Question on EZ or Equalizer

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Flyingfool

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My wife is considering a change from her S&W 642 revolver to a semi auto.

Anyhow the question I have is with the reduced RSA spring strength which makes the gun so easy to rack. Is it also easy for the gun to come out of battery? I am Not so much concerned with IWB. But more so if the gun has a trigger guard holster and is carried in a purse. Can jostling it around in the purse cause it to come out of battery?

I would hate to have her need a weapon and each in and go to use it and the gun is out of battery and will not fire. That is zero concern with the revolver.

She can rack my 1.0 shield but it is awkward for her.

Guns at this point that are up or consideration. All 9mm.
P365
S&W shield max
S&W equalizer
Hellcat
 
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My wife really likes the 380 EZ. I just got the Equalizer. I love it. Don’t worry about any of these coming out of battery. Nonexistent problem. Both of these guns are way way way easier to shoot than any five shot revolver. Believe me. Of the four you’re considering, the Equalizer hands down. Owned them all at one point. Shields are the worse of the bunch.
 
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Thanks for the response.

One thing. Both the EZ and the equalizer is the grip angle seems different. More straight than the other M&P’s. More like a Glock. Which I hate the Glock angle. But it will be a gun for her, not me. So it only has to feel good for her, not me.
 
The equalizer is a great pistol super easy to rack and never a miss fire after 750 rounds so far. I highly recommend it.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
 
Flyingfool said:
Thanks for the response.

One thing. Both the EZ and the equalizer is the grip angle seems different. More straight than the other M&P’s. More like a Glock. Which I hate the Glock angle. But it will be a gun for her, not me. So it only has to feel good for her, not me.
Click to expand...

Color me puzzled. The EZ380 we have has a more upright grip angle than our M&P. Glocks are more raked than any M&P I've seen. Then there is the Steyr M series with their Luger like grip angle putting the bore axis around your knees.

The first thing I noticed with the EZ grip angle was that it was getting towards CZ52 territory in that regard.
 
My wife really likes her 380EZ too. I would add one other factor to compare - weight. According to their spec sheets, the 380EZ weighs 18.5 oz compared to 22.9 for the Equalizer.
Try visiting a gun shop that has both in stock and let her handle them to make her decision.
 
We will only be looking at 9mm caliber.

But will look at the shield line up, the Ez and equalizer. From S&W.

Weight certainly is an issue. I love my 3.6” 9C. But it is a tank to carry. And a full 8 ounces heavier than the equalizer. (Empty weight). A full half a pound! Which is why I end up carrying my 1.0 shield more frequently. I may decide to get another 8 round mag for it and buy 2 mag cuts +2 for them. Far less investment than buying the shield plus or and additional equalizer for me!
 
Equalizer

I bought an Equalizer today. Shield EZ had a $50 rebate, but the Equalizer is better imo.
Bigger serrations, easier to grasp. Easy to rack, same as EZ. Slide cut for optics. Came with 3 mags, all different lengths. And came with a LuLa mag loader (about $40). Seems like an upgraded Shield EZ to me.
 
MikeNV said:
My wife really likes her 380EZ too. I would add one other factor to compare - weight. According to their spec sheets, the 380EZ weighs 18.5 oz compared to 22.9 for the Equalizer.
Try visiting a gun shop that has both in stock and let her handle them to make her decision.
Click to expand...
That, plus the added weight for the expanded double stack magazines' ammo.
 
The Shield Plus has a lighter recoil spring than the Standard Shield in 9/40
I haven't tried putting a Plus spring in a Standard BUT they look identical except the color of the spring, Red for the Standard Shield & Green for the Plus...
S&W will tell you not to change stuff around BUT~~~
The 380EZ has a lighter recoil spring than the 9mm EZ & Equalizer
They get away with such a light spring because of the pistol being hammer fired & the slide cocks the hammer making it easier to manipulate...
Good Luck with your choice
Gary/Hk
 
For your wife’s preferred carry, I would think the 642 would be a better platform. Is she looking for more capacity or a lighter trigger? I understand the Equalizer is a great gun, so maybe she just wants to add to her collection. :)
 
I have a 9mm EZ, works fine. I carry a 642 because it can be carried in the pocket. it is easier to shoot the semi well but I'll have to carry in a holster and carry a spare magazine in case the mag in the gun fails or falls out. For me a revolver is a better carry gun. I have shot the EZ quite a bit, it is reliable and has a good trigger pull having a hammer instead of striker. Might carry it some day.
 
The 9Shield EZ score number one in the latest competition at the NRA Women Ladies Pistol Project 4 in Houston. The ladies tested 14 different pistol offerings with 18 max points. The 9Shield EZ score 16.611 and the second place pistol scored 14.833.

The Equalizer was not one of the offerings - probably too new.
 
My wife would like more capacity than 5 rounds. She has a larger crimson laser grip on the 642 so it is easier shooting but a bit harder to conceal. Also the reload for a revolver is way slow and bulk speed loader to carry which due to that almost never has the speed loader with her.

She is undecided about manual safety. I do not want a safety so I did not include the CSX on the list. But if she is OK with a safety the CSX may be about perfect. Great single action trigger and small. Having 10/12 rounds more than doubles the 642 5-shot capacity. Also the. Not as heavy and half inch shorter barrel than the equalizer and lighter too.

Also being hammer fired the CAX is easy to rack as well.
 
The Equalizer will probably fit my hand better with the fatter handle but I won't sell my EZ9 to buy one. My EZ works every time, no telling what I'd get with a new gun. QC really sucks at S&W now days.
 
My wife's got both the EZ.380, her current carry, and the EZ9 which she's in progess of switching over to as her future carry gun.

She didn't care for the grip on The Equalizer, which, of course is only personal preference.

The only thing she doesn't like about the EZ 9 is the fact that, unlike the .380, the slide can't be dropped by use of the slide stop lever.

She prefers her carry guns to have thumb safeties and since she's highly competent with handguns I don't try to influence her decisions one way or the other.
 
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