A friend of mine brings one of these to range trips abd I have put over 500 rounds through it without issue. I know that he has too. Less experienced people have a number of cycling issues with the same gun because they anticipate (the almost non-existent) recoil and shake it like a rattle. My two cents is that, not specific to anything reported here, many of the reports with issues on this gun were from inexperienced folks who are now a larger % of gun owners.

I can understand that may be playing into the issues but here is the experience I have. I'm new and have one with about 500 rnds though it now. Still working on flinching but not one stovepipe event with mine.
A friend buys one who is a 30+ year experienced shooter and he has the issue happen 2-3 times while at the range when I'm there then it starts behaving. I think there is still something systemic with some of these but its definitely not on all. I'll admit I am totally new to all this but just wanted to share what I've experienced with two of these.

I bought a March 2020 production EZ 380 and thought the issues would be worked out though I did have one instance today of the last round coming up and stove piping. To note my mom was the one shooting it at the time. It was the last of the 50 rounds we shot for the day.

I’m hopeful it doesn’t happen more and will try and put more rounds through it, but given the current market, I can’t even find let alone afford to test another few hundred rounds of 380.

I may try the scuffing method to the follower. How exactly are people scuffing up the follower?

http://smith-wessonforum.com/140684842-post44.html

Ok that is similar to what I was thinking of trying so that helps thanks.

Hows it going with yours Benello?
Mine is a May 2020 production and I still haven't had the issue at all, this is with the two original mags and a 3rd I bought at LGS but pitched the mag plastic box so can't tell date the 3rd was made.

My friends only had this occur 2-3 times on first range trip and all has been well since.

Mine will probably be at the range this weekend and I'm hoping it continues to work well.

I did think in previous post this is a systemic issue with some of these but could it really be a 'break in' thing and also may occur more when break in is conducted with lesser quality ammo if such exists for .380 ACP? Or is Houston Rick on to something with a high % of new shooters with the model?

It's a magazine and magazine well problem. Slick follower coupled with a weak mag spring and a magazine well that is loose, allowing the magazine to move during recoil. Scuffing the follower to increase friction is the only thing that solves the problem for more than a few hundred rounds. New springs don't solve it for long without the increased friction.

My wife is about to get into concealed carry. She's considering a lot of options and the S&W Shield 380 EZ was on the top of the list. After reading all the responses here - no longer. We've scratched the 380 EZ off the list.

Muab

Well after about a year still no problem and cause of problem was a small run of guns. Also our 380 EZ has been 100% and the defective guns are easy to detect if you know anything about guns. Just my two cents.

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Cranky Old Retired USN Guy

On probably 75% of guns with reliability problems it's magazines. S&W makes their own magazines by the way.

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Cranky Old Retired USN Guy

I’m gonna try and shoot it again today and if it has the issue I’ll rough up the follower and try again. Thanks guys.

That's great, never give up w/o trying. I don't, it's not in my nature.

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Cranky Old Retired USN Guy

Well I shot a hundred rounds of American eagle and WWB today and had zero issues. Perhaps the last round thing has worked itself out. I hope so anyway. I did not rough up the followers as I was going to do that only if today went poorly. I suppose it could happen again though I had over 15 mags through it today (sometimes I load 5) and not even a hint of an issue. It only happened once last time so maybe it was a break in thing. I did load the mags and left them for a couple days since last visit until today so maybe that helped.

Understandable, ours is still running fine at this point with no issues. To be honest I'm not sure the best choice for my gal is a semi auto if we chose to carry. If we'd thought it through more we may have picked out a revolver.

Laterider; I had a bad experience with a Sig Trailside in 22 LR when they first came out. Went through three of them (Sig sent me two which had the same issues) Cost me big in time and money shipping things back and forth. Just won't go through that again. As far as revolvers, yep, we're looking real hard at a S&W 36, Ruger SP101, and a Ruger LC R - all in 38 S&W. But who knows, she may like my 9mm Shield.

The Preacher

Sorry to hear you went through that with a Sig and certainly understand avoiding the 380 based on information here and other sources. Good luck in your search, looks like you are considering some nice choices!

I am looking to procure a self defense weapon for my wife to carry. The employees at Nardis Gun Club in San Antonio recommended the S&W M&P Shield EZ.

They mostly recommended the 380. For those of you who have experience with these weapons I would appreciate your thoughts on which you like the best and why?

I believe the EZ 380 may be a bit smaller in size than the 9mm. Looking for the wife to carry in her purse or jacket pocket.

Thanks for your support on this question.

SIII

Is the EZ-9 plagued with this same issue or is it limited to the .380?

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otis

Does she have any experience shooting? If not, you may want to consider going to a range that rents handguns, try this one and others if possible to help you on the decision.

I like the model, wish it didn't have the issue on some, but does it make a good first carry for someone? Giving it a try before buying against others is really the only way for an individual to know.

With that said, since the model does have significant record of malfunctions should it be on anyone's potential carry list?

Where are you buying ammo at?

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MightShowYouHisSmith&Wesson

Well I'm back reading this thread again..
After selling the 380EZ without a safety my Son wants another one..
I'm going down to the gun getting place @ 9:00am in 15 minutes..
They have a 380EZ with the safety I saw yesterday..
They also had a 9EZ too..
I'll post back a little later with the results..
BTW my Son has 200 95gr LAX .380s

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MightShowYouHisSmith&Wesson

Quick followup. My wife was experiencing some stovepipes and last-live-round ejections with her .380 EZ, so I took some advice from these threads. She only loads 5 rounds per mag so we have 10 magazines to load up a box at a time. I scuffed 5 of them with 150 grit sandpaper, and I put a piece of duct tape about 3/16" wide by 1/2" long on the other 5. 150 rounds later (three loads for each magazine), not a single problem. Thanks christak et al for the ideas.

My wife and I purchased a 380 and a 9mm Shield EZ pistol at the end of July 2020.
After shooting about 100 - 150 rounds in the 380, it stove pipped the last live round. This has happened multiple times when my wife or I shot the 380 pistol. The 9mm has over 1000 rounds and it does not exhibit the same behavior. I went to the range and tried different ammo and the extra magazine that was never used. To my surprise, it happened multiple times with the new and used magazines and with both types of ammunition. (Blazer and Winchester) Note that the magazines both have the springs with the yellow paint. We sent the pistol to Smith & Wesson and it was received on September 23rd. We finally received the pistol back after 5 weeks. The paperwork stated that the barrel was replaced. I went to the range and loaded the two original magazines with 2 rounds each time shooting 50 rounds with no problems. It is impossible to find 380 ammo so I didn’t want to shoot any more rounds. I hope the fix continues to work and I will update the post if the problem reoccurs.

I bought my girlfriend a 380EZ and sure enough get the last live round stockpile issue. I sent it back to S&W repair. I later bought a Taurus TX22 and it runs great. I've taught her to double tap. It's loaded with 16 velocitors. I think she's well armed because she's recoil sensitive and flinched bad with even .380... The 380EZ will be traded or sold.

I consider most US branded metric ammo underpowered. We use Fiocchi and have had no issues with any of our .380s. As for replacing the barrel to fix stovepipes, I wonder if there is a tolerance issue with the feed ramp geometry.

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Release the Kraken

Scuffing seems to have helped with the problem. However, the springs are garbage. A brand new spring barely reached the top of the magazine after being compressed with 8 rounds for a couple of weeks. No way I'd trust my life with that.

I took an extra spring from a 10 round LCP magazine and clipped it to size. It was a very stout spring. Took it to the range and the gun worked flawlessly. However, I didn't like the way the spring positioned itself in the magazine, so I've decided to use two S&W springs per magazine. Resistance is less than the LCP springs, so I expect it will work, and hoping they won't weaken as much over time.

Haven't taken it out yet. Want to leave them compressed a couple weeks first.

I finally got around to removing the spent casings under the springs in my wife's magazines. While that workaround prevented stovepipes, we were never satisfied with the loss of a round of capacity. Instead, we pursued the approach of scuffing the followers.

Below are before and after photos. Note on the "before" photo where case rims have marked the center-line of the follower. The "after" photo shows where I took a fine hacksaw blade at a 45-degree angle to make v-notches across the follower in the area where the case rims ride (and dressed the notches with a file after the photo).

Attached Images

380EZ_follower.jpg (186.6 KB, 120 views)

Went to the range. Fired about 100 rounds without a problem. The dual S&W spring per magazine solution is holding up sufficiently well, although not as well as the spring from Ruger.

Right now, given what I've seen, I'd say the problem is resolved. Very happy with the finished product, but not happy with S&W for leaving its customers in the dark.

Go to YouTube and type in “S&W Shield EZ 9MM Jerry Miculec”. He reviews the gun. Specifically mentions twice in the video the grooves on both sides of the magazine at the top to help with proper feeding. Those grooves are not on the .380 version.

Seems to me S&W saw there was an issue with the .380 and added the grooves in for the 9MM to deal with it. If there are newer .380 mags with the groove that should fix the issue. I have only put about 200 rounds through my 9MM EZ and they were all flawless. And they were all my reloads. Not even factory ammo.

Any updates regarding continued problems or fixes that are still "fixing"? Thanks, I have a new PC on the way.

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Professional Trainer

As I posted somewhere else, I scuffed 5 magazines with 150 grit sandpaper, and I put a small strip of Gorilla Tape on 5 magazines. Both solutions seem to have solved the problem. Another 150 rounds today without issue, so my fixes are still "fixing".

Attached Images

380 EZ Mags.jpg (32.0 KB, 59 views)

thanks!

picked mine up today and tested both mags with multiple count loads

not a hiccup except for the low/left syndrome

I can deal with that.

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Professional Trainer

Good to know... But it shouldn't be this way. One shouldn't buy a new S&W EZ Shield and have to "sandpaper" or whatever for a pistol to function properly... We passed... My wife is now the owner of a Glock 42... She loves it...Thus far no issues... Bad on Smith for all this....

The Preacher

Two surprises though:

low/left shooting

mag won't seat when loaded with 8

Anything else y'all know and aren't telling me?

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Professional Trainer

I have had no problems seating fully-loaded magazines.

As to shooting low/left, that it typically what happens when folks start shooting a lightweight pistol. And when I switch from a fullsized steel pistol to a polymer gun half its weight, I nearly always pull the first shot low and left.

My EDC has been a 642 PC for many years now.

True, a revolver, but very lightweight.

Also, I often shoot my Kahr CM9, a lightweight micro.

And I know a "low/left" condition exists with the new EZ PC.

Adjusted the rear already.

My guess is when they added the Hi-Viz front sight on the EZ PC model, it affected the point of aim differently than on the standard sight models.

I'll adjust to it an advise my students to aim differently with the EZ.

Might end up being a good training lesson for them to demonstrate that whatever they choose to own and shoot will have its unique POA.

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Professional Trainer