machined well that it sits in, and a 7 pound 9 ounce trigger pull.

S&W sent a Repair Order Completion sheet with the pistol stating that Performed Service: was, Evaluate / Repair, Polished chamber & replaced extractor, Adjusted Trigger Pull.

I checked the trigger pull and it measured 7 lbs. 2 oz, a 7 oz. reduction. I was hoping that it would be closer to the advertised (from the S&W website) 6 lb. 8 oz.

It did not appear that the rear sight had been removed to check for burrs in the slide. I checked the trigger and found that it was still gritty. I disassembled the pistol and depressed the striker block, it did not move freely. I reassembled the pistol, inserted a magazine, slid a small screw driver into the pistol, depressed the striker block, squeezed the trigger and it was not gritty. S&W had failed to address this problem.

I went out to the National Forest on Tuesday the 7th and fired 50 rounds of Winchester 165 grain FMJ. The brass ejected out from the pistol at about 3-5 o'clock (60 degree arc) with majority of the brass at 3-4 o'clock and within about six feet of each other. Well done S&W, on this problem. I still found the trigger pull to be excessive and gritty.

I had 3 concerns on my problem list:
Ejection concerns, S&W fixed it.
Gritty trigger, S&W did not fix this.
Excessive trigger pull, S&W sort of addressed this.

I will call S&W some time in the future about the gritty trigger and the 7+ pound trigger pull and try to convince them to correct these problems.

S&W returned my pistol with a free 6 round magazine, THANK YOU S&W.

 

[Aegis]

What national forest do you shoot in. I'm Sierra Nat. Forest shoot there often.

 

[WestCoast]

I live near the Sierra National Forest, less than 5 miles away.

 

[Aegis]

I'm in the forest, Shaver Lake, Dinkey Creek.

 

[WestCoast]

Dinkey Creek is a nice area but have not been in that part of the woods since I worked for Granite-Ball-Groves.

 

[Aegis]

The Helms project. Quite an engineering feat. Lots of issues with it's construction.

 

[WestCoast]

It was 2 crews, each working 12 hours on and 12 hours off 6 days a week and for short periods it was 7 days a week. I worked underground (Miner) and at the projects concrete plant.

 

[Aegis]

I have been in the plant, to the generation area. PG&E used to do tours before 9/11. Probably early to mid 90's. Incredible facility. If you ever want to go shooting out this way let me know. I load most pistol calibers here.