I don't believe the weaker spring pushes the round up as much as it allows the top round to be tipped up as the slide passes over the round on its way back, pushing the back rim of the round down and thereby causing the bullet end to rise on the follower creating a stove pipe as the slide tries to go back in to battery. There is a video on another thread showing the round beginning to stand up as the slide is still retracting. The flat surface on the follower does not let the back rim of the round drop down enough to be contained in the mag. lips. The "Tiddily Winks" affect. My three new springs have taken a set to 4 7/8 from 5 1/4 from just setting loaded for a while. Seem to be flimsy springs compared to other pistols. Quick
New .380 EZ Issues
- Thread starter Bigborgel
- Start date
Simple Solution!
I dumped mine. No more problems. Fought with it near a year and finally realized that between me and S&W we were no closer to solving things.
Carefully explained to the purchaser what the problem was because I did not want to unduly burden a fellow gun guy.
Carry on men.
I dumped mine. No more problems. Fought with it near a year and finally realized that between me and S&W we were no closer to solving things.
Carefully explained to the purchaser what the problem was because I did not want to unduly burden a fellow gun guy.
Carry on men.
Below is a description of a seemingly identical problem involving 1911s:
At the very least, the above provides something to look for when you have a last-round stovepipe: is the base of the case scratched or scored where it was hit by the edge of the breechface?
Rastoff
US Veteran
Interesting. When my S&W 1911 had an issue they could not resolve after two times back to the factory, they offered me three solutions:I dumped mine. No more problems. Fought with it near a year and finally realized that between me and S&W we were no closer to solving things.
Carefully explained to the purchaser what the problem was because I did not want to unduly burden a fellow gun guy.
Carry on men.
- Send it back again to see if they could fix it on the third time.
- Trade it for a different gun.
- Get a refund.
I took the refund and didn't look back. It took about two weeks, but a check arrived in the mail for the full purchase price including tax.
Did they offer you a refund?
Quick's explanation is what I believe to be correct. The weaker spring is allowing the last round to move during recoil. It's tipping up (flopping up because it is not held tight enough) prior to the slide picking up the round to be chambered (partially due to the sloppy fit of the mag in the mag well). There is a video that illustrated this occurring on the other lengthy thread discussing the stovepipe issue.
I have had zero issues with mine but am starting to get concerned with the amount of complaints that are continuing to show up. The lack of correction from S&W is also concerning. The gun is perfect for the intended purpose (weaker shooter) but must have reliable performance to truly have a positive impact. If you have concerns or high frustration get rid of the gun (IMO).
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Do have concerns and frustrated. It did seem perfect for the purpose having carpal tunnel problems and arthritis. Too old and too stubborn to give up. I hate to try to sell someone else the problems. Hanging in hoping for best. Old saying, "Wish I one hand ---- in the other and see which one gets filled up first". Quick
May be best to put the number of complaints in context with the number sold. The Sig P365 also has it's detractors but there is something in the neighborhood of 600,000 out there.
Guys,
This may be a POSSIBLE fix for the 380 EZ stovepiping problem:
Let me start out by saying that I am not a gunsmith nor do have any affiliation with S&W. I'm a retired mechanical engineer who loves my S&W 380 EZ except for stovepiping the last live round. I bought the gun in June 2019 and run about 30% stovepiping (or ejecting) the last live round.
I have read just about everything on the internet regarding this problem and have tried spring spacers and different ammo. Nothing eliminated the problem but may have reduced it slightly.
As I looked closely at it I began to suspect the problem might be with the orange follower in the magazine. Basically I think the follower is too slippery on that last round and is causing the last round to stovepipe (or eject).
To see if I was right, I stuck small pieces of very fine sandpaper (220 grit) on the top of the follower on all four of my magazines. Tried it out at the range and had zero issues. Ran the 4 magazines through the gun for over 20 times total; everything worked just fine.
I will continue to test my “fix”, but would appreciate any feedback from anyone else who wishes to try it too. If enough others have success, maybe we have found a simple fix for this annoying problem. Perhaps S&W could roughen up the surface of the follower and fix the problem for good.
"Phil"
This may be a POSSIBLE fix for the 380 EZ stovepiping problem:
Let me start out by saying that I am not a gunsmith nor do have any affiliation with S&W. I'm a retired mechanical engineer who loves my S&W 380 EZ except for stovepiping the last live round. I bought the gun in June 2019 and run about 30% stovepiping (or ejecting) the last live round.
I have read just about everything on the internet regarding this problem and have tried spring spacers and different ammo. Nothing eliminated the problem but may have reduced it slightly.
As I looked closely at it I began to suspect the problem might be with the orange follower in the magazine. Basically I think the follower is too slippery on that last round and is causing the last round to stovepipe (or eject).
To see if I was right, I stuck small pieces of very fine sandpaper (220 grit) on the top of the follower on all four of my magazines. Tried it out at the range and had zero issues. Ran the 4 magazines through the gun for over 20 times total; everything worked just fine.
I will continue to test my “fix”, but would appreciate any feedback from anyone else who wishes to try it too. If enough others have success, maybe we have found a simple fix for this annoying problem. Perhaps S&W could roughen up the surface of the follower and fix the problem for good.
"Phil"
iowaMallard
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Maybe a small piece of grip tape stuck on the follower, would be easy to do.
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Porc1148
Member
I have been dealing with this since I bought the gun! Going to trade it in and go back to the 9MM M&P!!
I'll have to remember this trick if mine presents similar problems mentioned in this thread.
kbm6893
Member
I just bought the 9MM EZ. Haven’t shot it yet but watched many videos on YouTube. No sign of the stove piping issue with the 9MM as there was with the .380. If you watch the Jerry Miculec video on the 9 EZ, he specifically points out the magazines have an indent on the top back just below the follower to prevent the rounds from moving. He refers to it twice in the short video. I believe that is the fix and S&W realized it which is why the 9MM mag was designed that way. If that is the case they should be either recalling all .380 mags or just send two newly redesigned mags to each owner with proof of purchase.
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After reading the above post and others, it seems there is somewhat of a consensus that the mag spring is to weak. gc70’s solution looks like it bears this out.
With the wealth of knowledge that exist on this forum, has any one looked into trying a 380 mag spring from another gun manufacturer? There are a lot of 380s on the market. The width wouldn’t be a problem and there are any number of 8 round mags out there that seem to work in other guns.
Just a thought!
Be SAFE and Shoot Often!
With the wealth of knowledge that exist on this forum, has any one looked into trying a 380 mag spring from another gun manufacturer? There are a lot of 380s on the market. The width wouldn’t be a problem and there are any number of 8 round mags out there that seem to work in other guns.
Just a thought!
Be SAFE and Shoot Often!
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380 EZ Stovepiping POSSIBLE Fix...Update
Guys,
Just following up on my post of 2-4-2020 regarding a fix for the 380 EZ stovepiping.
I have been back to the range using my "sandpaper" fix and I am happy to report that I have run my four magazines through the gun 30 more times and have experienced zero problems. This makes a total of 50+ times I have tested the fix and it seems to work. I used to get a stovepipe on the last round about 30% of the time; zero in the last 50 tests.
I agree that grip tape or roughing the surface with sandpaper may also work. I'm going to get another magazine, see if it stovepipes, and if so, try roughing the surface with sandpaper and retrying.
If anyone else has tried this, let us know if it worked for you or not. I am so happy that this annoying problem is over for me.
Phil
Guys,
Just following up on my post of 2-4-2020 regarding a fix for the 380 EZ stovepiping.
I have been back to the range using my "sandpaper" fix and I am happy to report that I have run my four magazines through the gun 30 more times and have experienced zero problems. This makes a total of 50+ times I have tested the fix and it seems to work. I used to get a stovepipe on the last round about 30% of the time; zero in the last 50 tests.
I agree that grip tape or roughing the surface with sandpaper may also work. I'm going to get another magazine, see if it stovepipes, and if so, try roughing the surface with sandpaper and retrying.
If anyone else has tried this, let us know if it worked for you or not. I am so happy that this annoying problem is over for me.
Phil
Phil - did you glue a piece of sandpaper to the follower? How big of a piece did you use? I can't help but to think that a loose piece of sandpaper could lead to a jam of some sort. I like the concept of the .380EZ but I'm holding off until this last-round-issue is resolved ... hopefully by the factory!!
Ok, based on Phil's apparent success I have scuffed up 4 of my extra EZ followers with 100 and 150 grit sandpaper and then scored the tops of the followers with a sharp screw making small ridges across the thin dimension of the follower top. The bottom line is I have tried to increase the friction on the follower (without gluing sandpaper to the follower). I'm hoping to get to the range tomorrow or Thursday to test these followers along with some other testing of some "double springed" EZ magazines. I'll test the magazines independently (scuffed followers and then double springed mags). If neither of those work, I may try the combination of both scuffed followers and double springs... Should at least make for an interesting range session. We'll see.
GeoJelly- Yes, I attached a small piece of fine sandpaper to the top of the orange follower. It is approx. .25 inch by .875 inch; I used double backed tape but I am sure glue or contact cement would also work but might be a little messy to work with. So far, none of them have come loose nor even shifted.
I agree with you, I hope S&W fixes the problem but this may give them a place to start. IMHO, the final fix should be a follower with a .375 inch diameter projecting upward (like a cartridge) and a rough surface. The added diameter will mimic a cartridge and the rough surface will prevent stovepiping. The additional height will give a little more spring pressure that some have found helps, too.
Looking forward to hearing cristak's results.
Phil
I agree with you, I hope S&W fixes the problem but this may give them a place to start. IMHO, the final fix should be a follower with a .375 inch diameter projecting upward (like a cartridge) and a rough surface. The added diameter will mimic a cartridge and the rough surface will prevent stovepiping. The additional height will give a little more spring pressure that some have found helps, too.
Looking forward to hearing cristak's results.
Phil
Ok, I just returned from the range where I fired 350 rounds of Speer Lawman ammo. More than 250 rounds were fired 3 rounds per magazine. I fired about 100 rounds testing the 4 double-springed magazines. 3 of those magazines had double "yellow paint" springs and 1 had both my original non-painted springs in the magazine. Long story short is I had 1 occurrence of a live round standing straight up in the ejection port (stovepipe) in the non-painted double-springed magazine. The other three double-springed mags functioned flawlessly albeit with a max capacity of 7 rounds. (The non-painted springs were far weaker than the painted springs, so I'm not surprised that if there was going to be a problem, that mag would have it.)
Then I tested a scuffed up follower with a single non-painted spring (from the mag where the stovepipe had occurred). I fired approximately 130 rounds 3 per magazine through the gun. No issues at all. I also fired a couple of fully loaded 8-round mags. Again, no issues. I inserted a 2nd scuffed follower into a 2nd magazine with a single painted spring. I fired over 90 rounds 3 per magazine through the gun as well as a fully loaded 8-round mag. Again, no issues at all when using the scuffed followers.
I should note that none of my testing today was done with the new springs that I just received from Smith. The springs used today had all been in mags that had experienced at least occasional stovepipes during previous range sessions.
I feel like scuffing the follower to increase friction definitely helps the stovepipe issue we've been experiencing. I suspect the scuffing might have to be repeated periodically as more rounds are cycled through the mags...I think the rounds feeding on the follower will smooth the follower surface after some time.
I think the double springing using the yellow painted Smith springs is another viable option and likely longer lasting than simply scuffing the followers. Using a scuffed follower in a double-springed magazine is likely overkill, but is certainly an option if you are still having stovepipe issues using just scuffing or just using double springs. YMMV
Great job, Phil, suggesting the "add friction to the follower" approach!
Then I tested a scuffed up follower with a single non-painted spring (from the mag where the stovepipe had occurred). I fired approximately 130 rounds 3 per magazine through the gun. No issues at all. I also fired a couple of fully loaded 8-round mags. Again, no issues. I inserted a 2nd scuffed follower into a 2nd magazine with a single painted spring. I fired over 90 rounds 3 per magazine through the gun as well as a fully loaded 8-round mag. Again, no issues at all when using the scuffed followers.
I should note that none of my testing today was done with the new springs that I just received from Smith. The springs used today had all been in mags that had experienced at least occasional stovepipes during previous range sessions.
I feel like scuffing the follower to increase friction definitely helps the stovepipe issue we've been experiencing. I suspect the scuffing might have to be repeated periodically as more rounds are cycled through the mags...I think the rounds feeding on the follower will smooth the follower surface after some time.
I think the double springing using the yellow painted Smith springs is another viable option and likely longer lasting than simply scuffing the followers. Using a scuffed follower in a double-springed magazine is likely overkill, but is certainly an option if you are still having stovepipe issues using just scuffing or just using double springs. YMMV
Great job, Phil, suggesting the "add friction to the follower" approach!
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