M/P Shield 45 acp issue

rong

Has anyone else had this problem?

The surface of the rib that contains the striker has half moon tool marks
which when racking a round in fills with brass from the cartridge and consequently
the slide racks hard and feel real gritty when racking a round out for for the night.
Sometimes it feels as tho the slide is going to lock up.
I've only fired this gun 7 times but have racked bullets in and out many times.
When the little half moons get filled with brass I clean the rib with Flits and a dremmel tool
which seems to help. When I fire more rounds at my range I expect a stoppage.
I can't imagine these tool marks are in the design.

fordsix

call smith[?]

rong

I called S/W and they said those curves are
in the design and supposed to be there.
They are claiming the problem is the recoil spring
and are sending me a new one.
With no mag the slide works smooth.
I think the hvy mag spring and those grooves
are working together to seize up the action.
The mag springs are very heavy.

rufe-snow

I would fire at least 100 rounds, of your carry ammo through the pistol. Using all the mags.

Generally a break in period with a new firearm is usual. Only after firing a substantial number of ammo, through the pistol. Would I go back to Smith, regarding this buildup of brass debris around the striker.

No offense, but just manually hand cycling loaded rounds through the action. Is meaningless, as far as reliable sustained functioning of the pistol is concerned.

rong

1st of all no handgun should ever have a break-in period.
If so the manufacturer hasn't done his job.

2nd, I've never had to break in any poly smiths,springfields
Rugers even taurus pistols

tsr1965

I have the Shield in all 3 chamberings, and have fired several hundred rounds thru them all. I have not had any stoppage yet, that is the fault of the gun. I let a friend try the 45, and he was limp wristing it, and caused it to stove pipe. Short, light semi auto's with big recoil springs, do not tolerate limp wristing.

I have to say, that I love my 45! It is very accurate, reliable, and shoots softer with less recoil than the 40 S&W.

rong

Does your Shield 45 have those semi rings
on the surface of the firing pin tunnel
and does it fill in with brass making it difficult
to rack the bullet out at night?
Ron

NeoBlackdog

It would seem to me that tool marks on a component that is designed to interface with another portion of the firearm or the ammunition would be a defect from the factory. Have you taken good close up photos of the marks and sent them to S&W? When you asked them about them what was their reasoning behind having them there in the first place? Maybe you need to go to the local gun store and compare the marks in your pistol to the marks in a brand new one to see if yours are larger/deeper than a new pistol.
I guess my only other thought would be to stop unloading the pistol at night. It won't do you much good without a round in it.

Edit1
That answer sounds like pure horse pucky to me. The round being chambered is pushed ahead of that portion of the slide, there is no contact there with the round being chambered. The only round that that part of the slide is ever in contact with is the one that's next up in the magazine. I'd call Smith again and demand some better answers. Or just get a Glock and call it good![;)]
P.S. Edit your post below for further replies or the thread will automatically lock at 10 posts.

rong

I sent photos to Smith and Wesson and they said
these marks are to align the bullet as it comes out
of the mag and heads to the chamber.
Eventually these "swirls" get all mucked up with
brass and if I don't clean the brass off when I rack
the bullet out (as I empty the chamber every night
and rack one in the next morn) you can feel the slide
chatter and sometine stop your attempt for a moment from
racking the bullet out.As soon as this storm gets over
and all my plowing is done I intend to bring the slide to LGS
to compare.

TANK78Z

To me is would make sense that the "scallops" are to push the next to be chambered bullet backwards into the rear of the magazine so it will feed properly when the slide moves forward.
This small 45 may have a problem with the rounds shifting around in the magazine under recoil and this was an easy and fast "fix" for an improperly designed magazine or firearm.
In any case, the build up of brass is just unacceptable in what is being sold as a self defense pistol.
The scallops on your gun might be out of spec and too deep or sharp edged, hope it is fixed by S&W , no one should have to worry about cleaning brass shavings without ever firing the gun, just loading it.