I just got an email from Smith stating that the EZ line of pistols manufactured from March 1st 2020 through October 31st may unintentionally fire when a round is chambered. Seems that some of the hammers supplied by a 3rd party have cracks, cannot engage the sear properly, and the thing may go full auto on you. The grip safety of course must be held.

The info is on the Smith website.

I will check that....thanks.

Thank you for the information!

Quick link:
https://www.mpshieldezrecall.com/

I’ll tell you what I’ve shot my share of full auto and it is fun, expensive but fun.

That said an unintentional burst of rounds or runaway slam fire from something you don’t expect is a HIGH PUCKER EVENT.

Definitely get those pistols fixed.

Thank you, my wife's new "Never Fired" 380EZ is on the list. They will be sending her a prepaid shipping label.

Thanks for the heads up.

Looks like mine is not in the recall window, so no full auto .380 for me...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Lord Vaalic, November 23, 2020 10:31 PM

Yup. Got the notification yesterday, courtesy of Sports South, one of the distributors that we use. This affects all 15 or so EZs that we have in the shop, the youngest of which was built about a month ago. Not the best time to deprive us or any gun shop of even more guns, but I do understand a sudden case of burst fire is probably not the most desirable thing to have happen...well, at least for some...

Kind of like the Springfield XDS fiasco from a few years ago.

They should be recalling all their .380 EZ mags too. Many of them tend to eject the last round in the mag to a live round stovepipe. They know about it but do nothing. Most owners seem to blame the weak mag springs.

quote:

Originally posted by yanici:
They should be recalling all their .380 EZ mags too. Many of them tend to eject the last round in the mag to a live round stovepipe. They know about it but do nothing. Most owners seem to blame the weak mag springs.

Thanks for mentioning that problem. I had thought the EZ was problem free from most reviews and users input.
Is the recall for both the 380 & 9mm?

Curious about the EZ9, any problems with it?

That is not a good recall. Ugh.

quote:

Is the recall for both the 380 & 9mm?

Yes, both calibers and all EZ's including Performance Center models.

Bought my wife the 380 Shield EZ, manufacture date in May 2020, within the zone for recall, yet I entered the serial number and got back a "not affected by this recall" response. Called them, it seems only a fraction of all pistols in the date zone are recalled.

quote:

Originally posted by yanici:
They should be recalling all their .380 EZ mags too. Many of them tend to eject the last round in the mag to a live round stovepipe. They know about it but do nothing. Most owners seem to blame the weak mag springs.

My wife's mags did this, semi-occasionally. I searched on the 'net and found a DIY fix- lightly sanding the top of the follower. I took apart her mags and roughed up the top of the follower with 200 grit sandpaper width-wise, and it seemed to have solved the issue. She shot one box of .380acp in 5 round intervals and the two mags did not stovepipe. We'll have to see if it works beyond that.

My EZ 380 was built in March though putting the serial in online it appears it was still not one of the ones affected. I was told by Smith and Wesson that it was only a small amount of pistols total, it just ended up being a long time span.

As far as the mag issue, yeah I have heard roughing up the follower will help. Initially I had one experience where the last round kicked out, then it never happened again even after another couple hundred rounds. This kind of “working itself out” has also been reported though we will see over time. Smith will give you extra power mag springs (+10% I believe), which is also a way to rectify the problem should it continue.

quote:

I was told by Smith and Wesson that it was only a small amount of pistols total, it just ended up being a long time span.

All of the Shield EZs in our inventory are made between mid September and the third week of October. Just over half of them are affected by the recall and will have to be sent back for inspection and/or parts replacement. At least in this limited sample it appears that specific SKUs (variants) are more affected than others. But we did have one case where three guns in a specific SKU were affected, but one of the same SKU built a week earlier was cleared by the online s/n checker. Why that one was okay still seems like a puzzler to me, but we'll roll with it and offer it for sale.

Thank you for this information. I bought 2 this month and this is very helpful. I wouldn't have known, otherwise.