S&W Shield EZ 9mm

[Graybeard]

OK as mentioned in my other post about my range session today I have decided my S&W Shield 9mm has to go. It has proved unreliable and so I will not again carry it for self defense.

I was much tempted by a Sig 365 but absolutely HATE flat triggers. I've seen three versions of this gun and those that didn't have flat triggers didn't appear to have much room for my trigger finger making me think the trigger action is long and perhaps not to my liking. It still hasn't been ruled out and won't be until I handle one in a gun shop.

BUT ever since S&W came out with the Shield EZ in .380 this gun has been tempting me and now that it is available in 9mm the temptation is really strong.

My 75 year old arthritic hands just don't have the strength they used to have. I am finding it more difficult to manipulate the slide and loading magazines without some kinda mag loading tool is a serious pain, quite literally.

In the TV ads for this gun they make slide manipulation and magazine loading look so well EZ.

I realize this gun is heavier than the Shield I've been toting and still is only a 9mm and still is limited to only 8 rounds in the magazine. After my magazine experience with the original Shield using 8 round mags I wonder if they can be trusted.

So without further ado, have any of you got any experience with the Shield EZ either in .380 or 9mm? Is the slide really as easy to pull back as they make it look? Do the magazines really load that easily and if so do they really function dependably?

I know what I should do is just start toting my Walther .45acp. The mags load easy, well those last one or two not so easy but the first ten are EZ in. The trigger is to die for and it is super accurate and hits to point of aim.

[Lloyd Smale]

whats the problem with your old 9mm shield. I have two of the originals and one 2.0 and they all run like a sewing machine. Every bit as good as my glock 43.

[Graybeard]

I laid that out in full Lloyd in the post I made about my range day yesterday. I posted it to Handgun General Discussion Forum and so far it has had only 10 views and no comments. Here is the link:

https://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,286408.0.html

Here is the part of that thread that is relevant to your question here:

The real impetus for this range session was my EDC pistol, a S&W Shield 9mm. This gun has been going into stores with me for quite some while now but has gotten darn little range time.

I've been carrying it with an 8 round S&W brand mag in it and toting a spare 7 round S&W mag in a clip on leather pouch actually made for the Ruger LCP but it fits the Shield mags better.

I decided to upgrade it a bit so I ordered a MagGuts +2 kit which is advertised to turn a 7 round mag into a 9 round and an 8 round mag into a 10 round mag https://magguts.com/. I also ordered an ArachniGRIP for it https://www.arachnigrip.com/store. This is a little spider shaped thing that goes over the top of slide to make it easier to pull the slide back.

I installed the MagGuts kit consisting of spring, follower and base plate. I then tried to load 10 rounds and was at best barely able to ram the 9th one in. But even more concerning to me was when I unloaded the mag prior to installing the kit. The first round couldn't be removed with my thumb. I had to use a tool to push it out. The next round came out OK with thumb but the next two rounds went nose down in the mag and would not have fired had I needed that gun to save my life.

So since I now had serious reservations about the Shield I retired it temporarily until I could get it to the range. I didn't install the arachigrip. Today was range day for it.

I first unloaded my carry ammo (Speer Gold Dot 115 JHP) and again that first round would NOT come out using my thumb. At least the other rounds stayed nose up not down and did push out OK.

So I loaded it up with CCI Blazer aluminum case ammo and proceeded to fire. Well after a fashion I did anyway. I was only able to get 8 rounds to load into the now supposedly 10 round magazine. It did all feed and function the gun properly.

I had two other mags for it with me both 8 round mags, one a S&W brand and the other a ProMag. The ProMag was a replacement for one that had previously failed to work. The S&W was seriously rough feeling trying to load it and I was only able to load a single round into the mag. The ProMag allowed me to load 8 with difficulty and it did fire and function.

Overall the entire experience was quite exasperating and the gun is now on the trade list. I will never again load or fire it. It is HISTORY for me. This is the gun I got from Ron aka Bugeye in trade for my Walther P22.

[oldandslow]

My wife got the Ez 380 and it is definately Ez in everything, slide racking, mag loading, etc. and the recoil is as Ez as any of the three 380's I'm familiar with which is the EZ, a RIA BabyRock, and a Walther PPK/s. The Walther is the most difficult of the three and the BabyRock is just a little less user friendly in slide racking and mag loading than the EZ and not much different in felt recoil. My son-in-law recently purchased the 9 mm version of the Ez and it sees to be just as Ez as the 380 version to both of us but has more recoil. It hasn't been shot a lot but it has given no problem with factory ammo. The only difference to me is the 9 is slightly wider then the 380.

I have owned a Walther CCP 9 mm for sometime now and I wouldn't even consider swapping it for an Ez.