9EZ PC no manual thumb safety- Feed and Grip Issues

[ParalegalPatriot]

Love my sights, trigger, the ease of the bored out slide, that my thumb can reach the mag release, and that the slide lock lever doesn't bruise or cut my thumb. Let me say that some person of very low intelligence switched out the grip safety on the PC model to be a hard squared off metal that pinches the webbing and makes you want to grip low. After two go rounds with S&W they mailed me the smooth rounded grip safety that comes on the regular EZ and I had a gunsmith swap them out. Practiced heavily with it at the range for several months prior to ACP I training. Clean and oil it regularly. In the middle of my first timed drill I was a little off on my grip and it failed to fire, then it failed to feed over and over the next 16 hours of intense training. I was one of two civilian women in a course filled with military and LEOs led by a LEO who is a champion marksman shooter and firearms trainer. They were gentleman of the highest order but I was humiliated that I did so poorly and my confidence tanked in my EZ. It continued to misfeed and every so often that grip safety wouldn't engage. I couldn't get higher up on the backtrap if I climbed Mt. Everest with it! Also I have 8 mags and feed issues were happening with different ones which makes me think its the gun not the mags. Day 2 of training I tried a loaner gun from someone and the instructors raved about how much better it would be than my EZ. It didn't fit me though (grip too wide, stippling too rough, slide lock release impossible to budge). I spent the following days icing bruised palms and a cut swollen thumb. I asked a gunsmith to disengage the grip safety and he all but hung up on me. I didn't know that was a bad question to ask! Everyone keeps telling me to move on and sell her but I'm not ready to give up. I never knew I could love a gun and I feel crushed. This is a Hail Mary for help.

 

[AlHunt]

I know nothing about the EZ but I'm wondering if you changed ammo between your practice time and the course. You don't mention any FTF before the course.

If that's not it, I'm out of ideas.

 

[jurek]

Don't even think about disabling grip safety at EZ handgun

Have you tried different ammo? Better use branded ammo. EZ is very picky about it.

 

[pazzo]

Sounds like the grip safety from the regular EZ wasn't installed correctly. Between all this and the holster thread, I would ditch the PC and get the standard EZ or move on all together. Did you ever shoot the Glock 43x?

I have the standard Ez in 9mm, thought about the PC edition and decided it didn't do anything for me except the flat trigger. But mine works flawlessly, so I wouldn't give up a good gun for the new PC. Too bad S&W wouldn't sell me the PC flat trigger separately.

Might want to have someone show you a good grip. I've never seen a slide lock/release from a S&W cause bite on the thumb unless it was an older alloy smith like the 39 with the huge slide release.

 

[Execpro]

I suggest you return to the range and shoot the same ammo you used the
last time you were there and had no problems. If you have issues like you
had at ACP I training, pazzo may have a point.
From your post, the gun was flawless before your training and the only 2
things that changed were the grip safety and possibly the ammo used. JMO

Be SAFE and Shoot Often !

 

[ParalegalPatriot]

I know nothing about the EZ but I'm wondering if you changed ammo between your practice time and the course. You don't mention any FTF before the course.

If that's not it, I'm out of ideas.

During practice I shot all different kinds of ammo as I've been buying it up wherever I could get it. The only kind I didn't shoot was the 1500 rounds of Winchester FMJ 115 grain that I bought from a guy off of Armslist that I saved special for my class. Since my orig post I've received notice of a major safety recall on my hammer that is causing firing issues. So...maybe that's the problem. We'll see. I appreciate you taking time to reply. Thank you kindly!

 

[ParalegalPatriot]

Don't even think about disabling grip safety at EZ handgun

Have you tried different ammo? Better use branded ammo. EZ is very picky about it.

Yes, Sir. I've since researched why disabling the grip safety would be a bad idea.
I did shoot different ammo in class but it was a name brand (Winchester FMJ 115 grain).
I also searched other threads and discovered that several other owners report FTF probs and that filing the feed lips resolved their issue on this EZ.
I appreciate your feedback! Thank you kindly.

 

[MTC(SS)Ret]

I am of the opinion, and I think others will agree, that Winchester ammo is of inferior quality compared to the other name brands such as Federal, Sig Sauer, et al. I had a few of the same problems (FTF, FTE) with my 9EZ when it was new using Winchester 115 FMJ. After about 150 rounds of the Winchester I switched to Federal and, after a thorough cleaning, the 9EZ ran flawlessly. I can't say for sure if the issues were ammo or breakin related but I still won't use Winchester in any of my pistols.
Yes it's hard to find quality ammo at a reasonable price these days but we do what we have to.

 

[ParalegalPatriot]

Sounds like the grip safety from the regular EZ wasn't installed correctly. Between all this and the holster thread, I would ditch the PC and get the standard EZ or move on all together. Did you ever shoot the Glock 43x?

I have the standard Ez in 9mm, thought about the PC edition and decided it didn't do anything for me except the flat trigger. But mine works flawlessly, so I wouldn't give up a good gun for the new PC. Too bad S&W wouldn't sell me the PC flat trigger separately.

Might want to have someone show you a good grip. I've never seen a slide lock/release from a S&W cause bite on the thumb unless it was an older alloy smith like the 39 with the huge slide release.

I wondered the SAME thing about the grip safety maybe not being installed correctly. I'm having it looked at by a different gunsmith. I would have gone with the standard EZ if I could have found one for purchase that didn't have the manual thumb safety. The trigger is nice on my PC but the fiber optic sights are next level for me too.

The Glock 43 is what my instructor had and he had me try it. I just have tiny baby Gerber hands and can't reach the mag release on Glocks.

The slide/lock release that bruised my thumb so bad on Day 2 was on a Springfield 9mm. And, the stippling on the grip was brutal. It was like some kind of torture device. One of the guys in my class said it would toughen my hands up. (insert eye roll)

I'm having the old grip safety put back in so I can return it to S&W for a major safety recall on my hammer that's causing firing issues. Then we'll see where we're at on everything else. That may be the problem in itself.

I appreciate you're reply and feedback, sir. Thank you kindly!

 

[ParalegalPatriot]

I am of the opinion, and I think others will agree, that Winchester ammo is of inferior quality compared to the other name brands such as Federal, Sig Sauer, et al. I had a few of the same problems (FTF, FTE) with my 9EZ when it was new using Winchester 115 FMJ. After about 150 rounds of the Winchester I switched to Federal and, after a thorough cleaning, the 9EZ ran flawlessly. I can't say for sure if the issues were ammo or breakin related but I still won't use Winchester in any of my pistols.
Yes it's hard to find quality ammo at a reasonable price these days but we do what we have to.

That's what I get for buying off a guy in a parking lot from Armslist. Like you said though, we do what we have to. Now that you mention it all of my Federal ammo has fed just fine. Thank you so much for the insight!

 

[ParalegalPatriot]

I am of the opinion, and I think others will agree, that Winchester ammo is of inferior quality compared to the other name brands such as Federal, Sig Sauer, et al. I had a few of the same problems (FTF, FTE) with my 9EZ when it was new using Winchester 115 FMJ. After about 150 rounds of the Winchester I switched to Federal and, after a thorough cleaning, the 9EZ ran flawlessly. I can't say for sure if the issues were ammo or breakin related but I still won't use Winchester in any of my pistols.
Yes it's hard to find quality ammo at a reasonable price these days but we do what we have to.

That's what I get for buying off a guy in a parking lot from Armslist. Now that you mention it all of my Federal ammo has fed just fine. Thank you so much for the insight. I'll steer clear of Winchester ammo. The last thing I need in a fight for my life is FTF and FTE.

 

[MTC(SS)Ret]

That's what I get for buying off a guy in a parking lot from Armslist. Like you said though, we do what we have to. Now that you mention it all of my Federal ammo has fed just fine. Thank you so much for the insight!

At least with all of the Winchester you have a supply of practice ammo if you can tolerate the occasional malfunction.

 

[NukeRef]

Knockoff

That's what I get for buying off a guy in a parking lot from Armslist. Now that you mention it all of my Federal ammo has fed just fine. Thank you so much for the insight. I'll steer clear of Winchester ammo. The last thing I need in a fight for my life is FTF and FTE.

Are you sure you got Winchester ammunition? Or did you get a bunch of cartridges in Winchester boxes. You may have bought somebody's reloads at COVID prices.

Some don't like Winchester but I, personally, have no problem with it.

 

[PPS1980]

Are you sure you got Winchester ammunition? Or did you get a bunch of cartridges in Winchester boxes. You may have bought somebody's reloads at COVID prices.

Some don't like Winchester but I, personally, have no problem with it.

Sorry you're having all the problems, I know how frustrating that can be with a new weapon. I think you should check the head stamps on the Winchester ammo you bought. Attached is a photo of a bunch of head stamps. Notice that the bottom left says "WIN 9mm LUGER" - that is the typical stamp for Winchester 9mm ammo. IF they ALL aren't like that then you got a mixed bag of probably reloaded cases.

.

 

[S&WIowegan]

S&W EZ 9mm pistol

I bought my 9mm EZ from a friend who absolutely hated it. His major complaint was it shot low left for him. It has both the grip safety and thumb safety. I am able to adjust my sight picture to get the gun to hit where I want but many shooters can't do that.

My problems with the grip safety happened as I shot a string and my hand would slip until the grip safety wasn't engaged. I solved that with a womens' hair band around the grip and safety.

The thumb safety would get pushed up(on) by my right thumb. I now hold my right thumb down with my left thumb.

So, yes the gun can be difficult to shoot if the situations I describe above are too big of a pain.

FYI: I agree Winchester white box 9mm ammo is junk. The cheap Blazer 9mm is much better.

 

[AlHunt]

I think you've identified the problem and it's the Winchester White Box that apparently your firearm doesn't digest well. It's a not uncommon issue and why it's mostly considered range ammo.

You're in kind of a pickle with the expense and scarcity of ammo. Typically you'd want to choose a nice HP self defense round and shoot up at least a few hundred of them for your own peace of mind.

Failing a windfall of ammo I think the best you can do now is try to find a supply of something you know functioned well and run with that for the time being.

Good luck and have fun! You're on the right track.