trikerdon
US Veteran
I have about 700 rds through mine, no problems....
M&P 380 EZ Stovepipe Cure?
- Thread starter yanici
- Start date
Rastoff
US Veteran
This is why I don't trust the 380Auto. This error is common and regular. Some claim they haven't had this issue, but I believe they will. I hope it doesn't happen in a self-defense situation.
Wouldn't currently trust my gun for EDC, though with one in the pipe, I would have 8 good rounds before the potential (9th round) issue would come into play.
Ok, i received my new magazine springs from S&W. The new springs have a bit of yellow paint on a portion of them. The new springs are significantly longer than my original springs, but otherwise they look the same. My 5 original springs and a new spring are shown in the attached photo. My original springs varied in length, because of the extent each was used I assume.
My guess is that I have around 1200 rounds of total use spread across my 5 magazines. I wouldn't expect magazine springs to show this much wear (change in length) with such a small number of rounds of use. Maybe that is normal...who knows?
I haven't had a chance to get back to the range with the new springs installed, but we'll see if the new springs help with the issue. Hope so...
My guess is that I have around 1200 rounds of total use spread across my 5 magazines. I wouldn't expect magazine springs to show this much wear (change in length) with such a small number of rounds of use. Maybe that is normal...who knows?
I haven't had a chance to get back to the range with the new springs installed, but we'll see if the new springs help with the issue. Hope so...
Attachments
Went to the range today. 200 more rounds of Perfecta. New magazine springs in all 5 mags. 3 mags had no issues at all. 2 mags had one last round issue each... Guess I'll try different ammo again to see if that matters now. Bit of a frustrating issue, but the EZ is still a lot of fun to shoot.
Rastoff
US Veteran
But you can't count on that. You can only count on the first shot and this...
...shows us you still have an issue.
This is my issue with .380Auto, they're just finicky. I'm sure they can be good guns, it's just that I see so many have issues.
strongpersuader
Member
I have close to 1000 rounds thru my EZ and the only issue I had with stovepiping was when my (adult) daughter was shooting it and not getting a strong, firm, grip on the grip. I personally have not had an issue. I shoot the cheapest, whatever is on sale, ammo at the range and Hornady personal defense as my carry ammo.
I had a couple decent range trips but the issue has resurfaced. Just about every magazine had a loaded round stovepipe. Gun was not squeaky clean which is all I can see as an issue. I'll clean it up good and see if the next trip is any better. At this point it's a plinker until the reliability issue can be solved and I'll not recommend anybody buy one for a defensive pistol.
Rastoff
US Veteran
The gun should not need to be squeaky clean. It shouldn't be filthy either.
Any gun worth having, even if it's just for plinking, should have no trouble going a few hundred rounds without being cleaned.
Exactly! It shouldn't have to be boot camp clean to function but nothing obvious is wrong. The magazine seems the most likely problem but Christak got new springs from Smith and that didn't solve the issue either. Obviously a specific issue that causes this particular malfunction with so many people seeing the exact same problem. Being a beta tester has it's challenges for sure and I don't like to do it often.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2019
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 2
Hello, new to forum but not to newly released guns...the last time I had issues like this was with the Glock G42. I bought it when it was just released.
Back tot he 380 EZ. Cleaned the gun before shooting as it felt really gritty. First two mags, were all Failure to extra, Failure to Eject and stove pipes. By the 3rd mag, it would at least fire and cycle a few rounds but at least 4-5 times it would have an issue. I was shooting PPU brass ammo. Never had any issues with this ammo on any of my other 380s. Strange that after maybe 100 rounds, I ran a few mags of cheap Steep Monarch ammo and it ran flawlessly. I'll go back to the range soon and see how the gun runs with Fiochi ball ammo.
Back tot he 380 EZ. Cleaned the gun before shooting as it felt really gritty. First two mags, were all Failure to extra, Failure to Eject and stove pipes. By the 3rd mag, it would at least fire and cycle a few rounds but at least 4-5 times it would have an issue. I was shooting PPU brass ammo. Never had any issues with this ammo on any of my other 380s. Strange that after maybe 100 rounds, I ran a few mags of cheap Steep Monarch ammo and it ran flawlessly. I'll go back to the range soon and see how the gun runs with Fiochi ball ammo.
familyman357oh
Member
I bought my EZ back in October. The magazine springs had the yellow paint on them. I had a very consistent problem wherein the seventh round in the magazine upon firing would eject just fine but the eighth (last) round in the magazine wouldn't feed. It would go nose-up and get stuck like a stovepipe just like in the above photo. I wasted about 300 rounds of various-make brass-cased ammunition trying to figure out what the problem was.
Suspecting a lack of magazine spring strength not putting enough pressure on the last round against the magazine feed lips, I just put a snap cap between the magazine floorplate and spring. Sure, I lost a round of capacity, but my now seven-round magazines behaved like they should.
Somewhat disgusted overall, I left the magazines loaded (seven rounds over a snap cap under the magazine spring; in essence fully loaded) and moved onto something else for a while. It was a little over a month before I even felt like messing with the EZ again. I took out the snap caps... and now the magazines seem to feed all eight rounds just fine (same ammunition, in fact some of it was leftovers from earlier). I don't know what the heck's happening or what might have changed, but so far so good.
Suspecting a lack of magazine spring strength not putting enough pressure on the last round against the magazine feed lips, I just put a snap cap between the magazine floorplate and spring. Sure, I lost a round of capacity, but my now seven-round magazines behaved like they should.
Somewhat disgusted overall, I left the magazines loaded (seven rounds over a snap cap under the magazine spring; in essence fully loaded) and moved onto something else for a while. It was a little over a month before I even felt like messing with the EZ again. I took out the snap caps... and now the magazines seem to feed all eight rounds just fine (same ammunition, in fact some of it was leftovers from earlier). I don't know what the heck's happening or what might have changed, but so far so good.
S&W sent replacement springs to me for all my mags...the new springs all had the yellow paint. As mentioned above, 2 of my mags still had an issue feeding the final round and the other 3 mags functioned flawlessly (so far).
Sig ammo or Sig gun?
For what it's worth, I went to the range today and shot 200 rounds of Sig Elite Ball FMJ 100gr through my EZ. No issues. That makes 400 total rounds of that Sig ammo without any issues. Other ammo hasn't been as reliable regarding the last round stovepipe. I wish the Sig ammo was less expensive.
There's another bonus for using SIG Elite Ball -- its accuracy. I have a SIG P250sc (No stovepipe worries with it!) in .380 with over 2,500 rounds through it. I've tried a bunch of different target ammo, and SIG Elite Ball results in a significantly higher level of accuracy compared to the others. So when you want to shoot your best, the extra cost of the SIG elite Ball ammo may be worth it.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2019
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 2
I'll load up the magazine and let them sit. The plan is to go to the range next weekend.
My Gf sister's bought also a 380 EZ and her gun did have a few hiccups but nothing like my my girlfriends. I'll report back and if I have problems again, I'll contact S&W Customer Service.
raggededge
Member
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2013
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 2
I watched Hickok 45 on youtube and he had the same problem on the last round, stovepipe with an unfired round sticking straight up. Interested in buying one but not until this problem is solved. A defensive pistol needs to function 100% of the time. My 4 Glocks have NEVER had a malfunction
Similar threads
