Hi guys I just need some help I live here in SoCal. our M&P edition did not have a external safety i was wondering if it is possible to put one on it? Is there an after market product I can get to convert it to the one with "Thumb safety"? It would be very nice if anybody can point me to the right direction Thank you!
external safety
- Thread starter kado3
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
How old is your gun? I'd say the best way to add the safety would be to install the new design sear housing (the assembly that holds the rear frame rails, the sear, the sear disconnect lever, etc). This new design sear housing has the provision for the manual safety integral to the design. With the new sear housing, you can simply include the manual safety levers with it (or not if one doesn't want them).
The safety levers will require modification to the frame: you'll have to provide the cut-outs that are present in new models (and plugged with No Thumb Safety models). I imagine this could be done pretty easily with careful work with a dremel tool and some light files/abrasive paper (with the sear housing removed).
Some people just like having an external safety. I come from a 1911 background and I like having a thumb safety, especially on my carry gun. I like having the extra layer of safety. Since flipping off the thumb safety is second nature to me, it is not a big deal and does not take any extra time. Whenever I shoot my 5" M&P Pro, I am always trying to thumb off the safety. I laugh at myself and carry on.
SSS is OOS M&P Manual Safety Lever [1960] - $10.00 : Welcome to Speed Shooter Specialties
So you will need to contact S&W.
It's not just the lever, it's also the detent and spring. Look at the lower housing in this pic,
http://www.speedshooterspecialties....roduct_info&cPath=103_90_115&products_id=1188
(Credit to Fastbolt that posted this originally).
http://www.speedshooterspecialties....roduct_info&cPath=103_90_115&products_id=1188
(Credit to Fastbolt that posted this originally).
Last edited:
From what I have read, S&W will tell you to get lost if you aren't a certified armorer. It seams all the new guns come with frame plugs and the housing that accepts the small bits for the safety. Mine did, and it's one of the 2014 LE models.
I'm looking for a lever because I have an Apex FSS kit and I want to go with about a 3# trigger and an active safety.
I'm looking for a lever because I have an Apex FSS kit and I want to go with about a 3# trigger and an active safety.
Well you won't know for sure unless you call them. SSS or G&R Tactical will order the parts for you. The model with the cut outs is called the Thumb Safety model whether or not a TS is fitted. Non TS models without cutouts are still being made, according to the S&W website.
Rastoff
US Veteran
Not in So Cal it isn't. The only M&P that can be bought in CA now is the Shield. He could buy a used one, but they are extremely scarce and would most likely sell for 50% more than MSRP.
kado3,
If you're anywhere near me I can help you with that.
I'd like a company like Apex to make aftermarket manual safeties for the M&P. It would complement their "competition" AEKs so people actually can have M&P's with 1911-like triggers and safeties.
The M&P safety is not great. It does not have a very positive engagement/disengagement, and I felt like it would easily be accidentally flipped either way. I'd like an option for maybe a smaller lever, and maybe have an option for being only one-sided instead of having to have an ambi.
I'm not even a 1911 guy but I think I'd enjoy an M&P I can shoot competition-level-accurate with a light trigger if there was a well designed on/off switch (safety).
The M&P safety is not great. It does not have a very positive engagement/disengagement, and I felt like it would easily be accidentally flipped either way. I'd like an option for maybe a smaller lever, and maybe have an option for being only one-sided instead of having to have an ambi.
I'm not even a 1911 guy but I think I'd enjoy an M&P I can shoot competition-level-accurate with a light trigger if there was a well designed on/off switch (safety).
Rastoff
US Veteran
The M&P will never have a "1911 like" trigger. The trigger bar has too much flex in it. I have the Apex FSS kit in my M&P 45 and it's much better than stock, but still not as nice as my 1911.
However, the safety on my 45 is very positive and the engagement is solid. Maybe mine is just one of the "good" ones. Of course the engagement can be made stiffer with a stronger spring on the detent.
However, the safety on my 45 is very positive and the engagement is solid. Maybe mine is just one of the "good" ones. Of course the engagement can be made stiffer with a stronger spring on the detent.
Well BOTH my MP9C Apex and my SR1911 have a 1/16 free travel
The SR1911 breaks at 4.5 and the MP9C at 3.5
If that is not 1911 like I don't know what would be
Last edited:
A 1911 trigger is traditionally SAO a DA trigger can never be as smooth as a SA trigger. Every DA trigger will have a "hump" because it either has to cock a hammer or engage a striker so it's performing two operations instead of one. One of the best triggers ever made is the S&W Model 41 that trigger breaks like glass. Breaking like glass is the ultimate trigger because it gives a wall and then just breaks with no "hump". Which is different from a SA revolver hair trigger that is very light but gives little control
What is the build date of the gun w/ safety you've tried? My May 2014 M&P 9 w/TS has a pretty positive safety engagement. I've read reports of the safeties accidentally flipping on during shooting, but I just can't see that happening to mine, with the right grip anyway. My M&P 9's safety isn't QUITE as positive as my Shield's, but it's close.
Maybe the newer guns with the newer sear housing have a more positive safety system.
If I'm not mistaken, I think the safety lever could easily be modified to be one-sided instead of ambi. It's just a sheetmetal piece that can be trimmed. In fact, if you could even likely plug that side of the frame with an OEM frame plug after you trimmed the safety lever.
Last edited:
I have an M&P 9c with a thumb safety. It was built late 2013 I believe.. The husband's 9c does not have one. Personal preference..
I do find that when I carry, sometimes the thumb safety gets turned off. I don't know what is causing this. My sig 938's thumb safety has not disengaged on its own yet. They are both carried in the same position in the same brand/type of holsters. I carry them in good holsters that fully cover the trigger guard, so no issues there. But I do find myself often checking the thumb safety to make sure it is engaged. BTW, the 9c has only had the thumb safety disengage about 15% of the time.
I do find that when I carry, sometimes the thumb safety gets turned off. I don't know what is causing this. My sig 938's thumb safety has not disengaged on its own yet. They are both carried in the same position in the same brand/type of holsters. I carry them in good holsters that fully cover the trigger guard, so no issues there. But I do find myself often checking the thumb safety to make sure it is engaged. BTW, the 9c has only had the thumb safety disengage about 15% of the time.
I've played with M&P manual safeties from pretty much all over the timeline. I was at a Cabelas yesterday and played with all 4 new M&P's they had that had manual safeties, they were all mush, felt weakly engaged in either position, and felt the same as the manual safety on my new M&P22Compact. Sadly the only positive information gleaned from the experience is that they were all as they were designed to be, which is not good.
Rastoff
US Veteran
None of my 1911s have more than 1/32" of slack, but that's not what I'm talking about.
The Apex FSS is a great upgrade. I recommend it all the time. Still, because of the single sided trigger bar, the M&P trigger feels a little "spongy". It will never be as good as a 1911 unless the trigger bar is dramatically changed.
That's disappointing. I guess I got lucky with mine. If it's off, it takes a reasonable amount of upward thumb pressure to engage it. Again, not quite as positive of an engagement as my Shield, but close. Very much on-par with how the safeties on my dad's STI 2011 and Smith 1911 feel in terms of effort to engage.
Disengaging all three is obviously pretty easy -- downward thumb pressure is much more natural than trying to lift something with the thumb.
I don't think it's a matter of spring tension, it seems to be more about the travel pattern. Almost analogous to the trigger comparison between 1911 SA and striker fired.
M&P safety doesn't have a wall of resistance before breaking/ clicking into place, it starts moving soon as you put any pressure on it, and creeps over a longer hump. That's best as I can describe it.
A firmer spring won't change the travel pattern, just make it heavier, just like how a heavier trigger return spring won't change the distance and humps involved in the trigger pull.
M&P safety doesn't have a wall of resistance before breaking/ clicking into place, it starts moving soon as you put any pressure on it, and creeps over a longer hump. That's best as I can describe it.
A firmer spring won't change the travel pattern, just make it heavier, just like how a heavier trigger return spring won't change the distance and humps involved in the trigger pull.
I would like an external safety and the applicable sear block, also.
Whether good or bad, I would like one, and have searched and not found any available.
Just purchased a brand new MP9 with mag safety thinking I could put just order the parts and install myself, but now after doing a lot of reading seems S&W does not like to change a gun once it is manufactured?
Took me a while to buy one and if the safety can't be had, well it will be traded or sold.
Whether good or bad, I would like one, and have searched and not found any available.
Just purchased a brand new MP9 with mag safety thinking I could put just order the parts and install myself, but now after doing a lot of reading seems S&W does not like to change a gun once it is manufactured?
Took me a while to buy one and if the safety can't be had, well it will be traded or sold.
Good luck in your search (I mean that with sincerity). I used the reverse logic with my purchase -- I bought mine as a range gun, and have plans for a flat Apex trigger in the future and perhaps some other trigger work. It's a fun gun for me. I didn't know, ultimately, the extent of what I'd do, so I bought one with the safety in case I went far with the gun. If the gun has a safety, it's fairly easy to remove it if you don't want it. But, yeah, it's more difficult to add one if you DO want it.
I bought it with the intention of removing it until I went "all the way" with the trigger work, but I actually enjoy it being there. I've shot a lot of 1911s, and this is very reminiscent to me of a 1911's safety. So I haven't removed it...and may not.
Have you confirmed that your sear housing is the old style? What is the build date of your gun? If it's within the last year or so, it may have the universal sear housing and all you'd need to add are the manual safety lever and spring/plunger. Does your frame have the (plugged) cut-outs for the safety lever? If so, then I bet you have the newer sear housing.
Last edited:
kbm6893
Member
The safety in my Ruger SR9 engages with a solid click. I love that gun.
Rastoff
US Veteran
The thumb safety on the M&P doesn't block the sear. It only prevents trigger movement.
External safety for a M & P
I purchased a M & P 9 C a few years ago to have for my yearly firearms qualification.I always liked a safety on a handgun. I noticed that the safety lever was loose and that it would change position when it was being carried in a holster and it even changed position when the gun was being fired. I wrote several letters to Smith & Wesson. Two got answered and several others didn't They sent me parts and I even attempted to file the detentes deeper in the safety lever, without much success in making the safety stiffer. I got frustrated and while speaking with one of the service people at Smith, I was told that it was a design flaw and not much could be done with it. I even tried to reduce the size of the safety lever to be more like the Shield or Bodyguard, but that didn't work either. I was hoping that Smith had one in a smaller size that they could supply. I ended up trading the gun in and loosing more that $150.00. I purchased a Ruger SR C in 9 MM and that gun and safety, works fine. I was frustrated and disappointed with Smith & Wesson!! I can't understand how large agencies are purchasing these guns and not having problems with them. It has to be costing the company sales. I mentioned that in one of the letters that I wrote that wasn't answered.
I purchased a M & P 9 C a few years ago to have for my yearly firearms qualification.I always liked a safety on a handgun. I noticed that the safety lever was loose and that it would change position when it was being carried in a holster and it even changed position when the gun was being fired. I wrote several letters to Smith & Wesson. Two got answered and several others didn't They sent me parts and I even attempted to file the detentes deeper in the safety lever, without much success in making the safety stiffer. I got frustrated and while speaking with one of the service people at Smith, I was told that it was a design flaw and not much could be done with it. I even tried to reduce the size of the safety lever to be more like the Shield or Bodyguard, but that didn't work either. I was hoping that Smith had one in a smaller size that they could supply. I ended up trading the gun in and loosing more that $150.00. I purchased a Ruger SR C in 9 MM and that gun and safety, works fine. I was frustrated and disappointed with Smith & Wesson!! I can't understand how large agencies are purchasing these guns and not having problems with them. It has to be costing the company sales. I mentioned that in one of the letters that I wrote that wasn't answered.
Just picked up my M&P22Compact and it actually has a very positive and appropriately clicky feel to it. I would be happy if I could find an M&P45 with that great of a safety, then I would throw in the Apex competition kit.
Similar threads
