M&P Shield slide locked half back

E

Excoastie

New member
Good afternoon everyone:

I went out and shot my Shield 9mm this morning, put about 200 or so rounds through it, no problems there.

I brought it home, cleaned it up, and when I went to reassemble it, it appears as though the take down lever slid back up to the horizontal position.

Now my slide is locked half back, with about a half inch of the guide rod/ spring sticking out the front. The barrel is rigid, and won't move even a little bit.

I am unable to pull the slide back any further, nor am I able to push it forward. The take down lever is horizontal and won't move more than a small fraction of an inch, not enough to disengage or clear where it's hanging up.

There is a little bit of slack in the guide rod, but not enough to do anything. I've tried wiggling the slide side to side and front to back with no effect. There just isn't any play there.

Any suggestions on how to free it up? I'm planning on taking it to a LGS in the morning that has a smith on staff, but until then I am at a loss.

I searched both here and Google. I saw something similar on Google about the M&P 9 full size, but the resolution was never very clear.

This is NOT what I've read about several times where the slide is difficult to release from the full back/ locked open position. This is with the slide locked about half way back.

thanks

Exco
 
Free the slide locked half back

This happened to me once before. Try to rotate the take down level down to vertical position, this will be difficult because the edge of the level will hit the slide preventing it to rotate 90 degree down, you need to apply a little more force to do this. Once the level is down at the dis-assembly position, just tap the back of the slide with the handle of the hammer to bypass the end of the recoil spring to the front of the take down level. The slide will be free then.
Note: I just try to be helpful but don't blame me for any damage on your gun.
Good luck.
 
Thanks @haiauphixu I think that I will leave it to a professional to either force the take down lever or tap the end of the slide with a hammer.

I tried putting moderate force on the take down lever, but it wouldn't move. I was not willing to use more force, figuring that there was an excellent chance that I'd screw something up worse than it already was.

I'll update after my trip to the LGS in the morning. I'm hoping that the smith will have a few tricks of the trade that will easily correct this. I'm not looking forward to an extensive repair and/ or sending it back to S&W.

Exco
 
Great idea to not force parts!! Great idea to just relax and show it to someone who knows the way!!

I don't have a Shield. What I suspect? There are grooves inside the slide,the "rails" that the slide tracks on.

Molded into the frame are some steel inserts,little tabs that stick out. There is a front set,and a rear set.

You put the slide over the barrel and draw it back against the force of the recoil spring. The front set of tabs are engaged in the slide,but MAYBE you did not get the rear set engaged in the grooves,the rails,before the spring took over and drove the slide forward.So the rear of the slide is lifted a bit,and its bound up.
Not a big deal. IMO,its still a great idea to go see your gunsmith.

If he does not charge,buy a box of ammo.
 
got it fixed

I dropped the gun off at the LGS this morning. I had to wait for the smith to take a look at it, as he was out shooting this morning.

I got a phone call a couple of hours later, stated that everything was fixed.

He says that the recoil spring was not seated properly, which caused everything to get into a bind. When I asked what he did, he stated "I hit it with a hammer" but didn't elaborate, so I'm guessing that he got it past the stuck part.

In the future I'll make note to ensure that the recoil spring is properly seated, and the take down lever is in the vertical position (even though he claimed that the take down lever's position didn't matter as it would rotate to whatever position that was needed).

I expect to work tonight, so I should be able to put some more rounds through it tomorrow sometime.

It cost me $50, but I figure it was well spent, knowing that I wasn't able to screw things up any worse than I already had.

Exco
 
Glad you got it fixed. I've noticed the recoil spring on my Shield can get out of place easy during reassembly. It doesn't "click" into place like my other guns.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have a Shield, as well as my father. Both had a similar problem when they were new. If the recoil spring and guide rod were not set properly the slide would either not lock back, or racking the slide wouldn't feel as smooth. Mine doesn't do it anymore, nor does my fathers, but its something to keep in mind when reassembling the pistol.
 
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