I am so proud of my wife. She finally decided she wanted to take up shooting after last summers violence. She had half hearted tried a couple 9MM pistols before but results were not great. This time I started her out on our Browning Buckmark 22LR pistol. She got prificient with it fast and loves shooting it.

Once her confidence was high I had her try some of our 9MM pstols. The only ones she could shoot reasonable well were our P226 and CZ SP01 Shadow but in single action only as she could not reach the DA trigger very well. She tried a couple of our striker fired pistols but all were too large for her smallish hands to get a correct grip though the Glock 19 was close.

She signed up for a class at local gun store/range with a talented female instructor to learn the basics amd they also had a "gun buffet" where she was able to try several pistols that interested her. She also took the classes to get her Illinois CCW and passed the shooting test no problem with the Browning Buckmark.

We went to the range and rented the pistols she was interested in - Glock 48, SIG P365XL, EZ Shield 9MM, and Shield Plus. She shot the Glock 48 pretty well but tight groups were always to the left. She shot the P365XL pretty well but the EZ Shield 9MM fit her hand perfectly and it showed in her shooting in both consistent accuracy and recoil control. The Shield Plus grip was a bit too big for her and her shooting was decent but not near as consistent as with the EZ Shield 9MM that she could group almost every shot on center of target at 7 yards.

When I asked her what she wanted to buy she could not make up her mind. She liked shooting the EZ Shield 9MM but was concerned that it's capacity was lower than the P365XL. I told her not to worry about that and to get the one she enjoyd shooting the most which was the EZ Shield 9MM.

Months went by with no decision and not talked about much. Well last week we went to the LGS to look around and she eyed the EZ Shield 9MM Performance Center and her eyes lit up LOL. No question the plain EZ Shield 9MM is not much of a looker as far as pistols go but the better sights, better trigger, and bling accesnts on the Performance Center really caaught her eye and she bought it and we picked it up today.

I think for her needs she made a great choice for an all around pistol that she can use for range, home defense, and personal self defense while also very easy to operate including racking the slide and very nice trigger. She probably won't carry much but she has the option to do that and to have in the car with her while she is driving. I told her if she feels the need or want to get a higher capacity pistol that we certainly get her one of those too but for now lets go shooting and have some fun! So glad she was able to pick out her own pistol and she is really proud of it.

Two thumbs up for Mrs. Grumpy1.

We just went through a very similar situation with our oldest daughter, twas a EZ .380 in our case. I was very surprised to see that side-to-side the .380 was exactly the same size as my wife's p250 sub-compact (albeit thinner + a bit lighter)

Awesome!

Good for her! Went through the same process with my wife. She chose the 380 EZ for everything except EDC. Because of her job & dress code she needed something very concealable but easy to use. She carries a Beretta Tomcat in .32 ACP.

Thanks for the postitive comments. I was handling the EZ Shield 9MM yesterday and can't wait to try it out myself. I thought it would be too small for me but I put a 9MM laser training cartridge in it and dry firing the results looked pretty good.

In the next few days we will be ging throught the take down/field strip process and show her how to clean and lube it and then some dry fire practice.

Bought a S&W Sheild EZ 9mm for my oldest daughter when they first came out about 18 mo ago. It’s the plain Jane model, but she loves shooting it, and I have peace of mind that it’s a reliable, accurate, but simple handgun.

My only complaint…although she doesn’t care…is the single stack capacity. I guess that’s part of the whole “EZ” thing with loading the mags.

In some ways it reminds me of a small 1911. Single stack, hammer fired, grip safety, etc.

I haven't seen or held a Shield EZ myself but I own and carry a regular 1.0 Shield 9mm.
In spite of the reputation of so-so accuracy, mine is exceptionally accurate and easy to shoot.
Most of the time I carry with the 8 round magazine that is retrofitted with the Magguts +2 for 10+1 capacity.
Some people think the gun is a little difficult to cycle the slide but I don't feel a noticeable difference from my Sig or Glock firearms.
Reliability with and without that magazine has been 0 failures in the 8 or so years I've owned it.

I have not seen this yet at my local dealer. I think it's something that my wife would carry.

My wife really likes the 380EZ. Bought it before the 9mm was available so may need to try it.

Nice -- if the 'bling stuff' makes her more likely to carry it and practice with it -- all the better !

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Excellent choice. My other half picked the non PC version of the EZ series out of the case. Shoots it pretty good too!

I realize that there may be a certain demographic that S&W was targeting, pardon the pun, with the EZ series, but dudes can shoot it also, with no drop in testosterone level. I seriously considered one after surgery to my upper back and neck left me somewhat weaker while undergoing physical therapy. I'm also developing arthritis in my hands that's making certain guns a challenge to manipulate. I fondled a PC EZ at the LGS I work at and thought it was an excellent little weapon. Of course we sold it that day, EZs sell themselves.

Good on the OP's half-unit for selecting a very nice pistol.

Thank you for sharing! That’s what I call a happy ending!

Good post. I'm looking for a gun for my granddaughter's 21st birthday and she also has smallish hands. That will be one of the first ones we can try. One of the local ranges has the shield and the 365 we can rent so it will be a start. If you don't mind telling, what was the price of her Shield?

quote:

Originally posted by fiasconva:
Good post. I'm looking for a gun for my granddaughter's 21st birthday and she also has smallish hands. That will be one of the first ones we can try. One of the local ranges has the shield and the 365 we can rent so it will be a start. If you don't mind telling, what was the price of her Shield?

We paid $599 plus tax for the EZ 9MM Performance Center model while the standard model was price at $489 and is also an excellent pistol. Not the greatest price but not a ripoff either. With the price of gas and consideration for time it made no sense to shop around other local gun stores to save a few dollars and also Illinois has a waiting period so you have to come back again after 72 hours to pick up your handgun plus most importantly I did not want to dissapoint dear wife and leave the store without the purchase while her enthusiasm was high. Good luck in finding that right pistol for your granddaugther.

We have not made it to the range yet, but hopefuly this weekend to try it out and shoot some of our other pistols too.

quote:

Originally posted by kidcop:
I realize that there may be a certain demographic that S&W was targeting, pardon the pun, with the EZ series, but dudes can shoot it also, with no drop in testosterone level. I seriously considered one after surgery to my upper back and neck left me somewhat weaker while undergoing physical therapy. I'm also developing arthritis in my hands that's making certain guns a challenge to manipulate. I fondled a PC EZ at the LGS I work at and thought it was an excellent little weapon. Of course we sold it that day, EZs sell themselves.

Good on the OP's half-unit for selecting a very nice pistol.

Right on. Wife is 64 and I will be 70 in a few months. Dear wife is still in good physical condition and regulalry works out but age is starting to catch up to her and was recently told she will probably need a new knee before too many more years. Plus she is not quite a shooting enthusiast like the rest of us here and if she can shoot it well it just makes sense to have a pistol that is easy for her to manipluate and that can only be a plus if she needed to do that under stress. I am starting to notice some old age pain/stiffness in my hands too. Kudos to Smith and Wesson for bringing out the EZ Shield series of handguns.

Thanks, Grumpy1. As soon as she can get some time off from classes and work we will be starting our search. She is hyped!

Nice story. You'll both really like it! Can't wait to hear your shooting impressions. My wife and I really like her's.

I'm 78 and picked up a couple of EZ380s when they first came out and had to send the TS version back for a recall so got another w/o TS. Like them both very much as the are great pistols. Am taking the TS version into my LGS to have NS installed. I picked up a PC EZ 9mm about a year ago and it is my bedside piece with a TLR4 mounted on it. I have also recommend the EZ to others in my age group and they really like how it functions. Much easier to rack the slide on both calibers. S&W really has a winner with this pistol and with the age group it was designed for.

quote:

I realize that there may be a certain demographic that S&W was targeting, pardon the pun, with the EZ series, but dudes can shoot it also, with no drop in testosterone level.

Exactly! I'm a "big" guy in so-so shape & I just really enjoy shooting hers. It's like a goldilocks gun. Not too big, not too small, lightweight, low recoil & accurate.
There is nothing "non-manly" about it.