New S&W 380 "EZ" 380 auto

JohnFreeman

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Anyone own one of these yet? I was reading the article in American Rifleman and it sounds perfect for those with limited grip strength. My wife struggles with racking the slide on my Shield 9.

Any local sightings in gun stores? MSRP is low, but always interested to see what street price will actually be.
 
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Anyone own one of these yet? I was reading the article in American Rifleman and it sounds perfect for those with limited grip strength. My wife struggles with racking the slide on my Shield 9.

Any local sightings in gun stores? MSRP is low, but always interested to see what street price will actually be.
Fuqua Gun and Gold has a sell on them coming up for memorial day.
 
I'm pretty sure I saw one on Jerek's table at the last show I went to. But there aren't any on Caitlin's list now.

The gun isn't for me but I thought it was a pretty clever piece of marketing on Smith's part and was tempted to pick one up for my daughter. I think I have the price written down somewhere and will post it if I find it. I'm gonna go to the Winston show next weekend and I'll also post what I find there.
 
Before Jerek got sick I had emailed him about the EZ. He said the last one he had was at the Hickory show. He said he could get one for me for $334.00 plus tax. When I was at the Charlotte gun show Ed's Gun Shop had one without the safety for $369.00 plus tax. I did a trade with Ed's and I was OTD for $220.85. I bought it for my wife since he has very limited hand strength. We haven't taken it to the range yet since she is having a problem with her hip. But I can tell you she can rack it without any problem.
 
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That sounds about right. I see them on GB with BIN prices in the $360-370 range, delivered.
 
I fondled one at a Concord LGS immediately after they came out (priced at $359 then). I was buying a .22 pistol at the time and it was as easy to rack the EZ's slide as it was the .22's slide. There is no way my wife can rack my Shield's slide, but she has no problem racking the slide of the .22 I bought when I checked out the EZ.
 
My wife had been shooting the M & P 22c before I picked up this EZ for her. She can rack the slide on the EZ as easy as the 22c. I only bought the EZ to move her up to centerfire vs rimfire since she can't rack my Shield 9mm. I'm hoping when we get to the range she enjoys shooting the EZ as much as the 22c.
380 EZ 002.JPG
 
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My wife has compromised wrist strength due to arthritis.
She cam readily rack her VP9 and Walther CCP.
She couldn't rack the FNS9.
The CCP has the felt recoil of a full size 9mm. But the gas system allows the use of a softer recoil spring. Very easy to operate.


Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
I've fondled them side by side with a M&P 22 Compact at FG&G. They are nearly identical in size and feel very similar in your hand. I could not tell a difference in which was more difficult to rack the slide on, it was that easy to do. This will be the perfect replacement pistol to my Mother's G26. At 77 years old she just cannot easily (nor safely) manipulate the slide anymore. Last year she latched onto my M&P 22 Compact, but 22LR is not what I consider a practical defensive round. 8 + 1 of .380 is better than 22LR.
 
Anyone own one of these yet? I was reading the article in American Rifleman and it sounds perfect for those with limited grip strength. My wife struggles with racking the slide on my Shield 9.

Any local sightings in gun stores? MSRP is low, but always interested to see what street price will actually be.

Any M&P 380 Shield EZManual 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.
 
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Why bother racking your 380 at all?View attachment 56762

I went down that route and bought her a new Inox Beretta 3032. The only problem was she couldn't close the barrel on it. :( She just didn't have the strength in the fingers and wrists to do it safely, so it just didn't work. Sold it.
 
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Thanks for the input. Sounds like the implementation met the marketing / design criteria. I'll take her down to one of the LGS and see if she likes it. Was at Cabelas yesterday for another purpose and talked to the guy at the desk. They sell quickly there (and they had none in stock to look at as they sold out)
 
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Thanks for the input. Sounds like the implementation met the marketing / design criteria. I'll take her down to one of the LGS and see if she likes it. Was at Cabelas yesterday for another purpose and talked to the guy at the desk. They sell quickly there (and they had none in stock to look at as they sold out)

Not sure if you're still looking for one of these but Whittaker Guns just got a few in. They're $369.99 but they have a 10% discount for the rest of May. Use code "MAYDAY" Free shipping, no sales tax.

https://shop.whittakerguns.com/product/46898
 
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Hickock 45 did a review. Seems like a weird stove pipe thing going on with the last round in a mag. Just passing this on in case it could help somebody.
 
A friend of mine bought his wife one of these. Has the exact same issue with the last round in a mag that Hickock had.
Maybe there is a fix, or updated mags. Not sure but will update if this is solved.
 
So we're sayin' this gun was made for S&W by Sig? ;)
 
That's why you buy the one without the safety. Not to mention this problem was found a couple of months ago. So this guy is a little behind times doing a review in May acting like he found a problem that is already known. On the Smith & Wesson website.

CONSUMER ADVISORY
To: M&PĀ® 380 SHIELDā„¢ EZā„¢ Manual Thumb Safety Owners

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., (April 6, 2018) ā€“ 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 ā€œsafety onā€ 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.

M & P 380EZ Shield with Manual Thumb Safety pistol produced before April 4, is eligible for a no-cost upgrade.
 
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