Page 43 - American Rifleman (February 2020)

SECOND ACT

Upgunning The S&W M&P Shield EZ To 9 mm

Easy to rack, easy to load and easy to clean, the S&W M&P380 Shield EZ rapidly became one

of the Massachusetts maker’s top-selling pistols. But one of its limitations was its .380 ACP
chambering. Now offered in a 9 mm Luger version, its critics have less ammunition.

BY MARK A. KEEFE, IV, Editor In Chief

hat’s great, but when will you have a 9 mm?” If not dis-
counted out of hand, that was one of two likely responses
to the Smith & Wesson M&P380 Shield EZ chambered in
.380 ACP. The other was, “I’ll take it.”
This gun in its .380 guise represented a solution to what
many gun company executives didn’t even know was a question.
And while the industry was consumed by a no-longer-Quixotic
quest to cram the maximum number of 9 mm rounds into the
smallest possible package, an entire class of consumers was,
perhaps, not given due consideration or engineering attention—
until the EZ.
We thought so much of the gun—and of the lawful armed
citizens whose needs it was intended to address—we put it
on this magazine’s cover (June 2018, p. 56). It also came
out on top of 25 other guns in the Ladies Pistol Project 3—
americanrifleman.org/lpp3—and notched the 2019 Golden
Bullseye for American Ri eman Woman’s Innovation Product.
But this isn’t just a girl gun. Those features that made it appeal
to women also made it of interest to others. Managing Editor
Kelly Young addressed these folks in “The Aging Defender” last
month (p. 60), which is worth reading even if you aren’t the
target demographic for Centrum Silver.
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AMERICANRIFLEMAN.ORG FEBRUARY 2020