Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns M&P Shield - safety or no safety?

I am a Conservative, I vote Republican, I am an American citizen, and I have a Shield with a thumb safety. I also have a M&P Pro 9, without a thumb safety.

Smith and Wesson was happy to sell me one of each!

Missing it under stress is the deal breaker. Everyone thinks that safety is no problem,but you don't know until you are under that kind of stress. Motor skills go to near zero.People who have never experienced it,just don't understand. Even very experienced and trained shooters have failed to disengage the infinitely better design of a good 1911 safety when under that stress.

I don't understand the mindset that must have a safety to feel comfortable. If you can't trust yourself to keep your finger off a trigger,how can you trust yourself to engage or disengage a safety? Modern pistols have a FP block and will not fire unless you pull that trigger. Just keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. Pay attention when holstering your pistol. If you can't pay enough attention to not accidentally pull a trigger when holstering how can you pay enough attention to not accidentally disengage a safety?

Okay...okay. We can all drop the safety/no safety debate now. It's been done a thousand times here. My question was about a specific gun for a specific purpose - and that is answered.

It's a done deal. Now, I must order a holster....

I'm curious, leather or Kydex? I'm in the market for a leather holster for my Shield. I have one of the plastic ones and do not like it even a little bit.

BP...

I have two Crossbreed holsters for mine: A Superslide (OWB) and an Appendix Carry (IWB). I like them both. The appendix holster is also tuckable, and it works for me without a cover garment.

I've tried kydex before and didn't like it until I tried a Vedder LightTuck. I currently use one for my G43 and greatly prefer it to leather.

El Paso Saddlery C-Force IWB. I was a long time devotee of the Milt Sparks VM II, but now all I want is the C-Force.

Having a safety that you don't use could be the worst possible choice. You run the risk of it somehow getting engaged and you not knowing it. If you then need the gun quickly, it won't work, and if you never use the safe, you may not figure it out in time. A lot of ifs, I know. A lot of bad outcomes avoided, by either using the gun correctly, or getting the correct gun.

I usually prefer leather. Lots of new stuff in kydex since I last shopped holsters though, so no decision at this point.

Kydex. It doesn't soak up sweat, it's thinner and a good maker will round any edges so it's comfortable. I have been using one from www.pjholster.com since I bought my first Shield and it works very well.

I use a small leather Ambidextrious holster for my CC. It's not fancy. No provision for an extra mag, but it's compact and made with nice Leather. Manufacturer is Bulldog. Comes in different sizes. Only around $30. Not made for Laser sights. You need to soften it up before use. I have some Kydex also, but I prefer the Bulldog

More experimenting today....

IWB is out for now. Because of the nerve damage issues, any IWB on my strong side won't work. My little finger interferes with obtaining a grip with the gun pressed so tight to my body. I think I will be okay though with the right OWB holster.

I had pretty much abandoned IWB with compact pistols anyway, long before the injury. I almost completely stopped carrying the K9 in the VMII and switched to the DeSantis Mini-Slide - which I am doing with weak hand currently. Not that the VMII wasn't working - I just rarely have any need to go IWB with such a compact pistol, because I can conceal it well enough with the Mini-Slide, and it's easier to live with.

But the Mini-Slide isn't available for the Shield - which surprised me. Another OWB concealment holster I've used happily is the Galco Combatmaster. Messing around some more with the one I have, for a snubby SP101, it was interesting to find that I now can get a good grip on the Hogue-gripped SP101 with my injured hand. Didn't work last time I tried it. Going to have to give that a go with some stout loads and see what happens, just for fun. Might be my trail gun for a while....

So anyway - I'm giving serious consideration to the DeSantis Speed Scabbard right now. While kydex makes a lot of sense to me for IWB these days, I'm not liking any of the kydex OWB holsters I've viewed so far for concealment.

why not a safety.. its there if you need it and don't use it if you don't want too. Mine has one, never got in the way.

Read posts above.

i have.. there is no way the safety engages by itself. This is highly unlikely. In fact, i have one of the first shields that automatically came with a safety. Been carrying it for years. Never happened.

I sometimes use my safety to reholster when at the range etc... especially IWB carry. Don't have too, just do.

i also carry a kahr without a safety so i know what carrying a gun is with and without. The simple fact is, the safety on the shield has never gotten in my way. I usually recommend new shooters or new individuals to CCW chose a safety.

Regardless - the facts remain......others have had the safety engage unintentionally while carrying, and my weakened thumb is not to be relied on with that particular safety. I advise newbies to buy high quality holsters and mind their fingers and shirt tails. Safeties, and where they should and shouldn't be, are a separate issue.

Anyway, the decision is made and I am quite comfortable with it. Dry-fire practice ensuing. I think I'm going to have an easy time with this pistol. I have time to think about holsters, since I am currently essentially a dedicated wrong-handed shooter (for about a year now).

No safety on my 9MM Shield. I had a choice and chose the non safety version. Glad I did.

I've heard that and I believe it to be BS. At best it's a circular argument - if a pistol is being carried in a way a safety can be swiped off it better have one because it's just matter of time before the trigger gets swiped.

Just another mechanical device to worry about. No need for it, so why take the chance?

Perhaps I'm reading more into Blues post than he intended. But swiped off isn't really the problem. Swiped on, OTOH, would be. BTW - I had the safety on a BHP get swiped off while riding in a Sparks Executive Companion one time. Surprised me when I noticed, but didn't scare me. At any rate - we don't need no stinking safety.