Thinking About Calling S&W-380EZ

[Mike J]

Okay so back in June I bought a 380 EZ for my wife to use. We took it out to shoot. We had one malfunction in 100 rounds. The last round in the magazine fed right through the pistol & out the ejection port before the slide could close. I did some research read here about scuffing followers, etc. I did scuff the followers on the magazines. Life happened & ammo got hard to find. Haven't been shooting much. We made it back out to shoot again today & we had one malfunction out of 100 rounds. This time it was once again the last round in the magazine. It stovepiped. The gist I got when I searched here before was that S&W didn't really have a fix for this. I don't want to keep spending hard to find expensive ammunition trying to get a new gun to work. I am pretty frustrated. I bought this to be carried. I need it to be reliable. I am thinking what do I have to lose by trying.

[max503]

For years the Colt Pocketlite was my Grail gun. Then I got one. It did about the same thing your gun is doing. I got rid of it. No way would I carry a gun that did that.

[imarangemaster]

A "Grail gun " for me was a Kahr compact 45. Finally got it, and it would only function 98%, and that was with standard velocity 230 grain FMJ. Anything else, it was a single shooter, or at best a large two shot derringer...

I called Kahr Customer Service and complained. They told me to call back after 1,000 round break in if it still had problems.. BS! I traded it in on my first S&W Sheild 9mm.

My neighbor recently bought a Kahr compact 9, and he had an identical problem. He spent $200 on a local gunsmith to get it to work correctly (mostly!). NOT a fan of Kahr....

[gc70]

A problem with the 380 EZ? It must be your imagination.

There is nothing wrong with the design of the 380 EZ.

That is probably why S&W made an unusual design change to the magazine of the 9mm EZ.

[Mike J]

Originally Posted by gc70

A problem with the 380 EZ? It must be your imagination.

There is nothing wrong with the design of the 380 EZ.

That is probably why S&W made an unusual design change to the magazine of the 9mm EZ.

I believe I am going to call & see what they will do. They might not do anything but I am going to call & ask nicely. We'll see what happens.

[CB3]

Add a strip of duct tape to the top of your followers to increase friction. Easily removed without damage. Also, load only 3 rounds per mag to get to the bottom of each mag without using so much ammo.

This has worked for many of us. If it does work, remove the tape and rough up the followers more than you have.

Request new springs & followers from S&W under warranty.

[pakettle]

Originally Posted by Mike J

Okay so back in June I bought a 380 EZ for my wife to use. We took it out to shoot. We had one malfunction in 100 rounds. The last round in the magazine fed right through the pistol & out the ejection port before the slide could close. I did some research read here about scuffing followers, etc. I did scuff the followers on the magazines. Life happened & ammo got hard to find. Haven't been shooting much. We made it back out to shoot again today & we had one malfunction out of 100 rounds. This time it was once again the last round in the magazine. It stovepiped. The gist I got when I searched here before was that S&W didn't really have a fix for this. I don't want to keep spending hard to find expensive ammunition trying to get a new gun to work. I am pretty frustrated. I bought this to be carried. I need it to be reliable. I am thinking what do I have to lose by trying.

Had the same problem never could get mine to run right, traded for a 9mm end of story!

[Mike J]

So I called. The representative asked if I wanted to send the gun in. I told her I did. She said it would be 8 weeks. I am going to send it in. Not going to try to troubleshoot it myself. I am going to give them the chance to make it right.

[marvin02]

Originally Posted by Mike J

So I called. The representative asked if I wanted to send the gun in. I told her I did. She said it would be 8 weeks. I am going to send it in. Not going to try to troubleshoot it myself. I am going to give them the chance to make it right.

Good Luck, hope they get it right for you.

[christak]

If you've read up on the issue, you know I fought this battle to no avail. Other than the scuffing to increase follower friction, nothing helped. S&W didn't find anything wrong with my EZ when I sent it in...and, other than sending springs, followers, and trading magazines with me, did nothing to try to help. I ultimately sold my EZ (with full disclosure) to a guy that works at my gun range. I have no intention of ever buying from S&W again...epic fail on their part.

[Engineer1911]

Originally Posted by christak

If you've read up on the issue, you know I fought this battle to no avail. Other than the scuffing to increase follower friction, nothing helped. S&W didn't find anything wrong with my EZ when I sent it in...and, other than sending springs, followers, and trading magazines with me, did nothing to try to help. I ultimately sold my EZ (with full disclosure) to a guy that works at my gun range. I have no intention of ever buying from S&W again...epic fail on their part.

This my upset you, but your absence from the purchase line to buy a new S&W firearm will not be noticed. I have only bought used S&W firearms for the past 25 years with only 1 exception, a new stainless steel 1911 45 ACP target model in about 2006. I received the "good customer" discount because of frequent purchases of used guns.

[christak]

Originally Posted by Engineer1911

This my upset you, but your absence from the purchase line to buy a new S&W firearm will not be noticed. I have only bought used S&W firearms for the past 25 years with only 1 exception, a new stainless steel 1911 45 ACP target model in about 2006. I received the "good customer" discount because of frequent purchases of used guns.

I'm not upset at all. I don't care whether S&W notices. I still own two Smith revolvers that I purchased "used" years ago...both were manufactured in the 80's and are shown in my avatar.

I liked the idea of the EZ, but the magazines are still not ready for prime time and S&W isn't addressing the problem. Customers really deserve better from Smith and I'm thrilled to be rid of my EZ.

[Mike J]

I just thought I would update this. I did call S&W & they promptly sent me a shipping label. I didn't send it in for 6 months. I was pretty annoyed so I just left it alone for a while. I did however send it in a few weeks ago & got it back yesterday. The sheet of paper in the box says they polished the barrel & chamber. Will it make a difference? I am going to try to find out this weekend.


Edited for Grammar

[familyman357]

Good luck. I hope yours works now. I was a relatively early adopter of the 380 EZ. I too had problems with rounds popping up/out. I messed around with the pistol a lot and therefore spent a whole lot of money on ammo for testing and I never could get it to run as reliably as I thought it should.

I understand they need to "underspring" the pistol in order to get the "EZ" part, but it's just too undersprung.

I don't regret letting that one go. It put me off on S&W for quite a while too.

[Mike J]

I haven't been on here for a while but I thought I would come back & update. I took it out & shot it after I got it back & had the same issue. I was mad so I let it sit for a while. Let myself calm down. Frustrated with S&W. So after I settled down I called & requested new magazine springs. They sent me new springs & followers.

I took the old springs out and cut one of them in half. I placed half of tge cut spring inside each new spring & reassembled the magazines. I didn't put the cut spring all the way at the bottom of the new spring but probably about 1/4 of the way up from the bottom. I didn't have a lot of time today but I did test it & did not have any last round feed issues. I shot 50 rounds loading 2 rounds at a time in the magazine. i did not have any feed issues. Maybe it is cured. I will test some more but I think this might work. Just thought I would share in case anyone else is still having problems with one of these.

[Paul in Nevada]

Originally Posted by Mike J

I took the old springs out and cut one of them in half. I placed half of tge cut spring inside each new spring & reassembled the magazines. I didn't put the cut spring all the way at the bottom of the new spring but probably about 1/4 of the way up from the bottom. I didn't have a lot of time today but I did test it & did not have any last round feed issues. I shot 50 rounds loading 2 rounds at a time in the magazine. i did not have any feed issues. Maybe it is cured. I will test some more but I think this might work. Just thought I would share in case anyone else is still having problems with one of these.

But would you trust a spring inside a spring on a defensive firearm? I would be afraid it could bind.
I remain astounded that S&W would absorb the cost of giving out free parts that are doomed to fail just like the originals. You would think they have passed the break even point of simply redesigning the spring and follower, not to mention the continued damage to their reputation.

[gc70]

Originally Posted by Paul in Nevada

But would you trust a spring inside a spring on a defensive firearm? I would be afraid it could bind.
I remain astounded that S&W would absorb the cost of giving out free parts that are doomed to fail just like the originals. You would think they have passed the break even point of simply redesigning the spring and follower, not to mention the continued damage to their reputation.

You would probably be surprised at the relatively small number of owners who actually complain to S&W versus the huge numbers who don't shoot enough to experience a problem or simply dismiss the problem. Even given that disparity, I am surprised S&W has not produced a stronger spring and quietly put it into use. I am even more surprised that a third party has not produced an extra-strength spring.

[Paul in Nevada]

Originally Posted by gc70

I am even more surprised that a third party has not produced an extra-strength spring.

I have emailed Wolffe, MCARBO, and Magguts. In each case I got a polite reply telling me they have no plans for such a product in the future. If more people reached out maybe we would see something.
I think maybe the largest market for this pistol is people who don't shoot a whole lot. That might explain why this issue doesn't get more exposure.

[Mike J]

Originally Posted by Paul in Nevada

But would you trust a spring inside a spring on a defensive firearm? I would be afraid it could bind.
I remain astounded that S&W would absorb the cost of giving out free parts that are doomed to fail just like the originals. You would think they have passed the break even point of simply redesigning the spring and follower, not to mention the continued damage to their reputation.

Making sure it works is why I am testing. It is really annoying with the current price of ammunition that this is necessary. I don't think it will bind due to the way the springs nest inside of each other but I had been thinking about rigging something (piece of wire or ?) to attach the shorter piece of spring to the larger to keep it from happening. It will be shot some more to make sure everything works.

[Mike J]

Originally Posted by Paul in Nevada

I have emailed Wolffe, MCARBO, and Magguts. In each case I got a polite reply telling me they have no plans for such a product in the future. If more people reached out maybe we would see something.
I think maybe the largest market for this pistol is people who don't shoot a whole lot. That might explain why this issue doesn't get more exposure.

I did a search one day on gun spring manufacturers. I found one that said on their page they would make whatever the customer wants if you provide them the proper information. I didn't pursue it as I was waiting on the pistol to come back from S&W. I might try to find it again. I suspect though that unless a person were to order a large quantity it might be cost prohibitive. Of course if we were to get enough people together to do a group buy it might not be so bad. Later tonight or tomorrow I will see if I can find that site again.

[wnycollector]

I'm a little late to this thread. My wife's EZ 380 had the same issues. It went back three times to S&W before they acknowledged that the pistol was not repairable. They kept the EZ380 and sent me an M&P 2.0 9mm to replace it. My wife went back to carrying her M12 snubbie.

[1sdfellow]

I posted a while back about substituting the Wolff XP 7 round Ruger LCP aftermarket spring for the 12 coil OEM version. The Wolff is 19 coils and must be trimmed to 14 or 15. I found 14 to work best requiring a) the clipped top of the spring to be bent down to be in line with the rest of the top coil; and b) the bottom coil to be enlarged slightly with the nose of a needle nose pliers to fit over the raised plastic piece of the plastic locking tab‘s spring guide. This substitution gives a noticeable increase in magazine spring tension. I haven’t shot more than a few dozen rounds of hot 1000 FPS 102 grain handloads since, but function has been flawless.

[VictorLouis]

Originally Posted by imarangemaster

A "Grail gun " for me was a Kahr compact 45. Finally got it, and it would only function 98%, and that was with standard velocity 230 grain FMJ. Anything else, it was a single shooter, or at best a large two shot derringer...

I called Kahr Customer Service and complained. They told me to call back after 1,000 round break in if it still had problems.. BS! I traded it in on my first S&W Sheild 9mm.

My neighbor recently bought a Kahr compact 9, and he had an identical problem. He spent $200 on a local gunsmith to get it to work correctly (mostly!). NOT a fan of Kahr....

Bro, it's pretty common knowledge that Kahr states, and the reality is, their pistols need a break-in period. Yes, in this era of ridiculously hi-priced ammo...that hurts more than it should. But, it remains the case.

[jeffrefrig]

There was a recall on some of the 9mm & .380 EZ pistols last year. I bought a .380 EZ for my step daughter for Christmas and it was made after the period of recalled EZs. I don't remember what the recall was for. Where she lives and her work schedule have kept me from shooting the gun with her. Maybe her fiance shot it with her; I will have to call her and see if she's had any problems. I don't remember what the recall was for, as I said, does anyone remember? I don't think it was for the above problem, as it was for both calibers.

[SchemaEnigma]

Originally Posted by jeffrefrig

There was a recall on some of the 9mm & .380 EZ pistols last year. I bought a .380 EZ for my step daughter for Christmas and it was made after the period of recalled EZs. I don't remember what the recall was for. Where she lives and her work schedule have kept me from shooting the gun with her. Maybe her fiance shot it with her; I will have to call her and see if she's had any problems. I don't remember what the recall was for, as I said, does anyone remember? I don't think it was for the above problem, as it was for both calibers.

Recall notice for Pistols | Smith & Wesson

[HEADKNOCKER]

The last 380EZ we bought is under that recall & printed the return label out but after inspecting the hammer I'm going to hold off for a while..
Haven't even shot the 2nd EZ YET!!
Need to ride down to the range & shoot a couple hundred dollars worth which @ Todays ammo prices is 3-4 boxes..
Gary..
Couple Pictures of the 9mm Shield 2.0 & 380 EZ

[The Preacher]

Anyone who buys a Smith EZ 380 as a carry gun, knowing it may or may not malfunction on the last round is playing with fire. My wife and I took it off the list for just such an issue. Glock Mod. 42 works flawlessly.... Why buy a S&W 380 EZ Shield with possible mag and malfunction issues? Especially as S&W doesn't even acknowledge the issue... JMHO....

The Preacher

[HEADKNOCKER]

If anyone else is looking for 380 EZ Magazines it looks like Larry Potterfield @ Midway USA has them in stock currently for $32.99ea
Smith & Wesson Mag S&W M&P380 Shield EZ 380 ACP 8-Round SS

FREE S&H with Orders over $49 so order two & Use Code freeship101721 while supplies Last..

[lkabug]

I feel badly for all that has had and are still having problems with their 389EZ.
I feel blessed to not have any of these issues. I got one of the good ones I believe.
Just this weekend I ran 16 magazines through mine without a single issue using three different brands of factory ammo.

[VictorLouis]

Originally Posted by lkabug

... this weekend I ran 16 magazines through mine without a single issue

Didja make out on some scratch-offs at the stop-'n-rob?

[max503]

Been halfway thinking of getting a 380 EZ. The farm store has about 6 of them. I still have 380 ammo, dies, bullets, and cases, but no gun.
This thread has brought me to my senses.

[kbm6893]

S&w knows there is a problem with the magazine and they know how to fix it. Scroll to 2:40 in this video:

YouTube

The only reason I can think of them not admitting the issue and recalling all existing .380 mags is because they don’t want to replace all those mags. Kind of screwed up, if you ask me.

My 9MM EZ has been flawless.

[Paul in Nevada]

Originally Posted by lkabug

I feel badly for all that has had and are still having problems with their 389EZ.
I feel blessed to not have any of these issues. I got one of the good ones I believe.
Just this weekend I ran 16 magazines through mine without a single issue using three different brands of factory ammo.

Do you store your mags empty or fully loaded?

[gc70]

Continuing posts in this thread prompted me to make one more attempt to get resolution from S&W on my wife's 380 EZ.

A substantial number of S&W M&P 380 Shield EZ pistols have feeding problems related to their magazines. The problems are widely recognized and discussed on the internet (Google "380 EZ feeding" or "380 EZ stovepipe") but Customer Service continues to deny the problems or uselessly send new magazine springs to complaining owners.

Unfortunately, it looks like S&W both knows about the problem and how to fix it, but refuses to take action. The 9mm Shield EZ is highly similar to the 380 version, but has a couple of changes in the magazine design that interestingly prevent the type of problems encountered with the 380 magazines. Even S&W's own Pro Shooter, Jerry Miculek, mentions the magazine design changes in a video about the 9mm Shield EZ.

I love my 9mm Shield EZ, but my wife's 380 Shield EZ frightens me. I do not want her self-defense pistol to rely on do-it-yourself attempts to fix a magazine problem that S&W is aware of, could fix, and should fix.

Please advice if S&W can -or will- do anything to correct the problem with my wife's 380 Shield EZ magazines (and no more "updated" yellow-painted magazine springs are needed to replace the yellow-painted springs already in her magazines).

S&W responded with a polite request for more information about the problem.

The problem is that the last round from the magazines (4 magazines) randomly have failures to feed in the form of stovepipes. The incidence of the problem is not consistent from magazine to magazine or each time a specific magazine is used. I have previously changed the magazine springs to yellow-painted ones, even for the magazines that already had yellow-painted springs. Changing springs did not help at all. I have also scuffed the tops of the magazine followers to increase adhesion/friction with the last round's casing. Scuffing the followers reduced the incidence of the problem by half or more, but the problem remains at the reduced rate.

S&W responded with an offer to send a prepaid FedEx label for me to send the pistol and magazines in for evaluation.

It can't hurt to let S&W check the pistol. And S&W may have discovered a fix over time. I'll post results when available.

[Oldsalt66]

Due to a wrist injury my wife can no longer manipulate the slide on her M&P9c so she currently carries a .380EZ.

I just checked my log and she’s put 3225 rounds through it and it still looks almost new in box cosmetically.

She shoots it extremely well and she’s terrific at immediately clearing malfunctions which is a good thing, since due to what I’m certain is a magazine design flaw, the pistol isn’t as reliable as she’d like her carry gun to be.

She’ll be picking up one of the 9mm versions for herself as soon as my local shop gets some in with the thumb safety, which she likes on her carry pistols.

If you compare the .380 EZ magazines with the 9mm models, it’s obvious the 9mm mags were redesigned to eliminate a problem they were experiencing with the legacy model .380 magazines failing to hold onto the rounds securely and properly positioned in the magazine as the pistol cycled, and the magazine approached empty with an attendant reduction of spring tension on the follower and round against the feed lips.





I’m guessing that a redesigned magazine of this type in .380 probably wouldn’t work with the currently and previously manufactured.380 EZ pistols, but I’d certainly like to be proven wrong.

[gc70]

My wife's 380 EZ arrived back from the factory today (see post #34 above) and the results of the visit to the mothership are in this thread.

[smoothshooter]

Originally Posted by imarangemaster

A "Grail gun " for me was a Kahr compact 45. Finally got it, and it would only function 98%, and that was with standard velocity 230 grain FMJ. Anything else, it was a single shooter, or at best a large two shot derringer...

I called Kahr Customer Service and complained. They told me to call back after 1,000 round break in if it still had problems.. BS! I traded it in on my first S&W Sheild 9mm.

My neighbor recently bought a Kahr compact 9, and he had an identical problem. He spent $200 on a local gunsmith to get it to work correctly (mostly!). NOT a fan of Kahr....

Funny how Gaston Glock’s engineers and production people can get a finished gun out the door that shoots nearly every dam**ed time right out of the box for less than $100 dollars per unit, but Kahr and some other American manufacturers tell customers they need to put at least 200 rounds through their guns to break them in.

[Mike J]

Originally Posted by 1sdfellow

I posted a while back about substituting the Wolff XP 7 round Ruger LCP aftermarket spring for the 12 coil OEM version. The Wolff is 19 coils and must be trimmed to 14 or 15. I found 14 to work best requiring a) the clipped top of the spring to be bent down to be in line with the rest of the top coil; and b) the bottom coil to be enlarged slightly with the nose of a needle nose pliers to fit over the raised plastic piece of the plastic locking tab‘s spring guide. This substitution gives a noticeable increase in magazine spring tension. I haven’t shot more than a few dozen rounds of hot 1000 FPS 102 grain handloads since, but function has been flawless.

I hadn't been back to this forum in a while so I didn't see this. I ordered some of the springs you cited. I will try them. They may not be as EZ as the OEM ones but as long as the pistol feeds reliably I am good with that. I like the idea of it not being a spring inside a spring. Thanks.

[Mike J]

Originally Posted by 1sdfellow

I posted a while back about substituting the Wolff XP 7 round Ruger LCP aftermarket spring for the 12 coil OEM version. The Wolff is 19 coils and must be trimmed to 14 or 15. I found 14 to work best requiring a) the clipped top of the spring to be bent down to be in line with the rest of the top coil; and b) the bottom coil to be enlarged slightly with the nose of a needle nose pliers to fit over the raised plastic piece of the plastic locking tab‘s spring guide. This substitution gives a noticeable increase in magazine spring tension. I haven’t shot more than a few dozen rounds of hot 1000 FPS 102 grain handloads since, but function has been flawless.

I replace the springs in my 380 EZ magazines as you describe. I made it back out last weekend to shoot. I just had 50 rounds of 380 with me. I loaded 2 rounds at a time-so we did 25 last round feeds successfully (I was shooting at a relatives. We had teenagers out there with us. I was loading the 2 rounds in the magazine & letting a 16 year old fire them for me. He seemed to enjoy the process). This seems to be a solution.