Shoot it. It will loosen up.

 

Mine didn't. Its at the mothership right now awaiting whatever fix there is for this issue.

I know they are stiff at the start. But I've handled many others, including several new ones (NIB types) at the shop. None were like mine. I called S&W first, and they sent a new recoil spring. No joy. The new spring was defective. They asked that I send it in. I'm wondering if there is a bad batch of recoil spring components.

But I've been using S&W stuff for over 40 years. I know they will make it right.

 

This has been brought up many times here and on other forums, so yes most are pretty stiff when they are new. Mine was the hardest to rack of any pistol I have owned. :dizzy: After breaking it down, cleaning and working with it, it did loosen up.

I would break it down and clean it. Take extra to make sure the recoil spring is straight both horizontally and vertically before you put it back together. Shoot it and see if it gets better. If it doesn't maybe a call to S&W would be in order. Good luck.

 

Mine wasn't too difficult to rack, but almost impossible to get the slide to stay open by pushing up on the slide stop. It seemed it just wouldn't QUITE go back far enough. The recoil spring DOES need to be seated straight. If I put in an empty mag, the slide would stay open if I pulled back hard. I left it open overnight and shot 200 rds the next day and now it's fairly easy to rack and engage the slide stop/release.

 

Actually I had forgotten to mention that part. I have yet to be able to lock my slide 'open by using the 'Slide Lock as well. With the magazine in and if I pull 'hard enough it will lock 'back. I 'think I am pulling it back far enough to lock with the slide lock, but the slide lock won't move, plus the fact that it is also as hard as 'HADES to move the slide lock to 'unlock it, I have to use 'both thumbs (slightly 'painful on the thumb tips).

Thanks to you and all fellow M&P 'shooters on this forum for your advice. I will contact S&W first to see what they advise in order to hopefully save myself a lot of trouble-shooting only to later find out that the problem 'was in fact on their end.

 

Actually I had forgotten to mention that part. I have yet to be able to lock my slide 'open by using the 'Slide Lock as well. With the magazine in and if I pull 'hard enough it will lock 'back. I 'think I am pulling it back far enough to lock with the slide lock, but the slide lock won't move, plus the fact that it is also as hard as 'HADES to move the slide lock to 'unlock it, I have to use 'both thumbs (slightly 'painful on the thumb tips).

I had the same problem with my 9mm Shield, I put several hundred rounds through it one day with some friends and its a lot better now. It just needed to know it was loved I guess.

 

Double check to make sure the recoil spring is seated correctly.

 

Were you able to field strip and clean the gun when you bought it home before shooting it the first time?

If you did, I agree with Rainsong on your second post. That recoil assembly has to be in there just right. That may be why it won't lock back for you.

 

I haven't had a chance to fire it at all since I picked it up on the 29th of April. I have just been 'stroking and 'admiring it and trying to make sure the basic 'mechanical parts work. Again its like having a new baby, you don't want to treat it too rough for fear of 'breaking it; heck, I almost gave it a bottle!!!

I called S&W and they want me to send it to them. They basicly surmised that it may be because of the 'new weapon phase it is in, but they had issues with it 'not locking. They sent me a return label and I will ship it to them one day next week.

I told them to look it over real good for me and that I wanted it to work just 'exaclty the way it says in the Owner's Manual; "one hand on the grip with the 'thumb on the slide release and the other hand using only the thumb and 'side of the bent index finger while grasping the serrated sides of the slide from the rear, pull the slide to the rear, press upward on the slide stop with the other thumb while letting the slide move slightly forward thereby locking the slide open (FIGURE 20 in the manual)". So smoooooth they make it look, well, good luck with that one. I tried to put my hands into those exact positions before pulling the slide, when I began to pull the slide back because it was so 'hard to pull, the thumb touching the "slide stop" automatically curled 'out and away from the slide stop in order for me to keep enough resistance on the grip. If you place your thumb 'exactly the way they show in the manual and because you have to have such a 'tight hold on the grip when you begin to pull the slide there is no way that your thumb can 'stay in that exact position, your muscle tightens and your thumb will automatically move from where that slide stop button is. I even had my co-worker try and he has bigger 'muscles than I do, and even he couldn't get a good enough hold without his thumb moving away from the slide stop. They also say to 'not put your hand 'over the chamber when pulling the slide back, I couldn't make that happen either. That was the only way I could grab enough of the slide to be able to pull it, grasping the serrated sides of the slide from the rear 'only just wasn't working for me.

Well, we will see once they send it back how well 'they got it broken-in enough to work as described in the manual, unless there was something else wrong with it. Sure, it will probably loosen up enough at some point, but not at the risk of me getting a 'hernia first. Also, I think S&W should mention in the owner's manual about how hard it may be for the slide to function as demonstrated until it has been broken-in and loosened up, and also give some alternatives on what to do about it 'other than shooting and oiling (similar to what some of you have been mentioning here, such as, locking the slide open for a few days, or taking it apart and cleaning and oiling certain spots, etc., because not all "new" owner's have a computer or access to these types of forums, and simply just don't know. Thank the 'HEAVENS for these forums.

 

I think I would put a couple hundred rounds through before I sent it off and see if the problem alleviates itself. If it doesn't, send it off. You don' HAVE to put the slide stop up to use the gun. See if after you shoot the first mag if the slide locks open when it empties.

 

The Shield is a small gun that necessarily has a short, stout recoil spring and limited slide movement beyond the slide lock point.

The manual describes a theoretically ideal way to lock the slide back (at least for product liability lawyers, if not for users), but it is harder than other practical ways to do so.

The method described in the manual involves removing the magazine, which reduces the amount of grip length you can get a hold on, and grasping a limited amount of the slide surface. Both of those factors make it more difficult to lock back the slide.

However, with an empty magazine in the gun, you have more grip length to hold and the magazine's follower will automatically push up the slide lock. Or you can grasp more of the slide without a magazine in the gun and, even if you cover the ejection port, any round that might be in the chamber would drop down the empty magazine well if it could not get out the ejection port.

 

A couple of suggestions;
Grease (not oil) the tabs and also get grease the grooves that the tabs run in.
With empty gun and mag,pull back on slide while pushing forward on grip.

 

I'm interested to hear what S&W says. I had these same issues with a new Shield. It did loosen up after a couple hundred rounds, but with four stovepipes and the slide out of battery twice, I sold it. I might try again later, though----I liked the gun.

 

The smaller guns like the Shield have heavier springs than the full size, it can be difficult to pull the slides back on some of the smaller pistols, the small 40's are the worst, their springs are really stout!

Some companies are coming out with what they call "slide rackers", levers that fit in the slide back plate to assist in cycling the slide, I haven't seen one for the Shield though. I haven't used one, or even seen one except for videos online, so I can't make any kind of recommendation on them.

 

Thanks 'all for your suggestions and tips. Even though S&W sent me a 'shipping label, I decided to do a little more 'trouble-shooting first by allowing a friend of mine who is a range master with the SECRET SERVICE to take it through it's paces the next time he goes to the range which is quite often, as the case may be. He says between him and maybe some of the other team members shooting it, they can probably put close to about 500 rounds through it in-between cleaning and oiling it. Afterwards I will get it back and see how it works for 'me. If after all of that action I still have problems then I will 'definitely send it to S&W for a once over.

 

500 rds should loosen it up. If the spring is for sure seated correctly and it's still too difficult to rack, I'd send it off.

 

:realmad:Mine was the same way when I bought it back in March. My first thought, when I tried to rack it out of the box and was "holy crap!" ...There is NO way that I can do this as described in the manual. I felt like an uncoordinated, out of shape weakling! :blushing: Now, after putting over five hundred rounds through it, it is much, much, better and I don't feel quite so weak. :yes
....Now, on the other hand (let's see what kind of comments this gets)....:gathering:
I actually, FINALLY, got to hold and "fondle" (but not shoot) a brand new, never been fired, Remington R51 over the weekend. The force it took to rack this direct competitor to the Shield, was no more than a couple of pounds.:clap: It was amazingly smooth and light. :clap:And unless you've been living under a rock you know that racking force (among some other things) is one of the biggest selling point advantages of the R51....according to Remington.
....Don't be hatin'....:fish:

 

Go put a few boxes of full power 9mm defensive loads through an R51 without gloves and report back, that is if, it isn't too painful to type. :laughing:

 

That was one of the reasons my wife didn't get the Shield for her first gun. The stiff recoil spring was just too hard for her to rack the slide. If my wife ever decides to get a carry gun, I am guessing it will be a revolver because of this issue with small semi-autos. As others have said the spring should loosen up some as you shoot it, the pain is racking the slide until it does get easier for you.

 

OK, my Shield 9mm just returned home from the mothership. Wow, what a difference. The sheet says they replaced the spring and guide rod assembly and did a function test. To me, it looks to have been fully disassembled. The roll pins on the grip and on the extractor have been out and back in, for sure. I could be convinced that it has a new slide, but the sheet does not say that. The gun is immaculately clean.

The gun is now "tight" like I would expect a new gun to be, but it no longer has to be pushed against the workbench to rack the slide. I can actually do it with normal hand and arm strength.

I would have to say that Smith and Wesson came through like always -- they made it right. All's well that ends well.

BTW, I put the gun into the hands of the FEDEX folks on April 18, Smith received it on April 22. They put it back in FedEx hands on May 13, and it came home on May 15. They did not send any extra mags (nor would I have expected them to, but many people seem to feel that is expected).

 

My Shield is a pussycat to rack compared to my Kahr cm9.

 

I know that's right. I used to own a PM9. traded it for a CW40 and it's a world of difference. Have not regretted that trade.

 

Question, how much of this is due to heavy spring and how much is due to the fact that there is less to grab onto for leverage when racking the slide? I have tried several sub compacts and they are not my cup of tea. The small size was one of the reasons and fumbling with its small size when having to clear a malfunction was the other.

 

I think it is actually the result of a very stiff secondary spring. The Shield spring is a bit different than the springs in other M&P models. It has a large "primary" spring that handles the first 70 or 80 percent of the slide movement. It moves on a hollow steel shaft which contains a second spring, smaller but stiffer and larger wire gauge. This "secondary" spring starts to compress as the primary spring reaches the end of its compression stroke. This secondary spring is not only stiff on its own, but it moves inside the hollow primary guide. It also has a guide rod of its own. Accordingly, it has both internal and external friction to overcome in addition to its own elasticity. It appears to me that this secondary spring is where the stiffness begins. Up to the time that the secondary spring begins to compress, the slide moves much like any other M&P pistol. Unfortunately, the secondary spring compression seems to begin at exactly the point that a round begins to strip off and just before the slide stop notch. That, in my opinion, is where a new Shield seems to many users to be TOO stiff. I have farly large hands, and I have a bit of arthritis, but I have not had an issue finding enough area to grasp the slide tightly. The "fins" seem to me to be sufficient to allow me to hold the slide tightly.

I presume that the two-stage spring is necessary to overcome the dynamics of slide movement/recoil.

Having been tweaked by the S&W warranty folks, my Shield is now much much smoother. Its still stiff, but stiff in a way that most new guns are stiff. I presume that the original guide rod/spring had some internal issue which prevented its normal movement. Whatever the cause, the gun is now smooth through its full slide cycle. It still stiffens at the end, presumably as the secondary spring begins to compress but It is the kind of stiffness that will likely improve with age.

I'm delighted that they were able to improve this little gun. I like it a lot. I still hope that the Wolff folks, or someone else eventually develops another spring design for this gun. I've looked at a lot of other 9mm pocket guns. None use this two-stage approach to slide handling. But I am not an engineer, and the S&W folks surely have access to top-notch engineering data. There has to be a very good reason why this two stage approach was adopted.

 

I'd never looked at those - obviously. I am familiar with some of the SIGS -- especially the P938, an LC9, and some Kel-Tecs. I have otherwise led a sheltered life.

Do the Beretta, Kahr, XDS and Taurus have similar behavior (to the Shield) when the slide is racked?

Please do not misunderstand me -- I love my Shield and I am not trying in any way to belittle it. I was just trying to analyze why it behaved as it does when others don't. And Smith's service is unparalleled. I knew mine had some sort of issue, and they fixed it quickly. I suspect they had a batch of springs that were on the edge of tolerance. I do expect it to loosen up with age. My 9c was tight when new also.

 

I am unaware of whether other small 9mm pistols with dual/nested recoil spring assemblies have slide-racking issues.

As a layman and not an engineer, I would expect any approach using dual springs would be more prone to the possibility of hanging up than using a single spring. The guns that use nested springs without any separation -like the LC9- look like they might hang up more than guns in which the springs are separated by a tube, but apparently not.

Given the number of complaints, it may be that tolerances on the Shield's recoil spring assembly are tighter than we might imagine, making it more likely that some out-of-spec assemblies slip past QC at the factory. But that is just a layman's speculation.

 

Given the number of complaints, it may be that tolerances on the Shield's recoil spring assembly are tighter than we might imagine, making it more likely that some out-of-spec assemblies slip past QC at the factory. But that is just a layman's speculation.

:huh:

Wow, just wow. :fish:

 

Mine has the same issue but after putting 50 rounds through it...it was a bit easier...nowhere close to where it has to be for my wife to handle it... I`ll put a few more rounds through it and see if it doesn`t get a LOT better I`ll send it to Smith..

I suspect that one of the reasons that the Shield shoots so sweet and better than any other small semi I`ve ever shot is the recoil spring...I don`t know for sure but I`d bet on it..

 

My CM9 still takes a bit of "oomph" to push the slide fully to the rear and lock the SS, even after a few years of shooting; but it's easily doable (for a guy).

If the Shields require pushing the muzzle against a hard object to fully retract; I wonder if a borderline recoil spring spring bind issue (too many spring coils) is occurring?

 

The only facts I can lay on the table are that my Shield, out of the box, had a slide that appeared to bind and was difficult to the point that I had to push it against something to even get the slide back far enough to engage the slide lock. I cleaned it and shot a bunch of rounds through it to no avail. I sent it to Smith & Wesson, and it came back with a slide that works and after 100 rounds today, has loosened to the point that it is no longer uncomfortable at all.

I can only speculate about the cause of the issue, but the S&W documentation says they replaced the recoil spring and did a function test. Whatever they did, it worked. Even more fortunately, whatever they did had no impact on the gun's accuracy. It was, and is, one of the most accurate pistols I've used. BTW -- I still shoot low and left when I get sloppy -- can't blame the gun for that.

I was never unhappy with the gun, I just wanted it to be more usable.

At this point, the slide is not as easy as my 9c, but its close. My 9c has had several thousand rounds through it and has had an Apex USB added. I suspect that they Shield after the same amount of usage will also improve more. To me, the issue is over.

 

I'm glad S&W got it fixed for you, The Shield is a sweet pistol when it's
working properly.

 

Extremely hard to pull slide back to slide stop position.

Sometimes I can't pull the slide back and lock it. When it does go back, it seems if there is grinding sound. Field stipped the new gun and checked the spring alignment. Reassembled and the problem still existed. Called S&W customer service. Service rep said that the gun was designed to be locked back on the slide stop with an empty magazine in the gun. This would mean that you would have to put an empty mag in gun in order to reassemble after field strip. I will put several hundred rounds through gun and see it it gets better. Love the gun but hate encountering problems up front.