We bought a new Shield EZ a couple of weeks ago after a very careful inspection by my wife as well as myself. It was her decision unless I had a very good reason to cast a veto. I could find no good reason. She was very, very positively impressed. We finally had time to take it to the range today to see if it works. It does! And it does so very easily.

My wife had no trouble with any aspect of it's action and operation. I had trouble believing it's reliability with such an easy slide to rack. Hard to believe there is enough recoil spring tension for that, but there is. We fired at least 300 rounds fairly quickly so things got hot. We had one ammo related FTF that resulted from an obvious problem with that round of cheap RWS FMJ ammo that is several years old and was bought really cheap. Also fired PMC FMJ as well as a few rounds of Speer Gold Dot and an older lot of Remington Golden Saber, so a cross section of different ammo and bullet weights. The gun ran like a champ for a new out of the box firearm which had been cleaned up from whatever protection it had been shipped with and lubricated properly.

The EZ got quite a bit of attention at the range, as did my wife while shooting it and operating it with obvious ease. She also shoots it pretty well for a new gun! I also fired it some, and both of us tended to shoot it just a bit left of center from our aiming points. I attribute this at this point to the fact that the movement of the trigger on the EZ is longer from rest to the point where the action releases the trigger. I think both of us had a bit to much finger on the trigger and were likely pushing the firearm a bit to the left while shooting. It is different from our Shields, which my wife cannot rack the slide on well enough to really be able to operate it competently well. She shoots it very well, but sometimes you gotta rack that slide, right?

Today's trip was primarily a function test for the EZ to satisfy us that it is reliable enough for EDC. While we fully expect to shoot 2 or 3 more hundred rounds through it very soon to confirm what we saw today, it's track record out of the gate was fully acceptable to both of us and all spectators. Best of all, my wife is estatic and more overall pleased with this handgun than any other of the many she has had opportunity to handle and actually fire over the years.

On the way home from the range, she told me that she REALLY likes this one, and that she feels there is nothing at all about it that gives her pause as far as shooting and operating it on her own. She also commented that she is normally tired, especially her hands, after most shooting sessions of this length. She probably fired 250 of the 300 or so rounds we fired today. She said her hands and arms felt like she could have shot that many more! That makes me very happy. Not much makes me happier than to hear that this is a handgun that she REALLY likes and is excited about using and carrying with her. This is HER gun, and she likes it and wants to use it, and she has taken ownership of it like no other handgun she has accepted as OK.

My wife is a seven some decades old lady. Yes, she can and does do hard work at times, but she is not a tomboy in any sense and age has diminished her abilities as it does for us all. Yet she is entirely comfortable with this handgun. So am I! I am not saying this is only a woman's gun. It should be a solution for any of us who has lost the ability and strength in our hands due to old age or arthritis , etc to solve the problem of difficulty operating a firearm. Based on what I saw from my wife's shooting today, her ability to quickly and accurately operate this firearm which holds 8 rounds plus one leaves me no doubt that she can protect herself as well with it as with any other, even though many do not give the .380 much credit as a stopper.

It is my considered opinion that 3 or 4 or more rounds (about 3 to 4 hundred grains of bullets pretty tightly grouped) in the engine compartment of a predator will be likely to get the job done about as well as anything else. It is, after all, where a bullet with sufficient penetration lands that really makes the difference, and 3 or 4 in the same general location is even better. Shot to shot time with this gun is great! I fired about four mags as fast as I could toward the end of our session to see if the hot gun would puke. It did not! And all those rounds would have fit in the bottom of a small paper plate.

So there you have our impressions of this new gun. We pretty much give it our unreserved and unqualified recommendation, to be confirmed further as time allows. And if you are an older person or perhaps handicapped or disabled with arthritis, take a hard look at the Shield EZ. It just might be a good solution for you. We brought this one home for just a tad less than 4 big bills. That ain't much of a risk if you can't test fire one before you buy. But any LGS worth it's salt will allow you to test function the gun before you buy it. It's got a good trigger, and every one we've shown it to has been very positively impressed and surprised by it. So are we, and now we've shot it a good bit.
Sorry for this long post, but I hope you can see what I'm trying to say and understand why I'm saying it.

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So long ... Ken

I've had my .380 Shield since late February and I love her. My first automatic after owning multiple Smith .357 magnums since the 70s. It's my daily carry and a fun shooter.

Thanks for the great report!

Did you get it with or without the safety?
(sorry if I missed that in your post)

My wife isn't into shooting at all, but I've been thinking the EZ is going to end up on my wish list.

Ken,

Thanks for putting together this detailed report. I picked up an EZ for my wife to be who has been hospitalized for an extended length of time and uses a wheelchair. She has limited hand strength and she’s had problems with my other firearms. Your experience makes me feel like this purchase will be good for her.

Best,

Tom

Thanks for the review. After seeing a few others review this gun, I recommended it to my Mom who has severe arthritis.

Thanks for the great review. Sheila will be 80 in a few months and has RA.
The only handgun now that she handles well is an S&W 22..
We looked at the new Smith 380 and was impressed on how easy it was to rack the slide...Just got an advertisement from Florida Gun exchange that they have a sale on them fo $359.00.. Think we will have to purchase one now..

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NRA Benefactor

I hope each of you who posted will find a successful and satisfactory solution with the Shield EZ Each situation is different, but it's hard for me to think of a more likely solution for anyone who struggles with operating and firing a semi auto firearm (or a revolver, for that matter). I sure can't think of anything that will work if the Shield EZ does not, and I've handled and shot a great number of handguns over the past nearly 60 years. My guess is that if someone cannot manipulate and fire this Shield EZ in .380 caliber, there are not any likely solutions available for them. I'm basing this on my wife's experience and comments after her first session at the range with the gun.

Ours does not have the external manual thumb safety and that's just fine with us. I know some prefer this but we don't. It appears that some have had problems with the safety moving during firing with the thumb safety equipped Shield EZ. It also appears that a quick call and return to S&W concerning this problem has resulted in a satisfactory solution to that problem which has been to give the existing safety mechanism a stronger detent that reduces the possibility of this happening. The grip safety is a definite positive additional safety. Unless a good high and firm grip is maintained to keep that grip safety fully and positively engaged, the gun will not fire! It appears to me that the size of the thumb safety lever on both sides of the gun is fairly large, which would make it pretty easy to move it, intentionally or not. How a person holds the gun and what happens during recoil can definitely result in unintentionally moving that lever. Some seem positive that this has happened without any contact with the safety lever, but some of those have also reported that problem stopped after they had returned their EZ to S&W for the "fix". You can read about those stories here in this forum.

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So long ... Ken

I think the M&P Shield 380 EZ is an excellent choice for just about anyone. But especially folks that would benefit from the ease of operation that it offers.

My 25 year old wife and my 61 year old mother both own, and love their Shield EZ’s.

My wife has smaller hands, and struggles to rack the slide or get a positive grip on most handguns. But she manipulates the Shield EZ with nearly no effort.

My mother has very bad arthritis in her hands, and can barely rack a slide at all. But she can do it on the Shield EZ with minimal struggle.

Makes me feel better to know that both of these important ladies in my life can adequately defend themselves.

Smith & Wesson did this one right. I’m pleased.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Wait... what?

Very encouraging report.

I have several pistols, including a Shield 9. It is a hard pistol to rack, and I've added some skater tape to the slide to make it easier to get a grip on it. I foresee being able to use the full-size pistols for quite a few years to go but losing the ability to reliably use the Shield 9 in maybe the next couple of years.

So I can see one of these in my future. Thanks for the excellent review.

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S&W Rover

Unfortunately,I have not seen any in person yet, none of the gun shops near me have any. seems like it will be very popular for a while.

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S&W BG380, S&W 915 9mm

Another home run from S&W!

I hope to explain my position without being misunderstood.

I bought my Shield EZ for a specific purpose, and it exceeds all my expectations. However; it's not currently my favorite carry gun.

I'm 70 years old, with arthritis in both thumbs. On bad days, I sometimes have problems racking some guns, like the Shield 9 or Shield 45. I still believe in carrying the most powerful gun I can handle well. Right now, that's most of my guns. Up to, and including, a .44 Magnum revolver.

But I know the days are coming that I may not be able to handle all those guns. Not just racking the slide, but managing recoil. On those days I'll grab the Shield EZ, that's the reason I bought it. That's when it will earn it's keep, and become my "favorite".

For now, I practice with it often. A couple of .380 rounds can be devastating if you put them in the right place.

I just want to echo what everyone else is saying...I love my 380EZ!!! I am 47 years old, and suffered a stroke and Anoxic Brain Injury last January. My life has changed dramatically, as I can no longer work, finish school or even drive; BUT, thanks to the S&W 380EZ I can still accompany my husband to the range and fire off a few shots.

I just got the gun 2 weeks ago and have only been able to get to the range twice but it has given me so much to look forward to and the fact that I can be completely independent in loading, racking and firing it is all the more of a blessing. Despite a right-sided weakness, I can easily load and rack it all by myself...now to work on my aim! :-)

Love mine, fits my hand nicely and I really like the grip texture, better than my compact and 1.0 shield 9mm’s only negative .380 ammo seems to be very popular now and the price is rising.

Took the wife shopping Friday night. She currently keeps a 637 in her car but decided she wanted something that was hers to keep in the house.

Ended up with one of the new Shield EZ 380s. We took it to the range saturday evening to let her try it out. When she pulled the trigger the first time, first thing she was "wow". After she ran about 100 rounds through it, she said it was the first auto she has ever felt comfortable with.
She could load the mags, rack the slide and double tap the steal with no problem. Normally she has a problem pulling back most any slide.

I gave it a bath when we got home and its now resting nicely in her drawer where she keeps it. I will say Smith hit a home run with this one.

Welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry to hear of your recent Stroke and Anoxic Brain Injury, and pray for your recovery.

Thank you for sharing that the new .380 Smith & Wesson is part of that recovery for you. I look forward to hearing how your aim is improving.

Another update from a new 380EZ owner:

Previously I had reported an occasional double-feed/partial ejection from the last round in the magazine; same as reported by Hickok45 in his recent review of the new model. I'm happy to say that after an additional 300 rounds, that has not been repeated. H45 attributed the premature ejection to possible week spring in the magazine, but I'm thinking that it may have been due to a slightly too-strong spring that has since been exercised out.
Anyway, it's still not an everyday CCW for me, but it's getting there.

The 380EZ seems to like fairly hot rounds; about the same as my G42. I've found that it does not cycle reliably with less than 3.0 gr W-231 under a 105 gr TC coated bullet. Still a very soft shooter, and fairly accurate. I find that I can reliably hit a standard combat target at 25 yds. Not all x's or 10's, but on the paper and in the scoring zone.. I'm getting comfortable with it. -S2