I took my 380EZ to the range for the first time this week. Non side safety version. Had (3) issues in 220rds fired. Two live rounds ejected after spent casing. One stove piped live round with bullet facing up. Sounds like this is becoming a common issue. SW wants it back to evaluate. Anyone have this issue - sent it in and got it back?

Fast forward to 4:10 to see the double ejection malfunction. As long as it only is occasional, and the gun continues to run, I can live with it.

As I have progressed in age, my hands have gotten weaker and more problematic. What use to be easy peasy, racking the slide and loading magazines, is getting harder. Got the UPLULA loader finally and that was a help. But finally a major manufacturer has made gun the senior crowd can function as it was designed. I got my 380 EZ two weeks ago have had about 300 rounds through it. No problems at all. It is a soft shooting gun. The slide is extremely easy to rack and lock back if needed. I can't do that hardly with the Shield. What is most wonderful is loading the mags. The button on the side works just like on many 22s, pull the button down and drop in the rounds. I'm selling some revolvers now and intend to rely on my 380EZ for carry and home defense. That is once I get it back from the mothership and the safety fix.

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Jhawk412
Tulsa, Ok.

My EZ with thumb safety has been back at S&W since 4 April. In the meantime, I picked up a new non-safety version EZ yesterday. Don't know when I'll get it to the range.

Thanks for posting that, Wyo. That is what I've experienced with my 380EZ on several occasions. Seems to happen only with the last round in the magazine, and most times the cartridge doesn't fully eject but rather, it stands up blocking the slide.

There's been some suggestion that it may be related to shooting +P, or near +P cartridges, but I'm not sure about that. My loads were near the upper end of the normal range; around 0.2 grains of W231 above the minimum required to cycle its action (3.2-to-3.4 gr W231 above 105 gr coated TGC's). I'll play around with my loading to try and get some parametric data on that possible cause.

Anyways, thanks for bringing that back up. -S2

I was shooting Blazer Brass 95gr and American Eagle 95gr when my gun ejects live rounds - no +P. Had issue occur with both types.

Picked up my EZ on Friday and took it to the range for the first time yesterday. I bought the cheapest ammo I could find (Monarch FMJ) and went through 200 rounds. No cleaning first, etc. Absolutely zero issues. Everything worked perfectly. This gun is a joy to shoot and probably my new favorite pistol. So easy to load, shoot, and very accurate. Well done S&W! This one's a winner.

I bought one of these by accident today (), what an interesting little pistol. I can see where some people won't get it, or will understand but just don't like it.

It's neat that you can cycle the slide with the thumb safety on. I did read about the recall/upgrade/whatever of the models with a safety, but I think I'm going to shoot a few hundred rounds to see if mine has a problem before I send it in.

I have a Glock 42 .380, which is smaller, but also a locked-breech design. It'll be interesting to shoot them side by side.

Well, I sent mine in to S&W and then bought another one without the safety. Took it to the range the last couple of days and had no problem when I gripped it correctly. I have a lazy hand sometimes. I shot Hardcast, ball ammo and XTP's and Golden Sabers and all functioned great. But I had a problem with the hollow points in my Walther PPK,S. I also have a PPK but it functioned well with all ammo. I will go to the Walther Forum with that problem. I do like this 380ez.

My wife and I bought two 380EZs last month at Americana Arms in Beeville, TX. I have put about 200 rounds through mine and really love the gun. In fact, I used it to qualify for the Texas LTC and scored a 246 out of 250. I carry a Shield 9, but have trouble racking the slide at times due to old age. Alas, since they are both thumb safety models, they will shortly be goning to S&W for mod. I’m going to miss ir while it’s gone. As soon as more holster makers starting producing holsters for this gun, it will probably replace my Shield 9 as my EDC.

Today I received my leather holster for my 380EZ. It is made with a place to have a spare magazine. It is a top quality made holster and it is made by CircleBleather.com. I have not yet received my upgraded 380EZ from S&W but have been told that it has been repaired and will be shipped back to me this week. Can't wait to get it on the range to see how the repaired manual safety works.

hauser41818a.jpg

I have received a shipping label from SW to send EZ in to resolve the issue of ejecting live rounds but have not sent it back yet. Yesterday I put another 200rds thru it and didn't have a single issue. Same ammo, same shooter and didn't clean it before taking it out yesterday. I'm hesitant to send it in for 3 failures out of 400+rds without a clear indication of problem or solution on a brand new design. I think I'll wait to see what others find out about same issue. This EZ is perfect for my wife for night stand gun so 3 failures still 3 too many.

Got mine back from S&W a week ago and the thumb safety issue was corrected.The safety has a more noticeable action when operating it.
Ran 50 rounds through it with no more problems .

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JR

Mine operated perfectly with several different ball and hollow point loads.
I emailed them about the possible thumb safety issue and was promptly sent a return mailing label. Smith kept my pistol a grand total of nine business days, and it’s back in my hands and will see some more range time tomorrow before it assumes it’s role in my carry rotation.
Waiting on an OWB2 holster from JMCK.
I appreciate Smith’s fast response to the “problem”, and that’s just one reason I’ve spent money from a fairly modest income over the past year or so to buy eight M&P’s. Did I mention how much I like the 2.0’s?
Skip

I have had multiple 380's in my life time, Sig 238, Glock 42, Ruger LCP and a few others. I have kept my Glock and Sig the others I have sold.

I purchased my S&W M&P Shield 380 EZ about a month ago and have really come to appreciate the thought put into it. I have a MD which has caused me hand strength issues and the EZ has been a God send. It is easy to rack, load, and shoot. I have sent it back to have the safety issue looked at because of the advisory but only had it trip the thumb safety three times when shooting FMJ'.

Overall Glock 42 and the S&W Shield 380 EZ are two of my favorites. I will probably carry the EZ 80% of the time. If there are those that have strength issues the EZ will be a great choice.

I'm hoping they come out with a 9 mm in the same EZ style. My wife liked the 380 EZ she looked at recently at a LGS.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

Put a 380 EZ on layaway for a month,dealer told me he just got it back from smith as it was recalled about a month before for the thumb safety.

Sung to the tune of Abba's earwig, Dancing Queen

Jamming Queen
Ooh
It will jam
Where’s your knife
Bought it to protect your life
Ooh, see that gun
What a scene
Dig it the jamming queen

Friday night and the lights are low
Looking out everywhere you go.
Good you got a C, C, L
Getting in the swing
You feel like you’re a king

Anyone could be a bad guy
Night is dark and your radar’s on high
With a hidden, holstered gun
Everything is fine

You hope you don’t have to dance
But if and when you take the chance
You have the jamming queen
The C, C, P
It will soon be seen
Jamming queen

Feel the beat from your racing heart, oh yeah
It can jam
Where’s your knife
It’s not protecting your life
Ooh, see that gun
It’s obscene
Dig it the jamming queen

Y'know, the more I look at this thing, the more impressed I am.

The grip safety depresses the firing pin block, not the trigger.
An internal hammer, and that safety are borrowed from the Colt 1903/8, one of the most popular pocket pistols of the 1900s.

The steel sights are very visible, can't say that about some other .380s out there.

The EZ slide is an obvious major plus, and the LCI lever (usually very un-popular) really isn't a bad idea here.

The grip texture's slightly toned down from the bigger 2.0 pistols, and the gun feels very comfortable in the hand.

The slide-lock lever's not just a flat stamping like the Glocks, it's contoured enough to be easy to thumb up or down, but doesn't stick out too far.

I like the one-piece trigger, no hinge, no Glock paddle.

Not too crazy about the mags, but I can see why they went that route.
The steel follower buttons can be rounded off a bit on their edges.

Easy take down.

Not the best for a tiny pocket pistol, but not designed or intended to be.
For a specific demographic (those who have a hard time running slides), it's great.

And I'm not even quite there yet, but it's a definite contender for when I can't handle a bigger M&P or the M&P Bodyguard.

If it's not for you, that's fine; but S&W's done a neat thing in this package.
Denis

Why were you shooting with gloves?

I wasn't. I was comparing my hand size to glove sizes. Depending on which country of the world gloves are made in, what used to be large is now XL.

Well, I took both of my 380EZ's to the range again this morning. I put 300 thru the one with the safety and it shot great, then I shot the one without the safety 200 rounds and had no problem. I really like the way these shoot but I have a H&K VP9SK that I shoot better.

Well, finally got my wife to the LGS yeaterday and she picked up a new Shield 380 EZ. She was a little under the weather this morning, so she asked me to run out to the range to put a few rounds thru it. I only ran one box of fmj, but it was perfect. I will try to attach a pic. I was shooting just a bit low, but it might be me....these new bifocals and a worsening cataract make target acquisition a slight challenge.
Sorry about the pic coming in sideways...

Attached Images

349A0BB5-2B5E-424E-A4DE-82F283849C19.jpg (43.1 KB, 65 views)

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NRA Life Member, Patron

I purchased a 380 EZ for my wife as it is much easier to pull the slide back. I took her and my 18 yo granddaughter to the range to cycle a few rounds through it and was initially very impressed. Here is my problem. My granddaughter pulled the slide back to chamber a round and when she sighted in on the target the weapon would not fire. The trigger came all the way back with no snap as if the hammer had not cocked. I took the EZ from her and tried to fire the round myself but had the same results. So, now I have a live round in the chamber that I cannot fire and the slide will not come back to eject the round. I suspect that when she chambered the round perhaps she pulled the slide back just far enough for the round to chamber but not quite far enough to cock the hammer. I have never had this happen before but most of my experience is with revolvers. Is this common with semi autos? Since it is a live round I will be taking it to a gunsmith but just wanted to know if any of you have ever had this happen.

You’re sure she/you had the grip safety engaged enough? I
I don’t have enough experience with malfunctions so this is really a question to learn. Wouldn’t you pull the slide back all the way to eject that misfired cartridge?

I like mine enough that if S&W would make one without all those snags on the dustcover, I'd buy another one.

That's a pretty common complaint from me though. All the real warriors need them for lights and stuff, so I'm out of luck.

Yes, we had the grip safety completely depressed but did not make any difference, trigger is lax and comes all the way back. The slide will not come back more than a few millimeters no matter how hard I try so I can’t eject the round. Also because the slide will not come back I can’t field strip the weapon.

This sounds like two completely different issues. In the first instance, the slide was not retracted enough to reset the hammer and trigger. In the second instance, the cartridge has some dimension issues that jammed it hard into the chamber. It could be that the bullet is too long and is jammed into the rifling or the case was not sized correctly and is clinging to the chamber. I guess a third possibility is that the attempt to chamber without retracting the slide sufficiently somehow fed the cartridge at a weird angle that somehow locked up the gun. Is the gun completely in battery or is it slightly out of battery? If completely in battery, I would say it was a cartridge dimension issue.

I grew up shooting the family pristine S&W "Lemon Squeezer" revolver (don't remember the caliber). Not a manly looking gun, but, it was always reliable, fun, and safe.
In the late 1960's, after enlisting for 4, the Marine Corps taught me how to shoot the 1911 with great precision and safety. It's still My favorite pistol even today. They "All" featured a grip safety. Hands are getting weak and tired with age. Still prepared to defend LIBERTY to the end.

The "Hollywood" Florida High School Students selected for the anti-gun movement need extreme, deep, anti-American, background checks. Google this.