stupid question of the week: S&W Shield safety removal?

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Is it possible to remove or disable the manual safety on the Shield? Can you convert a safety model to a non-safety model? My sister has been carrying a Shield 9 on her daily runs/hikes but noticed yesterday that the safety had been engaged the past couple of days and she hasn't really trained to disengage it upon the draw. I realize that is not an ideal situation but IMO the safety on the shield is so stiff and small as to be useless at best and possibly dangerous at worst.

Can you replace the sear housing block with the block from the non-safety variant? Is there something else involved? I realize the best course of action would be to buy the non-safety variant but I'm just doing some research first.
 
Going off memory... it can be removed plain and simple with out the need for a sear block.

I'll try to remember to take it apart and double check later
 
I agree with Frank, altering a gun like that could be a recipe for trouble later. Just imagine how many zeros could be on the judgement, and years on a criminal sentence, if a kid finds the altered gun and hurts themself or someone else. With today's anti gun media and whacky juries, its scary!

Before doing that, I would volunteer an afternoon or two and teach my sister the ins and outs of her carry gun. (UNLOADED!!) Carry options, draws, safety use, presentation, trigger press, follow through, etc. After she has it down, treat her to a couple of hours at the local range to get the firing feel/recoil recovery down pat. I think she would become a more confident (and competent) carrier, and you get some gun time at the range as well.
 
I would suggest that doing what the video shows is a bad idea because the gun would look like it had a safety, but it doesn't work anymore, and so might cause an accidental discharge when someone thinks the safety is on. True, they still should be pulling the trigger on it, just saying.
 
If you want to do it I would suggest you send it to S & W and have their service dept do it. I can't imagine you wouldn't void the Warranty no matter how easy it is to do yourself. I think they will do it, although as I recall they won't add a safety to the ones that came without one.
 
Not trying to be snarky but the easiest and safest solution is for your sister to practice more with the pistol and learn how to take the safety off while drawing it. I have a 1911 and have shot one enough that flicking off the safety is muscle memory, I don't even have to think about it. Even though I bought a Shield without a safety, I tried a Shield with the safety and found it isn't at all difficult to move it to the fire position with a simple swipe of the thumb.
 
Before doing that, I would volunteer an afternoon or two and teach my sister the ins and outs of her carry gun. (UNLOADED!!) Carry options, draws, safety use, presentation, trigger press, follow through, etc. After she has it down, treat her to a couple of hours at the local range to get the firing feel/recoil recovery down pat. I think she would become a more confident (and competent) carrier, and you get some gun time at the range as well.
Have been working with her weekly for months. However since I deem the safety to be too fiddly, small, and stiff to be used under stress, we haven't worked on making sure it's off upon presentation. I think the simpler solution would be to get a shield without the external safety.
 
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Sounds like you are trying, which is good. Far to many folks buy a gun, shoot it once or twice, then declare themselves "prepared."

It just may be she isn't suited to the model she has, so another Shield with different safety options may be the cure. (With good training, practice, and confidence she just may surprise you though!)

Stay safe!
 
Is there any internal difference it the Shield without the safety and the one with other than the lack of the external lever? If not, just because it has a safety lever, doesn't mean you have to use it. Its not like a 1911 where you need the thumb safety. As far as I can tell, with the safety off, the Shield functions exactly like a Glock. Personally I like being able to apply the thumb safety to block the trigger when holstering the pistol. As far as i know all the lever does is block the trigger bar so when disengaged it would seem to function exactly the same as the model without the lever.
 
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Is there any internal difference it the Shield without the safety and the one with other than the lack of the external lever? If not, just because it has a safety lever, doesn't mean you have to use it.
yes, and that was my thought initially, except with her running around and the pistol apparently moving around enough in her carry setup, the safety engaged itself, or she inadvertently engaged it and didn't remember, which I suppose is more likely. If you never practice disengaging it and it's possible for it to be engaged when you aren't expecting it to be, that's a bad thing.
 
IMHO, if your pistol is moving around in your carry setup enough to turn the safety on, I'd suggest she really needs an extra safety and a better carry setup, as without the safety making a "two point failure", the bouncing around could someday turn the trigger on to very bad effect!
 
"QUOTE"
Personally I like being able to apply the thumb safety to block the trigger when holstering the pistol.
&
I'd suggest she really needs an extra safety and a better carry setup,

YEP to both!!
 
Well on the full size model there are plugs available from SW for just this thing.

Also, the shield is offered in both versions. With and without a safety.
There is no legal grey area and nothing bad about removing the safety.
 
Just my 02....

I carry a LC 9s with safety. I carry it in a holster designed for the Pro version (no safety). When I holster the gun with the safety on it knocks the safety off, which is what I wanted. There is no way the safety will ever be engaged with my set up.

Just saying, maybe look into a holster for the non safety Shield....
 
IMHO, if your pistol is moving around in your carry setup enough to turn the safety on, I'd suggest she really needs an extra safety and a better carry setup, as without the safety making a "two point failure", the bouncing around could someday turn the trigger on to very bad effect!
Good points but she's using the MIC trigger guard holster http://www.themicholster.com/store_holster.php
inside a pretty secure pouch.
I suspect she manually applied the safety and forgot.
 
Just my 02....

I carry a LC 9s with safety. I carry it in a holster designed for the Pro version (no safety). When I holster the gun with the safety on it knocks the safety off, which is what I wanted.
Just curious why you didn't get the version without the safety then? The LC9S safety looks and feels to be more effective in actual use than the abbreviated one on the shield also.
 
I am an old wheelgun guy. I thought I might give this 9mm thing a try so I got several and some boxes of bullets and blasted away for a while. I kept two and traded the others off. One of them I kept was the Shield. I had to go get it to tell if it had a safety and it does, I did not know they came with out safeties.Playing around with the gun it appears to me that the safety is meant to be rubbed on and off or at least can be operated that way. Using it the way you guys do it is going to get moved occasionally. I think I might call Smith and see if they can't slick it up a little bit so she can operate it. This should be covered by the warrenty. I think the safety on mine could be set on or off by just carrying it and handleing it. If this safety needs to be slicked or deleted for use by people without sausage fingers Smith needs to know.
 
Although I find the safety to be easily disengaged by a swipe from the side of my thumb, it's still small and stiff enough that I don't see how it could be accidentally engaged by running if it was in a proper holster. Just leave the safety off, or trade for a model with no safety.
 
Just curious why you didn't get the version without the safety then? The LC9S safety looks and feels to be more effective in actual use than the abbreviated one on the shield also.



I got it $200 less than the Pro was going for.

For that amount of difference I figured I could live with a safety (leave it off) and mag disconnect.
 
I always assumed them wonderful five-shot S&W J-framed revolvers with lightened frames were for physically fit people enjoying active lifestyle. Now that Federal makes them Micro .38 defensive loads where entire bullet is inside case like with them fancy smacy target loads the situation is even better. I submit the Shield is not suitable for young fit lass and belongs in hands of weakling "cauch potatoes". Oh by the way that "plastic trigger condom with the shoe string" is about the strangest thing I have seen. I admit it's probably more profitable than selling sheet metal boxes with springs called magazines for $30 or more.
 
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