Which .380 handgun do you like?
By MARJ LAW
Smith & Wesson says their M&P 380 Shield EZ is: “Built for personal protection and every-day carry, …is designed to be easy to use, featuring an easy-to-rack slide, easy-to-load magazine and easy to clean design.”
Do we believe this?
Or is it just a good sales pitch?
Will we take it home and find out that what sounds too good to be true – probably isn’t?
Friday, Joe and I had the opportunity to introduce three people to the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office pistol range. Each of them had shot, but we’re talking they had shot several decades before. Because of this, we reinforce several concepts they probably knew, and add new notions too.
I am happy to see that Dorrie and Lara came wearing high-necked shirts. We previously discussed the discomfort of the “hot shell Watusi” and that wearing high-necked tee shirts works well to avoid the flying hot casings from falling down their clothing. Dorrie and Lara are not wearing rings either. There’s no ruling that you can’t wear rings, but rings can make it uncomfortable to get a good grip on a handgun. Mark wears a T-shirt, too, and a plain wedding ring.
Everyone gathers at the WCSO office and signs in. Dorrie, Lara, and Mark meet Tom: the deputy who is managing the front desk, offering advice and keeping track of the shooters who come to the range.
We troop over to the pistol range and see the red line on the floor, and we discuss the ideas: “hot” and “cold.” All three have brought eye and ear protection. Lara wears stick-in-your ear squishy pads and the ear muffs too. She really wants to avoid loud noises, and this is a good combination. Dorrie and Mark have ear muffs.
They’ve remembered to have their guns in cases. We don’t carry “naked” guns at the range. When the range becomes “hot,” they bring their unloaded guns in the cases to the shooting bench.
Dorrie has a Smith & Wesson Model 10 .38 Special. Dorrie says it’s heavy and has a recoil she doesn’t like. Dorrie is thin and petite, with small bones. She also has some hand, arm, and shoulder difficulties. I’m going to watch her carefully to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself.
Lara has a Sig Sauer Model 938. It’s a 9mm handgun. Sig is a fine company, but this particular 9mm handgun has a tendency to be snappy. Joe and I owned one once, but we traded it simply because other 9mm handguns can be much easier to use.
I’ve read what is said about defense guns: “Well, it’s not really a gun for target shooting, so you have to feel the pain.”
Oscar Mayer Bologna. No pain, no gain???
There is no nobility in shooting a gun that hurts your body.
For the new shooter or the mature shooter, or any shooter with hand or arm limitations, the .380 can be an easy-to-manage handgun. This is why Dorrie and Lara are going to shoot several .380s to see if one of them might be useful for their needs.
We begin with the Smith & Wesson M&P 380 Shield EZ M2.0. Remember what S&W says about this gun? Is it really easy to use? Even The Truth About Guns agrees. They say the EZ has a “Charmin soft recoil.”
OK. Dorrie and Lara will see about that.
Targets go up when the range is “cold.” We use Shoot-n-See targets to make it easy for the gals to see where their bullets go.
When the range is “hot” again, Dorrie shoots the EZ first. Placing five rounds in the EZ, Dorrie has three of her rounds on the 8-inch target. Then Lara shoots. She gets three rounds in the target, too. But surprise! One of those bullets hits directly in the bull’s-eye! That’s a real confidence boost!
Dorrie and Lara both like the EZ, except that one of them thinks a gun ought to have a safety. Well, the EZ has a grip safety. This makes it so you don’t have to remember to push any lever in this gun. If you don’t grip the gun high and firmly in the grip safety, the EZ simply won’t shoot.
Dorrie and Lara find the trigger pull is simple, and trigger travel is short. Lara thinks it has a smidge more recoil than Dorrie does, and she finds racking the slide a bit more difficult, but not much. They both like the grip. They like the ability to load the gun by pressing the magazine’s button against the spring and dropping in rounds like you would with a .22.
In fact, Eagle Gun Range says: “The result is an easy to hold, easy to manipulate, lightweight pistol that shoots a defensive round, but feels like a .22 cal gun.”
The article goes on to say: “Mostly, though, I just enjoyed shooting this gun. No kidding, outside of a precision .22, this is the softest gun I’ve ever shot. So fun.”
Next, the gals shoot the Sig Sauer P238. This is a micro compact .380. The grip fits Dorrie’s hand well. She likes this gun for the easy trigger, light kick and easy-to-rack slide. She likes its very compact size that will fit on her person or purse.
Lara has larger hands and finds she has “pinky dangle” on the P238. When you can’t get a firm grip, it’s more difficult to control the gun. She gives the recoil lower scores for this reason. So, Lara isn’t fond of the grip or recoil of the P238.
Last, we shoot the Ruger Security 380. Both Lara and Dorrie find the Ruger a bit more difficult to handle. Not a lot, but they find trigger pull, trigger travel, and racking the slide somewhat harder than they do on the Sig P238 or the S&W EZ. Lara found the grip a bit large, but the kick was negligible. Despite the slight rise in difficulty, both gals found they can manage this Ruger easily.
Mark, who had been shooting 9mm handguns with Joe, comes over to shoot these three .380s too.
He demonstrates a stance with looser knees and an upper canted body. Clearly, he has shot before.
“I’m still interested in a revolver with a safety,” says Lorrie, even though she really likes the Sig Sauer P238.
All three .380s have safeties. The Sig P238 has a manual safety, the S&W EZ has a grip safety, and the Ruger Security .380 has both a trigger and a manual safety.
“I really like the idea of the point and shoot revolver,” she continues.
“OK. How many rounds does your gun have?” I ask.
“It holds six rounds,” she tells me.
“If Mr. Bad comes at you, would you rather have those six rounds to shoot, or the Sig with seven rounds or the EZ with eight rounds? The Ruger holds 15 rounds. What about if Mr. Bad has a friend? Will your six rounds be sufficient?” I wonder.
She thinks for a moment.
“Well, I know shot placement is really important, but I’d like to have some extra rounds in case I’m scared and don’t shoot well. After all, this is my defensive gun, even though I hope to never need it.”
“How often do you shoot your .38 Special?” I ask.
“I haven’t shot it in a long time. It hurts my hands.”
As NRA Shooting Illustrated notes: “And then, the gun never gets taken to the range again and sits in a box, or worse yet, in a bedside safe or holster somewhere – out of sight, out of mind and out of practice.”
Taking five shots each, Dorrie, Lara and Mark all shoot the 380s, and have hit the 8” targets about half the time. Not bad, for a first time shooting someone else’s handguns!
After they’ve shot these .380s, they decide they might purchase another gun. Once they discover the one they really like, they can practice until they become good shooters.
I don’t know who said: “Beware of the person that has just one gun. He most likely knows how to use it,” but when Dorrie, Lara and Mark hone in on one gun, I know they’ll practice.
Then this statement will be true of them.
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.
