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Welcome to the family brother @Jack_L , glad you could join us.
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Welcome to the family brother @Julius5 , glad you could join us.
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Welcome to the family brother @Zebbie , glad you could join us.
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Welcome to the family brother @Roland63 , glad you could join us.
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I love my Shield except for the āslide lock.ā I have two edcās and I canāt release the slide the same way, so I have to train two different ways which I hate. Itās quicker to hit the slide release on a fire arm since you donāt have to relocate your hand and loose your site picture. That split second or seconds could be a life or death situation.
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Welcome to the family brother @Roger107 , glad you joined us. Practice makes perfect
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I believe you can see many videos on YouTube related to this problem. I would believe this was intended to stop the slide from going forward when a fresh mag was slammed in. When they say slide stop they mean itā¦not release.
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Shot both of my shields today, with three shots out of one magazine in the 2.0 doing a reload the release dropped easily. Doing the plus after a four round magazine and swap it dropped easilyā¦ both where done in steps beginning with a one round in magazine and allowed to cool for 10 minutesā¦ the 2.0 has had a total round count of 200 , the plus is up to 40 total.
When theyāre warm, they released, cold no.
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Welcome to the family brother @Roger107 and God bless you.
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I have a S&W M&P. same issue. Slide lock very difficult to release. I am racking the slide on all of my weapons now and not solely relying on the slide lock. This is a result of some self defense training and gun disarm techniques. there are posts about modifying the catch but I dont feel that i need to make this mod.
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On small firearms, like the LCP, the slide stop is basically that. It is too smooth, small, and flush with the frame and slide to effectively use as a slide release. As others pointed out, use of the same technique will aid when it is critical, not having to think about which method to use. Also, using the slide stop as a release will eventually wear it down enough that it might not function properly. The handgun training classes I attended have also stated that, too, as well as the admonition that external safeties are mechanical devices that can and will fail. You might never see the failure in your lifetime, that does not mean it cannot happen.
As to competition shooters using the lever to release the slide, yes, it does work for that on firearms designed for that, but also they are shooting competition, not in a critical situation. Also, like race cars, their firearms are worked on all the time to ensure they will work at peak performance, not at all like our typical commuter cars and firearms.
We are here to learn, as we can see, there are opinions on both sides of the argument. Take whatever advice you believe will work for you, and train and practice to be as proficient in your methods as you are able. I believe this is far less contentious than the caliber wars. 
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As a machinist, I can only qualified as garage amateur ā but the way the M&P slide lock looks to me:
When new, one or more engagement surface is a sharp angle, maybe even with a burr. After a burr is worn off, any additional wear may be very slow. Without a burr, just the sharp corner will wear to some level of rounded and disengagement becomes easier. As the corner being released becomes more worn, the portion subject to wear becomes thicker and wears much more slowly.
As long as the metal is of sufficient hardness and the actual engagement to hold the slide occurs well back from the corner, thereās no need for rounding at the corner to reduce the slide lockās ability to catch the slide. I suppose ātuningā would speed the process along, but break-in seems to have done fine for me.
Looking at the operation of the M&P slide lock, I donāt see any short-term vulnerability to wear as those surfaces engage and disengage. Further, I couldnāt tell you whether any wear/deformation would be from the gentle slipping of the slide being released ā or from the harsh impact of the moving slide being captured. I would bet small bills on the second being more significant.
Eventually, any tool will wear to the point of malfunction. That includes many parts of any firearm. How long do you need your slide lock to last? 10,000 rounds? 100,000? a million? S&W says theyāve got your back on service. As long as wear failure is not sudden and catastrophic, does it matter really?
Iām not too worried.
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I think S&W decided lefties required handicapping, so they designed a faux-ambi slide release. 
Iād be interested to hear what youāre thinking about in āmaking an extended releaseā. I havenāt broken the M&P all the way down, but the ambi lock lever seems to be a single, complexly folded piece of flat steel wrapping around the magazine well to form the lock engagement, both left and right button, the magazine sensor, and some pin pivot points, if nothing else. Seems a failure hazard to weld something on, and near impossible to hammer and grind a full replacement out of old tractor parts.
Messing around with it some, I think that the recoil spring is just so strong, as it pushes the engagement tab against the slide, that the right side lever flexes so much in wrapping around the mag well that it bottoms out before it can make the tab move. Maybe tuning/polishing the engagement could get you somewhere ā seems less risky than trying to fab an extended release.
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from the owners manual
To make sure that the magazine is fully and securely inserted, apply
some removal pressure to the exposed portion of the magazine
floor plate.
ā¢ Pull the slide to the rear and release it, allowing it to carry fully
forward. This strips a cartridge from the magazine and seats it in the
chamber of the barrel
From the manufacturer it says to use slingshot, nothing is mentioned about the slide stop which is what it is called on M&P pistols
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2.0 slide release works pretty well. It is much easier with a loaded magazine in the gun. If youāre slinging it on an empty chamber, it is very difficult to use the slide release.
Like others have said, it will loosen with time. It WILL work as a slide release just fine though, you donāt have to go over the top. (I have more than 1 M&P 2.0). Obviously do what works best for you though.
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The Shield release is much more difficult than the full-size (except the shield 45). It might actually be better to use the slingshot method on a shield, though I think theyāve increased the surface area on the release recently. The larger M&Ps are much easier to use the slide lock as a slide release.
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Cool, looking forward to finding out for myself. Iām actually still waiting to get it. It took 4 weeks for them to ship it (I supposedly got the last one in stock but it turns out it really wasnāt) then it finally arrived at my FFL the day he left for a 17-day vacation.
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Sounds about right 
. I think you will be very happy with the compact. I really like my shield, but the compact will be an improvement in every way except concealability. At least you have a good gun in the meantime 
.
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