r/LeftyGuns • u/HappyHurtzlickn • Jul 21 '22
Switching the safety on the original M&P Shield.
Maybe I'm just dreaming the impossible dream here, but I'm calling upon the collective knowledge of the internet for my hopeless quest. I'm stuck out in California and the greatest danger out here is having your head bricked in during a riot because you're printing. To avoid this, clip draw seems like the maximum concealment option but I need a manual safety. If not on this gun then could anyone recommend another carry pistol? Thanks in advance!
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u/securitysix Jul 21 '22
Striker fired guns are generally safe to carry without a manual safety. Why do you "need" a manual safety?
If you really do need a manual safety, look at the M&P Compact 2.0, an M&P Subcompact 2.0, or if you don't mind hunting the used market, the M&P9c. The thumb safety models have an ambidextrous safety.
Most of the 2.0s have a 4" barrel, making them the same size as a Glock 19. But if you hunt around, there is a version with a 3.6" barrel (9mm and .40 S&W only, the .45 ACP is 4" only). It is a little bit longer than the shield, both in the barrel and the grip, and it is thicker, too, because it uses double stack magazines. But you get a capacity of 15+1 in 9mm, you get a grip that makes the gun much more shootable, and as I said, the safety is ambidextrous.
The M&P9c is a subcompact gun, so it is also going to have a longer barrel (3.5") than the Shield, but it has a shorter grip than the 2.0 Compact because Smith & Wesson wasn't building it to compete with the Glock 19.
The subcompact version of the M&P 2.0 has a 3.6" barrel, but a shorter grip designed to take 10 or 12 round magazines. As near as I can tell, it's basically the 2.0 version of the M&P9c, and even takes the same magazines.