It's probably time to add "Equalizer" to the thread title just for Search and clarity's sake.
It's probably time to add "Equalizer" to the thread title just for Search and clarity's sake.
So, one Sunday I went to the rental range...
...and rented an Equalizer.
this company tends to clean their rental fleet well; it was just dirty enough to tell me that it gets shot a lot. Ammunition was S & B 115 grn fmj ball. It had the standard 3 dot sights they ship with.
It was equipped with a 15 rd magazine.
My main takeaways were that the front to rear distance on the grip was quite comfortable for my hand size with a surprisingly narrow width for a double stack, and the grip safety* was positive and easy to keep in place while still gripping pretty high.
Also, the trigger, while not amazing, was quite good compared to other striker fired pistols in it's price point. The fact that this example sees a lot of use at a busy suburban range tells me a lot.
It was probably just sub 5 lbs and had a light but tactile reset; I agree with @Mas 's take on the trigger. Recoil was quite manageable. I did have one stovepipe on the last round in the magazine. I only loaded 10 at a time.
Good practice habits, a Holosun sealed emitter RDS and a couple of cases of practice ammunition ought to make this a totally viable CCW option.
As for me, wow have I become awful with lack of recency, poor habits, and too little dry fire. Or maybe I ought to spring for a box of HSTs. Heh, yeah, that's it...
*this particular one had no thumb safety.
Last edited by Lex Luthier; 07-30-2023 at 03:03 PM.
"If I ever needed to hunt in a tuxedo, then this would be the rifle I'd take." - okie john
"Not being able to govern events, I govern myself." - Michel De Montaigne
Repeating the request to add "Equalizer" to the thread title, as this is by far the biggest topic on the gun.
I got one and I think it's S&W's best carry option. I see it as the polymer subcompact-ish 1911 equivalent. I had only handled one before buying, but when I handled them I thought that the grip safety was unobtrusive and the manual safety was in a good spot for riding with my thumb, even for my very long fingers. The grip is long enough you can just barely get some pinky on it, it being the same as the Shield grips. That does make the grip slightly long for just a 10-round magazine, a trait it shares with the shield pluses. You are therefore looking at a grip that's a bit longer, but much thinner, than a Glock 26, but also a bit longer than a P365. I will say the magazines are a bit easier to load than I was expecting (it does come with a mag loader, but even considering that it was not too tight), and it was easy to chamber a round off of a full mag, which is not always the case with a P365 in my experience.
A lot has been said about the grip safety, but I really have not noticed it through handling or shooting it. I could see some people having issues if it interacted with their hand under recoil, but not at all for me. I don't see anyone having issues deactivating it though, as any pressure at all seems to work. You would basically need to be clamping just from the sides and not pressing the grip safety at all for it not to work.
I'm able to get a solid grip with my thumb on the manual safety even for single-handed firing. In fact, this particular manual safety helps me by providing a place for me to lock in my long thumbs without interfering with the slide stop or my long trigger finger extending through the trigger guard. It is positive to click on and off and does not hit my knuckle or anything like that. Riding the thumb safety does not interfere with proper pressing of the grip safety.
The ease of overall use was what stood out to me. The slide release works out of the box and is not too stiff to work like other small guns. The trigger is light and just slightly creepy but not bad. The reset is tactile and audible though both are a bit soft. The fact that you basically start the pull right on the wall obviates any concerns about the reset to me, as you just let it out and it's ready to go, there's no pre-wall slop to get lost in, so you can't reset the trigger too far. The smooth trigger face is very nice and enhances the experience of shooting a small gun.
Recoil is very mild, which the internal hammer might contribute to but the decently long slide definitely does. The slide sits lower in your hand than a shield, and the gun lacks the top-heavy short chubby gun syndrome that a lot of subcompacts do. I shot a few hundred rounds of various 115 and 124 ball through it on my first outing without any issues. The accuracy so far for me is between my Glock 19 and my Glock 43, which checks out with the size being between those. The trigger reach is slightly shorter than I am used to so I am working out how to place my trigger finger for best accuracy. Grip texture is pretty aggressive, probably not as much as original M&P 2.0 but should be enough for most people. It is fine and sharp enough that the gun already has sunscreen and the hand dry stuff that I use stuck in it, and presumably will forever at this point, unless I attack it with a toothbrush. No issues with slippage or blistering though.
Overall this fulfills my desire for a very compact, reliable gun that takes a red dot without modification, has a high quality CCW-appropriate finish, has additional safety features for appendix carry, and is pleasant enough to shoot for extended range sessions. I have a JMCK holster on the way, and will probably get an EPS Carry as soon as I decide on dot size.
Doing defensive carry ammo testing today, no issues with 147 hst with fully stuffed mags. Took some Hilton Yam inspiration and tried firing a round off a fully loaded mag plus 1, then dropping the mag and loading to capacity again, as I figure that first round with super tight mags is probably the most challenging. Again, no failures yet.
Almost forgot to take pictures, so here's my last group of the day, 15 rounds of the hst left-handed at 15 yards. I was doing similarly right-handed which is kind of funny. If this is 4" then I'm a little off my goal of 10 shots at 25yd in the black on a b8, which is 5.5" IIRC.
Still going strong, Denzela has earned some fancy accessories. Will do some vetting on those before she takes over primary carry gun duties.
I wonder if there will be a .380 equalizer at some point? I rented the single stack EZs in both 9 and .380. Anyone having trouble racking a slide seems like would also have trouble dealing with how snappy the 9 is.Originally Posted by Wooosh
Wondering how this gun has performed for you over the last 6 months?Still going strong, Denzela has earned some fancy accessories. Will do some vetting on those before she takes over primary carry gun duties.
I've been very tempted to pick one up. Been thinking about putting a full size EPS on one if backup sight are still usable. How is the backup sight picture with the EPS carry?
I had to pick one of these up to try out. First impressions: to me, its form factor seems quite a bit more like the M&P .22 Compact than a doublestack M&P, with a slightly different grip angle. Its a little bit wider than the .22, with the grip feeling larger mainly in the frontsrap to backstrap dimension. This produces just enough space to get my support hand in good contact with the grip frame. I can't get nearly as much support hand contact on the factory P365 series frames.
The trigger reach is notably shorter feeling than a doublestack M&P. A lot shorter feeling.
I asked to try the controls on both copies that the store had in stock before I purchased. The one I bought had a somewhat cleaner and firmer safety than the copy I didn't select. The other one had a little more play in the detent position, which was noticable when going back and forth between them, so I'm glad I shopped in person and was able to select from multiple copies. The safety is much "snappier" and more positive than on my Gen 1 M&P compact, which takes less force and is somewhat mushy by comparison. It also takes more force to operate than the M&P .22 compact I have. I would say it's the best thumb safety on any polymer gun I've ever handled. Although, the levers are just slightly smaller than the M&P compact.
This thing that really surprises me the most is that, for me, it points much more like the Sig P365 than an M&P doublestack or .22 compact. The P365 indexes quite a bit lower for me than a M&P. Enough that it's annoying to switch between them. When I do presentations with the various pistols, the Equilizer naturally indexes just like the P365 with my default grip. When I switch over to the M&P, and try to perform the same index, I'll tend to have the front sight present way too high. This actually works out for me because the small version of the P365 is my go-to tiny gun for distance running and maximum concealment. I think I may be able to switch back and forth between the Equalizer and Sig much more seamlessly than an M&P.
If one was buying an Equalizer as a smaller understudy for an M&P doublestack, I would try to get hands-on with one and pay particular attention to how they index on presentation of the pistol. For me, the Equalizer points much more like the Sig than the M&P. Conversely, if you are into the p365 guns, the Equalizer may point naturally for you. At least that's how it works out for me.
Some comparison pictures with the .22 compact and M&P Gen 1 Compact (Gen 1 is on the bottom). It's hard to tell, but the grip angle feels different to me on the Equalizer.
Last edited by frozentundra; 05-18-2024 at 09:21 AM.
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