I'm aware of the specs between the two, but has anyone shot both that can comment on the recoil of the Performance version vs the regular? Is there a noticeable difference? Unfortunately I can't rent the PC version at the range, but I did like the low recoil on the 380 EZ.

No noticeable difference. Wife always rented the 380EZ at the range. And when she saw the gold PC EZ...well let's just say it's in the safe. She loves it.

Darc, does the grip safety on your wife's PC EZ depress all the way into the grip? The one I just brought home sticks out alot, depresses about halfway, interferes seriously with getting a high grip.

I wonder if that's by design on the 380 PC? It's the reason I decided not to get the EZ 9mm PC. Lot of complaints out there on the grip safety

TFB Review: The Smith & Wesson Performance Center M&P 9 Shield EZThe Firearm Blog

"Everyone unanimously thought the Performance Center 9 Shield EZ looked great, but one issue most of them had was with the grip safety. Compared to the standard grip safety, the Performance center model features an enlarged version. While this is in line with custom competition guns, I found that for me it ended up making the shooting experience a bit of a pain to deal with.

"The larger grip safety does not fully compress inside the grip of the pistol meaning there is a significant portion of it that protrudes from the grip and into the web of your hand in between your thumb and index finger."

I emailed S&W about it, they explained to me how a grip safety works, as if they invented it, and said it protrudes 'a little bit' which is a gross understatement. I found the standard safety at Midwest Gunworks for about 6 bucks, I'm going to pick one up and ebay the PC one to recover the dough.

The grip safety on the Performance Center EZ's (both 380 and 9mm) sticks out 1/4" when fully depressed. It has sharp edges and the top corner which would be totally out of the way has the safety been flush with the grip sticks out as a sharp pointy triangle absolutely preventing to achieve the correct grip. It digs into the shooters hand web and does not let the web to go all the way under the beaver tail. Also with each recoil that corner hammers the shooters hand like a mid-evil torture instrument. I can't believe that S&W ruined the otherwise perfect handgun with one poorly thought through part. I opened a ticket with S&W asking to address this issue. Hope that the common sense prevails.

Just got an email from S&W customer support. They suggested having the gun returned to them so that they could replace the aluminum sharp-edged grip safety with a polymer rounded safety from a regular EZ (which also depresses almost flush). Sending the gun in...

Doesn't sound like they even test fired it before they released it. I placed an order for the stock piece with MGW last night, should see it in a week or three. I heard some issues with it not always engaging due to odd grips, but I also hear that placing a strip of rubber or similar on it fixes that problem right up. Easy fix. Frustrating problem.

Got my MGW grip safety today, changes the whole gun. It still doesn't sink all the way into the grip, but it doesn't interfere at all when it's compressed, allows you to get all the way up under the beavertail. Win.

My mom just got the EZ PC in 380, gonna have to order the standard grip safety now for her. How easy was the install?

Just takes a couple minutes with a punch and hammer. Three hands helps, here's a video

https://youtu.be/YEoxxDsfhXA

Just got my 9mm PC EZ from the factory. Took 2 weeks (including shipping). They replaced the grip safety with the plastic one from a regular 9mm EZ. What a pleasant transformation! Sad, though, that the regular support people at SW are totally oblivious to this problem... Only got it done after the direct involvement of the PC Director.

What a shame, poor planning ruined a nice pistol. Thanks for the info. I won't send my money on one.

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SWCA 3417 HF 642 NRA-TC

Hmmm. Now I'm thinking about buying a PC grip safety; I have large hands, and sometimes have a hiccup getting the regular grip safety depressed all the way.