.45 Shield, safety or not

[RobzGuns]

As mentioned already, the Shield's safety requires a deliberate movement of the shooter. It will not inadvertently engage on its own. It actually takes more of a deliberate move to engage, than it does to disengage.

I got my 9mm back in 2012, when they 1st came out. If a No-Safety had been an option back then, I would have gotten one. I carry with the safety off and it has not engaged itself once over the last 7 Years.

Since it has the safety, I engage the safety, insert the mag, load the 1st round and when it's half way into the holster, I disengage the safety.

Get whichever model you want.
One thing to ponder... If you take any Advanced shooting courses, if your pistol has a safety (whether you normally use the safety or not), the Instructor may insist that you Use it and Incorporate it into your training. (which ain't a bad thing).

 

[swsig]

I didn't realize the safety model was cheaper and don't understand why.

I'd say it's market demand. If the responses to this thread are reflective of the market, there is a much greater demand for no-safety Shields. Shields with safeties are no doubt lagging in sales, so they're either being offered at a discount, or if you will, no-safety Shields are being offered at a premium. So if you want a no-safety Shield, save some money and get one with a safety and leave it "off". It will not come "on" by accident.

 

[Amp]

I bought the safety one and would not change my mine if buying again.
As many say its your choice.

 

[Bozz10mm]

Both my Shield 9 and my Shield 45 have safetys and I use them. I practice draw and dry fire from the holster often enough that I don't even think about flipping the safety off when I draw, it just happens automatically. Now, if I practice draw with my M&P 2.0 Compact without a safety, my thumb still sweeps where the safety would be if it had one.

I've had the 9mm about 6 years and the 45 about 2½ years and never had the safety lever move inadvertently in either direction.

 

[Coyote56]

Only reason my .45 Shield has a safety is because it was $75 cheaper. I never use it.
My 9mm Shield has no safety. No difference really.

 

[kthom]

I'd rather have no safety, but I own a couple Shields with the safety because at the time I bought them, there were none locally available without the safety. I've never used them, and I've had no issues with movement of the safety accidentally over the course of a great many rounds fired and during every day carry with the safety left in the "off" position.

 

[pantannojack]

Safety Yes

Put me on record for wanting a safety ( on my guns, I don't know about yours ). It is not a half cock hammer type like a taurus 380. It is not a 12 lb double action revolver. It is a full cocked and set to go off with the breath of a touch hand gun. I want a two step process in the decision to fire. !- safety off, 2- move the trigger. Just my druthers.

 

[Bat Guano]

My hand and fingers are not what they used to be. My non-safety .45 Shield means one less chance to screw up. That and the good trigger make it like a DA wheelgun to shoot. I believe in both Murphy's Law and the KISS principle.

 

[Jerry_B]

Don't have safeties on any of my carry guns. Ignoring it is an option but personally I would train myself to "thumb it off" anyway when shooting, even if I didn't normally use it. Murphy always seems to show up at the worse possible time.

 

[bluelund79]

I don't have the safety on my PC Shield 45, and don't feel unsafe with it.

 

[sandog]

While I would be O.K. without a safety, my PC .40 Shield has one.
It's too small to be inadvertently engaged, and also too small to rely on disengaging it during the draw. Especially with me bring left handed.

I will put the safety on while shoving it into the holster, then once in the holster I'll snick the safety off.
If you never want to use the safety, no big deal, just don't use it.
The safety on my Shield is too small and stiff to operate to accidently engage without my knowledge.

 

[Parrot-Head]

Just bought the 2.0 9mm. I had always wanted to get one without the safety but I got a good deal on one with a safety and will just ignore it, no big deal. I really don't mind having it at all, I will just leave it off. It is stiff enough it can't be engaged without purposefully doing so.

 

[Protected One]

Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill! It's a no brainer really. Buy the (cheaper) one WITH the safety! It makes no sense to pay more for a gun because it doesn't have something - you are not obligated to using it. And NO...it will not "accidentally engage".

Also, heaven forbid someday, for some reason you need or want to have a safety...it's right there for you.

 

[Not Getting Any Younger]

My .45 Shield has the safety: Easy to take 'off', but it MUST be a deliberate action to put it 'on'.

My 9mm 2.0 Compact 3.6" and my 9mm 2.0 Pro Series Longslide don't have the safeties - I do not like the 'paddle' style safety on the double-stack M&Ps - too easy to accidentally move ('on' or 'off') with my thumb.
I would prefer the Shield type of safety on the double-stack M&Ps.

Just got a 2.0 9mmShield with the safety. It is stiffer than the safety on my .45Shield, but still easy to turn 'off' with my thumb'. I'm okay with it the way it is.
As others have said - it is easy to ignore and just leave 'off'.

 

[kbm6893]

Put me on record for wanting a safety ( on my guns, I don't know about yours ). It is not a half cock hammer type like a taurus 380. It is not a 12 lb double action revolver. It is a full cocked and set to go off with the breath of a touch hand gun. I want a two step process in the decision to fire. !- safety off, 2- move the trigger. Just my druthers.

Me too. Nobody thinks of stepping on the brake before shifting into gear. It's just automatic. And since the odds of an ND are far more likely than the odds of actually drawing a weapon and forgetting to take the safety off, I prefer a safety.

Before Glocks came along, millions of people carried a semi auto with a safety. They all survived to tell the tale. Carrying a revolver or DAO semi with a 10 pound trigger and a hammer is not even close to a 5.5 pound pre-cocked striker.

Only complaint I have with my Shield safety is I wish it was just a hair wider, like the one on my LC9S. But I practice drawing and flicking it off and I've never fumbled. I have an M&P Compact 2.0 in 9MM and a full size 2.0 .45, and both have the safety, which I feel is a bit large. I also wish there was a way to just remove the right side of the safety since I have no use for it.

 

[Buford57]

I do not own a shield (yet). Do own several M&Ps, none with external safeties. If I were looking at shield, I may consider one with the safety ONLY to be used when holstering IWB. Something about shoving a gun in my pants without an external safety, I just don't do it. The shield's external safety is non-obtrusive IMO. Click it on, insert weapon into holster, click it off, good to go. No safety? It rides on the belt, but that's just me.

+1 Also works well for pocket carry. I spend time in facilities where I have to secure the gun in my vehicle. The pocket holster tends to stay in the pocket (good design). I feel a little more comfortable reholstering with the safety engaged.

 

[JNewell]

It is a full cocked and set to go off with the breath of a touch hand gun.

This is not true. The striker is partly "cocked," but not fully, and striker-fired guns do -not- "go off with the breath of a touch," even when people modify triggers to given them 3.5 pound trigger pull weights (a practice I personally would never consider, other than perhaps for use exclusively on a square range).

 

[hardluk1]

If theres a thumb safety option I take it over no thumb safety specially on a M&P . Trigger pulls on the 1.0 models was bad enought they need some apex upgrading of the trigger group to some degree . M&P 4.25 40 has a thumb safety and a 3lb 10oz apex trigger pull . The m&p double stack striker when racked is 98% cocked . What percentage the sheild is ? no idea .

I also have a p320c I'll carry that's a early production model , trigger is a stock 5lb 6oz pull but my wife says she has watched me sweep for the thumb safety that's not there ! To many years shooting SA wih thumb safety's . My first 1911 was bought back in '76 and then carried an officers model and a firestar m40 some years later for CC . I have a lw commander I will carry some today also .

 

[oink]

I agree with Dirty and Hairy in post 11. I have the Shield 9 and only use the safety for holstering in my IWB holster. Put safety on, holster gun, make sure it feels right and then take the safety off. I don't want Glock leg and I don't want Smith leg either. I also like and carry Glocks. With them I remove the holster, which is sometimes a PITA, holster the gun and then put the holster containing the gun back in it's position. Having a safety makes it easier. None of that applies to OWB holsters, at least in most cases.