S&W M&P Shield 9 Recoil Spring Problem!!!

[jgreiner]

S&W has always been very fast and very good when I have had a problem.

 

[avengedXT]

Ok - I posted before that I hope my Shield doesn't have problems. I just picked it up yesterday and have so far only put 70 rounds down range.

Before the initial firing, I did inspect the gun inside & out, and it checked out flawless

After the first 70 rounds I cleaned it, and the results are the same. .

I have taken these pictures in order to show how the gun has worn @ 70 rounds. I'll be able to fire many more rounds tomorrow; however I'm going to stop @ 150 rounds, then update again with more pictures.

 

[cyprant]

Subscribed. Good luck. Im sure you will be pleased with the outcome. And you'll end up with an extra magazine that probably wont be on the shelfs for months...

 

[HICKMAN]

I was watching Shooting USA the other day, and they were showing how the Shield was made.

These springs are actually compressed right when the slide is being assembled, not befordhand. Might just be a fluke that it bent.

Did it affect the peformance of the gun in any way, or did you just stop shooting it after noticing this?

 

[jaschutz79]

I picked up a Shield last week and the recoil assembly was bent the same as yours before I even fired the gun.

Haven't had any malfunctions yet. About a 100rds of Federal and handloads.

 

[Mosinguy]

OK yesterday I called and emailed S&W. The guy on the phone was just ok, he said he was going to ship me a return shipping label to return the whole gun.

Now the guy who returned my email was another story. He is shipping me out a new spring and said i should have it in 48 hours. I'll post an update when I receive the new spring.

Who emailed you? Kennedy Clark is the service rep who handled my 5906 emails and he's the one who wanted to send me a free hat.

Still waiting on a reply to an email about my front sight sent on Saturday and I'm a huge M&P fan.

Try calling them. The first time I emailed them I didn't get a response for a few days. They get flooded with email daily I'm sure.

 

[FourFive]

I picked up a Shield last week and the recoil assembly was bent the same as yours before I even fired the gun.

Haven't had any malfunctions yet. About a 100rds of Federal and handloads.

The recoil spring was bent just like the pics I posted? Did you contact S&W?

 

[FourFive]

Update

Nothing really to report about the spring. Just customer service update.

I got a new recoil spring in the mail today from S&W but they had me send the gun in for repairs. Also, Fedex reports that the gun was received on Monday 4/23/12 but the customer service rep I called today has no record of this and told me to call back next week. I hope they are just busy... Will try again Monday.

 

[netsecurity]

First Post here (besides intro).

Yesterday I picked up a M&P Shield 9 for backup/ccw. I shot 150 rounds through it and was very impressed. Mostly impressed with the trigger and low amount of felt recoil. Weapon just handles recoil well, like it was a much larger gun. Anyway, to the problem...

Got it home and field stripped it to clean and noticed that the recoil spring was bent. see pics. I reassembled the weapon and now the slide will not come off. It is like the recoil spring is now out of position and is blocking the slide from coming off. Put it back together and called S&W. They have no knowledge of the weapon since its so new and are sending me a return label.

The only thing i can think of except that it is defective is that the recoil spring wasn't seated properly? Any thoughts or ideas? Needless to say I am extremely disappointed especially after being so impressed with the way it shot. Not sure if i trust it now. Have to see how S&W handles this issue.

Sorry pics aren't great, from camera-phone.

That looks exactly like the XD recoil spring to me:

OEM # 42 - Subcompact Recoil Spring Assembly for 9mm,.40S&W - XDGuys.com

 

[scottka]

Nothing really to report about the spring. Just customer service update.

I got a new recoil spring in the mail today from S&W but they had me send the gun in for repairs. Also, Fedex reports that the gun was received on Monday 4/23/12 but the customer service rep I called today has no record of this and told me to call back next week. I hope they are just busy... Will try again Monday.

If you got the recoil spring, what are they fixing at S&W?

 

[amhenry]

I picked up my Shield a few hours ago. I checked my recoil spring and it looks fine-- no denting or bending.

I'll run it on my Bobcat Steel on Saturday and see how it goes.

 

[avengedXT]

Had the chance to take my shield out again today. It was fun, and successful to reaching 150 rounds without a failure of any kind. Er.. well.... not firing anyway.


Goodbye white dot from the front sight

But hey, my recoil spring assy. is still in tact! *it does look like it has a slight bend in it, i will admit. But nothing alarming as of yet

 

[DustyDawg48]

Did the dot just get dirty or did it fall out? I don't know why but all of my M&Ps seem to have a problem keeping the front site clean LOL I bought a small thing of gloss white paint from the craft section at WalMart and keep that and a couple of toothpicks handy to spruce up the sites from time to time as part of it's regular maintenance!

 

[avengedXT]

Did the dot just get dirty or did it fall out? I don't know why but all of my M&Ps seem to have a problem keeping the front site clean LOL I bought a small thing of gloss white paint from the craft section at WalMart and keep that and a couple of toothpicks handy to spruce up the sites from time to time as part of it's regular maintenance!

The white "filling" or cap, whatever it was fell completely out

I've got the toothpicks and a Crayon on me now

I plan on upgrading to night sights anyway. Just want something to have to keep me at bay until I get em'.

 

[DustyDawg48]

Excellent! I love low-tech fixes. I figure I can get probably 175,000 sites painted from just that little bottle from WalMart so that and a box of toothpicks and I'm on the cheap-fix dream wagon!

I do have an M&P with Smith's factory sites (Trijicon) and they are awesome!

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

The white "filling" or cap, whatever it was fell completely out

I've got the toothpicks and a Crayon on me now

I plan on upgrading to night sights anyway. Just want something to have to keep me at bay until I get em'.

Call S&W and 'splain to them what happened. Chances are that you'll get a new sight sent your way.

-J-

 

[MikeDVB]

Call S&W and 'splain to them what happened. Chances are that you'll get a new sight sent your way.

-J-

Or maybe discounted factory night-sights if you ask nicely?

 

[ZbornacSVT]

I picked up my Shield a few hours ago. I checked my recoil spring and it looks fine-- no denting or bending.

I'll run it on my Bobcat Steel on Saturday and see how it goes.

Well.....inquiring minds want to know!!

 

[FourFive]

If you got the recoil spring, what are they fixing at S&W?

Must have been confusion. But now I have the gun back WITH an extra spring AND another magazine. Sorry for the delay in reporting but been working doubles for two weeks straight. Going to range this weekend. Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[rgrimm01]

Thanks, as far as field strip/clean before I fired it goes. I did remove the slide in the shop but not the recoil spring or barrel. There is a rounded "cutout" where the recoil spring seats onto the barrel if it installed properly so i don't know how it could have come out. I'll update the status of this issue as it progresses.

While spending time in the LGS, I have watched several instances of customers and store personel disassembling firearms. The manual emphasized that the recoil spring was to seat fully in the slide recess and centered laterally(I wonder if the rear of the recoil spring was fully bedded into the "notch on the barrel lug"?) Due to this attention, I made it a point to remove, clean then reassemble. Hopefully your situation was a fluke and not a weak link...