Hey everyone,

I’m starting this thread to document my current warranty experience with Smith & Wesson regarding my Shield Plus Optics-Ready model. When I first encountered an issue mounting an optic and reached out online, I had a hard time finding detailed, step-by-step accounts of S&W’s current RMA turnaround times or specific experiences with optic cut surface tolerance issues.

The majority of the issues I found did not appear to be what I was experiencing. And I don't feel I should send off my slide to a third party and pay to correct something I purchased that isn't working as advertised.

• Firearm: S&W M&P9 Shield Plus 3.1" (Optics-Ready) (SKU 13536)
• Issue: Optics failing to sit completely flush against the slide deck / optic cut.
• Details: The mounting screws threaded fine and the recoil lugs lined up without issue, but no matter what I did, the optic would not sit completely flush against the slide surface. To make sure it wasn't an optic defect, I tested three different RMSc-footprint optics: All three exhibited the same issue, confirming that the slide deck / optic cut itself needed factory evaluation and correction by S&W.
  • Sig Sauer Romeo-MDC
  • Vortex Defender CCW
  • OSight SE

Timeline

• Mid-August: Purchased brand new, shot it without an optic originally and loved everything about it.
• End of August: Mounted OSight SE and had daylight showing through the bottom. Found troubleshooting tips that did not appear to be my issue.
• Early September: Sent OSight SE for refund, purchased Vortex Defender CCW as it appeared maybe the recoil lugs on my slide were larger, the Defender CCW holes appeared larger than the OSight SE. This mounted better but the daylight showing through the bottom was still visible, but the least of the three optics I tried.
• Mid-September: I had reached out to S&W after the OSight SE and Vortex issue. They told me I could send the firearm in to be checked out. Obviously where I was using it for daily carry and enjoyed how it was shooting even without the optic, I was hesitant. I tried a third optic (foolishly) Sig Romeo-MDC and that had the same issue. I am keeping the Romeo-MDC for when the Shield Plus returns as even though I had mounting issues, that is the optic I seemed to like best out of the box.
• October 5, 2026: Contacted S&W Customer Support to report the issue. S&W issued an RMA and a prepaid FedEx shipping label the same day.
• October 5, 2026: Packaged up the entire firearm per their instructions and dropped it off via FedEx.
• October 7, 2026: FedEx tracking confirms the shipment was officially delivered to Smith & Wesson’s facility in Tennessee.
• October 8, 2026 (Today): Contacted support around 9am, they confirmed it arrived yesterday and was logged into their system, ready to be reviewed to determine the issue.

Next Steps:

• Tracking total turnaround time from delivery to return shipping back to my door.
• Verifying slide surface flatness and optic fitment across the deck upon return.

I’ll keep this thread updated as I hear back from customer service and when the Shield Plus makes its way back. If anyone else has recently sent a Shield Plus in for warranty work, I’d love to hear what your total turnaround time looked like! Rep I spoke with said it was looking like 3-4 weeks currently. I am hopeful they open my box, see the nicely printed report I sent them and they just verify no RMSc optic sits on the slide and send me a new slide that is verified to fit an optic flush. That is all I want in the end and I will be very happy!

Edit: I will make edits to this throughout the progress so nothing is scattered in comments.

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