[Vbp1]

Is there a way to fix shield plus magazine which not lock slide on empty?
I have 6 mags with my new shield plus.
2 came with the gun and work fine. The other 4 I ordered separately. Now one of the mags all of a sudden stopped locking the slide. Now , I never shoot the gun yet. I just load and unload it and test the functionality. I loaded the original mags with critical defence rounds and they are ready for action, even though I hope it never be needed, but extra mags I ordered for the range use for practice.
So how do I identify what is wrong with the mag and fix it?
Or do I contact Smith and Wesson for help as the mags seams to be OEM mags. The package looks like OEM I see in the local store and mags have Smith and Wesson markings just like one came with the gun. Any suggestions?

 

[CitizenX]

I wouldn't assume something does or does not work until I actually did some live fire with it, outside of what could be a problem with being safe. If the magazines still don't function the way you believe they should, I would return them to the place I bought them for an exchange or refund.

 

[timshldPlus]

The manual shows how to clean and inspect the mags. The 10 and 13 rounder’s come apart a bit differently and is good to know for the long term cleaning. I had one mag in my shield + that failed to lock the slide too.
Here is what may be happening. In layman’s terms, no offense intended. The plastic part (follower) that elevates the bullet after each shot moves the slide lock on the last shot in the mag. If the spring tension in the mag is weak, the follower can’t lift the lock and the slide fails to lock open. You can show it to the dealer where you got the gun as slugged by CitezenX, or call S&W. I called S&W and had a free replacement in my mail box in about a week. Solved my problem, but you will have to know how to take apart and assemble the mag and spring to the follower. Your problem may be different.
I have been around firearms for decades, so I had some knowledg. Good luck hope this helps.
Tim

 

[Rangerman]

Is there a way to fix shield plus magazine which not lock slide on empty?
I have 6 mags with my new shield plus.
2 came with the gun and work fine. The other 4 I ordered separately. Now one of the mags all of a sudden stopped locking the slide. Now , I never shoot the gun yet. I just load and unload it and test the functionality. I loaded the original mags with critical defence rounds and they are ready for action, even though I hope it never be needed, but extra mags I ordered for the range use for practice.
So how do I identify what is wrong with the mag and fix it?
Or do I contact Smith and Wesson for help as the mags seams to be OEM mags. The package looks like OEM I see in the local store and mags have Smith and Wesson markings just like one came with the gun. Any suggestions?

Hand cycling means nothing. Until you shoot the pistol with all of the magazines you don't know if it works correctly or not.

 

[ShipWreck]

Hand cycling means nothing. Until you shoot the pistol with all of the magazines you don't know if it works correctly or not.

 

[Vbp1]

The manual shows how to clean and inspect the mags. The 10 and 13 rounder’s come apart a bit differently and is good to know for the long term cleaning. I had one mag in my shield + that failed to lock the slide too.
Here is what may be happening. In layman’s terms, no offense intended. The plastic part (follower) that elevates the bullet after each shot moves the slide lock on the last shot in the mag. If the spring tension in the mag is weak, the follower can’t lift the lock and the slide fails to lock open. You can show it to the dealer where you got the gun as slugged by CitezenX, or call S&W. I called S&W and had a free replacement in my mail box in about a week. Solved my problem, but you will have to know how to take apart and assemble the mag and spring to the follower. Your problem may be different.
I have been around firearms for decades, so I had some knowledg. Good luck hope this helps.
Tim

Thanks, I already take it appart and tried to extend the spring. Didn't work. Gues may call SM and see.

 

[Rick M]

Hand cycling means nothing. Until you shoot the pistol with all of the magazines you don't know if it works correctly or not.

Actually it does, if you have the experience to know what’s happening as the pistol cycles; both by feel, looks (particularly the slide‘s travel), and how it sounds.

Admittedly; it really does take a bit of experience to get there…

 

[M1A4ME]

You can unload and field strip the pistol, like you were going to clean it.

With the slide removed you can look down into the frame and see the slide stop resting in it's normal position.

Insert an empty magazine and you can see the follower (when it works correctly) raise the slide lock lever up when the magazine is fully inserted. Normally, when a magazine has any rounds in it, the follower does not contact the slide lock lever. With no ammo in the magazine the follower should be up far enough to make contact and raise the lever. If the follower doesn't contact the slide lock lever is it because the follower is not up far enough in the empty magazine - or because the follower is damaged where it makes contact with the slide lock lever? Or is it just not coming up far enough to make contact? Or is it fully up in the magazine but the spring is so weak when it contacts the slide lock the follower moves downwards in the magazine?

Sometimes you run into a magazine that just doesn't "work" the slide lock the way it should. Sometimes it's a weak/defective spring, a really dirty magazine (inside) or a follower that's not made right or damaged. There is also a smaller possibility the magazine has been damaged up at the top and binds up the follower before it gets all the way to the top to make contact with the slide lock lever.

You already know which magazine is causing the problem, this above just puts a clearer picture in your mind of what is going on.

I've had magazine issues (P14) where thumbing the rounds out would result in getting a few and then they hung up down inside and would not rise to the top. A shake or smack would make the rounds pop up to the feed lips and I could continue to thumb them out. They never did that firing the pistol so I figured the recoil of firing was enough of a "shake" to overcome the hanging up I saw while unloading the magazine with my thumb. I tried cleaning the insides and wiping the inside of the magazines, springs and followers with an oily rag and that didn't fix it. New magazine springs is what fixed it.

If you take apart the magazine that doesn't work and one or two that do work, can you see a difference in the spring length or something different about the follower, or the magazine body when you look at the inside surfaces of the magazines?

Even a magazine that's not had heavy/prolonged use can have spring issues. See if S&W will send you a new spring and compare it to the used one before putting it in the magazine to try out. Justs to give you an idea of what to look for in the future if the problem repeats in another magazine.

Sorry for the long post. I'm just one of those people who wants to know/understand how stuff works and how to fix it on my own if I can.

 

[Vbp1]

Ok, a little update here. After cycling with a couple of good mags and loading the "bad" mag with a few rounds and cycling with it. It seams to work all of sudden.
Can't wait to go to the range a put in a few rounds through.

 

[M1A4ME]

Great to hear. Sometimes you might just wear a piece in. That's what happens when the trigger pull gets better, or the safeties/slide release get easier after some use.

Maybe there was a rough spot on the follower that was hanging up a bit and it wore off/wore down.

Glad you got it.

 

[Kilroy2721]

I number all of my mags so I can keep track of each one in case I run into a problem with it. That way you won't get any of them mixed up.

 

[Vbp1]

What you use to number them?
I was thinking of marking my mags too but not sure how to do it safely.

 

[Rick M]

I number all of my mags so I can keep track of each one in case I run into a problem with it. That way you won't get any of them mixed up.

I’ve been doing that since my IPSC shooting days back in the early ‘90’s. 👍

 

[Kilroy2721]

I either use an engraving tool that I have or use fingernail polish.

 

[Rangerman]

What you use to number them?
I was thinking of marking my mags too but not sure how to do it safely.

A silver Sharpie works well. Either on the side of the magazine or the bottom.

 

[Rick M]

A silver Sharpie works well. Either on the side of the magazine or the bottom.

I use them on my mags and shot timer.
They last a good while. 👍