Shield Safety Alert

[Kevin_d77]

I guess it's official now and no longer a rumor.

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category4_750001_750051_791654_-1_757978_757978_image

[TunnelRat]

Wow. I actually had this happen to my Shield. I sold it some time ago, but I definitely noticed this happening.

[Wreck-n-Crew]

I like manual safeties. Wish they went back to them.:mad:

[mrray13]

I just checked the wife's, which was bought in May of last year. Checked out fine, glad I read this forum!

[Kevin_d77]

Both of ours are fine too

[meanmachine1961]

Mine checks out fine too.

[TXAZ]

Thanks. No problem here. But makes me wonder about earlier Quality processes and testing.
On the positive side, they appear to have rapidly fixed it once discovered.

[Kevin_d77]

I think it was a recent batch but they needed to be cautious. Bought our first one in November last year and the second one this March.

[danez71]

I like manual safeties. Wish they went back to them.


The Shield has a manual safety.

This is a different issue.

[khegglie]

Mine is an early .40 model; checks out OK.

[southjk]

Mine was made in Jan of 13 and works like it's supposed to. I have to wonder though if this is now something I'll have to keep an eye on or do you either have the problem or don't. Could it break later or if it's not doing it now then I'm good?

[arktravler]

Thanks for the heads up. Checked mama's... her's is good....

[Spats McGee]

Thanks for the heads-up. In spite of my fear that no one will ever see this thread again, I'm going to sticky this.

[Kevin_d77]

Stopped my LGS chain, they went thru every Shield in their inventory, said they had 40/200 that had the issue but its all within new batches

[kcub]

Why don't they fix them all?
It seems like the ones that are "fine" would still have the same propensity to someday not be "fine". I guess the S&W lawyers and actuaries figured out this was the cheapest way to go, customers be damned.

[khegglie]

Fix what? Mine checks out ok. They gave us the test procedure and said send it in IF IT FAILED.

[wstein]

I glad I checked the forum tonight. I got my shield last Aug, and it checks out fine.

[ntg]

Humm...I'm saving up for one and hoping to find one once I have the $$$. I'll have to make sure before pulling the trigger.

[bt380]

While my M&P is not the "Shield," it has the same trigger mechanism in appearance and not under the warning label. The only time I check this mechanism is when cleaning, but I don't exercise it multiple times. I tickle all moving parts an observe for signs of wear, etc in the cleaning phase. While this seems ok, it may not have found a failure as the instructions says "test multiple times." I'll have to check out my other pistols and come up w/ a highlight list to examine prior to use. I have been thinking linearly and need to re-examine some of those concepts. I like safety tips and spending time on the gun bench. Then again, I like the mechanical mechanisms and slowness of reloading. I like to be thorough and it also helps me to be more observant with a deadly weapon where second best may not be good enough. Thanks for posting this on the forum as a reminder to keep vigilant.

[Potsy]

Checked mine ~~Good ! Thanks for the heads up. :)

[1DrnkMxR]

Thanks for the post, mine is good to go:)

[spacecoast]

It seems like the ones that are "fine" would still have the same propensity to someday not be "fine".

I would have the same question. Does a pistol which is "fine" now have the potential to go to an unsafe condition in the future either from round count, wear or dirt accumulation?

This Safety Alert applies to all M&P Shield pistols manufactured before August 19, 2013. We believe this condition is largely limited to recently manufactured M&P Shield pistols. However, out of an abundance of caution, we are asking all consumers of all M&P Shields manufactured before August 19, 2013 to immediately inspect their pistols for this condition.

While the symptom seems to be clear (plastic tab not reappearing), I don't see any description of the cause. If it was a manufacturing defect on some of the tabs, that should be noted.

[Webleymkv]

Originally posted by spacecoast
While the symptom seems to be clear (plastic tab not reappearing), I don't see any description of the cause. If it was a manufacturing defect on some of the tabs, that should be noted.

If the issue was a design/wear and tear problem, I'd think that it would be more common in older guns which would be more likely to have seen more use and thus more wear and tear (the exact opposite of what seems to be the case). Also, S&W seems to be a very liability-conscious company and if they'd identified a potential safety issue in the design of the Shield, I'd think that they'd either pull the model completely off the market or upgrade all of their pistols with a redesigned trigger unit such as Ruger did with the SR9. Because of these factors, I'm inclined to think that the issue was probably caused by a batch of bad parts rather than a design problem.

[kybandit]

mine fine. Thanks for the shout-out:)

[BamaMac54]

Very helpful post. Mine checked out, but I'm glad for these forums for reasons like this.

[Ozzieman]

Identified a condition
We believe this condition is largely limited
However out of an abundance of caution
I wonder how much the lawyer cost to come up with that useless information.
What is wrong with the gun? Design, manufacture, assembly or wear (short term).

[Gunkooker55]

I have 2 Shields 9mm & 40 both have safties I do not use them. I do wish S&W would make a safety lever sticking out more like a 1911

[Gunkooker55]

I have both 9 & 40 shields I carry them safety off. Safeties are way to small to use in a hurry.

[Learjett]

Mine does not have a safety but checked it anyway and it's fine...good to go.

[Footslogger]

My serial checks out as ok.

Thanks to the OP for posting the info.

[gunnre]

Mine's good. Thanks for the info.

[Hal]

The link in the original post is dead...


The new link is here:

https://secure05.lwcdirect.com/front/frontQuestionnaire.jsp?linkparam=y&uID=0&p=mpshieldsafetyalert.com&loginType=skipWelcome&clientID=742&campaignID=63


(I just bought a Shield today and wondered what was up)

[O4L]

Link didn't work for me.

I had a Shield for a couple of years and never heard of a safety issue.

I think this is OLD news.

[jglsprings]

Zombie thread. Back from the dead.

[Mal H]

Yep, old news.

Closed and unstuck