Which Spring Goes In The M&P 9mm Shield Plus?

[Ethan Verity]

Which spring color is supposed to go into the new S&W M&P 9mm Shield Plus?


My brand new 9mm Shield Plus came with the green painted lower spring (right side). I called S&W to order a spare, just because I like to have one on hand, and they sent me the orange painted spring (left side). The orange one is noticeably stiffer than the green one. I am wondering if the green one is redesigned specifically for the Shield Plus in 9mm and 30SC, whereas the orange one is only for the old Shield in 9mm/40S&W.

If you specifically have the new Shield 9mm Plus model (NOT the original, or M2.0 Shield) please let me know what color your recoil spring is. I have a feeling I will need to follow up with S&W on Monday and request the green version for my gun.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ethan Verity]

... I am also wondering if the green one may be specifically for 30SC only, and S&W accidentally put it into my 9mm at the factory... your answers will be very helpful for solving this mystery!

 

[Ethan Verity]

..... Not a single THR member ownes a 9mm Shield Plus?

 

[Alllen Bundy]

I was looking online for 9mm Shield Plus RSAs and I couldn't find anything definitive. In one discussion someone seemed to think that the green spring was correct, but nothing that I would stake my life on. I think that you need to ask S&W directly.

Or you could just test the stronger orange spring. If it will reliably cycle lighter bullets with lighter powder loads when the magazine is loaded to capacity, then it's probably the correct spring. No need to be slamming the slide backward any harder than necessary.

But if the stronger spring does NOT cycle reliably with lighter bullets with light powder load, also be cognizant of break-in issues. With my P365, the stripper rail was very rough making it difficult to retract the slide over a magazine loaded to capacity. I polished the stripper rail and I'd swear that it reduced the force necessary to retract the slide in half. Eventually the brass shell cases would do a certain amount of polishing of the stripper rail, but who knows how many thousands of rounds that would have required before the stripper rail became polished?

I'm the curious type, so if I had two different springs I would test them both, starting with the heavier spring.

Also, after a few hundred rounds, solvent clean your RSA, let it dry, and then relubricate it. After the break-in, the RSA of my Sig P365 had what seemed to be a lot of contaminants coming out of it when I solvent cleaned it. It also seemed that the slide retracted more smoothly after I cleaned the RSA. I'm not really sure how much was gunpowder residue and how much was metal particles wearing off during the break-in. When in doubt, clean it out.

 

[gila_dog1]

Mine is just black. I see no additional color on it. It's about 6 months old and has had maybe 500 rounds shot thru it, and many cleanings. So maybe the original color has faded.

 

[badkarmamib]

Wife's purchased end of March has a green spring.

 

[Alllen Bundy]

One of these things is NOT like the other!

If you use a heavier bullet and a +P powder load you might want to consider using the heavier recoil spring.

 

[45CalPal]

Purchased April...of 2021 and mine has a green marking.

 

[Ethan Verity]

Thanks! Looks like the factory pairing is indeed the green painted spring. I don't run +P through my Shield anyway, I just want it to be factory spec.

It makes sense that S&W would refine the 9mm spring, since the original was also paired with 40S&W.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

My Shield Plus has a green spring also but it's a performance center model but I'll bet it's still the same as the other plus models.

 

[Rule3]

Why not ask SW who actually make the guns?

 

[5-SHOTS]

Go to the range and try both the recoil spring assemblies with the same ammo and feel if there's a difference. If there is a difference, you will notice it, guaranteed.

 

[Spats McGee]

I'll take a look at my Plus spring later. I don't know why it would be any different from a Shield 1.0 or 2.0, but then again, I'm not engineer.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

It's different because of the 12 round magazine. That's what S&W told me when I ordered mine.

 

[TarDevil]

View media item 4553Green

 

[Ethan Verity]

Thank you for the additional confirmations!

Why not ask SW who actually make the guns?

S&W sent me the wrong spring in the first place, I just wanted to confirm ahead of time so I could call and request the correct spring up front. Also, it was the weekend (S&W was closed) and the suspense of knowing which spring is correct prompted this thread.

 

[jonb32248]

Which spring color is supposed to go into the new S&W M&P 9mm Shield Plus?
View attachment 1082223

My brand new 9mm Shield Plus came with the green painted lower spring (right side). I called S&W to order a spare, just because I like to have one on hand, and they sent me the orange painted spring (left side). The orange one is noticeably stiffer than the green one. I am wondering if the green one is redesigned specifically for the Shield Plus in 9mm and 30SC, whereas the orange one is only for the old Shield in 9mm/40S&W.

If you specifically have the new Shield 9mm Plus model (NOT the original, or M2.0 Shield) please let me know what color your recoil spring is. I have a feeling I will need to follow up with S&W on Monday and request the green version for my gun.

Thanks in advance!

Green

 

[jonb32248]

While were on the subject sort of, I installed a Mag Guts +2 upgrade in my 13 rd mag and now my Shield Plus holds 15+1.Really nice setup, even has a bit more pinky extension.

 

[45CalPal]

care to share the links to these mag guts for the 9mm.

I modified my S&W M&P 22c from the 10 round to a 12 round just by modifying the follower a bit. I was planning to buy a similar mag kit as the one mentioned above for the 22c, but figured once I seen the picture of the new one and compared it to my stock one I would just attempt to make it resemble the aftermarket one and it worked great. even did it to the 4 new mags I bought. Now instead of having 5 10 round mags, i now have 5 12 round mags.

 

[jonb32248]

care to share the links to these mag guts for the 9mm.

I modified my S&W M&P 22c from the 10 round to a 12 round just by modifying the follower a bit. I was planning to buy a similar mag kit as the one mentioned above for the 22c, but figured once I seen the picture of the new one and compared it to my stock one I would just attempt to make it resemble the aftermarket one and it worked great. even did it to the 4 new mags I bought. Now instead of having 5 10 round mags, i now have 5 12 round mags.

I just did a search under the name and you scroll down to the corresponding magazine that you want to upgrade.I was hesitant in how it would turnout but really nice.The last rd needed a mag loader but it worked. Takes like 5 minutes.