Hello, to all

Can anyone help me with this one, please?

I have a very specific list of criteria for a firearm purchase, and I don't know which way to go with it.

I have been in love with the M&P9c/M&P40c since I first held one in the shop some months back. It feels terrific in the hand, and has the size, and list of features I desire.

Thumb Safety
Magazine Disconnect
22lr pistol built on the same platform -suitable for cheap training. (I know, wrong size but good enough)

The only problem is that the Thumb Safety and Magazine disconnect are not currently offered on the same gun.

I called Smith and Wesson a couple of times to make sure I got a consensus of opinion from more than just one service rep. What I put together from all my conversations is that the model of gun I wanted (SWR206204FC or just 206204) is not among the current production lineup of pistols, but that they were offered by a few boutique dealerships at one time and might be again -provided there is a large enough order placed for them by a retailer.

Ugh. I only need one.

I googled the model number and saw that it is (or was) sold by a number of online dealers. However, all of them are "out of stock and cannot be backordered". That jives with what I was told on the telephone.

So, I have two options:
1. Scour the web auctions and online dealers and discussion groups and pray for one to become available
2. Build one myself

I strongly suspect that the better bet is to go with option 2. The question is how? I know there are tons of people who have purchased an M&P pistol with either the thumb safety or the magazine disconnect and removed them, so I imagine that there must be a way to add those pieces to a gun without them in the first place, right?

There is one caveat: I'll have to start with the right gun or the job can't be done. For instance, you apparently cannot add a thumb safety to a pistol with the internal locking mechanism because they occupy the same space and therefore cannot exist side by side. It's one or the other.

The next question is: do I start with a gun that has the magazine disconnect and add the thumb safety, or start with one with the thumb safety and add the magazine disconnect? Which one is the more difficult task? And are there any internal parts which need to be replaced before the additional parts are installed?

Thanks guys. I hope this question wasn't too overly verbose. But I do sincerely appreciate the benefit of anyone's insight who might have some knowledge or experience with this sort of work

Best
Erik