Due to some hand surgery, I have lost some strength in my dominant hand. I am currently going to PT but it will be a long road to recovery. Also, my doctor has suggested I limit recoil for about a year. My regular EDC is a Walther 9mm PPSM2. I had considered using one of my 32acps for EDC but they are all blowback action so there is some recoil and they are relatively heavy (Walther PP, CZ83, Beretta 81). I could go with a 22 for EDC but prefer something a little more substantial. Therefore I am considering the Ruger Security 380 or the S&W EZ 380. The physical dimensions are very similar. The EZ 380 is a little more expensive and has an 8-round magazine. The Security 380 is about $100 less and has a 10-round and 15-round magazine. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome. Thank you in advance.
Ruger Security 380 vs S&W EZ 380
- Thread starter razzle
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Seeing as your primary carry is a Walther, I would recommend throwing the PK380 into the ring, even though it is discontinued. The PD380 looks to be the same gun with a few minor changes, but I have not seen, or handled, one so I can not say with any certainty.
jar
Contributing Member
Also look at the Walther CCP M2+ 380. I have all three as well as an M1 Pk380 on the way. My B-i-L likes the S&W and my Sister likes the Ruger and finds it the easiest to rack of the three. I like the CCP and now have three of them, a 380 and two 9mm, one an upgraded M1 to M2 and the second the M2+. My sister had issues with the grip safety on the S&W and found the indents in the Ruger slide a big help when racking. The CCP has a steep learning curve getting the slide/piston lined up on reassembly but once you get over that hump is fine.
By the way, I also have the PPS M2 and prefer the CCP M2 over the PPS M2 even though the CCP is a fixed barrel straight but delayed blowback.
By the way, I also have the PPS M2 and prefer the CCP M2 over the PPS M2 even though the CCP is a fixed barrel straight but delayed blowback.
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gc70
Member
My wife went through this process after she had extensive hand surgery. The S&W does require slightly less cocking force (I can do it with only my little finger on the front sight). The Ruger weighs about an ounce more, so it will have marginally less calculated recoil. Probably the biggest differentiating factor for me and my wife is grip shape. The S&W has a narrower grip and the Ruger has a fatter grip. The S&W's narrower grip and grip safety seem to accentuate felt recoil, while the Ruger's fatter grip seems to spread out recoil. So the solution at our house was to to get both.
I own many more S&W handguns than Ruger, but purchased the Ruger, since I didn’t want the grip safety. Both are readily available, so why not try both and do the comparison yourself? Regarding felt recoil, reviews that I’ve seen report that the Ruger has less felt recoil, but I bet that the difference is minimal.
CoalCrackerAl
Member
I have a 380 EZ and a Walther PK380. Both are a pleasure to shoot and operate. The EZ i like a little more. It's also accurate as far as 380's go.
.308 Norma
Member
My wife loves her Smith EZ 380. That's the gun she carries, and she uses it well. And she'll tell you "straight up" that she IS a Ruger fan.
Seriously though, my wife has arthritis in her right thumb joint (no doubt at least in part due to thousands of full house 44 Mag loads fired in her Ruger Super Blackhawks in IHMSA competitions and practice for back in the "80s), so she finds the easy-racking slide of her Smith EZ 380 advantageous.
dweis
Member
I carried a PPS M2 for years. But I wanted higher capacity so I switched to a Ruger Security 9 Compact with a 15 round magazine. I am 81 and the arthritis in my hands took a big leap last year. I went to the Security 380. It's size and feel are the same ad the Security 9 Compact, which I shot very well but was having increasing trouble racking. I rented the S&W EZ 380. I did not like the feel of the gun or its lower capacity. I bought the Security 380 in May 2023. I love the gun. Easy to rack, soft recoil, and good ergonomics. I made the right choice for me.
Mine too. I like it a lot as well, it's a great little pistol.
TTv2
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I know the Ruger is a locked breech, IDK about the S&W. If you don't hate full size a 5.7 may be something to consider like the PSA Rock, if you want to keep the pistol a compact then you're stuck with .32 and .380 for an auto. If a revolver is doable for you I wouldn't overlook .22 Mag, but IDK if you can do the heavy trigger rimfires usually have.
I don’t have any experience with the Ruger, but I do have experience with the S&W .380 EZ. I liked the EZ when it first was introduced, but not as much anymore. It is easy to rack and the magazines are easy to load. There are downsides. It is a single action gun with an internal hammer. If you don’t get one with, and use, the manual safety, depressing the grip safety turns it into a single action gun in the holster before you draw. Then there is the grip safety itself. The pivot point is toward the bottom of the grip and not the top like a 1911. That means if you relax the grip near the tang, it can relax the safety to the point where it will not fire when you pull the trigger. Also, unlike a 1911, the gun will then not fire if the trigger is held back and you then press the grip safety hard enough. You have to totally let off the trigger with the grip safety depressed and then pull the trigger again before it will fire. I have an acquaintance who is a police firearms instructor, USPSA competitor, and a CCW teacher. This may not apply to you, but he sees a lot of problems with women in his courses who either fail to grip the safety on the draw or eventually relax the grip during strings of fire, resulting in failures to fire. This quote may be an example of this:
I really like the Glock 42 and the Sig P365-380. The Glock really needs a good break-in and may not be great for someone with hand strength issues. The Sig also needs some break-in, but I think to a lesser extent. The magazines on the Sig are difficult to load to capacity even with the supplied loading tool, so you may need someone to load them for you if hand strength is an issue.
I really would want to shoot them before buying something.
As an aside, if hand strength was an issue with my dominant hand, and a doctor recommended limiting recoil, I think I first would try to see what I could make-do using my support hand to shoot, whether I tried a new gun or my current carry firearms. That’s what I did when I broke my wrist of my dominant hand many years ago. By the time I recovered, I even was writing well with the support hand.
I hope you get it figured out satisfactorily.
I will say that my wife likes the gun. But, she likes it because it is light and easy to carry and not because of grip strength issues.
I really like the Glock 42 and the Sig P365-380. The Glock really needs a good break-in and may not be great for someone with hand strength issues. The Sig also needs some break-in, but I think to a lesser extent. The magazines on the Sig are difficult to load to capacity even with the supplied loading tool, so you may need someone to load them for you if hand strength is an issue.
I really would want to shoot them before buying something.
As an aside, if hand strength was an issue with my dominant hand, and a doctor recommended limiting recoil, I think I first would try to see what I could make-do using my support hand to shoot, whether I tried a new gun or my current carry firearms. That’s what I did when I broke my wrist of my dominant hand many years ago. By the time I recovered, I even was writing well with the support hand.
I hope you get it figured out satisfactorily.
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Howland937
Member
I've only shot the EZ. It's neat, but not anything I'd buy unless I found a deal. I did like the feel of the .380 version of the SIG P365 a lot, but never shot it. I have a couple of the P238 Sigs and they fill any .380 need I have. Good sights, light recoil, surprisingly accurate...and they're easier to rack than anything else I own, including.22's.
7+1 with a pinky extension mag gives it enough grip to get a hold of, but it's not enough capacity for some tastes.
7+1 with a pinky extension mag gives it enough grip to get a hold of, but it's not enough capacity for some tastes.
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I like the Sig P238 as well for the same reasons. I am sorry that I got rid of mine when ammo and reloading components were scarce in the early 2010s.
Howland937
Member
To me it's not apples to apples, with the S&W having a full size grip. The Ruger looks like a cool little pistol,
but more along the lines of the P365. I don't think Ruger meant for it to compete with the S&W EZ.
gc70
Member
The EZ has a height of 5.00" while the S-380 has a height of 5.01" with either the 10-round pinkie extension magazine or the 15-round extended magazine. The S-380 has a height of 4.35" with the 10-round magazine and flat base plate.
You can't make the EZ shorter, but you can make the S-380 longer.
Pistolay
Contributing Member
I have both of these. Both pistols are soft shooting, but the P365-380 is a bit more comfortable because of its larger size. They both have excellent sights and shoot very well. I'm 70 years old with bad eyes, arthritis in both thumbs and right wrist, and just an average shooter, but I can put an entire box of ammo into a circle the size of a paper plate at 15 yards with the P365. I'm a bit less accurate with the P238, and it starts to open up after about 10 yards, which I attribute to the shorter sight radius combined with my bad eyes, the smaller size, and the slightly greater recoil.
At the end of the day, they're both fine pistols, and I'd recommend either of them. Due to the greater capacity and better accuracy (for me, anyway), the P365 is my EDC and the P238 is my NPE carry.
W.E.G.
Member
I think the Smith and Wesson is a much more attractive pistol.
If that counts for anything.
If that counts for anything.
cnj
Member
Out of the 2 pistols mentioned by the OP, Ruger Security 380, all. day. long. My wife's S&W 380EZ was nothing but trouble. FTFs, FTEs no matter the ammo. I don't think we ever got through 2 mags in a row without a stoppage of some sort. Lots of documented issues with this pistol all over the interwebs. A trip back to the mothership did not resolve the issues. And that finicky grip safety...I was glad to see it go, even at a significant loss of $$.
Our Security 380 has been stellar through ~500 rounds without a single stoppage so far. The only issue I had, was the rear sight was slightly off and needed minor adjustment. Accurate as all get-out now.
Our Security 380 has been stellar through ~500 rounds without a single stoppage so far. The only issue I had, was the rear sight was slightly off and needed minor adjustment. Accurate as all get-out now.
bannockburn
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Howland937
Kind of the same here but with a Colt Mustang and a SIG P238. The Colt's action is a bit smoother but then I have used it more than the SIG. Both are well built, extremely reliable, easy with the recoil, and capable of some surprisingly decent accuracy.
Between the two pistols in question I would go with the Ruger Security .380. It has a better feel to it ergonomically, at least to my smaller size hand. I would get one with a manual safety as well.
Kind of the same here but with a Colt Mustang and a SIG P238. The Colt's action is a bit smoother but then I have used it more than the SIG. Both are well built, extremely reliable, easy with the recoil, and capable of some surprisingly decent accuracy.
Between the two pistols in question I would go with the Ruger Security .380. It has a better feel to it ergonomically, at least to my smaller size hand. I would get one with a manual safety as well.
