Trigger finger slippage

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carguychris

New member
I'm having a problem with my 9mm S&W Shield "M1.0" and I'm wondering if anyone has encountered a similar issue with this pistol or a similar type.

Ever since I bought it, the pistol has suffered from an occasional, intermittent problem with the slide not locking back after the last round. During a previous range visit, I realized that the magazine was slightly loose after this happened, and could be "clicked" back into place. After giving it some thought, I concluded that one of two things must be happening:
  1. The magazine catch is jumping out of engagement under recoil; or
  2. My trigger finger is slipping under recoil and tagging the magazine release button.
I decided to start by adjusting the nut behind the trigger, and during yesterday's range trip, I was careful to check after every shot that the pad of my finger was engaging the trigger and not the crease of my first finger knuckle. Problem solved! I ran 200rds of a variety of ammo through it and the slide locked back every time. Definitely #2. :D

I realized, however, that my trigger finger has a tendency to gradually slide across the trigger under recoil, particularly during rapid fire (I have somewhat long fingers). This is presumably why I was having the problem in the first place.

Can anyone suggest a modification to make the trigger a bit more "sticky" to prevent my finger from sliding? I was thinking grip tape, but I'm concerned it will fall off. Another thought was to engrave vertical grooves into the trigger itself, similar to older S&W revolver triggers.

Ideas, thoughts? Thanks in advance!
 
I'm not really answering your question, but I have an "M1.0" Shield in 9mm as well. I have a little over 2000 rounds through it, and the only time I've ever experienced the slide not locking back on an empty mag was when I tried to use some really cheap ammo that had more duds than good ones. Even the "good ones" would sometimes sound like they were extremely short on powder and wouldn't always chamber another round.

I have short fingers and small hands, so I haven't encountered the issue that you describe with the finger sliding off the trigger. If you have the skills and the tools, I don't see why you couldn't engrave some sort of friction ridges in the trigger...

Is there an aftermarket trigger out there that may already have the extra traction that you're looking for? I haven't looked. The only thing that I've looked for is night sights, and I haven't even done anything about that yet.

good luck

Exco
 
So if I read this right your finger is going through the trigger guard and then wrapping onto the frame so that it's hitting the magazine release? You must have some very long fingers.
 
"...Yes..." Change the grips. The pistol is too small for your hand.
"...tendency to gradually slide across the trigger..." Indicates a lack of trigger control. Dry fire practice can help that.
"...slide not locking back..." That can be the ammo, but can also be limp wristing the pistol. You're not holding it tight enough.
 
He can't change the grips. It's a Shield. For some of your other comments I feel like you didn't actually read the post.


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T. O'Heir said:
Change the grips. The pistol is too small for your hand.
TunnelRat said:
He can't change the grips. It's a Shield.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
T. O'Heir, the Shield doesn't have the interchangeable backstraps like the rest of the M&P line. (I mention this because the Shield presumably isn't sold in Canada due to its short barrel, so you probably haven't handled one.)

That said, I have considered putting a grip sleeve on it. I run the Large backstrap insert on my other M&Ps. The underlying issue is that basically all of the current crop of concealable single-stack 9mm pistols are technically too small for my hands, but I still want a concealable single-stack 9mm.
T. O'Heir said:
"...tendency to gradually slide across the trigger..." Indicates a lack of trigger control. Dry fire practice can help that.
Click to expand...
Except that there is no recoil during dry-fire. I believe that this is almost entirely a recoil-induced problem. I'm concerned about shot-to-shot recovery.
=T. O'Heir said:
"...slide not locking back..." That can be the ammo, but can also be limp wristing the pistol. You're not holding it tight enough.
Click to expand...
I know about limp-wristing and this is not limp-wristing. :rolleyes: Reread my first post. The mag was loose when the slide was not locking back. The slide locks back 100% if I'm careful about my trigger finger position.

Incidentally, online reviews I've read generally agree that the Shield is not particularly sensitive to limp-wristing. Also, I've read online discussions about Shield magazines failing to positively lock in when the mag is inserted with the slide closed (they have notoriously stiff mag springs), but I was careful to eliminate this possibility by only loading the pistol with the slide locked open.
 
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Exco, was it Tulammo? I had a similar experience with rounds that sounded like they were shy on powder. I was worried about squibs, but all that fired went down range regardless of how they sounded. It was Tullammo.
 
Maybe you can put a stiffer spring in the mag release so you can't inadvertently release the mag. I don't know if this is possible, just a thought. Or, possibly file/sand down the mag release button to make it less likely to get pushed by accident but still protrudes enough to be useable.
 
Carguychris: like I said before, I'm not an expert shooter, so take the following for what it may be worth. :)

I don't know the shield, so I had to google a picture to understand why you can't have a different backstrap in it. Now I know.
But the fact that you can't change backstraps, doesn't mean you can't add them to your gun.
Make yourself a backstrap out of ABS, or high impact polystyrene sheet, and glue it to your grip with some non permanent glue (school glue should work just fine), and you should be ok.
Upon dry firing my Bersa (haven't shot it yet) I realized the grip is so small for my hands, and the trigger reach so short, that my trigger finger was at such an extreme angle on the trigger, that upon firing, it would automatically slide up to the first knuckle. So since the people at Bersa seem to think we all have same size hands, I did what I just told you, and, even for dry firing, the change has been dramatic. I don't have any pictures of the thing right here, but I will post some tomorrow, if you're interested.

Another option could be: there's a kind of tape sport shooters put on the grips of their pistols, to avoid slippage when their hands sweat. I don't know how you call it in English, but if I were to translate its Spanish name, It'd be called "grip tape". You could put a piece of it on the trigger. Or, in a pinch, you could glue a piece of fine grit sandpaper on it...
 
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