M&P Shield 380 EZ

[justdino]

My mother (82 years old) bought one and loves it. She could no longer pull the trigger on a .32 or .38 double action revolver. She tried numerous small frame pistols and all were difficult to impossible to rack the slide on, except the EZ. She loves it.

Rather than condemn it because it doesn't meet your idea of what a pistol is, think of older adults and small of stature folks - it's ideal for that market - and they're buying plenty of them.

 

[commygun]

I'm 6'1" and not infirm in any way, and I flat-out love the EZ. All the fun of the center fire autoloader, none of the pain. Just a pleasure to run.

 

[d'zaster]

That grip safety looks like someone struggling to put a Ruger Mkiii back together. I don't mind the gun but that looks a bit goofy imho.

That's dang funny

 

[Blkhrt13]

I’d like to handle one in person. Having two little girls(not so little anymore) and a wife with arthritis we may need this around.

 

[labnoti]

I've only handled one in the shop, but this is one of the handguns I suggest to friends for their wives to evaluate when they say their wives have trouble racking the slide on more popular autoloaders and have already tried the recommended techniques. This along with the Sig P238 and a double-action revolver with a hammer spur to allow firing in single-action (with the usual disclosure about doing this in SD).

The EZ is hammer-fired, which I believe is key to easy slide-racking. Cocking a striker is not going to be as easy. Yet it also does not require the manual of arms a single-action with a thumb safety requires (I would suggest the EZ without the slide-mounted safety). Finally, it has the crisp, light trigger of a single-action instead of the long-heavy pull for the first shot of a DA/SA. The .380 is low-recoil and yet considered either barely adequate or barely inadequate (depending on how you want to see it).

 

[Balrog]

Range report:

My wife has always had difficulty racking the slide of semi autos. In addition, she does not like the small compact 380s on the market because she finds them difficult to hold onto (too small). She doesn't like the DA/SA operation of larger 380s like the Beretta 85 series. She doesn't like the stiffer recoil of 9mm's like the G43 or S&W Shield 9mm. For those reasons, she has never found a semi-auto that she really liked and mostly carries a S&W J frame in 22 Magnum.

So I purchased the EZ 380 today because it seemed like it might be a good choice for her: a 380 larger than the compacts, but still not too big, with an easy to rack slide, and recoil that she could handle easily. We took it to the range today and both fired it.

The slide is definitely easier to rack, though still not as easy as she had hoped, but she can definitely rack it, and she liked that much better than other semi-autos. The big issue, and the thing that makes this gun unsuitable to here, is the grip safety. She was not able to consistently keep the grip safety deactivated. She has small hands, and unless she takes a very consistent high hold on the gun, the grip safety would not consistently deactivate.

I shot the gun too. We probably put around 300 rounds of ammo through, including Winchester JHPs and a lot of reloads with 95g ball. It is 100% reliable for me, and the only failures to fire we had were when wife did not deactivate the grip safety. No FTF, jams, etc. The gun is very accurate... all shots can easily go into a 4 inch circle at 25 yds, and I was able to keep all shots on a standard silhouette target out to about 45-50 yards, which is much further than you would ever need for self defense obviously. The trigger is crisp and consistent. I did not measure trigger pull, but it must be around 5 pounds.

I guess they felt the need to put the grip safety on this gun because it is hammer fired rather than striker fired. This feature is the deal breaker for my wife. She didn't like it at all. I never had any issue with the grip safety, but my hands are bigger and it was easier for me to disengage.

Overall, I like the gun just fine, but my wife is going to stick with her J frame in 22 magnum for now.

I think the grip safety will be an issue for others with small hands.

The gun S&W should have made in my opinion is a Shield in 380.

So, the quest for a semi auto my wife likes will continue... I guess I have another nice gun I get to shoot and carry though! I really liked it.

 

[DPris]

That's unfortunate.
She's not going to find a centerfire .380 with a slide that's any easier to rack.

I'm not quite at the stage where I need it yet, but I'm viewing the EZ as a "might as well buy now, before prices double by the time I do" proposition.

And quite frankly, the pistol, very much like its ancestor, my Colt 1903, is such a little sweetie that I'm almost tempted to carry it now.
Small, flat, light, extremely EZ to operate.
Denis

 

[Blkhrt13]

I have heard the Sig p250 in 380 is super manageable for those with challenges in grip strength as well. But it lacks the grip safety that may make it harder for some.​

 

[kmw1954]

Just finished reading this whole thread after the title caught my eye.

We have a EZ380 that we have been shooting since the beginning of July and we love it. Yes it is easy to operate and load the magazine. The size, weight and balance are very nice. It is a lot of fun to shoot and we can shoot it all day w/o fatigue. I also reload 380 so it is also as cheap to shoot as 9mm. Now the wife also owns and shoots two Springfield XD Mod2, one 9mm and one 45acp so she is use to the grip safety and likes having it.

I also have a Witness Pavona 380 and they are far from being alike. The S&W has much less recoil, is much easier to rack and much easier to load the mag. The mag on the Smith has a small tab that allows you to compress the spring and just drop the rounds in. The Witness I use my Maglula to load the mag. Granted the Witness also holds twice as many rounds. In all honesty I have thought of trading the Witness for another Smith 380EZ.

So my thinking is with the nice trigger, low recoil and inexpensive reloads I can shoot this gun much longer w/o fatigue which allows me to work on aim and trigger pull. After a box in the Witness I'm ready to quit for the day.

 

[gc70]

My wife has limited grip strength after hand surgery. She chose the Ruger LC380 for a carry gun. We also have a Sig P250 in 380, which is even easier to rack than the Ruger and has twice the capacity. Both the LC380 and P250 have moderate trigger pulls around 6 lbs. and my wife is very capable of managing the long trigger travel of those pistols after decades of experience with her former 357 magnum revolvers.