Shield .380 EZ

My local gun range has one on the rental line and all I can say is .........WOW. Every 380 I've tried or owned in the past has been rather snappy, even the ones that were harder to rack due to a stiffer recoil spring.

The EZ is so easy to rack that I thought for sure, it would be even snappier than the rest. I am pleased to say I was wrong. This one is an unbelievably soft shooter and had zero malfunctions despite the fact that it looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in awhile.
I'm guessing he only cleans them at the end of the day and I was not the first one to rent it that day.
 
Finally got to the range yesterday and ran 150 rounds through the EZ. Not so much as a hiccup out of it. Very happy with it so far. I bought it for my fiancée and think I will be getting one for myself as well.


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We've sold 21 so far . All over the counter including one for our ccw classes .
The only customer feedback we've received has been positive .
 
Cheyenne WYO said:
One thing I noticed in function testing the gun is that, if the trigger is pulled before the grip safety is sufficiently depressed, the gun will not fire after the grip safety is depressed. The trigger must be released to the reset position and then pulled again to allow the gun to fire. Is it possible that your hand is releasing the grip safety between shots and you are pulling the trigger before re-establishing the grip adequately? I am just throwing that out as a possibility.
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That is exactly the problem. After further inspection, I find that the spring tension is causing me to release the grip just enough to prevent trigger reset. I am going to try to find a way to soften that spring!.
 
Hamster65 said:
My local gun range has one on the rental line and all I can say is .........WOW. Every 380 I've tried or owned in the past has been rather snappy, even the ones that were harder to rack due to a stiffer recoil spring.

The EZ is so easy to rack that I thought for sure, it would be even snappier than the rest. I am pleased to say I was wrong. This one is an unbelievably soft shooter and had zero malfunctions despite the fact that it looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in awhile.
I'm guessing he only cleans them at the end of the day and I was not the first one to rent it that day.
Click to expand...

Were all the other 380s you have used been straight blowback designs? The 380 EZ is a locked breech gun, so the recoil is much tamer.
 
Ranger98 said:
I have also had the problem of the safety engaging and have sent mine back to S&W.Will be interested in seeing if and how they can correct the problem
Click to expand...

Sent mine back today as well. Instructed them to fix it or take the thumb safety off.
 
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Well, after reading the posts on here so far, I just ordered one from Tombstone Tactical, the price was $348.54 so I hope mine works as good as yours. No safety has given me any problem so far and this will be for my daughter in the long run.
 
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This gun was not designed to fire +P or hot ammo (manual says NO +P). The reason you have a round ejecting from the mag to the ground and one chambering is the ammo. I had a 10mm Smith model #1006 that did that with hot ammo and needed a 20lb recoil spring to replace the #18 one from the factory to correct the problem. At some point there will be heavier recoil springs on the market to replace the stock one but will the frame etc. hold up to heavier recoil?

What makes this gun so easy to rack the slide is a weaker recoil spring. I believe the gun will be totally reliable with standard defense ammo but as always,you need to find what the gun will shoot. It is also possible the other issues you are having is also ammo related.

There is a lot of discussion about trigger reset. When you are under stress you WILL NOT be thinking about resetting your trigger. As a civilian I would NOT train using that procedure! The last thing you need in a self defense situation is to press the trigger-release the trigger and press it again and nothing happens because you did not let the trigger out far enough to reset. JMO.
Many years ago when shooting a revolver for State requlification,that happened to me with a new,unfamiliar gun. I was short stroking the trigger. The factory rep shot it a few weeks later and said there was no problem with the gun. (My bad).

Everyone enjoy their new EZ. I am waiting for the LGS to put one in rental so I can shoot it (hands getting weaker with age). This gun maybe my next carry pistol to replace my 9mm shield. I carry a 2" J frame size 38 Special revolver now with 2 speed strips for backup ammo.

Be SAFE and shoot often!
 
380EZ

My wife and I just bought two of them. She has yet to shoot hers (tomorrow) but I have put 150 rounds through mine and love it. In fact I just qualified for the Texas LTC wit it. Easy to rack and easy to load the magazines. Similar to my FS 22. I carry a Shield 9 and was having trouble completely racking the slide. Changed the recoil spring with one from Stainless and works a lot better. At this time I don't know if the 380 will replace my Shield as a carry weapon, but time will tell. This gun is for us older folks and those who don't have a lot of hand strength.
 
My new 380EZ came in today and hopefully I will get to shoot it tomorrow. I ran a few dummy rounds loaded with Hornady XTP's and they wanted to hang up some what, so I polished the feed ramp and it smoothed out some what. Just needs to be fired I think. Oh, and I did clean and oil it. Not a fan of the grip safety but I know why it is there, sure has a nice trigger pull. I will get back after I shoot it.
 
I just saw a post over on Sig Forum that says S&W has suspended sales of the thumb safety version of the .380 EZ. I haven't yet had the money to get one and I guess that has been a blessing in disguise (if the sales suspension is true).
 
Have not seen the post on Sig forum, but when I called my LGS yesterday to see if they hadt the non thumb safety model, the owner informed me that the model without the thumb safety had been recalled. Guess I'll just wait and see what S&W has to say. Regardless, my EZ with thumb safety arrived back at S&W yesterday to get the TS problem resolved.
 
I stopped by a store last night - sporting goods manager said they had gotten several in, but that they were called back by the distributor before they could get them logged in. He didn't say what version, but I wasn't much on asking either.

(I used the word "recalled" in another thread, and got jumped all over because it is supposedly an "upgrade", so I've edited my comments. Not much difference in my mind. They want it back to fix, they pay the freight, good enough).
 
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Don't know about any recall but I shot this thing a few minutes ago and am very impressed with the gun. I put 150 rounds without any problem except not gripping the gun for the grip safety, but I got used to that real quick. This thing is better to me than all of the other descriptions I have read. As said before all of the 380" I have shot were snappy in my hand bit not this one. It is real smooth. I put 50 Sig 95gr,, 50 S&B 90gr and 50 of my reloads with 95gr hardcast bullets. No problem with the safety for me.
 
Now if you have read kahless 's post, we get to send our 380ez's back to S&W. The news is on the S&W web site
 
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Here's the skinny, straight from S&W's site:

M&P®380 SHIELD™ EZ™ Consumer Advisory

Like any firearm, the function of the M&P®380 Shield™ EZ™ Manual Thumb Safety pistol can be influenced by the type and quality of ammunition used with the pistol. In the case of the M&P 380 Shield EZ Manual Thumb Safety, we have found that in very rare circumstances, ammunition that produces a high level of felt recoil can cause the manual safety to move from the fire to the "safety on" position during firing. Should this occur, you will not be able to fire the next round unless and until the manual safety is reset to the fire position.

At Smith & Wesson, we are committed to designing and producing firearms that meet the highest quality and performance standards. To ensure that every Smith & Wesson handgun meets our standards for reliability and performance, as of April 4, 2018, we have engineered the manual safety so that it will be less susceptible to the influence of ammunition weight, velocity and loads. Any M&P 380 Shield EZ Manual Thumb Safety pistol produced before April 4, is eligible for a no-cost upgrade. To determine if this consumer advisory applies to your pistol, please utilize our serial number verification tool on our consumer advisory page. CLICK HERE to navigate to that page.

If your pistol is subject to this advisory, please call Smith & Wesson at 1-800-331-0852 or email us at [email protected]. A FedEx return label and shipping instructions to facilitate the return of your M&P 380 Shield EZ pistol will be mailed to you promptly. If you have any questions, you may call 1-800-331-0852 for more information.

WARNING: READ AND FOLLOW THE WARNINGS IN YOUR OWNER'S MANUAL. NEVER USE "PLUS-P" (+P), "PLUS-P-PLUS" (+P+); OR RELOADED AMMUNITION WITH THE M&P 380 EZ. ALWAYS USE FACTORY MANUFACTURED AMMUNITION PRODUCED TO SAAMI SPECIFICATIONS.
Click to expand...
 
FYI, none of the 30 personal defense ammo rounds I fired through my EZ were +P. They were Hornady, Gold Dot and Remington Golden Saber.
 
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