Smith & Wesson EQUALIZER Review – Crafted for Carry

I was a bit shocked to see the Equalizer pistol announcement from Smith & Wesson. Smith & Wesson has a wide range of well-respected self-defense handguns. They also launched the CSX, a self-defense handgun that they just introduced last year. This pistol is a great example of American gunmaking at its finest. The Smith & Wesson Equalizer pistol is a 9mm pistol with a poly-frame and micro-compact design. It looks similar to the M&P Shield EZ but uses double-stack magazines instead of single-stack. It actually uses S&W Shield Plus magazines. The Equalizer, unlike the Shield Plus is a single-action pistol and not a striker-fired gun. The Equalizer can only be chambered in the 9mm Luger. The Shield EZ is available in.380 Auto, 9mm LUG and.30 Super Carry. Another difference is that it is only available with the Equalizer. Technically, this is a contained single action; the hammer can be found under the slide. The slide’s bottom rear has a hollowed out section that allows the hammer rotate from the cocked position to the fired position. This means that you can’t manually lower the hammer, as you would with a 1911. The firing mechanism is the exact same. When the gun is fired the slide retracts to the rear and cocks hammer. The hammer stays cocked until the trigger is pulled. The Equalizer was shot without any notice. The grip safety will deactivate if you have a good grip. I tried to make the grip safety fail to activate by changing my grip but it didn’t work unless I had a grip that was more than an inch below pistol’s tang. Although the Equalizer’s grip safety may be a bit unattractive, it is a great design. This feature was not available on the test pistol. I would have written Smith & Wesson a letter if it had. Although some people don’t like thumb safetyties, they are one of the best features to make a handgun more secure. Shooters often accidentally shoot themselves with gunshot wounds. The trigger is pressed when the shooter’s finger touches the holster. A bullet will then go into the shooter’s cheek or leg. A pistol fitted with a manual thumb security will not cause this to happen. Smith & Wesson Equalizer with manual thumb safety. It broke cleanly at 4.75 pounds. Although the trigger reset was audible, it couldn’t be felt. This might seem negative to some, but I fired over 300 rounds from this pistol while running various fast-action defensive drills. I never had to shorten the trigger for it not reaching the reset. The trigger is excellent, far better than the Smith & Wesson CSX pistols that I have fired. The slide on the Equalizer has a cutout in the cover plate that allows it to be optics ready. It is difficult to interface with wider ranges of reflex sights because the cutout is too large. I installed a Shield RMSc-4MOA reflex sight. The base of that unit was thin enough to allow me to use the factory sights that come with the handgun. Smith & Wesson is proud of the fact these sights are made from steel, which is a good thing. They were also proud to be three-dot. Although it is the industry standard, I don’t like three-dot sights. The good news is that aftermarket sights can be found to fit this pistol. The Equalizer, unloaded and equipped with the Shield reflex sight weighs in at 20.8 ounces. The Equalizer can be loaded with magazines up to 30 ounces. It was easy for my wife and daughters. Smith & Wesson claims that the Equalizer has a low impulse to recoil. Recoil is subjective, but I found the impulse to be lower than similar pistols such as the Taurus GX4 and the Kimber Mako. Others may have different opinions. The slide has deep, aggressive cuts at the front and rear to allow you to manually cycle it. I don’t think forward slide serrations are necessary. I prefer to keep my body from the muzzle of a handgun’s muzzle. These deep cuts help your fingers hold the slide when you need it. The slide has a ledge at the rear that allows for manual cycling. This was more convenient than the deep serrations. The gun is heavier, which makes it less comfortable to carry. This pistol, which does not have a red-dot sight weighs just 20.3 ounces. The total weight of the pistol with the Shield RMSc half-ounce installed is only 20.8 ounces. However, a pistol must be loaded. True carry weights must include ammunition and a magazine. The pistol weighs 27.28 ounces when fully loaded with the 10-round magazine. It weighs 28.95 ounces when loaded with the 13-round magazine and 30.01 ounces when loaded with the 15-round Mag. These weights were calculated using a half-ounce reflex sight and 115-grain ammunition. The Equalizer measures 6.9 inches in length and 4.5 inches high. The height can be increased to 5.2 inches if you add a reflex eye. It doesn’t matter what size you use, it’s just enough to fit your hand. The flush-fit magazine does not increase the height. The 13-rounder is about a half inch tall, and the 15-rounder is about three-quarters of an inches. The pistol’s overall width is only one inch. The slide-lock lever, and the manual safety, will add a little bit. The slide lock control on the outside of the pistol doesn’t engage the slot. Instead, a part of it engages the notch. Shots firedFrom the bench at 10 meters, the Equalizer averaged just one inch for five, five-shot groups using three different loads. This is a good result, especially for a barrel less than 4 inches. I also fired a single 15 shot group at 10 yards from the standing position using five rounds of each of the three test loads. This group was exactly 2 inches in length. I was able to fire 10 shots at a half-size silhouette of a torso at 100 feet in 11.74 seconds with the reflex sight. My time with factory open sights was 13.02 seconds. I did have one miss. The 10-shot drills were timed, and I fired them with concealment. This gun is not responsible if you can’t hit what you aim at with this pistol. The 15-shot group was shot off-hand at 10 meters with the three test loads. It used five rounds from each load. It measured 2.15 inches. I also ran 50 rounds through the Equalizer, my standard defensive handgun drill–the Forty-Five Drill–with a goal to put five shots within a 5-inch circle at 5 yards in 5 seconds from a concealed draw. My average time for 10 runs were 3.71 seconds. Two of the 10 runs had me miss the 5-inch mark. This is similar to my usual performance with micro-9mm handguns. I will admit that I was about a third slower using the reflex sight than usual. To see a speed advantage when using a reflex sight on defensive handguns, I must extend the distance beyond 10 yards. Five, five-shot groups were fired from a sandbag rest at ten yards to establish the accuracy/precision (Precision). Temperature: 28°C, Humidity 52 percent, Pressure 30.10, Elevation: 2,200ft. The Equalizer was very easy to use and had only two functional issues. The seventh round of the pistol did not fully go into the battery. It was a cartridge from the 115-grain Nosler ASP package. I simply slapped the slide back and the gun went into battery. It ran like a top. Another instance was an unusual ammo issue. It used one round of Federal 124gr Hydra-Shok ammunition. It registered a muzzle velocity only 447 feet per second during chronograph testing. Yes, I would have thought the chronograph was dead, but the recoil was noticeably lower and the empty cartridge failed to eject. This cartridge must have been undercharged from the factory, which I’ve never seen with Federal handgun ammunition. Every Smith & Wesson Equalizer pistol comes with a Maglula UpLula speedloader. This $35 accessory is a great addition. All three magazines worked flawlessly. However, I did experience one peculiarity. The pistol came up with the sights on target from the draw when I used the 15-round magazine. The sights were a little higher with the 13-round magazine. They were even higher with the 10-round mag. This was due to the way my grip changed with the different magazines that extended the grip and the extra pressure the pinky finger put on the grip. This issue may not be an issue for you, but it is something to be aware. It’s something I’ve had to experience with other micro-compact pistols, both with short magazines and with long magazines. Smith & Wesson’s Equalizer pistol is well-designed for concealed carry and should interface well. I like the Equalizer and would love the manual thumb safety. It’s small, lightweight, reliable, accurate and simple to use. It’s better than the S&W Shield and far better than the CSX. The Equalizer chambered to the.30 Super Carry would be a great addition. The Equalizer chambered for the.30 Super Carry should increase the gun’s capacity. 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