The thumb safety was originally a response to early military pistol procurement drafts. The Army’s R&D folks determined that soldiers wanted consistency in weapon systems, and every other small arm in service has a safety lever.
I’m toying with the idea of getting one. The two major benefits I see are from a weapons retention standpoint and having an anti-brain-fart switch on the gun. While the guy from FN who had the AD at SHOT will be sacrificed on the altar of self-righteous gun owners, he’s an excellent example of why pistols with safeties and/or hammers are safer when holstering.
And fwiw, the folks at Smith I’ve talked to all prefer the 4" mid size M&P45 to the full size version for exactly the reason you pointed out. As soon as .45 ammo prices drop to 9mm levels and they can fit 17 rounds in that gun, I may get one.
The ONLY time I like a thumb safety on a handgun is when its frame mounted, thumb activated, and flips down for fire. This comes from my early years of learning handguns with a Colt Series 70 and Browning Hi-power. Brief flirtations with a Beretta 92F and a S&W 4506 taught me to loath the slide mounted manual safety.
I believe in the manual safety as a retention feature. I know a lot of credible users that don’t.
I LOVE the most often used argument against manual safeties: that you’ll forget to take them off safe when under stress. With no ego involved what-so-ever, I can guarantee I’m smarter than that
Laugh if you want, but I’ve seen experienced, sponsored competitive shooters forget the safety lever just under the stress of a match. I’ve also seen pretty squared away guys who forget it during a class or FOF scenario. Most often, the problem occurs when the gun either begins out of the holster or the safety goes back on after coming out of the holster. Since many people train to flip the safety off as part of the presentation, it just isn’t part of their “pick a gun up off the ground” process.
For manual safety guns, it’s important to adopt a ready position grip which puts your thumb on top of lever so any time you want the gun to make noise, your thumb will be in the right position.
STS – If the manual safety had been available on a 9mm when I bought my gun, I definitely would have bought it that way. I come from a long background of shooting hammer-fired guns. I’m used to keeping my thumb on the hammer as I holster, guaranteeing there won’t be an AD even if something gets in the trigger guard. The manual safety would ease that concern.
I also think the safety (especially the one on the M&P and others that allow you to manipulate the slide without taking the gun off-safe) is a good level of anti-brain-fade for new shooters, etc.
Having said that, I’m becoming more comfortable with the M&P as is. So I’m leaning toward the non-thumb safety models. But I can’t say one version is better or more tactical than the other. Each has its benefits and its costs.
I do still have the mag disconnect safety in my M&P and will be getting it in my next one, as well. I consider it a no-brainer.
I gave the XS sights an honest try for a month or two, including using them at a major IDPA match. FWIW, these were my observations:
[ul][li] Big Dot obscured too much of my downrange vision; I chose the smaller dot for most of my experiment.
[/li][li] The dot was not substantially faster for close-range shooting. Proper technique (soft focus) allowed almost the same speed with much greater accuracy.
[/li][li] Long-range accuracy was possible but it took much more time & effort cf. standard notch & post sights.
[/li][li] The v-notch rear sight provides much less visual feedback; this makes calling your shots more difficult. I’d often think I fired off 6 great shots but in reality one or two got jerked, pushed, or whatever.
[/li][li] I’ve never met a serious IPSC/USPSA/IDPA shooter using them … if they were better for fast & accurate shooting, these people would have them on their guns. I know, combat isn’t competition and vice versa. But fast & accurate hits are fast & accurate hits, and sights are about getting fast & accurate hits.
[/li][*] Having said all that, for a new shooter or someone with poor vision, the XS sights might be the difference between focussing on the front sight and point shooting altogether.[/ul]
As for manual safeties on defense pistols, I am in favor of them if they work in the correct direction (up for safe and down for fire). That hasn’t existed for many systems except the 1911/1935 and the CZs. Due to that lack, I carried Glocks, Sigs and Berettas (with the decocker up) most of the time. As a young copper I did have my life saved by a 1911 with the safety on during a very “interesting” street fight over my pistol back in 1981.
I think that the M&P with the safety will give me all that I want: reliability, ergonomics, price point and the added security of that safety.
Todd,
I do agree that folks do forget the thumb safety for the reasons you’ve mentioned. I always operated with my 1911/1935s by using the safety as a “preliminary trigger” and didn’t clear the safety lever unless I was going to fire. Lots of folks do it the other way and that’s their choice but it can lead to the brain fart you described and makes the gun a shooter for whomever can get on the trigger.
To a certain extent I agree with that. The operating system is nowhere near as important as the shooter and his training. What we are discussing is really the finest of what-if comparisons.
Having said that … someone who yanks the DA shot on his pistol is still much more effective than someone who cannot get his gun to fire because the safety is on. Especially if, under stress, he doesn’t realize it’s just the safety lever and instead tries to perform an immediate action drill (which won’t work).
For the safety to be truly effective, it has to be something you use when the gun is in hand, not just in your holster. That means practicing to become reflexive about taking it off and putting it back on as part of your movement from ready position to fire (particularly if your ready position is also your CQ/retention shooting position). Different people have different opinions about how to accomplish this or whether it’s even the best way to run the gun, of course.
I’m also a huge believer that on a TDA gun, you should decock it every time you dismount from a target. Whenever I move, rest, etc., the gun goes back into DA mode.
I’m using the standard factory front night sight and a Burwell rear sight on all my M&Ps except for my work gun. If Heinie will ever get thier M&P sights out, I’d like to try them out as well.
I ran Big Dots on a 1911 for several months and found they provided me with nothing more than a decrease in accuracy. That and a ban from a forum where I’m no longer permitted to learn how to FIGHT.
So far I’ve had excellent results as far as accuracy is concerned. I’ve been running the small dot on my P229R for about 5 months. However, I’m certainly open to trying something new. Thanks for the info guys.
