Shield magazine falls out

[Mr. Denton]

***NOT A SHIELD, REGULAR M&P***
Went shooting with a buddy today. I had my XD40 V10 had had his S&W M&P 40.
He's had it a couple years, shot maybe 10rnds through it until today. I talked him into coming out and shooting my steel targets.
After a couple rounds through his gun it had a failure to feed. He's new at all this so I walked him through dropping the mag, clearing the chamber and reload another mag. Couple of shots and it would do it again. I shot the same ammo with zero malfunction and my gun was brand new. So, I decided to give it a try. A couple rounds through it and another FTF. But then I noticed the mag had dropped about 1/8". There's the problem! Now, what's causing it. At first I thought we were unintentionally hitting the button, but we weren't.
Anyone seen this?
Both mags are factory S&W mags that came with the gun. The only change he's made was the hand grip back strap to fit his hand.
He's thinking his gun is a peace of crap and should've bought an XD. I told him the M&P was every bit as good, maybe even better.
Any help would be great
Thanks,
Greg


Oath Keeper

[highpower]

Your friend may have a bad magazine catch. Did you try another magazine? I know you said you weren't accidentally hitting the mag catch, but are you sure?

I have not heard of this being a problem with Shields, so it is probably an isolated issue with your friends gun. Mine has been flawless.

[shakyshoot]

This was a problem with early Shields, especially .40's, They changed the magazines. There is a simple way to tell if you have the old magazines. Hang on, I'll try and find it.

[shakyshoot]

Googling I'm finding so much on this that it's hard to sort it out. Bottom line is that the newer mags have a 'dimple" that solved the problem. But I'm having a hard time finding a picture of the 'dimple." S&W first denied this problem, then wanted people to send in the gun, but I believe now they will just exchange the mags. Or if you buy newer mags, problem solved. You can punch a dimple in the mags to fix it. Google Shield mag drop or Shield mag dimple to try and sort through it. Best thing would probably be to call S&W, because I believe they will send new mags. They were trying to replace the mag catch for a while, then they decided they had a fix with the mag itself. Frequently the mag dropped right to the ground, but I'm thinking your friend's problem is the same thing.

[Mr. Denton]

Ok. I passed on the info. Thanks.
Yesterday when this started happening he was so pissed, I jokingly said, "that's any easy fix bro, it's when they blow up that sucks". The look in his face was classic.


Oath Keeper

[Michael in California]

Regular M&P or shield? The Shield does not have a replaceble backstrap.

Either way, could it be you didn't insert the mag with enough force. With my shield, you can insert the magazine almost home and see a little gap at the bottom between the grip and the floorplate. It has to be inserted with decent force. I presume this will lighten up as the spring wears.

When you did mag changes, were they full mags?

[GR8Guns]

The thread title says : "Shield magazine falls out", but the body of the thread describes an M&P .40. Also the reference to having changed the backstrap makes it sound more like an M&P .40. There was definitely a mag drop problem with the early Shield .40, but I had not heard that the M&P .40 was having the same problem. If so, the fix may be different.

[Mr. Denton]

I just called him, not a shield. Standard M&P. He was confused and I wasn't paying much attention to the model.
Yes, the mag was pushed all the way up and locked. I shot it 1 handed making absolutely sure my thumb was no where near the button.
We tried full mags and half mags.
The full mag was harder to fully seat, but did have a positive "click" and I couldn't pull it out.
When it did self release, it never fell to the ground, only slid down about 1/8".
If he rested the gun in his left palm, the gun shot and fed fine.
Sorry about the model mix up, sucks being the middle man when asking for help.


Oath Keeper

[Mr. Denton]

He says he thinks he's had it for 5 years...?
Should be a law against gun abuse like that. Keeping them locked up and in the dark...pitiful.


Oath Keeper