S&W "EZ" pistols - likes??

retfed · July 22, 2021, 09:36 PM

I've been having harder time racking the slide on my Kahr P380 and PM9 as I've gotten older and weaker.

So I think I'm ready to sell these and move on to easier to manipulate carry guns for personal protection. My wife was supposed to be carrying the .380, and me the 9mm. Well she didn't like the P380, and has been carrying the PM9 (which she stole from me).

So finally decided to trade in the .380 Kahr for the Smith 380EZ. And depending on her response, follow up later with the PM9 to be sold and get the Smith 9EZ for myself.

Looking for feed back on the "EZ" Smith models from people with more experience with them. Any help would be appreciated, 'cause I'm fighting more now with my Shield 9 for racking, etc.

Retfed

hammie · July 22, 2021, 10:00 PM

I owned a 380 EZ. It was reliable and I liked it. My son wanted it and now he has it. The only negative thing for me was that the magazine release protruded a bit too much, and sometimes handling, or laying the gun down on the release side, caused the magazine to release. I chose the model with the manual safety because I grew up shooting 1911's and browning hi-powers, and I prefer a manual safety on a hammer fired, single action pistol.

I've never fired the 9x19mm version, but if it is on the same frame as the .380, the recoil might not be pleasant for casual plinking. I think S&W makes a .22 LR version on the same frame. I've been looking for the .22 chambering to purchase.

MJ45 · July 22, 2021, 10:11 PM

i say go for it. i bought the Shield Plus months back. i also have issues with my grip and difficulties manipulating a slide on many pistols. for me, the Shield Plus works ok. i did try the EZ at the time but felt i could get by without it. if you can try a Plus as well as the EZ and find you can make the Plus work, you will gain rounds in the mag...

603Country · July 22, 2021, 10:20 PM

We have a 380 EZ, and it’s a nice shooter. Not sure that I like the grip safety. And it does have a bit of a snappy recoil. I was also shooting a Beretta PX4 in 9mm, and the Beretta was more pleasant to shoot. I have not fired a 9mm EZ, but assume the recoil would be more than that of the 380EZ, and perhaps not a fun plinker.

On the plus side, the EZ pistols are small and nice in the hand. Every time I pick up the 380EZ, I’m reminded how much I like it. Still not sure about the grip safety though.

Hawg · July 23, 2021, 01:49 AM

My wife has a 9EZ. She has weak hands and wrists from carpal tunnel surgery. She has to concentrate on keeping the grip safety depressed and the safety digs into the web of her hand. She will hurt for a couple of days after shooting a few mags through it. She can use it without pain but she has to wear a glove. I have no problem with it. It is hammer fired so it has a pretty decent trigger.

blchandl2 · July 23, 2021, 07:52 AM

I have the 380EZ for my wife to shoot because she has trouble operating the slide of anything larger than 22lr. I have shot the 9mm version and I am impressed with the gun and would like to one.

I think both calibers are soft shooters, specifically the .380.

BillM · July 23, 2021, 08:28 AM

Wife has a 380 EZ. Easy to rack, magazines are easy to load.
She likes it---and she is picky about her carry guns.
Personally I'm not a fan of the manual safety, and with my larger
hands I sometimes fail to release the grip safety. I'm sure a little
dryfire/range time would take care of that.

retfed · July 23, 2021, 09:23 AM

Thank you for the responses. It's giving me food for thought before proceeding with the 9EZ purchase.

A lot of talk about range and "plinking". Is anyone seriously using these for concealed carry? If so how are you carrying and what holsters have you found to do so?

THX again

Retfed

603Country · July 23, 2021, 10:49 AM

The last few months I’ve had 3 or 4 folks here to learn about handguns. Every one of them had problems with the grip safety on the EZ. Without getting familiar with the grip safety and shooting enough, the EZ might not be a good carry or purse gun.

I might be inclined to tape down the grip safety and just use the manual safety if I was going to CC with it, but that wouldn’t be smart if the pistol lives in a purse.

The EZ was for the wife, but she prefers her revolver. I’ve considered swapping the 380EZ for a 9mmEZ.

gc70 · July 23, 2021, 11:14 AM

My wife, who is a very experienced shooter, chose the 380EZ after losing most of her grip strength following extensive hand surgery. The EZ is not only easy for her to manipulate, but she finds it easy to shoot well.

I was impressed enough with my wife's 380EZ that I bought a 9EZ for myself and like it a lot. The comments about snappy recoil and the grip safety surprise me because that has not been my experience with either EZ. I attribute much of the EZ's manageability to the full three-finger hold that the grip provides.

Both guns are very light and thin, which make then comfortable to carry. My wife and I use locally-produced kydex IWB and OBW holsters, as well as a leather OWB holster.

bedbugbilly · July 23, 2021, 07:08 PM

I have had a 380EZ for a while and I enjoy it. I/m "older" and my grip is not like it used to be but I can do OK with my Glock 26 that I normally carry. At time I carry the 380EZ - I use a OWB holster under a shirt tail or jacket. I originally bought the EZ with the intent of fun pinker with my cast reloads. I have no issue with the grip safety and I like the pistol very much - I haven't handled the 9mm EZ, but plan to and will probably buy one as well. I have a 9mm Shield that I also carry at timed, but I find it hard to rack at times - much stiffer than the Ruger SR9 that I had at one time.

ciwsguy · July 24, 2021, 11:17 AM

I have both 380EZ and 9EZ. The 380 shoots point of aim. My 9EZ shot so low I needed to replace the front sight with a custom size Dawson precision sight.
Both are easy to load, rack, shoot and takedown.
Downside: not easily concealable.
Eight in the mag is enough for me

dakota.potts · July 24, 2021, 12:12 PM

A family member has the .380 EZ (the Performance Center model) and I've spent a little bit of time with it.

Likes:
Easy to load and operate
Good hand fit
Pleasant shooting
Nice sights and trigger

Dislikes: a little prone to malfunctions induced by limp-wristing or weak ammo (shouldn't an EZ gun anticipate people with weak hands might limp wrist?) It could be that the ported barrel on the performance center model doesn't help.
Easy loading does not apply with a full mag and the slide forward. Pretty much have to download the mag one or start with the slide locked to the rear. Again, baffling on a gun made for people with weak hands.

Overall my experience was more positive than negative but said family member got the gun right at the start of Covid and ammo shortages and .380 is an absolute nightmare to come by so didn't get to put many rounds through it.

603Country · July 24, 2021, 01:45 PM

Not being able to find 380 caused me to start loading it. The components I didn’t have were available. I had planned originally to not load 380, but just buy what I needed. Great plan, huh?

blchandl2 · July 24, 2021, 02:19 PM

When the pocket .380 boom hit and made ammo scarce I bought dies and started reloading .380.

lapetrarca53 · July 25, 2021, 10:39 AM

I have a .380 EZ and a SCCY .380. Both are easy to rack accurate and recoil is very manageable. Neither is very concealable for a person of smaller stature. Both are fun to shoot. No issues with the grip safety.

603Country · July 25, 2021, 11:05 AM

For us, the 380EZ was never going to be a CC pistol. I carry a S&W Bodyguard 380 and she has a S&W 38 with the polymer frame and red dot.

Shadow9mm · July 25, 2021, 11:16 AM

I have shot the ez. slide was easy to rack. Gun shot well. If I were looking for a 380 it would be at the top of my short list.

AzShooter · July 25, 2021, 11:51 AM

I opted for the EZ 9 and I'm very happy with it. At 70 I just don't have the grip strength to rack the slides on my older autos. With the EZ 9 there is no problem at all.

I was concerned about recoil with such a small gun but it's made so well that it's a pleasure to shoot. I went with the 9 because I couldn't find any .380 ammo and I did have over 1000 rounds of 9 in the house.

I love how easy the magazines are to reload. It only holds 8 + 1 rounds but I carry two extra magazines with it. If it takes more than the first 9 I'm either going to be hiding or running away at that point.

jag1954 · July 25, 2021, 01:29 PM

I have the EZ in 9mm, easy to rack for this old geezer and shoots great.

retfed · August 1, 2021, 10:43 AM

Well, thank you for all the responses. Appreciate BOTH positive and negative comments.
Looks like you all are gonna make me "need" to add the 9EZ to my pistols. I DO reload, and have a number of 9's, so already have adequate supplies for that.

On the .380 side, I was very short of bullets for practice, so put an order in to Everglades for jacketed heads. I screwed up the order and accidently ordered 500 380 Auto 95gr RN plated Bullets. I've NEVER used plated heads for any of my loading, only jacketed.

They'll accept a return, but won't allow a swap to jacketed, (same price so I don't understand) and must wait till refunded to my card. Then reorder.

Shipping back is on my dime, PLUS a charge to recover their original shipping. (in spite of the fact that ALL orders have FREE SHIPPING on their site.

Well, $70 for the order, minus $11 return shipping and minus their recouping their original cost (about $10), means my cost is about $90 to reorder the jacketed version.

So I'm gonna now work up a plated load and se how it goes.

Oh, well. Another life lesson.

RETFED

blchandl2 · August 1, 2021, 10:54 AM

I have been using plated bullets for a long time with no issues. Helps to save $$$ on range fodder.

jetinteriorguy · August 2, 2021, 06:38 AM

You do realize the shipping isn’t actually free, it’s just already included in the purchase price. No such thing as ‘free’.

Tamara · August 2, 2021, 07:12 AM

One thing to be aware of is that the light recoil spring that makes the slide easy to rack can cause issues of its own.

Calling it the "recoil spring" is something of a misnomer, as its main function is not to absorb recoil, but rather to use the stored energy from recoil to feed the next round into the chamber and return the slide to battery. Calling it a "slide closing" or "action return" spring would be more technically correct, but clumsier, and so "recoil spring" is probably here to stay.

At any rate, the very light recoil springs in these guns only have a small amount of force to impart to the forward motion of the slide, and if the shooter has a grip that allows the muzzle to flip upward too much in recoil, the spring might not have the oomph to fully close the slide, leading to a failure to feed or a partially-out-of-battery "dead trigger" malf.

Ibmikey · August 21, 2021, 01:30 AM

My experience with my two 380’s and one 9mm has failed to produce any of the recoil spring failures suggested by Tamara. All three of my guns have been shot extensively by myself and a large contingent of persons who wanted to check out the new EZ and the only negative comments have come from a couple who did not grip the pistol properly and had a fight with the safety. My pistols shoot reasonably tight groups but are slightly low and left. My “hog kit” contains the 9mm, when we go out each morning to check hog traps ( this is Texas) the pistol has been put into use on dozens of occasions, usually with a single shot to the brain.

July 22, 2021, 09:36 PM	#1
retfed Junior Member Join Date: June 13, 2010 Location: Myrtle Beach area Posts: 10	S&W "EZ" pistols - likes?? I've been having harder time racking the slide on my Kahr P380 and PM9 as I've gotten older and weaker. So I think I'm ready to sell these and move on to easier to manipulate carry guns for personal protection. My wife was supposed to be carrying the .380, and me the 9mm. Well she didn't like the P380, and has been carrying the PM9 (which she stole from me). So finally decided to trade in the .380 Kahr for the Smith 380EZ. And depending on her response, follow up later with the PM9 to be sold and get the Smith 9EZ for myself. Looking for feed back on the "EZ" Smith models from people with more experience with them. Any help would be appreciated, 'cause I'm fighting more now with my Shield 9 for racking, etc. Retfed

July 22, 2021, 10:00 PM	#2
hammie Senior Member Join Date: March 18, 2009 Location: Temple, TX Posts: 959	I owned a 380 EZ. It was reliable and I liked it. My son wanted it and now he has it. The only negative thing for me was that the magazine release protruded a bit too much, and sometimes handling, or laying the gun down on the release side, caused the magazine to release. I chose the model with the manual safety because I grew up shooting 1911's and browning hi-powers, and I prefer a manual safety on a hammer fired, single action pistol. I've never fired the 9x19mm version, but if it is on the same frame as the .380, the recoil might not be pleasant for casual plinking. I think S&W makes a .22 LR version on the same frame. I've been looking for the .22 chambering to purchase. Last edited by hammie; July 22, 2021 at 11:01 PM.

July 23, 2021, 09:23 AM	#8
retfed Junior Member Join Date: June 13, 2010 Location: Myrtle Beach area Posts: 10	Responses thank you & question Thank you for the responses. It's giving me food for thought before proceeding with the 9EZ purchase. A lot of talk about range and "plinking". Is anyone seriously using these for concealed carry? If so how are you carrying and what holsters have you found to do so? THX again Retfed

July 23, 2021, 07:08 PM	#11
bedbugbilly Senior Member Join Date: November 19, 2009 Posts: 3,287	I have had a 380EZ for a while and I enjoy it. I/m "older" and my grip is not like it used to be but I can do OK with my Glock 26 that I normally carry. At time I carry the 380EZ - I use a OWB holster under a shirt tail or jacket. I originally bought the EZ with the intent of fun pinker with my cast reloads. I have no issue with the grip safety and I like the pistol very much - I haven't handled the 9mm EZ, but plan to and will probably buy one as well. I have a 9mm Shield that I also carry at timed, but I find it hard to rack at times - much stiffer than the Ruger SR9 that I had at one time. __________________ If a pair of '51 Navies were good enough for Billy Hickok, then a single Navy on my right hip is good enough for me . . . besides . . . I'm probably only half as good as he was anyways. Hiram's Rangers Badge #63

July 24, 2021, 11:17 AM	#12
ciwsguy Senior Member Join Date: January 5, 2008 Location: KY Posts: 302	I have both 380EZ and 9EZ. The 380 shoots point of aim. My 9EZ shot so low I needed to replace the front sight with a custom size Dawson precision sight. Both are easy to load, rack, shoot and takedown. Downside: not easily concealable. Eight in the mag is enough for me Last edited by ciwsguy; July 24, 2021 at 11:28 AM.

July 22, 2021, 10:11 PM	#3
MJ45 Member Join Date: August 15, 2011 Location: Midwest Posts: 51	i say go for it. i bought the Shield Plus months back. i also have issues with my grip and difficulties manipulating a slide on many pistols. for me, the Shield Plus works ok. i did try the EZ at the time but felt i could get by without it. if you can try a Plus as well as the EZ and find you can make the Plus work, you will gain rounds in the mag...

July 22, 2021, 10:20 PM	#4
603Country Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2011 Location: Thornton, Texas Posts: 3,998	We have a 380 EZ, and it’s a nice shooter. Not sure that I like the grip safety. And it does have a bit of a snappy recoil. I was also shooting a Beretta PX4 in 9mm, and the Beretta was more pleasant to shoot. I have not fired a 9mm EZ, but assume the recoil would be more than that of the 380EZ, and perhaps not a fun plinker. On the plus side, the EZ pistols are small and nice in the hand. Every time I pick up the 380EZ, I’m reminded how much I like it. Still not sure about the grip safety though.

July 23, 2021, 01:49 AM	#5
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,190	My wife has a 9EZ. She has weak hands and wrists from carpal tunnel surgery. She has to concentrate on keeping the grip safety depressed and the safety digs into the web of her hand. She will hurt for a couple of days after shooting a few mags through it. She can use it without pain but she has to wear a glove. I have no problem with it. It is hammer fired so it has a pretty decent trigger.

July 23, 2021, 07:52 AM	#6
blchandl2 Senior Member Join Date: November 1, 2008 Location: TN Posts: 526	I have the 380EZ for my wife to shoot because she has trouble operating the slide of anything larger than 22lr. I have shot the 9mm version and I am impressed with the gun and would like to one. I think both calibers are soft shooters, specifically the .380.

July 23, 2021, 08:28 AM	#7
BillM Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Amity Oregon Posts: 791	Wife has a 380 EZ. Easy to rack, magazines are easy to load. She likes it---and she is picky about her carry guns. Personally I'm not a fan of the manual safety, and with my larger hands I sometimes fail to release the grip safety. I'm sure a little dryfire/range time would take care of that.

July 23, 2021, 10:49 AM	#9
603Country Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2011 Location: Thornton, Texas Posts: 3,998	The last few months I’ve had 3 or 4 folks here to learn about handguns. Every one of them had problems with the grip safety on the EZ. Without getting familiar with the grip safety and shooting enough, the EZ might not be a good carry or purse gun. I might be inclined to tape down the grip safety and just use the manual safety if I was going to CC with it, but that wouldn’t be smart if the pistol lives in a purse. The EZ was for the wife, but she prefers her revolver. I’ve considered swapping the 380EZ for a 9mmEZ.

July 24, 2021, 12:12 PM	#13
dakota.potts Senior Member Join Date: February 25, 2013 Location: Keystone Heights, Florida Posts: 3,084	A family member has the .380 EZ (the Performance Center model) and I've spent a little bit of time with it. Likes: Easy to load and operate Good hand fit Pleasant shooting Nice sights and trigger Dislikes: a little prone to malfunctions induced by limp-wristing or weak ammo (shouldn't an EZ gun anticipate people with weak hands might limp wrist?) It could be that the ported barrel on the performance center model doesn't help. Easy loading does not apply with a full mag and the slide forward. Pretty much have to download the mag one or start with the slide locked to the rear. Again, baffling on a gun made for people with weak hands. Overall my experience was more positive than negative but said family member got the gun right at the start of Covid and ammo shortages and .380 is an absolute nightmare to come by so didn't get to put many rounds through it. __________________ Certified Gunsmith (On Hiatus) Certified Armorer - H&K and Glock Among Others You can find my writings at my website, pottsprecision.com.

July 24, 2021, 01:45 PM	#14
603Country Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2011 Location: Thornton, Texas Posts: 3,998	Not being able to find 380 caused me to start loading it. The components I didn’t have were available. I had planned originally to not load 380, but just buy what I needed. Great plan, huh?

July 24, 2021, 02:19 PM	#15
blchandl2 Senior Member Join Date: November 1, 2008 Location: TN Posts: 526	When the pocket .380 boom hit and made ammo scarce I bought dies and started reloading .380.

July 25, 2021, 10:39 AM	#16
lapetrarca53 Senior Member Join Date: September 10, 2012 Posts: 108	I have a .380 EZ and a SCCY .380. Both are easy to rack accurate and recoil is very manageable. Neither is very concealable for a person of smaller stature. Both are fun to shoot. No issues with the grip safety.

July 25, 2021, 11:05 AM	#17
603Country Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2011 Location: Thornton, Texas Posts: 3,998	For us, the 380EZ was never going to be a CC pistol. I carry a S&W Bodyguard 380 and she has a S&W 38 with the polymer frame and red dot.

July 25, 2021, 11:16 AM	#18
Shadow9mm Senior Member Join Date: March 21, 2012 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 3,974	I have shot the ez. slide was easy to rack. Gun shot well. If I were looking for a 380 it would be at the top of my short list. __________________ I don't believe in "range fodder" that is why I reload.

July 25, 2021, 11:51 AM	#19
AzShooter Senior Member Join Date: June 20, 2006 Location: Surprise, Az. Posts: 766	I opted for the EZ 9 and I'm very happy with it. At 70 I just don't have the grip strength to rack the slides on my older autos. With the EZ 9 there is no problem at all. I was concerned about recoil with such a small gun but it's made so well that it's a pleasure to shoot. I went with the 9 because I couldn't find any .380 ammo and I did have over 1000 rounds of 9 in the house. I love how easy the magazines are to reload. It only holds 8 + 1 rounds but I carry two extra magazines with it. If it takes more than the first 9 I'm either going to be hiding or running away at that point.

July 25, 2021, 01:29 PM	#20
jag1954 Member Join Date: December 29, 2020 Posts: 28	I have the EZ in 9mm, easy to rack for this old geezer and shoots great.

August 1, 2021, 10:43 AM	#21
retfed Junior Member Join Date: June 13, 2010 Location: Myrtle Beach area Posts: 10	Well, thank you for all the responses. Appreciate BOTH positive and negative comments. Looks like you all are gonna make me "need" to add the 9EZ to my pistols. I DO reload, and have a number of 9's, so already have adequate supplies for that. On the .380 side, I was very short of bullets for practice, so put an order in to Everglades for jacketed heads. I screwed up the order and accidently ordered 500 380 Auto 95gr RN plated Bullets. I've NEVER used plated heads for any of my loading, only jacketed. They'll accept a return, but won't allow a swap to jacketed, (same price so I don't understand) and must wait till refunded to my card. Then reorder. Shipping back is on my dime, PLUS a charge to recover their original shipping. (in spite of the fact that ALL orders have FREE SHIPPING on their site. Well, $70 for the order, minus $11 return shipping and minus their recouping their original cost (about $10), means my cost is about $90 to reorder the jacketed version. So I'm gonna now work up a plated load and se how it goes. Oh, well. Another life lesson. RETFED

August 1, 2021, 10:54 AM	#22
blchandl2 Senior Member Join Date: November 1, 2008 Location: TN Posts: 526	I have been using plated bullets for a long time with no issues. Helps to save $$$ on range fodder.

August 2, 2021, 06:38 AM	#23
jetinteriorguy Senior Member Join Date: April 28, 2013 Posts: 3,176	You do realize the shipping isn’t actually free, it’s just already included in the purchase price. No such thing as ‘free’.

August 2, 2021, 07:12 AM	#24
Tamara Moderator Emeritus Join Date: March 11, 2000 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 16,002	One thing to be aware of is that the light recoil spring that makes the slide easy to rack can cause issues of its own. Calling it the "recoil spring" is something of a misnomer, as its main function is not to absorb recoil, but rather to use the stored energy from recoil to feed the next round into the chamber and return the slide to battery. Calling it a "slide closing" or "action return" spring would be more technically correct, but clumsier, and so "recoil spring" is probably here to stay. At any rate, the very light recoil springs in these guns only have a small amount of force to impart to the forward motion of the slide, and if the shooter has a grip that allows the muzzle to flip upward too much in recoil, the spring might not have the oomph to fully close the slide, leading to a failure to feed or a partially-out-of-battery "dead trigger" malf. __________________ MOLON LABE! 2% Unobtainium, 98% Hypetanium. The Arms Room: An Online Museum.

August 21, 2021, 01:30 AM	#25
Ibmikey Senior Member Join Date: June 1, 2013 Location: Now relocated to Texas Posts: 2,943	My experience with my two 380’s and one 9mm has failed to produce any of the recoil spring failures suggested by Tamara. All three of my guns have been shot extensively by myself and a large contingent of persons who wanted to check out the new EZ and the only negative comments have come from a couple who did not grip the pistol properly and had a fight with the safety. My pistols shoot reasonably tight groups but are slightly low and left. My “hog kit” contains the 9mm, when we go out each morning to check hog traps ( this is Texas) the pistol has been put into use on dozens of occasions, usually with a single shot to the brain.