Smith & Wesson Launches Performance Center M&P9 Shield EZ

1. If I want bling on a handgun it will be ivory, hand engraving and maybe stag. I don’t want a pistol that looks like it belongs in the glove box of a low rider.

   • Indeed. But this is new school bling.

     Bling used to be called adornment.

     Easy to plate and paint metal and plastic.

   • And this pistol doesn’t want you either.

2. S&W’s old M&P 9C weighs less and holds 50% more ammo. This is …lipstick on a pig?

3. Grip safety? Porting? Rails? JFC, it’s a small concealed carry gun; the first is ridiculous and pointless, the second only fun if you’re into crisping your eyes, and the third only really useful on a duty or nightstand gun.

   • You are wrong. It’s a medium sized single stack conceal carry pistol. It’s a utilitarian pistol which doesn’t need a performance upgrade. But how is this really any different than slapping “Legion” on a pistol and charging extra for it?

   • I carry the PC in .45 daily. No safety of any kind, love it to bits!

   • I said the same thing about the .380 version: YAY! Let’s make a pistol already designed to be as easy-to-use as possible and make it HARDER to use by making it LOUDER. That will be just what the customers want!
     🤠

4. Where is the one with hunnerd dollah bills all over it.?

5. Fine for a target gun, range you. Certainly not for carry with a ported barrel, especially if you ever need to fire in an enclosed space like a car and facing the drivers door.

   • MB, I agree, try shooting a ported pistol from what Chuck Taylor called a speed rock. I think it’s referred to today as close retention. No thanks! Unless you need to light your cigarette. 😆 Seriously, your probably shooting 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP and you need porting to help with recoil? Maybe try something more physical than banging on a keyboard.

     • you can use the flames to torch that speed rock in the low- rider glove box.

6. Uglier than Chicago’s mayor, will not let my S&W performance center wheelies see a picture of this mongoloid baby adopted into the
   Performance Center Family..

   • That was awesome. My wheelguns aren’t even permitted in the same safe as my plastic guns…..

7. Sorry for possible to duplicate posting

8. john player special. sometimes blk/ gld works. i like the yellow bits.
   for polymer (no) single stack (sometimes) at least it has a hammer, albeit internal.
   a friend just bought the non pc version- it’s pretty nice. his gal is tiny and can’t cock the air pistol, but she can rack this (!). he’s a croat so i’m glad he didn’t buy the pRodUkt. besides he’s got a zastava (serb).

9. This abomination looks like a firearm rice rocket equivalent, its like a honda civic complete with ground effects, euro tail lights, and bumble bee exhaust. It wasn’t a good look on an economy car and it’s worse on a firearm.

   • “Bumble Bee exhaust”… I call them “fart cans”. LOL

10. Not interested in the listed customizing. The “EZ” model is a candidate though for daughter’s first carry pistol. She being a petite young lady. For the lighter slide pressure.

11. I despise the significant price increase when porting the barrel and machining “lightning cuts” in the slide adds a few cents to the manufacturing process.

    On the other hand, if that excites consumers and convinces them to pay an extra $200 (or whatever the price increase is), then kudos to Smith and Wesson.

    If you are truly unable to rack the slide on any common semi-auto pistol (even after learning proper technique), simply purchase an aftermarket reduced weight recoil spring for $15 and have a friend (with good grip strength) replace it for you.

    Important note: if you install a reduced-weight recoil spring in your semi-auto handgun, recoil will smash your handgun’s slide even harder into your handgun’s frame and will shorten the mechanical life of your handgun — possibly significantly. Nevertheless, this might be worthwhile if you never really plan to shoot your modified semi-auto handgun other than in a self-defense event — where the increased impact of your handgun’s slide into the handgun frame will not be important. (With a reduced-weight recoil spring, your handgun might break after several hundred shots rather than several thousand shots — which is irrelevant if you only shoot it 10 times in a self-defense event.)

    • I am guessing those who have a limited ability to rack a slide also have a limited ability to handle the increased recoil impulse to the hand, so the simple solution of a lighter spring is not so good even if you don’t mind the gun taking a beating. Also, I have seen issues with light springs not pushing the slide fully into battery if you hold the gun loosely, again more likely to happen with someone with limited hand strength. IMHO, the basic .380 EZ was a really nice design option, everything lined up for a sub category of users. The performance center stuff is not a good match for the same group.

      • Grumpy Old Guy,

        Also, I have seen issues with light springs not pushing the slide fully into battery if you hold the gun loosely, again more likely to happen with someone with limited hand strength.

        Ooh. Excellent point. I honestly have no idea at what point a lighter recoil spring becomes so light that the handgun becomes prone to failing to go into battery.

        As with almost everything in life, you never get something for nothing. Everything involves trade-offs. I guess the simple answer is to test your handgun and make sure that it will go into battery every time even with the lighter recoil spring. That would require shooting at least 200 rounds without any cycle failures in my opinion.

        I honestly mean no offense to anyone — I feel compelled to state the truth: if you are so feeble that you cannot cycle the slide on a semi-auto handgun, you either need to carry a smaller caliber (which will have lighter recoil springs and require less strength to cycle them) or you need a custodian who can protect you if someone attacks. The sad reality is that we will all eventually get to that point. The only question is whether that happens in our 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, or (God willing) our 100s!

12. As a devoted superfan of all things Smith & Wesson, I have to ask: why oh why did they make the EZ so fugly? If its true that form follows function, then the EZ’s function is to embarrass its owner.

    • The marketing department was torn between adding different colors, or a bunch of holes, so they just went with both.

    • It’s pretty gross. I see me moving roughly zero units. Too many other better Smith offerings.

13. I wonder why no Shield EZ with a double stack or a staggered stack 365-esque magazine?

    • @Dan H: No double stack mags because the mags are not easy to load. I have a the original Shield E-Z in 380ACP, it’s a great gun for someone with limited hand strength, it’s the only auto loader my wife can rack. It’s accurate and simple to disassemble also.

14. The all black would likely be a great pistol for my wife. She’s currently learning handgun mechanics and firing with an lcp-2 .22 and then wants to move up to my Glock 19. Only issue with the Glock is that being a double stack the grip is a tad large for her.

15. I could see Jerry Miculek competing with this in a few years.

16. This doesn’t make any sense.

    “Here’s a pistol designed to be simple, easy to shoot, and easy to rack – for small people and weaklings.”

    . . . . .

    “Here’s the same pistol – covered in tactical vomit for the Operators who will never seriously consider this pistol!”

17. If S&W would take the standard EZ and offer it with these sights and a trigger job, and not charge an exorbitant premium for it, I might be interested. Otherwise, if I’m going to splurge on something, I’ll buy a couple of bottles of The Macallan 18-yr-old triple cask whiskey.

18. As a non-firearms 🔥 owner in a Demo-Authoritarian controlled police state (STASI) with draconian firearms laws…Why would anyone buy an expensive super blinged out pistol for self-defense…Knowing full well that the police WILL “confiscate” every single “pew-pew” in YOUR collection…As well as every single steak and butter knife 🔪 in your kitchen drawer…With the good probability you will never see any of it again…Including the kitchen flatware! Why NOT just buy a cheap throw away “YEET CANNON” , in your hopefully (pro2@) Free-State….?!

19. …And That’s under the possibility of actual use of course…..

20. Have not seen any of the 9mm versions for sale anywhere and S&W told me they’ve been released for a month.

21. As a senior, potential buyer, your comments regarding the ported barrel are concerning, so re-thinking the purchase. Why would someone want one? I have small hands, decent strength, but struggle with some dexterity issues. I tried the regular 9mm EZ and could rack it, but it was hard sometimes to engage the palm safety and trigger. I was interested in this modification because they took that into consideration after consumer complaints, and made the safety easier (larger) and the trigger bare to address that issue. The ported barrel was a bad call for our demographic. Certainly a gun for a certain consumer, but if I’m going to have a gun I want one that is comfortable enough that I will continue to practice and enjoy using.

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