New From Smith & Wesson: M&P380 Shield EZ

1. Sounds great! A shootout between this and the Walther PK380 is in order.

   • As I read this I was also thinking of the Walther PK380. I am glad to see more non-micro 380s’ entering the market. While I like my Kimber Micro 380, I like the. . . I hesitate to say “large,” . . . larger 380’s too.

     • I agree. I have both a Kahr P380 (very small) and a G42 (a bit larger). The Kahr fills a need. Its my “always” gun, since its small enough to conceal with anything.

       The Glock is too big to be an always gun but conceals very easily and is light. Its also VERY easy to manipulate and shoot well. Especially with a +2 mag extension that gives it a full length grip.

       I’ve found the gun figured this way to work very well for both men and women who don’t have a lot of hand strength and haven’t yet developed an efficient technique.

       In contrast the Kahr has a very small gripping surface and the small, light slide requires a very stiff spring. My wife has good technique as well as better hand strength than most women, and runs her G34 very well. But she can’t work the Kahr.

       I’d be curious to know how this gun shoots.

   • I traded the PK.380 in for the EZ. PK 380 sux. I do like the EZ.

2. America is aging. EZ to use pistols would appeal to us aging baby boomers. .380 is an OK round. It won’t make the caliber wars guys happy, but what will?

   In the real world there are more and more of us greybeard grandfolks types. Now if we could interest them in making a tip up barrel model.

   • Ah, yes. The beautiful Beretta 86…
     Now that was a pistol that was made not just for weaker hands but for eyes that appreciated fine workmanship as well. One of the most lovely .380s I ever saw – it’s not very high on the Wish List but I certainly wouldn’t mind owning one.
     🤠

     • Beretta makes purty guns.

   • I think this gun would be great for my parents (in their 70s and have never been gun people).

     It would also be great for my wife and sister. They just aren’t “gun people”. An easy to rack slide, combined with mild recoil, and small size is a great combo for them. Similar niche to the Ruger LC380 (not LCP).

     Personally, I wouldn’t want it. Maybe I’ll want one in a few decades.

3. M&P does that stand for missed and pissed?

4. Still waiting for someone to make a double stack .380. Racking the slide is 100% technique unless you cannot physically lift a plate of food.

   • Used to have a Beretta 84FS in the 80’s, double stack 380, they were cheap, wish I would have kept it.

   • I think the Berea is available in double stack, as is the CZ83 (recently discontinued).

     • the Bersa is available in 15 round double stack, forget exact model number.

   • Sig p365 in .380 with an optional safety…

   • Taurus made the 638 Millenium Pro. 15+1 doublestack. Never caught on…

   • No, it’s not solely a matter of technique. Good technique can overcome the inability to MOVE the slide, but finger strength is required to GRIP the slide. Most folks I’ve trained who struggled with this didn’t have the ability to grip the slide tightly enough, rather than to move it once gripped.

     So there is a genuine need for easy to rack slides.

     • Thanks Larry, this is the truth… I spent over 22 years handling weapons (from 9mm to 50 cal) but as a woman with small hands I had to rely heavily on technique but now that I suffer from arthritis I don’t have the grip strength to rack a slide with any ability. In fact I haven’t fired any of my weapons in over two years, just not feasible, but this gun has me excited to get out and shoot again – because, gasp, I actually could operate this weapon without struggling!

5. Well it’s cute…not interested but yeah I see the need for older folks. I may get the Ruger EC9 for another small nine-on sale at my LGS.

6. Grip safety ruins the lines of an otherwise good looking pistol. Interesting to see a nearly full sized pistol in 380. “M2.0 enhanced grip texture optimized to size and .380 AUTO recoil” So the texture is slick as a Glock Gen 3? Also, it’s hammer fired? I wonder where all the hammer fired hype came from? Interesting to see where the market goes, considering the last 15 years has been nothing but plastic fantastic strikers.

   • It is an internal hammer design. I would suspect that’s why they have a grip safety and gotten rid of the hinged trigger.

   • Is that the grip safety?!? It looks like a backwards p7 “squeeze cocker.” I kept thinking they had it sitting on an upside-down mag or something, I need to see a side profile.

     The EZ isn’t the coolest moniker for a gun, but I guess the point is made. But I can imagine some grizzled old timer ranting about the old days when guns weren’t easy and they used a .45 and cocked the slide with their teeth or something.

   • Yeah, interesting piece except for the hunchback.

7. A few years ago I spend about $700 on a Sig .380 because it was the only pistol that my wife could easily rack. I carry an older M&P Shield .380 that she cannot rack without pain in her wrists. If the new one is truly easy to rack, it would be a much less expensive alternative to the Sig.

   • I think you mean an M&P Bodyguard.

     • I bought a Bodyguard .380 for my wife, she didn’t like it. I love it, carry it lots of days. Great little pistol. The wife ended up with a Ruger LCR .38, it’s a great gun, too.

   • The Sig 238 in .380 is relatively easy to rack the slide
     It is the Walter PK 380 that is unbelievably easy to rack
     I have been recommending it to all the nurses in our hospital who are unable to rack the slide of a 9 mm pistol and want a safety
     This looks like another good choice

     • If your nurses can handle the recoil of a 9MM, and the extra weight, then you might want to recommend the fairly new Springfield XDE. They made it with a 27% reduced force needed to rack the slide. I bought one and it really is easier to rack. I’m a senior and needed something with an easier racking slide.
       A couple of years ago I bought a regular 9MM Shield, but found the slide a little to difficult to rack.
       I might also recommend a revolver in 38 special. No racking, but limited to 5 or 6 rounds.

       • A lot of hammer-fired guns will be generally easier to rack, as the hammer itself provides resistance to the slide cycling so the recoil spring can be softer. …As long as the hammer is cocked prior to trying to cycle the slide, of course.

     • My family really likes the Sig P238. My wife has arthritis and has difficulty racking slides. The little Sig works well for her. I also have one, two of our sons have their own, their wives also have one each, and one of my wife’s sisters also has one. My wife carries hers, I alternate CCW between my 238, 938 and CZ 82 in 9×18 Mak. The true test of a good sidearm is 100 % reliability, easy carry concealability, and ease of use. The Sig fits the CC requirements. Of our 7 Sigs, over thousands of rounds fired, we have had only two ftf, both reloaded ammo. No issues with commercial gun or self defense hp’s.

   • Except the Sig is an exceptional little pistol worth every penny.

     Easy to rack, easy to shoot, accurate as hell, amazing single action with a really really clear line between take up and BANG.

     Everything the Bodyguard .380 wasn’t.

     This seems like a nice compromise pistol – who knew that making a bigger gun for a softer round makes a better shooter?

8. I happened to be on S&Ws website and saw this. Was very confused by it.

   • Hah I saw it too yesterday before the press release. Was confused as well

9. So its a M&P Compact 2.0, but in 380, and single stack, and with a hammer. What now? Why, why not just a locked breach 380 shield instead of blowback, both of those would make for a lighter recoil spring. The wings are nice on the HK VP9, that wouldn’t be bad on the regular Shield actually. These can’t be any cheaper to manufacture.

   I’m not a target customer, so I guess the fact that I don’t get doesn’t matter. Maybe my wife, I guess, I’ll buy her one because its a new gun and I need it for…reasons and stuff.

   • It ain’t no blowback

     • Are you sure its not blowback? Its not stated its operating method anywhere. I’d bet dollars to donuts it is.

       • Positive. But I’ll take you up on that bet! I’ll mail you a dozen world famous Round Rock Donuts if I’m wrong. You mail me a dozen world famous U.S. dollars if you’re wrong.

         🙂

       • I’d rather have Mango-Chili Quesadillas or Kawakini Stuffed Avocado from the Hula Hut. I lived across the lake from there when I was doing the grad school thing in the mid 90’s, it may have been the beeroclock dinner, but I remember it always being good. Now eleventy million people live in Austin, SanFranTexas.

       • Hey you suggested dollars to donuts…I think they mail better than quesadillas or stuffed avocados, too, so they got that going for them. Not that I’ll be mailing you anything in this bet anyway 😉

         Here’s a pic of the gun field stripped: http://dev.thetruthaboutguns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Shield-EZ-field-stripped.jpg

       • Fixed barrel can look like that I have a bp380 and canik 380 just like that. There is more than one kind of fixed barrel they don’t have to be like a pressed in barrel like a marakov design to be fixed barrel. 90% sure it’s fixed not locked breech.

       • Ah, I get the single stack bit now. I was trying to figure out the easy loading bit, its like a 22 mag. Couldn’t you do the same thing with any double stack mag? You’d have to add some guide or something, but if you just turned it into a single stack you could do it to any. I still think an Uplula is still easier, on my 22s it was a pain to load when I broke my thumb, so I’m not sure how much easier that makes it.

       • Mike, are you getting in on the dollars to donuts action, too, then? 😉

10. Aesthetically, the grip safety is beyond hideous.

11. Is this April 1st?

    • “Is this April 1st. Could be? This particular model is available as a pink unicorn with wings that can fly.
      Not a good looking handgun, but not as ugly as a Glock.
      That said I’m in late 60 years old. So I since already have some arthritis in both hands but more so in shooting hand. I’m capable of racking slide of a pistol, there could be a time that an easier slide could be welcome for baby boomers. Whole lot of my generation become experienced enough to know we are more vulnerable to younger thugs who would want to do us harm resulting in death or serious einjury. There will be a market for this. And as time goes on it has a good retail price of around $500.00
      Not seeing them in retail or even online resources yet
      I come from a long line of relatives who lived long reasonably healthy lives. But you can easily go from being perceived from sheep dog to sheep by predators

      • Very well said! I’m in your situation also, but a bit older. I walk with a cane most of the time, my first line of defense. However I have either a 38 special, with +P loads, or a 9MM also +P, for a back up.

12. I have the S&W M&P Shield. At only 18 oz., it shoots like a dream. Have always been a large frame auto fan, but my aging shoulders and hips forced me to downsize. My wife is in the market to switch from her old reliable S&W mod. 60 to a pistol. This may be a good possibility. Can’t wait to see it.

13. I like it for many of the reasons Jeremy mentioned.

    Easy to use, nice size, good sights.

    Maybe a good intro gun like a pk380 or Ruger LC380.

    I like the Beretta 85 but it is pricey and rare.

    Now maybe some manufactuers will do polymer single stack witha full grip in 9mm.

    • Bersa and Kahr have big single stack 9’s, well Glock 19 sized but slimmer.

      • No thanks on the BP9. I do like the Kahr. Don’t like their magazines.

        I was thinking more about this becoming a segment where everyone had one. Competition is always good.

14. To me this is all about recoil reduction and ease of racking the slide. The 9mm Shield does not have much recoil. My Sig 238 obviously smaller but about the same weight does not have much recoil. Both are very accurate. A .380 the size of a Shield should have no recoil to speak of. Racking the slide on the Sig is trivial and as I recall the Shield does not require much hand strength. I tried a bunch of .380’s at a rental range before deciding on the Sig because others (Bersa Thunder, Glock 42, Browning 1911-380) had much more recoil that I would have expected for .380 in a reasonably sized gun. I am not overly sensitive to recoil – have SR9C without much recoil but I can see people with weaker hands not being able to rack it; and Taurus TCP with plenty of snappy recoil that many people don’t like but does not bother me considering the purpose of the gun. If the S&W has significantly reduced recoil and an easy slide to rack, it will be very appealing to people like the wife and daughter. I expect women and older people are the fastest growing user demographic for smaller handguns and this should hit the sweet spot, especially with a name that everyone knows, whether or not they own other guns. And we are all getting older.

15. Comparison to the PK380 is appropriate since both guns are very close in size, weight, barrel length and capacity. I’m a bit surprised that S&W is calling this a Shield since it’s substantially bigger than a 9 mm Shield. I’d be more interested if it were the 9 mm Shield converted to 380 or, even better, the size of a Kahr CT380.

16. Definitely a market for a firearm aimed at people with low strength, but I’m not one of them. Would like to see how it compares to a Walther CCP (which is pretty easy to rack and keeps the cost and power of 9mm) in strength required though.

17. I like it. I’ve fired the PK380 before, and was impressed how well-mannered it was. If the S&W is similar well-behaved, I can see it filling a niche.

18. I would rather see a Shield in 9mm and/or .45 with a longer slide and barrel, like Springfield did with the longer XD. Still a slim grip, but 1/2 to 1 in. longer.

    But still, I get the reasons for this. And being a longtime and still 1911 platform guy, the grip safety doesn’t bother me at all.

19. There is a large market of women that want to carry but can’t rack the slides of most pistols. For my wife it’s either a Sig or a Sig. A 9mm version would be nice too, but maybe S&W is following Glock’s lead.

    • YES THIS! My wife can’t rack much that is available but does not want a wheelgun. When I saw “easy to rack” in the review I thought maybe finally. But then I saw the grip safety. She’s tried the Springfields and said no way because of theirs.

      • Try the new Springfield XDE. It has a 27% slide force reduction, and no grip safety.

      • Walther PK380 is another one to look at.

        BTW this is not a review!!

        • Thanks guys, gun show coming up 2/24. Worth the admission to let her handle the hardware. And well, you know, maybe I’ll get to come home with something fun too.

        • Au contraire, dollars to donuts. Sentence 1: Your opinion. Sentence 2: Your opinion. It’s a review, however brief.

    • Walther CCP?

20. I’m sorry I sold my Sig P250 Compact .380. Carry-size and 15 rounds.

    • Yeah I keep on the lookout for a subcompact P320 in 380ACP but not holding my breath.

21. What is the weight of this gun?
    Myself, I feel that if your going to carry a moderately large gun, it might as well be a 9MM or larger caliber. Not all nines are hard to rack.

    • I think 18 oz

22. This seems like a strange addition, moreso because they chose to market this using the Shield moniker.

    If they had built this on the basic Shield platform, but chambered down to .380, I could see the appeal. It would still benefit by the lower power spring making it easier to rack, but would look much better. As is, it’s an ugly mess. And that accessory rail? The LACK of a rail was a big positive when I bought my Shield…

23. Intrigued. But I’m not much of a grip safety fan.

24. Did not like the pk380. Felt like a low quality gun that was not taken seriously by the manufacturer. It’s an sa/da gun but the safety doesn’t decock like every other gun ever with a slide safety.

    Very interested in this pistol!

25. NOT in commie kalifornia! It’s just to dangerous for the unwashed serfs, AKA LEGAL AMERICAN CITIZENS to own.
    Warning America. Kalifornia is much like an STD, infectious and spreads.

26. Most hammer fired pistols are easier to rack the slide, being a single action only pistol doesn’t hurt either.

    I have taught the spousal unit to drive the grip when racking on her S&W 9mm shield.

    Hold the gun firmly in the dominate hand close to body (but with muzzle in safe direction), then grip the slide with the opposite hand from top (imagine opening a jar of canned peaches), then drive the GRIP forward with certainty. She had never had an issue with racking the 9mm Shield. Jar of peaches is another story.

27. I bought a Shield EZ a few weeks ago. I like it a lot except for one thing. This is the kind of pistol that you would carry in a inside the pants holster. The problem is the rough sides of the grip scratches the hell out of my side. And we don’t were a lot of T-shirts here in Phoenix during the summer. I had to wrap duct tape around the grip just so I could carry it comfortably.

28. that is my e-mail

29. The one problem with the EZ is that the grip is too rough to use with a inside the pants holster. It scratches the hell out of my side. We don’t were a lot of t-shirts here in Phoenix. I had to wrap the grip in duct tape.

30. July 5, 2018. I just traded a PK.380 in for the EZ. The PKs sucks. It doesn’t have a captive recoil spring and it is very difficult to install it back in. The EZ by S&W has it all. I’m lovin’ it.

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