S&W MP9 Shield Plus Questions


Kokodude

New member
Hi everyone, I'm new here so please forgive me if this post is in the wrong discussion category.
I purchased a brand new S&W Shield Plus on Saturday.
I cleaned it, then took it to the range yesterday and shot 100 rounds of Magtech 115gr FMJ.
It shoots great but there are a few things that I really don't like about the gun.

1) The last round hold open fails far too often for my liking.
This is my first micro-compact, so maybe I'm doing something wrong?
This never happens on any of my other guns.

2) You have to be the Incredible Hulk to swing down that slide takedown lever.
It took almost all of my force to swing that sucker down when I cleaned it for the first time.
After coming home from the range, it was nearly impossible to swing it down 90 degrees.
I needed to use a Sharpie to get enough leverage, then I noticed the problem.
There's a roll pin under the lever that was protruding out too far and the lever couldn't get past it.
I hammered down the roll pin with a punch and that seemed to help a little.
Now I'm a little worried I ruined the gun, somehow.

3) There's a gouge on one of the rear slide rails.
It's fairly deep, my fingernail will snag in it.

I decided to purchase this particular firearm after having rented and shot a few of it's competitors at my local range.
I love the the way the gun feels in my hand and the muzzle flip was the best of every other micro that I shot (even the MAX-9).
Many people love this gun but I'm not impressed with the quality control.

I contacted S&W via email but my question is.. is any of this normal for a Shield?
 

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In case anyone is looking at this... S&W asked me to send it to them for inspection.
They were really quick at replying to my email.
 
The gun came back from S&W today and I'm very disappointed.
They changed the recoil spring as well as the roll pin that is under the take-down lever.
That's all cool.
However, the deep gouge in the rear post remains.
I can't trust the safety of this firearm if the slide is slicing down the middle of the rear post after only 100 rounds having been fired through it.
I get that a little bit of wear is normal, but this is not a good situation.
I'm not impressed with the manufacturing quality, or the service I received from their warrantee work.
At least they covered the shipping.
I guess I'll keep wearing my 43X and figure out what to do with Shield Plus.
 
Last edited:
Yes, no complaints about their customer service.
They will email you back the same day.
In fact, they asked me to send it back again, and I did so.
Hopefully, patience will win the day.
 
I have the same pistol, bought on 8/19 as an upgrade from a Ruger LC9.
The slide lock is difficult on mine also but I was able to pull it down. The pin does need to be tapped in to seat well. But on my Ruger if you pull the trap door down and rotate the gun it falls out. I think tighter is better. I don’t have any of the other issues yet, Very pleased with it. Did the change out of the recoil spring and pin affect the operation of the gun or the unlock lever?
 
I have the same pistol, bought on 8/19 as an upgrade from a Ruger LC9.
The slide lock is difficult on mine also but I was able to pull it down. The pin does need to be tapped in to seat well. But on my Ruger if you pull the trap door down and rotate the gun it falls out. I think tighter is better. I don’t have any of the other issues yet, Very pleased with it. Did the change out of the recoil spring and pin affect the operation of the gun or the unlock lever?
I don't know. I had to return the gun to S&W for them to fix an issue with a rear slide post.
I bought the gun back in mid June and have only had it in my possession for a today of 4 days.
I called their customer support today and they tell me it's sitting in their shipping department waiting to be processed.
No idea what they did to it. They usually add a report from the gunsmith in the return box.
I'm looking forward to seeing it again.
 
Update...
I received my pistol back from S&W yesterday.
The gunsmith's report simply said "no repairs needed".
No explanation as to why there is a long and deep gouge in the slide post.
I'm thinking the gunsmith field stripped it, took a quick look, fired it once, and called it good.
I figured that if S&W wasn't concerned then perhaps I'm making a big deal out of nothing.
So, I took it to my gunsmith and asked him to install some night sights.
He came back from the shop with the lower in his hand and asked if I knew there was a large gouge in one of the posts.
After I explained to him what happened he told me that over the years he's worked on a lot of Shields and that this is not normal wear.
He told me to keep a very close eye on it. He seemed very concerned.
I asked if he could replace the rear assembly and he said there's no way he could get his hands on the parts. Everyone's been waiting for months on their magazine orders.
I took it back to the gun store where I bought it and asked if they could help me out.
That turned out to be a waste of time.
I guess I've hit a brick wall and am now the proud owner of a $560 paperweight.
 
It seems like I'm bashing S&W but that's not the intention here.
The Shield Plus, like any other product, is subject to manufacturing issues.
In this case they were very reactive and tried to help me.
The problem is that there were obvious deep gouges on the rails and no one explained to me if this was normal and what to look out for.
I didn't trust the gun was safe (my personal feeling) and so I just traded it in for a new P365X.
S&W as a company is fine, and I would certainly consider purchasing another firearm from them.
It's just that this particular one wasn't working for me.
 
It seems like I'm bashing S&W but that's not the intention here.
The Shield Plus, like any other product, is subject to manufacturing issues.
In this case they were very reactive and tried to help me.
The problem is that there were obvious deep gouges on the rails and no one explained to me if this was normal and what to look out for.
I didn't trust the gun was safe (my personal feeling) and so I just traded it in for a new P365X.
S&W as a company is fine, and I would certainly consider purchasing another firearm from them.
It's just that this particular one wasn't working for me.
The Shield + is the same platform as the old Shield, S&W just worked on the grip width to allow a double stack magazine, same holsters every thing the same, congrats on the 365X that was what S&W was trying to compete against.
 

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