Thumb safety

[Loffmar77]

I'm going to purchase a M&P .40 Compact in the very near future. This will be my first handgun, I've fired many but never owned one. Everything instilled in me tells me to get the one with the thumb safety. Every gun I've ever owned has had a manual safety and every handgun I've ever fired has had one. I'm just not sure how I safe I will feel if I don't get that option.

Will I notice the saftey sticking into me if I carry on the waist at five o' clock?

Non thumb safety models are ready to fire once the round is in the chamber, correct? What prevents accidental firing? What prevents someone from unknowingly firing it" God forbid if my 5 year ever got a hold of it... (yes, it will be in a bedside safe with ammo close by in another secure device.)


...I just don't want to regret my choice, and non of the shops around here carry a thumb safety model.

 

[John3200]

You've never fired a revolver? Not many of them with a manual saftey. I do understand where you're coming from though for holster carry. I personally prefer traditional da/sa autos with no external safety. Sig Sauers, 3rd gen Smith & Wessons and such. No safety to manipulate but a long double action trigger pull on the first shot.

Striker fired guns do seem to me to have an added risk factor. Police have switched to them enmase. It seems to me that there have been a much higher incidence of accidental discharges with such guns. Glocks are single action guns carried cocked and unlocked.

You have to decide for yourself. Oh, and no, you won't notice the safety digging into you when carrying the gun.

All firearms should be treated as if they are loaded and ready to fire. You daughter should never get ahold of any gun in your care, safety or not.

 

[DGT]

The fact that the absence of an external safety bothers you tells me that you're on the right track. This is just my personal opinion but, there are a lot of fine semi-auto pistols out there with safeties or the ability to de-cock once a round is chambered.

John3200 mentioned Sig Sauers, I love my P229. No thumb safety but a nice heavy DA trigger pull. Bottom line: Buy what you are comfortable with.

 

[GaryS]

As John3200 said, striker fired pistols like the M&P function very much like revolvers. That was one of the selling points when Glock started marketing their firearms to LE agencies. The transition from revolvers to Glocks would be much easier because Glocks were like revolvers in that there is no active safety device in either.

What prevents accidental firing of an M&P is what prevents accidental firing of any firearm. Know the four rules and follow them. Plus, don't leave firearms where kids or other untrained people can get them.

Get what you are comfortable with, but any safety device can be defeated, even by a 5 year old. Safe handling and storage are the real safety devices.

 

[10mm Sonny]

You can always remove the safety if you don't like it.

 

[RevDerb]

I have 2 Ruger semi-autos and a Remington R-1 1911; all with thumb safeties. These are the first S/A's I've ever owned with safeties but I've grown used to them and use them 100% of the time. The 1911 is holstered on my hip right now chambered and locked. I also have revolvers with the only safety being my brain and obedient trigger finger. There was a time when I pooh-poohed safeties on sidearms but now realize that they have their place. That being said: I hate safeties on my hunting rifles!

 

[John3200]

That being said: I hate safeties on my hunting rifles!

What on gods green earth would make you say something like that? In what shape or form would a safety on a rifle ever be a hinderence to anyone but a complete idiot? Sorry about being crass but seriously?

 

[Arizona5906]

I'm going to purchase a M&P .40 Compact in the very near future. This will be my first handgun, I've fired many but never owned one. Everything instilled in me tells me to get the one with the thumb safety. Every gun I've ever owned has had a manual safety and every handgun I've ever fired has had one. I'm just not sure how I safe I will feel if I don't get that option.

Will I notice the saftey sticking into me if I carry on the waist at five o' clock?

Non thumb safety models are ready to fire once the round is in the chamber, correct? What prevents accidental firing? What prevents someone from unknowingly firing it" God forbid if my 5 year ever got a hold of it... (yes, it will be in a bedside safe with ammo close by in another secure device.)


...I just don't want to regret my choice, and non of the shops around here carry a thumb safety model.

The safety lever is a personal preference feature. There is obviously no universal answer to this question. Many law enforcement agencies buy Glocks without the safety and depend on good training. Other agencies have a manual safety as a requirement for a firearm. The US Army chose the Beretta 92 in part because of the safety. I personally would chose the model with the safety and all of my pistols have a manual safety. But that's just my opinion.

 

[J D Allen]

safety or not

The safety is a good idea. If you don't want to use it , don't put it on. Its that simple.

 

[cp1969]

What on gods green earth would make you say something like that? In what shape or form would a safety on a rifle ever be a hinderence to anyone but a complete idiot? Sorry about being crass but seriously?

It depends on if you're talking about a safety on an M700 Remington (necessary) or the crossbolt safety on a Marlin lever action (not necessary). Many people hate the Marlin safeties.

 

[10mm Sonny]

What on gods green earth would make you say something like that? In what shape or form would a safety on a rifle ever be a hinderence to anyone but a complete idiot? Sorry about being crass but seriously?

How very Obama of you to start name calling when someone has an opinion that is different from yours.

 

[John3200]

The US Army chose the Beretta 92 in part because of the safety.

Not true. The Sig Sauer P226 tied the Beretta M92 in the trials. The only reason the M92 was selected in the end was some priceing voodoo. Beretta had a lower price but also included less with the gun than the Sig Sauer bid. Both guns obviously meet the safety requirements of the trials.

 

[John3200]

It depends on if you're talking about a safety on an M700 Remington (necessary) or the crossbolt safety on a Marlin lever action (not necessary). Many people hate the Marlin safeties.

True, sorry, I hadn't thought of that. In the lever actions case the hammer is the safety. You shouldn't cock it untill ready to fire. Load it and then safely lower the hammer and carry it in the field with a round in the chamber but the hammer down

 

[SMSgt]

If you properly train to engage/disengage a manual safety instinctively, it will be no problem. If you feel safer with one, then get one. No one else's opinion matters when you're the one using it.

 

[wolfpackpanther]

My M&P .40 does not have a manuel safety but I prefer it did. I didn't catch it when I bought it....I basically assumed all of them did due to the pic I saw of one before I bought it. Below is a current article I copied and pasted from WRAL TV in Raleigh, N.C. and I imagine the local law enforcement here use Glocks.

Fayetteville, N.C. — A Cumberland County Sheriff's Office deputy was wounded Wednesday morning when his service weapon accidentally fired as he was leaving home to drive to work, authorities said.

Maj. John R. McRainey, the chief jailer at the Cumberland County Detention Center, underwent surgery at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and was in stable condition.

McRainey was putting a bag in his vehicle when his .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun, which was inside the bag, discharged, authorities said. Investigators said the gun apparently bumped against another item in the bag, which McRainey often used to transport the gun.

"Although it is always a tragedy anytime that anyone suffers a gunshot wound, we are just thankful that it was no worse than it was," Sheriff Earl "Moose" Butler said in a statement.

 

[mgo]

I'm going to purchase a M&P .40 Compact in the very near future. This will be my first handgun, I've fired many but never owned one. Everything instilled in me tells me to get the one with the thumb safety. .

Important benefits are often overlooked with the S&W thumb safety (and many of the HK pistols, too)

- when loading and unloading the pistol, the safety can be left "on" to prevent accidentally actuating the trigger. (yes, that can happen)
- when holstering the pistol, the safety can be on to prevent snagging the trigger going in. (how many of us can twist and actually watch the pistol going into the holster?) The safety can then optionally be set to "fire" position after securely in the holster if the operator wishes.

No, the thumb safety will not cause discomfort. I carry my full sized M&P (with thumb safety) inside the waistband with no problems. The M&P series pistols are more rounded and smoother and cause less discomfort, even against the skin. That included the less rough grip sides. My holsters do have a sweat shield which isolates me from the thumb safety anyway.

"5 oclock" is a satisfactory position, even with only a loose tee shirt covering the firearm. That's also comfortable when in the car.

 

[Knightrider03m]

Pros:

Great life saver if someone grabs your gun and try to use it on you, they may not know to turn the safety off

Reduces the odds of a ND

Con:

Might forget to turn off the safety if you really need to use it

Its all up to you. I've had an M&P with a safety and one without it. Its all on how you felt.

 

[Glenn H]

Define accidental discharge

So, just to make sure we're on the same page.

A striker fired semi-auto that does not have a manual safety as such still has safeties. All have internals that prevent a 'bumped' firearm from discharging under most circumstances. I.E. you put one in a paint mixer and turn it on it shouldn't fire. If the internals become worn then they can fail, and as anyone who has worked around machinery knows, stuff happens.

Glocks have a small tab on the trigger that must be pressed for the trigger to be depressed. Kinda counts like a safety.

Pistols with external safeties have some kind of lever or other device that interferes with the hammer hitting the firing pin. In a 3rd Gen that is a robust bar, in a 1911 that is a tooth that engages.

Now accidental discharge is an interesting term. IF you mean I drop the gun and it does bang, that doesn't happen much with non-messed with modern weapons.

Most 'accidental' discharges I think have been shown to be a situation when the trigger is pressed. The story above about the deputy, well I'd be interested to see what they figured pressed the trigger.

 

[66snub]

Like previously stated, the selling point with guns like these, is the reduced manual of arms that must be learned. By all means, do what is comfortable, both physically and mentally, in choosing which version you want, but the very most effective safety for a gun is the one located between the ears. Good luck with your purchase.

 

[Linejudgemick]

The "safety" for any firearm is what's between the ears of anyone holding it. As GaryS. mentioned - the 4 rules must always be observed. I have firearms with external safeties and others that don't. But, just because I'm using my Ruger SR40C that has every safety known to man, or my M&P9C that's only safety is the trigger; I know they should be treated exactly the same.

As for the jailer that shot himself. Why did he have a pistol floating free in a bag? I don't know about anyone else, but In a bag I'd have a hard time knowing where it was pointed. I obviously can't know this, but I suspect the firearm either came free from a holster covering the trigger, or wasn't in one to start with. There is one certainty though, it wasn't treated like it was loaded. If I transport my pistols in a car they are either secured in my holster with me, or unloaded in a case/box.

Everything else aside, you'll still have to decide what you are most comfortable with and then practice good safety habits.