Yikes! Thumb safety moved from safe to fire, twice!

[johncanfield]

What the heck?! This is not giving me a good feeling.

Galco KingTuk IWB at 3:30 carry position, M&P 9 compact. I've been wearing the setup all day today and I've been busy around the ranch with moving bales of hay, messing with bags of feed and doing other ranch stuff. I just pulled out the M&P and to my shock I discover the thumb safety is in the fire position - again. I thought the first time was a fluke. The KingTuk leather covers the thumb safety so I'm wondering how this could have happened.

[Oldgringo]

You might oughta' be gettin' that fixed. There's another thread runnin' about a fella' who found a cop's shoulder holstered gun pointin' at him....

Guess who your gun is pointin' at.

[Dave2]

Is the safety stiff enough? If it's super loose, maybe just the safety's inertia is disengaging it.

[adamcsills]

I frequently carry a Beretta 84F, which has a frame mounted safety. I carry it in a CrossBreed, which is effectively the equivalent of your Galco (my CB has the "combat cut", aka "extort a few dollars extra from you" cut). So my setup is similar to yours, and I once discovered my frame mounted thumb safety off.

In my case, it was happening during holstering - the edge of the leather backing would hit the safety while it was going in the holsters. Just a side effect of the way I was putting it in. Once inside the holster, it sits in the middle of the sweat shield. I never carry with my safety on however, I just prefer to put it in the holster with the safety engaged.

Maybe something similar is happening to you. Next time you put it in the holster, verify the safety is engaged and then see if it is going off during the day.

[Ameer]

Good thing it's not a 1911!

[gigag04]

You can fix that by removing the safety.

[ske1eter]

I realize that you probably got the M&P w/ the thumb safety as an extra precaution but mine doesn't have one an it's never gone bang w/o a finger pressing the trigger. At this point, I wouldn't worry about it and would wait until the holster/gun combo is broken in a bit to see if that helps. Though a bit disconcerting, it's not going to go off unintentionally. Glocks, XD's and most M&P 's don't have thumb safeties and there is no safety concerns.

Even though a previous poster was trying to be cute saying 'good thing it wasn't a 1911', even a 1911 wouldn't go off w/o a deliberate grip and trigger pull as the 1911 needs both to occur for the gun to fire.

If it really bothers you, once the gun and holster are broken in and if the issue continues, I might call S&W to see what they say. I can only imagine that external thumb safety guns are really intended for law enforcement w/ hip holsters vs. most of us in the rest of the world...........

[The Annoyed Man]

Good thing it's not a 1911!

It has happened on my 3" 1911 a number of times. I don't worry about it. The gun is holstered. The trigger is covered. The grip safety is not depressed. Instead, I've developed the habit, whenever I'm carrying one of my pistols with a framed mounted safety, of occasionally and discreetly feeling with my hand to see if it is still engaged. I only do it when and where I am sure I won't be observed. I am pretty sure that it usually gets switched off as I get in or out of the car. I carry on the left side, so when I pivot to get in or out, the gun comes in "brushing" contact with the side of the seat back. So I think that is what's doing it. Consequently, that is usually when I check it, as I am pivoting out of my seat to exit the car. The movement is so unobtrusive that I'm pretty sure that nobody would ever notice it. But like I said, even so, I don't really worry about it. Even if I were to draw the gun—which is how I first noticed the problem when I was unholstering at home—I don't keep my finger on the trigger.

[Oldgringo]

I frequently check the safety of my Code 1 SA 1911 and don't make no bones about it. Everybody has at least one cell phone and if it's not in their face it's on their hip, etc.

[alexrex20]

Good thing it's not a 1911!

good thing it's not a glock lol

[apostate]

good thing it's not a glock lol

That lever on the Glock 18 isn't a safety!

[The Annoyed Man]

Good thing it's not a 1911!

It has happened on my 3" 1911 a number of times. I don't worry about it. The gun is holstered. The trigger is covered. The grip safety is not depressed. Instead, I've developed the habit, whenever I'm carrying one of my pistols with a framed mounted safety, of occasionally and discreetly feeling with my hand to see if it is still engaged. I only do it when and where I am sure I won't be observed. I am pretty sure that it usually gets switched off as I get in or out of the car. I carry on the left side, so when I pivot to get in or out, the gun comes in "brushing" contact with the side of the seat back. So I think that is what's doing it. Consequently, that is usually when I check it, as I am pivoting out of my seat to exit the car. The movement is so unobtrusive that I'm pretty sure that nobody would ever notice it. But like I said, even so, I don't really worry about it. Even if I were to draw the gun—which is how I first noticed the problem when I was unholstering at home—I don't keep my finger on the trigger.

By the way, this has happened with my M&P45 also. I originally bought it in that configuration because it would be similar to the 1911s I was familiar with. But since then, I've carried other guns that have no external safety mechanism at all except that of keeping your booger hook off the bang switch, and I've gotten comfortable with the idea of it. If Glocks were shaped for human hands, I would have bought one a long time ago. I have carried my wife's Glock 19, and it is a great pistol. Even so, I don't much like the shape or angle of the grips. I very much like the Kahr pistols we own, and they don't have an external safety at all. In fact, they depend on the same thing that your revolver does........not pulling the trigger until you're ready to shoot. Seems pretty straightforward to me.

[johncanfield]

I realize that you probably got the M&P w/ the thumb safety as an extra precaution but mine doesn't have one an it's never gone bang w/o a finger pressing the trigger. At this point, I wouldn't worry about it and would wait until the holster/gun combo is broken in a bit to see if that helps. Though a bit disconcerting, it's not going to go off unintentionally. Glocks, XD's and most M&P 's don't have thumb safeties and there is no safety concerns.

Thanks fellows for all of the good comments and tips. All three of our handguns have the thumb safety and I like keeping some commonality across the three models. We bought the M&P at our LGS and that's the way they ordered the gun (with the safety), but I think I would have been okay without one.

I'll have to notice the safety position every time I holster or prepare to un-holster.

BTW, our little Sig is like a 1911 from what I know - we're real careful with that one since it is always cocked and locked.

..If Glocks were shaped for human hands, I would have bought one a long time ago. I have carried my wife's Glock 19, and it is a great pistol. Even so, I don't much like the shape or angle of the grips.

LOL that's exactly what I thought when I handled a few Glocks when handgun shopping.

[Kiowa Scout]

Good thing it's not a 1911!

It has happened on my 3" 1911 a number of times. I don't worry about it. The gun is holstered. The trigger is covered. The grip safety is not depressed. Instead, I've developed the habit, whenever I'm carrying one of my pistols with a framed mounted safety, of occasionally and discreetly feeling with my hand to see if it is still engaged. I only do it when and where I am sure I won't be observed. I am pretty sure that it usually gets switched off as I get in or out of the car. I carry on the left side, so when I pivot to get in or out, the gun comes in "brushing" contact with the side of the seat back. So I think that is what's doing it. Consequently, that is usually when I check it, as I am pivoting out of my seat to exit the car. The movement is so unobtrusive that I'm pretty sure that nobody would ever notice it. But like I said, even so, I don't really worry about it. Even if I were to draw the gun—which is how I first noticed the problem when I was unholstering at home—I don't keep my finger on the trigger.

TAM, I have the same habit. I too carry left handed. I notice that my safety on 1911 gets bumped when I am getting in and out of a vehicle constantly. A great time to check your safety is if/when you make a bathroom break when your out and about.

[RiverCity.45]

You might find this solution helpful: http://mp-pistol.com/boards/index.php?/ ... al-safety/