Rastoff
US Veteran
You got a link to that video?
M&P 380 EZ Stovepipe Cure?
- Thread starter yanici
- Start date
I purchased a 380 EZ, took it out of the box today to start breaking in at the range. Pretty sure I had more stovepipes and live misfeeds than came out clean.
While gunsmith was looking at mine, I used a "borrow" 380 EZ that they let me use to sell me on it in the first place. It worked flawlessly, with the same ammo I brought. I have no idea how many thousands of rounds have been through it.
Is it simply a matter of needing a few hundred rounds to cure this? I put only about 50 through today and the last one I did ended up being a jam with two live rounds in the chamber. Which I walked away from shooting the gun after that.
I have a 9mm Shield and have never had these issues. I'm pretty sure it isn't my grip.
If I don't have confidence in my handgun, I'm not feeling safe. Which defeats the purpose.
Ideas?
While gunsmith was looking at mine, I used a "borrow" 380 EZ that they let me use to sell me on it in the first place. It worked flawlessly, with the same ammo I brought. I have no idea how many thousands of rounds have been through it.
Is it simply a matter of needing a few hundred rounds to cure this? I put only about 50 through today and the last one I did ended up being a jam with two live rounds in the chamber. Which I walked away from shooting the gun after that.
I have a 9mm Shield and have never had these issues. I'm pretty sure it isn't my grip.
If I don't have confidence in my handgun, I'm not feeling safe. Which defeats the purpose.
Ideas?
I still have the occasional stovepipe issue "on the last round in the magazine". I shot 250 rounds from my EZ during my last range session and had it happened twice, once each from two of my five magazines. S&W sent new magazine springs to me, but they don't seem to have completely fixed the problem. I have two magazines that have not (yet) had a problem since replacing the springs. Wish I had better news, but I don't. For the record, I've never had any other issue with my EZ and likely have more than 1500 rounds through it.
pakettle
Member
Still no problems at 1850 rounds,I have shot several brands of ammo. all 95 grain stuff.
pakettle
Member
now at 1850, still no problems
Purchased a NEW in the Box, S&W 380 EZ Today, 3/9/2019. Bought a box of Blazer-Brass 95 grain Round Nose, ammo. Cleaned the gun, Lubed the mags, which seemed to have a "grainy feeling". Loaded one Mag with 8 rounds. Out of 8 rounds: 3 shot normally as expected. 1 extracted, spent round-But Didn't load a new round. Dry fired on empty chamber. 4 stove piped, either jamming the spent shell in the mag area, preventing the loading of a fresh round OR Jamming the Fresh round, so it wouldn't feed into the chamber. Really like the gun, WHEN IT WORKS. But when 5 out of 8 rounds FAIL TO FEED, FAIL TO EJECT, and/or stove pipe jamming the gun. I'd be better off carrying a sling-shot for defense. Does ANYONE HAVE ANY CLUE HOW TO FIX THIS PROBLEM ?
3/9/2019
Got the call and picked up my 380 EZ after the gunsmith had it for about a week.
Said nothing was wrong. They cleaned it, lubed it and ensured no burs or other shavings were in the barrel or the rest of the gun. They shot 50 rounds without problems.
I took it directly to the range, knowing this makes about 100 rounds through. I shot another 50 without a single misfire or ejection failure. However, one time the slide didn't return to firing position and I had to tap it from the back into place. That could have been my fault as I was more into watching and feeling than proper grip this time.
I brought my 686 revolver and my 9 Shield and no problems from either of them. Grip isn't the problem here, at least for an experienced shooter, and I hope to never hear that excuse again on this EZ firearm for me.
Got the call and picked up my 380 EZ after the gunsmith had it for about a week.
Said nothing was wrong. They cleaned it, lubed it and ensured no burs or other shavings were in the barrel or the rest of the gun. They shot 50 rounds without problems.
I took it directly to the range, knowing this makes about 100 rounds through. I shot another 50 without a single misfire or ejection failure. However, one time the slide didn't return to firing position and I had to tap it from the back into place. That could have been my fault as I was more into watching and feeling than proper grip this time.
I brought my 686 revolver and my 9 Shield and no problems from either of them. Grip isn't the problem here, at least for an experienced shooter, and I hope to never hear that excuse again on this EZ firearm for me.
Rastoff
US Veteran
More problems with a .380Auto. I'm not surprised.
Yes, grip is always an issue with any semi-auto gun. It can never be discounted. Grip is very important.
Yes, grip is always an issue with any semi-auto gun. It can never be discounted. Grip is very important.
Semi auto grip
Years ago there were issues with glock's, and small bodied people or woman shooting them , not functioning properly. I never shot any glock's. But I have shot numerous semi-autos of many calibers. I own 7 semi-auto's. 3- .22 cal, 1- .45 cal, 1- 9 mm cal, 1- .40 cal and now a S&W EZ 380 cal. NEVER ONCE HAVE I EVER HAD A ISSUE with the way the gun was gripped. Not myself or anyone else that i was with, during firing any gun. I don't buy the grip issue, unless related a Grip-Safety problem. To me,a Bad Grip issue is JUST a POOR manufactured firearm EXCUSE.As a small bore rifle competitor I have personally shot more then 35,000 rounds. Pistols, about 5 to 8 thousand rounds. I personally believe, the issues with the Semi-Autos being produced TODAY are TOTALLY THE FAULT OF THE MANUFACTURERS, producing **** guns. I have two semi-autos, a S&W .22 & a Colt .45. Either one of them can have the slide worked properly by a 10 year old girl. The trigger pull of the .22 is 2-1/2 pounds by measurement, the 45 trigger pull is about 4 pounds. BOTH of these guns are over 50 years old. 2 recent .22 cal pistol purchases have a 5 pound & a 6-1/2 pound trigger pull. As an example Anchutz Target rifles made around 1995 have triggers that can be adjusted to as light as EIGHT OZ's. (1/2 pound) There is no need for pistols having slides so difficult to pull back, that normal strength woman and elderly people CAN'T WORK THEM. With 5 to 9 (the SCCY 9 mm has a 9 pound trigger BY DESIGN) pound triggers. It's very difficult to practice, and hold small groups with heavy triggers.
Years ago there were issues with glock's, and small bodied people or woman shooting them , not functioning properly. I never shot any glock's. But I have shot numerous semi-autos of many calibers. I own 7 semi-auto's. 3- .22 cal, 1- .45 cal, 1- 9 mm cal, 1- .40 cal and now a S&W EZ 380 cal. NEVER ONCE HAVE I EVER HAD A ISSUE with the way the gun was gripped. Not myself or anyone else that i was with, during firing any gun. I don't buy the grip issue, unless related a Grip-Safety problem. To me,a Bad Grip issue is JUST a POOR manufactured firearm EXCUSE.As a small bore rifle competitor I have personally shot more then 35,000 rounds. Pistols, about 5 to 8 thousand rounds. I personally believe, the issues with the Semi-Autos being produced TODAY are TOTALLY THE FAULT OF THE MANUFACTURERS, producing **** guns. I have two semi-autos, a S&W .22 & a Colt .45. Either one of them can have the slide worked properly by a 10 year old girl. The trigger pull of the .22 is 2-1/2 pounds by measurement, the 45 trigger pull is about 4 pounds. BOTH of these guns are over 50 years old. 2 recent .22 cal pistol purchases have a 5 pound & a 6-1/2 pound trigger pull. As an example Anchutz Target rifles made around 1995 have triggers that can be adjusted to as light as EIGHT OZ's. (1/2 pound) There is no need for pistols having slides so difficult to pull back, that normal strength woman and elderly people CAN'T WORK THEM. With 5 to 9 (the SCCY 9 mm has a 9 pound trigger BY DESIGN) pound triggers. It's very difficult to practice, and hold small groups with heavy triggers.
@ RonRiley The grip safety problem you mention is usually from an improper grip so, yes, grip can be an issue. Like you, I've never had issues with guns relating to grip. I can tell you for a fact though that I had to teach my wife how to properly grip the guns that work flawlessly for me so they would function the same for her. Many buyers of newer guns have never shot a gun before...again, if no one has ever taught them how to properly hold a gun, very possible they don't know...and if not done right, it will lead to problems. Shooting is not a one size fits all sport.
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Maddmax
US Veteran
Same here. My wife and I each have one with zero issues and I finely gave up counting rounds at well over 3000 each and now have a boatload of brass to reload. We had been sticking with 95 gr FMJ Fiocchi. We even tried a few other brands of ammo with-out any issues.
Funny thing, word got out quick with my wife liking her EZ-380, ease of function and control and all the women at her work place (that weren't already CCW) started taking safety classes, CCW classes to get permits to carry and started their own little shooting club. After checking out other 380s and some of the smaller 9s, they all went with the EZ-380 for CCW. It even caught the attention of many of our friends and other wives started getting their CCW permits and have EZ-380s now. Most reasons were easy to control, function, shoot and didn't feel like a cannon carrying it.
So "we" must have gotten the "good batch" of EZ-380s. Beyond any human factors (for beginners), there hasn't been any equipment malfunctions or failures with any of them around here either.
Maddmax
US Veteran
I VERY HIGHLY agree.
And also add many "new" people have never learned how to properly clean a factory new or used weapon either. Factory new is packed with storage lube because no one knows how long a weapon will sit in storage, or sit in the box at a LGS in the back room before being sold. Storage lube needs to be scrubbed off, scrubbed and scraped out of EVERY nook, cranny, slit, slot, recess, etc. with a good gun cleaner and then redone again to make sure you got everything missed the first time on the entire weapon. It's made for STORAGE and will collect dirt and gunk if not cleaned off, it doesn't lube. The bore needs to look like a polished mirror when your done. That helps the bullet & case slide in easier to seat and after being expanded from the pressure from being fired slide out easier. Polishing the feed ramp also helps the bullet slide/feed into the chamber with less resistance. Bolt needs cleaning to slide in the upper, face has to have all the residue cleaned from the corners so the bullet case sits flush against it. Firing pin needs to slide freely in its slot. The extractor needs to be completely clean from all gunk so it can pivot against its tension spring then fully slide over to fully grab/lock/hook on the bullet case lip for extraction. All that storage lube needs to be cleaned from the slide and lower grip including the trigger & springs. Amazing how much "trigger grit feel" will disappear doing that. A small amount of lube on the hammer and functioning it by hand smooths up the trigger quite a bit too. Check for any mold or stamping burrs that may need attention. Then use a good gun lube before re-assembly and function the weapon by hand a couple dozen times. Check any wear areas that might need a drop of lube. Mags I completely strip down and wipe with a dry lube. Check feed lips for burrs, if the front of the lips are sharp I might take a small round file and "dull" them just a hair to take the square sharp edge or burrs off the ends. That takes any excessive drag off the bullets as they are pushed off the lips, fed up the feed ramp and into the chamber. A little "fine tuning" a proper lube can go a long way and there's a lot less stress with preventable problems once you hit the range.
Comes from keeping prices down and lower overhead with production assembly lines, quotas, random quality control checks that still meet with-in specs to get them out the door faster. I've noticed that over the years looking at first run models, then a couple years down the road looking at he same models but different run with the same tooling. ...Still in spec.
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New to the forum... I've only been shooting my own personal handguns for a year and a half, but in that time, I've managed to put over 4k rounds of 9mm down range.
I got rid of my Remington RM380 because of frame wear (aluminum), and purchased the 380EZ.
Last week in a mini-match (idpa practice), round 6 of 6 ejected with the spent casing. Later in the week, I went to the range with the intent to prove it out.
I started by numbering all the magazines, then loaded each with 8 rounds. Magazine 3 ejected round 8 with the spent casing, but none of the others did. So I worked that magazine with varying rounds. By the end of 2 boxes, the symptom was gone...
So far at least. I doubt that the spring tension was affected to a big enough extent to make a difference. Maybe it was something else in the magazine though, or a combination of a lot of things. Like others, I don't have a clue.
I got rid of my Remington RM380 because of frame wear (aluminum), and purchased the 380EZ.
Last week in a mini-match (idpa practice), round 6 of 6 ejected with the spent casing. Later in the week, I went to the range with the intent to prove it out.
I started by numbering all the magazines, then loaded each with 8 rounds. Magazine 3 ejected round 8 with the spent casing, but none of the others did. So I worked that magazine with varying rounds. By the end of 2 boxes, the symptom was gone...
So far at least. I doubt that the spring tension was affected to a big enough extent to make a difference. Maybe it was something else in the magazine though, or a combination of a lot of things. Like others, I don't have a clue.
Well, my EZ is back to its old ways of having the last live round not load and get caught in the ejection port. I even had a live last round completely eject from the gun a couple of times. My last range session had last round issues about 25% of the time.
I contacted S&W again today and this time they are sending new followers for all my magazines and a new recoil spring assembly. We'll see if that makes any difference. If not, the next step will be for them to replace all the magazines. They don't think it's the gun, but said if the mags/springs don't fix it, I should send it in... So, the process continues and their customer service has been excellent. (For the record, my round count is currently at 2400 and except for this last round issue, the gun has functioned flawlessly.)
I contacted S&W again today and this time they are sending new followers for all my magazines and a new recoil spring assembly. We'll see if that makes any difference. If not, the next step will be for them to replace all the magazines. They don't think it's the gun, but said if the mags/springs don't fix it, I should send it in... So, the process continues and their customer service has been excellent. (For the record, my round count is currently at 2400 and except for this last round issue, the gun has functioned flawlessly.)
So I am having the same problem with my wife's EZ. Stovepiping last round on any of four magazines. Not every time, but often enough to be annoying. I contacted S&W over the web and they recommended I send the gun in for inspection. They never even suggested it could be the magazine springs...
As you may have seen in one of my previous posts, mag springs were the 1st thing they sent to me...back in January. The springs helped for a while, but didn't completely fix the issue. The rep I spoke with this time suggested the followers and the recoil spring assembly was added at my request. The rep seemed surprised by my round count of 2400 and said they would have to pull an RSA from the line for me. I certainly won't be surprised if I ultimately have to send the gun and mags in for inspection.
Well, I sent in my wife's EZ to S&W this afternoon. Hopefully, they will be able to replicate the problem and provide a fix. I'll post back when I hear back from them and/or get the weapon back.
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.
Thats what mine did today, first trip to the range.
Towards the end of the day, after about 4 mags ran without problems.
Back to the range soon with more ammo. Seemed to be working itself out.
Shot my shield 45 after that today & not a glitch, only 2nd time out with that one & never a hiccup first time out.
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