Smith & Wesson Performance Center M&P 380 Shield EZ M2.0 13225

Due to reader requests, we’ve begun posting top-ten listings of various firearm categories that garner a lot of interest, such as 380 pistols for carry or other self defense. You can find all of those ranked articles on Gun-Tests.com by searching for the keyword “listicle.” A few months ago, we posted one of those best 380 ACP pistols lists, and we were informed by a reader and experienced shooter that his new Rock Island Armory Baby Rock did not live up to the promise of the pistol we tested nine years ago. Our pistol was delivered with a nice, crisp 4.5-pound trigger compression. That’s similar to one of the South Carolina test team’s Baby Rock, which has been in service for quite a few years as a backup to his 1911. That particular pistol features a trigger action breaking at 5.1 pounds. The reader measured the trigger action of his current production Baby Rock at more than 10 pounds. We corresponded with another reader who reported a 13.2-pound let off, and a third managed a 9.4-pound let off after considerable use and lubrication. Were these typical of current production? It would seem so, because the first reader contacted Armscor, intending to send the pistol in for adjustment. The company informed the reader that his Baby Rock was indeed in spec because there have been safety upgrades to the Baby Rock we tested and liked, and those safety enhancements included a heavier trigger. This gave us pause. What could have changed in the nine years since we tested the Baby Rock 380?

Another subject came up. The Glock 42 380 tested a few years ago was not as reliable as all other Glock pistols we’ve evaluated, giving us a number of short cycles and failures to lock open on the last shot in 2020, but only with heavier loaded ammunition. A rater who uses his Glock in daily carry noted that this was true initially, but new magazines and a slight redesign helped his gun to reach 1,000 rounds so far without any malfunction, and very little cleaning, he added. We decided to obtain a new-production Rock Island Baby Rock 380 ACP and Glock Model 42 to see if their current performance was the same, or better, or worse than the previous generations tested nine and five years ago, respectively.

Since we tested the Smith & Wesson EZ Rack pistol more recently in May 2024, we upgraded to a Performance Center pistol of the same type, but with improvements, in this installment. The standard S&W EZ Rack was overall satisfactory, but had experienced some problems with a certain type of ammunition. A tester familiar with both the EZ Rack and the ammunition brand felt that it wasn’t the gun at fault. This revisit is intended to qualify or isolate these problems and fixes. 

Smith & Wesson Performance Center M&P 380 Shield EZ M2.0 13225

$515

Gun Tests grade: A-

As accurate and combat worthy as most any polymer-frame pistol we have tested. We were troubled by a short cycle, but it may have been shooter error.

This pistol is the priciest tested and about $131 more than the previously tested EZ Rack pistol, which is what we will call this handgun for brevity. The Performance Center version of the EZ Rack builds upon the previously tested pistol with certain upgrades. As for a comparison to the Rock Island, the EZ Rack is very similar in operation. The EZ Rack is hammer fired, and the hammer is concealed by the slide. Each are single-action pistols, and each feature both a thumb safety and a grip safety. The Baby Rock is a simple blowback design, while the EZ Rack is a locked breech. In handling, they are not only similar, they fill the same niche — a handgun in a pocket-pistol caliber heavier than most 380 ACP handguns. They are intended for the recoil shy. The EZ Rack is a bit lighter, although the overall size is slightly larger than the Rock Island Armory Baby Rock, making the two designed to fill a similar role in the hands of people with a similar taste. The S&W is 1.15 inches longer and 0.4 inch taller than the Baby Rock, as well as .06 inch wider, but weighs 5.2 ounces less than the Baby Rock. The pistol tested is a Performance Center gun, and PC models are always handguns with their own character, and a higher price.

The slide is finished in black Armonite. The slide features lightening cuts to reduce weight. A lever behind the chamber pivots when the chamber is loaded, offering both tactile and visual confirmation of a loaded chamber. The sights are a big improvement over not only the original EZ Rack but both of the other pistols tested here. HiViz Lightwave tritium sights are practically worth the added price of the Performance Center handgun all on their own. These are easily the best sights of the test. The frame is polymer and features a light rail, which the other handguns do not have. The pistol has been fitted with a lightweight trigger that seems to be just a trigger shoe over the existing EZ Rack trigger. The trigger action is sharp and crisp, easily the best of the test. Although it feels nice and tight, it is actually 0.1 pound heavier than the previously tested standard EZ Rack pistol. The handgun is supplied with two eight-round magazines and a nicely outfitted tool kit. The magazines feature a knob that allows pulling the follower to the bottom of the magazine with only slight effort.

The EZ Rack is a lightweight pistol, but it offers a good firing grip and light recoil. Another bonus of the Performance Center pistol is that the barrel protrudes slightly ahead of the slide and offers a port for redirecting exhaust gas. This should result in lowered muzzle flip. It is difficult to gauge how effective the port is because the 380 ACP doesn’t recoil much in a pistol this size. Another advantage is that the EZ Rack is designed to allow easy racking of the slide. A combination of spring technology and design accomplishes this. The Rock is the more difficult to rack than the EZ, although the Rock is easier to rack than the Glock. The EZ Rack pistol features forward cocking serrations, not very tall, but a long line of serrations.

The pistol is ambidextrous as far as the thumb safety goes, but the slide lock isn’t ambidextrous. The magazine catch may be reversed. This gets the EZ Rack into a much more friendly category for left-handed shooters. When the pistol is grasped, depressing the grip safety easily makes the gun ready to fire, almost without effort, but snaps back into the Safe position if the pistol is dropped or you release your grip. The grip safety does not depress fully into the firing grip. 

Firing the EZ Rack pistol is a joy. Recoil is modest, and the pistol gets on target quickly. Hit probability is high, the best of the test. We rang the bell on bad-guy silhouette targets and had no failures to feed, chamber, fire, or eject for most of the test. But we experienced a single short-cycle round caught in the ejection port with the Fiocchi FMJ ammunition. A grip-strength failure is a possibility, or perhaps a break-in malfunction. 

Moving to accuracy testing from the bench, this team didn’t shoot quite as well as the results exhibited by the previous team, but results were still very good. Several groups were under 2 inches at 15 yards, excellent for this type of handgun.

Our Team Said: The EZ Rack has good features, making it easy to shoot well. Recoil is modest, and the pistol is easily loaded. Even the magazines are easily loaded. This is a very user-friendly gun. Plus, the pistol features a light rail, making home-defense considerations more attractive with this pistol. We dinged it a half grade because we suffered a single short cycle. If you want to save money and get similar performance, you might simply purchase the standard-model EZ Rack. 

We fired groups at 15 yards from a bench using an MTM Case-Gard K-Zone Pistol Rest. We measured velocities with a Competition Electronics Pro Chrony. The first screen of the chronograph was 10 feet from the muzzles. JHP = jacketed hollow point. XTP = eXtreme Terminal Performance jacketed hollow point.

Written and photographed by Bob Campbell, using evaluations from Gun Tests Team members. GT