I think I have a problem. I bought a new (S&W) M&P 9 Shield and may have shot a box of ammo through it. Today something new happened. I emptied a magazine, popped a new one in, released the slide, and when I went to pull the trigger, it pulled, but nothing happened. I looked it over, the safety was off. I could tell a round was chambered.

I worked the slide, caught the live round in my hand, and finished off the magazine. I fired another magazine or two, or three, and then it happened again.

Same sequence. Finished a magazine, popped a new one in, closed the slide with the safety still off, a live round is chambered, but when I pulled the trigger nothing happened.

Has anyone else had this problem; or is it really a problem, or "operator error"?

It's got me confused. I plan to contact S&W.

Cheap ammo? Any indention in the primer?

Some of 2,000 rounds of Remington 115gr. I bought late last year from Academy. No indication on the primer that it has ever been hit. When loaded with others later, they performed as designed.

I sent an email to S&W last night. Got no indication they received my mail. I'll call them this morning.

Kensco, I have a Shield and have noticed a couple of times when I holstered it the slide moved slightly out of battery. However, when I drew it out, the slide went back into battery. Is it possible when you released the slide that it didn't go into full battery? The trigger would probably pull but the striker wouldn't have engaged thus no primer strike.

Just a thought.

That's possible. I called M&P Customer Service. They are sending me a return label and asked me to send the pistol to them. While I wait on the label, I am going to shoot this gun again and see if the same problem occurs.....and I'll watch to see if the slide snaps shut.

Interesting that sending an email to S&W Customer Service didn't work, and when they emailed me a return shipping label for my pistol, after I called them, the file was corrupted and wouldn't print. My impression of any company includes all facets of their product and support services. So far I'm not impressed.

I sent the 9 Shield in to S&W (M&P) on August 30th, and just received the pistol back today. It's a little hard to figure what they did since one place on the Repair Order Completion, they say they "Replace Firing Pin/Striker". In another place on the same ROC there are boxes to indicate whether they "Repaired" or "Replaced" the striker. Neither box is checked. I guess I'll have to give them a call to figure out WTF they did. I'll take the pistol to the range Thursday to see if I still have a problem.

I spoke to M&P and they read their own service report. They said it wasn't clear what they had done, but they suspect the striker was replaced. The work was done at no cost to me.

I went to the FGC and fired four magazines. It never missed a beat. I'm assuming the problem is solved.

Hope you are right. A fella needs to have complete confidence in a defensive weapon. For a while I had a Shield in .45 and it was 100 percent.

I'm shooting again in about an hour. I like the gun. I hope it hangs in there.

You may find that you can greatly reduce the chances of that ever happening again (or some other bobble) by retracting the slide all the way to the rear and letting go, rather than by using the slide stop.

With these smaller pistols, space is at a premium, and dimensions, springs, etc. become a bit more critical. While your 5" 1911 .45 may work great releasing the slide using the slide stop, you may have less room for error with a small pistol like the Shield.

By pulling the slide back to the fully rearward position and letting go (obviously, not riding the slide forward in any way with your hand), you give the pistol maximum spring force to strip and chamber a round. Certain individual pistols of whatever make or model may show a decided preference to having the slide retracted to chamber a round, rather than just by using the slide stop.

I hope this helps!
John

The 9-Shield started acting up again today. Same issue. When using the slide stop release, the striker is not set on a new magazine. The back of the slide seems to stop about 1/16" short of its intended position. When I slingshot the slide, I haven't had that same problem.....yet. Disappointing.

First question does it only happen with the last round slide lock back.

Is it happening every time or occasionally.

If so the answer could/maybe change a bit.

But I believe the answer is most likely true

The two are not related.

The slide stop is not related to resetting the trigger/striker.

Forget the slide stop it is not the problem.

The problem is the slide is not traveling rear ward far enough to reengage the trigger/sear/striker.

When you use your hand to manual release the slide you are pulling it back far enough to reengage the parts.

This problem is most likely caused by two things.

First most is grip weak, improper, limp wristing could be your grip is changing slightly during recoil.

The next is reduce slide velocity cause by the ammo you are using.

Add that to an occasional improper or slightly improper/weak grip you get the occasional improper slide/striker reset

Due to the shields small size, short barrel and mass the ammo isn't generating enough energy to operate the slide properly.

If it is not doing it all the time it most likely a combination of both.

Normal American 115gr FMJ 9mm is on the low end of the pressure curve


Do you always fire a full mag. before this happens. If so load one round in the mag take your best grip fire one round.

Use the slide stop to drop the slide and see if it dry fires.

Do it several time if the problem isn't repeated then I would say it is a grip/ammo caused problem.

If it doesn't reset I say it is a ammo caused problem.

Thing have a friend that knows how to handguns shoot it.

To see if they can duplicate it. If they can't then it is a grip caused problem.

Could be a ammo caused problem.

Thus try a different brand of ammo and see if you can get one the generates a bit more slide velocity.

If that works then it is a ammo caused problem.

If all this doesn't solve the problem then it is most likely a pistol problem.

There is a reason it took all the major manufacturers to come out with super compacted 9mmL sized pistols.

The higher pressures locked breech ect ect are hard to get to work in a super compact pistol.

Lots of 22a 32a and 380 blow backs that work great.

Everybody wants a super small pistol but they take more skill then a mid to full size pistol to make and operate.

Hope this helps the 9mm shields I have shot have worked just fine.

Any question feel free to ask.

I appreciate your thoughts, some of that I've already implemented, others I hadn't thought of. I'm going to keep working with this gun until I fully understand what to expect in any situation.