New Shield 380 EZ... Nope. Junk.

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gc70 said:
Just because you don't want something does not mean that other people don't want it.

Beretta's Cheetah models are selling for $700-$800, indicating that someone wants mid-size .380 pistols.
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THAT'S A VERY VALID POINT, AS IT APPLIES SOLEY TO THE BERETTA CHEETAH MODEL. A LOT OF PEOPLE WANT THAT PARTICULAR BERETTA.....

EVIDENTLY, IN THE OP'S OPINION, THE SHIELD DOES NOT WARRANT THAT LEVEL OF ADORATION. ITS PATENTLY ILLOGICAL TO ASCRIBE TO THE ENTIRE CLASS OF SMALL .380 AUTOS, THE VIRTUES OR SHORTCOMINGS OF ONE PARTICULAR MODEL. ITS THE REASON WHY GUNS, CARS, APPLIANCES, ETC ARE ALWAYS RATED IN COMPARISON TO MODELS IN THE SAME CLASS, MADE BY DIFFERENT MANUFACTURER'S. THAT'S THE BREAD AND BUTTER OF PUBLICATIONS SUCH AS "CONSUMER REPORTS".....

NATURALLY ITS YOUR MONEY. IF YOU WANT A SHIELD THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN TO APPEAL TO THE OP, JUST BUY IT ! ! !

THEN YOU CAN GRACE THE FORUM WITH YOUR EVALUATION OF YOUR NEW SHIELD, WHICH WILL HAVE NO RELEVANCE TO A BERETTA CHEETAH.....

TRY SEARCHING ON YOUTUBE FOR A COMPARATIVE REVIEW OF SMALL .380 SEMI-AUTOS, PERHAPS BY WELL RESPECTED VLOGGER, HICKOCK 45. THAT WILL ILLUSTRATE WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT.....
 
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My wife's G19 is no longer a viable pistol for her. She can't run the slide. It FTF's every round so it is now a single shot for her. She has had a major shoulder injury and carpal tunnel and she simply can not make the G19 function at this point in her life. It worked perfectly for me.
Got her an EZ this weekend, it works. She hasn't fired a shot in four years and she was ringing a 12" plate at 10 yards right from the first shot. She tired quickly and did have last round FTF's after a few mags of shooting, but it ran perfectly for me as I put another 50+ through it.
 
I've been struggling since I finished my throat cancer treatments back in the summer of 2015.

I seem to have lost a lot of strength in my arms and the arthritis is really making my hands unfun to shoot a sharply recoiling firearm with. Doc will fix my right hand in April, maybe, if I think I want another surgery, he'll do the left later. But for now....

I bought a P365 today (no problem racking that slide :). And I bought one of the new EZs, too. EZ to rack, light trigger and the only thing I am not too thrilled with is the thumb safety. I am a little bit concerned with somehow accidently bumping the safety on, having occasion to need the gun, and not realizing why it won't fire. :eek:

I gave that a lot of thought and recall that, many years ago as a young Detective, I carried a Commander cocked and locked, and never had a problem getting it out of my belt (IWB), pressing the safety down as it cleared the holster and firing or being prepared to fire.

I'm gonna try carrying it with the safety on, recognizing that a lot of you now (if not earlier) place me with the old fuddy duddys. Oh, well. :p

The potential downside is carrying different firearms with what the gun rag writers call different manuals of arms. I've never had a problem with that, but we'll see.

I've ordered holsters for both the EZ and the Sig, now gotta find some night sights for the EZ or at least a front night sight.

I must say I have never been a fan of the Shield series, crummy triggers, heavy compared to similar sized guns, etc. But I like the feel of this one and may get my wife one, too, if she likes it when we shoot the heck out of these on Monday.

Bob
 
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Like many it is getting hard to use the slide on my Springfield & Glock auto and so I purchased the M & P Shield 380EZ and other then fail to cycle using Winchester Training ammo (was the first ammo tried) no problems on any of several other ammo including even PPG. I fired almost 200 rounds after the Winchester Training with no problems. I can honestly say that the Springfield XD9 series including Mod2 grip safety was more comfortable for me then the 380EZ.
 
Just for the record...

I had another class yesterday. One of the students had a .380Auto. It only went 8 rounds before it malfunctioned.

It wasn't an M&P, but my streak of .380 failures continues; I have yet to see one make it 35 rounds without a malfunction.
 
Well, I shot my new 380 EZ today.

As an aside, I also shot my P365, two hundred rounds, Win White Box for the first hundred and Hornady Critical Defense, which I carry in 9mm 115 grain, for the second hundred.

Couldn't find a single thing wrong-worked perfectly, light felt recoil, seems to be a good gun for carry. Saw nothing indicating any pin dragging on the fired cases. Really nice trigger. Easy to rack the slide, no problem seeing the front sight at the indoor range.

Then, out came the EZ. Two hundred fifty+ rounds, first hundred were Remington Value Pack 88gr HPs. Worked fine except one failure to lock the slide back after the last round on the second mag full.

Then 50 PPU hollow points which I "think" I got from Cabela's when on sale-can't think of any other reason to have bought them. The first hundred Remingtons, I'd fired simply loading the mags. These I loaded the mags and had a chambered round for nine shot. First mag full, the first round shot, but the second went "click!" Didn't have the mag locked in. Stupid Me!

The rest worked perfectly. I noticed that I did have to slam the mag a bit harder than I do my Glock 42 and 43 to seat it when the slide is closed. It "seemed" to get easier as I shot, but I am not sure that I didn't just get used to it.

Then about 70 380 Hornady Critical Defense. All good.

Rastoff: you talk about 380s not working, my Glock 42 never has missed a beat and I've got thousands of rounds through it. Perhaps it's the shooters or ....

Bob
 
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straightshooter1 said:
Worked fine except one failure to lock the slide back after the last round on the second mag full.
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I'm not picking on you Bob, but this is a very common statement with just about any gun. "My gun works 100% except..." That "except" is a malfunction. No matter how small, it's a gun that wasn't flawless. I've personally watched guns malfunction and the owner still claims it's perfect.

Now, in this case, it might be a magazine issue, ammo issue, shooter issue or any number of other causes. The point is, you can no longer claim the gun has worked perfectly; it did have at least one failure.

Another perfect example is my 1911. I have one that had a couple failures to feed. I figured out the problem and it hasn't had that issue in over 3K rounds, but it did happen. Calling the gun flawless would be disingenuous.
 
I haven't read every post, and if this is repeat info, please excuse.

I read somewhere that the grip safety on the EZ serves two operating functions (in addition to being an external safety). The article said that it:
1. Makes the gun drop-safe.
2. Pre-cocks the hammer, which is what makes it possible for the trigger pull to be so light.

I have no idea if this info is accurate, but that's what it said.

For the record, I (as an older female) can see the need for this handgun. I have four semi-autos, and all of them have slides that are difficult for me to rack. At first I couldn't rack them at all, but with practice I now can using the "hold the slide, and push the frame with the strong arm" method, but it's still not easy. I like my revolvers, but my fingers are weak and after the first few shots I now have to use BOTH index fingers to pull the trigger. But it works (for now) and doesn't wreck my accuracy.

So, someday I may need the EZ, and I'm glad S&W makes it. (I understand why many don't care for it, but strong people have dozens of models to choose from.)

Oh, and as several have pointed out, like many of the M&Ps, the EZ is available both with and without the thumb safety.
 
ec fan said:
I haven't read every post, and if this is repeat info, please excuse.

I read somewhere that the grip safety on the EZ serves two operating functions (in addition to being an external safety). The article said that it:
1. Makes the gun drop-safe.
2. Pre-cocks the hammer, which is what makes it possible for the trigger pull to be so light.

I have no idea if this info is accurate, but that's what it said.

For the record, I (as an older female) can see the need for this handgun. I have four semi-autos, and all of them have slides that are difficult for me to rack. At first I couldn't rack them at all, but with practice I now can using the "hold the slide, and push the frame with the strong arm" method, but it's still not easy. I like my revolvers, but my fingers are weak and after the first few shots I now have to use BOTH index fingers to pull the trigger. But it works (for now) and doesn't wreck my accuracy.

So, someday I may need the EZ, and I'm glad S&W makes it. (I understand why many don't care for it, but strong people have dozens of models to choose from.)

Oh, and as several have pointed out, like many of the M&Ps, the EZ is available both with and without the thumb safety.
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It doesn't pre-cock the hammer...it's only a safety... I own an EZ and with the slide removed, you can see exactly what the grip safety does.
 
The thread HAS served its purpose, introducing the .380 EZ and giving everyone a chance to comment on the pistol. It definitely is a success for American Outdoor Brands/S&W, which give it credit for increased profitability in the last quarter.

Small pistols tend to have reliability problems, from what I've read and heard. The mechanics and geometry of short actions are probably to blame. (This seems to be true of any small pistol, and can be seen in the small 9mm's and .45's, too).

I'm hoping the Shield .380 EZ, being a bit larger than other .380's, obviates these reliability problems. It's larger frame (compared to most .380's) has a longer action (so timing is less critical) and a bigger grip (so limp wristing is less problematic). Time will tell, but it seems like "functional reliability" would be a good focus for a serious review of the Shield .380 EZ (using various ammo types, in large volumes) by either a reputable gun mag or perhaps one of the independent gun reviewers on the web.
 
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Rastoff said:
Just for the record...

I had another class yesterday. One of the students had a .380Auto. It only went 8 rounds before it malfunctioned.

It wasn't an M&P, but my streak of .380 failures continues; I have yet to see one make it 35 rounds without a malfunction.
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What make and model was it this time?
 
We actually sell a lot of the EZ models. They are very popular with ladies and some of our older customers who don’t have the grip strength they once did. At least in our shop, they are quite popular.

GS
 
Picked one up this week from Bud's for $322. It's the offering that includes the lock box. Gun, insurance, spare mag and ffl fees for just short of 400$.
My hope is that my wife will like and adopt it. Currently she has 'appropriated" my Ruger lcrx in 38 special, which I happen to shoot better than most all of my small frame revolvers. I will shoot the b'jesus out of it this friday, I'll see how it goes from there....
 
fallhunter said:
Why!? This is the gun NOBODY asked for. Especially with a grip safety. Sorry, but nope. Keep ot.

Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk
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Just the opposite. This is just the gun that scores of women and elderly and others with grip or hand strength issues have been clamoring for. You don't really think that a company like S&W would invest a bunch of time and resources to develop and produce a brand new product line without doing a bunch of market research ahead of time?
 
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