Put 100 rounds through the .45 shield today. Very nice gun, glad I made the purchase. No hiccups! One thing that is annoying is the sharp edge at the base of the safety. After 100 rounds it put a nice little cut on my thumb. I wish Smith would have just made this part rounded. Do you think a Dremmel tool could be used to smooth out this edge?

Sure it could. So could a file or a stone. But to do it right, you will need to remove the safety from the mechanism. I would guess after removal you will likely need to use some cold blue to cover the now shiny spot. A friend of mine fired his brandy new .45 Shield about a couple hundred rounds or so and had a skint place on the knuckle of his right thumb caused by the safety. I have fired mine over 750 rounds now in three trips to the range and have had no such experience. This tells me that getting the "owie" may be the result of the different way that we hold our guns, or it might also be a factor due to the difference in the size of our hands. My friend showed me how he was holding the Shield and his thumb was tucked right up underneath the safety. My grip results in my right thumb being held lower on the frame than his. I like to keep my thumbs away from the slide and the levers that reside alongside the frame just underneath the slide. I'm just guessing here, but I'll bet it happened as result of the way you grip the gun, but it wouldn't be a hard job to remove the safety and smooth that bottom edge a bit.

I just ran my thumb over the bottom of my safety and did not feel anything resembling sharp so yours may not have been finished the same as mine. I can feel the bottom edge and I can see that it stands proud enough of the frame that it might abrade my skin if my thumb was snug up against it during recoil. Good luck with whatever you decide to do with yours. I sure do like my copy of the Shield .45. It's been a shooter since day one and is very comfortable to shoot.

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So long ... Ken

I guess that I have not shot mine enough to have noticed any sharp edges on the TS. But I typically use the lower hold. I will also have to see what I think about the more agressive grip treatment as to whether I need to smooth that out or not. Heading into fall, I normally wear a t shirt under a regular shirt anyway, so it probably won't be a problem for me.

From all I can tell, lightly sanding the side of the grip carefully to remove the sharp points on the grip texture will allow it to be carried comfortably against skin. I wear a tee shirt year round. I normally wear the Buck Naked underwear sold by Duluth Trading which is very thin and comfortable and does not collect and hold moisture. I wear a tee in cool and cold weather and an athletic style "tank" in hot weather. They are expensive but they wear like iron in my experience and they sure do make carrying IWB much more comfortable for me, especially during warm and hot weather.

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So long ... Ken

The TS is a tad larger on the 45 model Shield. I like it better I think. Just seems a hair easier to work with yer thumb. I haven't noted any chafing from it when shooting, but that could vary between pistols and somewhat due to one person's grip style. If you pay careful attention to your grip you can probably tell if the part really needs to be smoothed out or maybe just work to slightly change your grip. Every hand is different....