Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Input on S&W Shield .380 EZ Requested

I wasn’t planning to buy any new handguns this year, but the new S&W Shield .380 EZ has me intrigued as a possible gun to recommend to all the people who can’t rack a semi-auto slide and who don’t like the size, trigger reach, trigger pull and/or recoil of .38 Special revolvers. I figure that the longer .380 barrel, when loaded with the right ammo (Hornady with XTP or Federal reduced recoil), would provide equal or better ballistics than a J frame. The grip safety seems like a good idea. I probably would buy the version without the manual thumb safety. (This is one gun where I think I would actually like a magazine disconnect safety, but it is not offered with one.)

Has anyone played with one? Sportsman’s Warehouse is now showing them online at $369 in either version.

Thanks.

Very few posts on the S&W forum about them. The purchasers seem satisfied, but too few guns out there with too few rounds through them to have much of a record.

The pistol has an internal hammer and is not striker fired. If you like carrying a 1911 cocked and unlocked, I guess you can always remove the thumb safety. A bunch of people on the S&W forum have done so on the M&P .22's. pistols. I guess it is OK if the gun is used only on the range, but the idea of carrying one with the safety removed scares me, regardless of what John Browning may have intended.

Thanks. From what I read, there is a firing pin block that is deactivated by depressing the grip safety. That would put it in a different class than removing the manual safety on a chambered M&P 22. But, for my purposes, the manual safety may be fine, and others could make their own choices about the version to acquire. For the price, I may just tee it up. I probably could unload it for $250+ if it doesn't work out.

Well, I'll take one for the team. My local Sportsman's Warehouse just got its first two, one with the thumb safety and one without. I got to be the first person to put my paws on them, and I bought the one without the thumb safety. Now, to find a holster with a thumb-break with a strap that goes over the rear of the slide. . . . .

Is it really noticeably easier to rack the slide than a normal .380?

Looking forward to a range report.

I think it's going to go down as a fine idea that won't be fully appreciated. Based on everything I read about the Shield, the EZ seems to take away all those complaints and make it the ultimate granny gun.

I am hoping to stumble across one. They seem to be about perfect for a novice that wants a handgun for personal protection.

Let us know what you think of it Cheyenne.



Dave

I think it's a VERY good idea...Like Flave, my bet is it falls a bit flat on the market because it's under-appreciated. That is a definite need in the marketplace for sure.

I just ordered one, so we will see.

I'd like to handle one just to satisfy my curiosity about the advertised low-effort slide function and of course, reliability. And yes there's a need for an affordable Gertrude Gun. Beretta tip-up 380s are scarce and pricey.

You never know what's going go sell. When the LCP was introduced, I really didn't think it'd fly. The P-3AT had been around for years and was usually reliable with ball... that and KelTec's 32 seemed to satisfy folks wanting such a pistol. But Ruger refined the design and sold boatloads.

I have handled one. The slide is much easier to retract. It is easy to manipulate using only a thumb and index finger. I did not shoot the pistol, so I can't speak to the accuracy of the piece, but the squeeze safety was no hindrance, and I can't see a reason for a manual thumb safety to back up the squeezer. The gun seems a tad larger than the shield, but maybe that is only the length of the barrel and slide.

I agree that it is easier to rack than most guns. There is not much resistance using the thumb and forefinger until about the last 1/2 inch, and even that last part is not bad, especially for someone who has built up a little momentum for the first part. I can't answer Son_of_the_Gael's question because I don't know how a "normal" .380 racks. I once had a Sig p238 that I thought was relatively easy. I think the appeal of the S&W is the longer barrel, taller height, grip safety, and no single action manual of arms.

A few comments. The trigger seems pretty nice. The grip safety activates a lever that depresses the firing pin block. If you pull the trigger with the grip safety disengaged and then activate the grip safety with the trigger remaining pulled, it will not fire until you release the trigger and pull the trigger again. It looks like the SKUs for some holsters made for the M&P Compact .22 are also being used for this gun.

I won't be testing it until I have an appropriate test shooter available. I have some ball ammo and some Low Recoil Hydra Shoks that tested well in the .380 Ammo Quest done by Shooting the Bull. I do intend to chronograph it during the initial outing, and I intend to shoot some standard velocity hard cast Buffalo Bore rounds at water jugs at some point. (The Ammo Quest on the Buffalo Bore was interesting.)

I have seen some forum posts by people who seem to be bumping the mechanical thumb safety to the "on" position during recoil. I bought the version without the thumb safety.

I hate doing quickie range sessions for product reviews, but I had a little bit of time and there isn’t much out there yet on this gun besides 25 minute YouTube narrations of manufacturer talking points, so here goes.

Chronograph results, using LabRadar chronograph, 40 degrees, 6000 feet, windy as frick:

Remington green box 95 grain FMJ: 11 shots, Average 913, High 948, Low 888, ES 60, SD 22.1 (175 fpe)
Winchester white box 95 grain flat point: 10 shots, Average 863, High 898, Low 829, ES 69, SD 23.7 (157 fpe) (Contrast: Sig P238, 2.7 inch barrel: Avg. 824, ES 74, SD 24 (143 fpe) (5/3/12 using Oehler 35))
Federal 90 grain Low Recoil Hydra Shoks: 8 shots, Average 974, High 995, Low 962, ES 32, SD 10.8 (189 fpe)

I only shot 70 rounds total. The first shot was with the Remington FMJ. I locked the slide back and put the magazine in. I released the slide using the slide stop. I had a hang up. I was wearing gloves because the wind was bad, so that could have been my fault. I took the strong hand glove off and there were no other feed problems from slide lock. I did have one instance where the magazine apparently was not locked in place or become unlocked and the slide closed and did not feed the second round. Again, that could have been my fault. (I did the same thing with my Glock 43 when it was new.) I will have to watch for that. Magazines do lock with a distinctive feel and click. The magazine release can be activated from a firing grip, but not with a thumb forward grip. This should not be an issue for someone with smaller hands. I went inside to shoot after the chrono work and had no other non-induced issues.

Feeding was excellent except for intentional limp-wristing. I did manage to induce malfunctions with my extreme one-handed limp-wristing technique (patent pending), but it did feed fine with even a so-so grip. The grip safety does not have to be depressed very far in order to work. It works when depressed only about a third of the way. Anybody who cannot manage that probably is not going to be able to fire a revolver, and, probably, not more than once anyway.

I was not used to the trigger type. I am so used to a Glock trigger reset that I wondered a few times whether it had gone back into battery, but it did. It breaks at a different point but that won’t matter to the targeted consumer. I shot some at 7 yards and it worked fine. It shot a little left for me but made a ragged hole. It was no problem tracking the slide through recoil. I liked the Hyra Shoks the best because the gun snapped back on target quicker. It also was the most accurate load for me. I shot a few Hydra Shoks at 10 yards and 50 feet, and it certainly will put a revolver to shame for the occasional shooter. It also should be quicker to follow-up shots than with a revolver or a mini-9. It should not be hard for an occasional shooter to shoot boxes of ammo before tiring. For those who may be wondering, no, recoil is not as light as with a .22 LR pistol.

The fixed three dot sights are nice. I did notice a very slight amount of wiggle with the front sight when I tried to make it move. I don’t know if this was like this before firing. The sight is attached to the slide in a manner I have not seen, but it does not appear to be going anywhere. It should not make a difference in accuracy.

One picky point. It is more comfortable to load magazines using the traditional method. The little protrusions on the magazine do not make it easier to load magazines. Also, the protrusions stick out more on the left side than the right side. This seems to be just a gimmick and could cause problems when attempting to use magazine pouches not designed for these magazines. (Ask me how I know that.)

For those who don’t read product instructions, don’t depress the grip safety when trying to put the slide back on the frame.

I like the concept, and I think it brings something new to the table. With just a little practice, someone ought to be able to do magazine dumps at 7 yards with pie plate accuracy, and they should be able to reach out much better than with a revolver with minimal practice.

I can’t wait to wring it out. Subject to further evaluation, I think this can be a gun to recommend to the occasional shooter for personal defense. I am not just talking about granny. I am talking about someone who tends to wait for all the stars and planets to line up before shooting follow-up shots, which really gets slow when shooting revolvers and more powerful calibers. This gun lets you line up the stars and planets quicker and has a magazine capacity of 8 rounds.

The concept reminds me of a gun that I carried a lot back in the 1980s, i.e., my Sig P230, which was a .380 ACP about the size of the Shield.



I used to act as my dad's bodyguard while carrying it to escort him on occasional late night visits to his medial office after dark. Apparently, doctors entering their medical practices at night, after hours, are often the victims of robbers looking for drugs. Fortunately, I never got the Fredo test, LOL.

Fredo, what a choke artist!

Cheyenne,

Can you take some pics of the front sight arrangement? I really don't like the sounds of that at all.




Dave

TRH,

I've been carrying one of those a lot lately. I can't believe how accurate it is. West German gun.

Here you go, Dave. I think the technical term is a C clip. Sorry, I never took the time to figure out the image gallery, so I am attaching.

Thanks, Cheyenne.