Smith & Wesson announced today that they are now offering the excellent S&W Shield without a thumb safety in both 9mm and .40 S&W. Thank you Smith & Wesson, and thank you Julie Golob for the heads up.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (June 5, 2014) — Smith & Wesson Corp. announced today that it is now offering versions of its popular M&P Shield™ pistol in both 9mm and .40 S&W without the single-sided thumb safety. Brought to market after numerous requests from private citizens, law enforcement professionals and firearm retailers, the new models retain original design features that have helped to solidify the M&P Shield’s reputation in the marketplace as a reliable, accurate self-defense firearm. Whether deployed as a backup sidearm for police personnel, a deep concealment pistol for plain-clothes officers or an every-day firearm for concealed carry permit holders, the M&P Shield has been met with wide approval.
At the core of the M&P Shield resides its slim, lightweight, high-strength polymer frame measuring .95-inches in width coupled with an unloaded weight of less than 19 ounces. Across the frame, the M&P Shield is standard with a 3.1 inch barrel that contributes to compact overall length of 6.1 inches. On the left side of the frame, the M&P Shield is fitted with familiar operational controls including a simple takedown lever, flat profile slide stop and magazine release. For optimal firearm control, the M&P Shield is standard with an 18-degree grip angle and a fixed textured backstrap with additional texturing at the forward portion of the grip. An extended trigger guard allows for operation of the pistol with or without gloves.
On top of the stainless-steel slide and barrel, the M&P Shield is standard with a 5.3-inch sight radius along with a white dot stainless-steel front sight and a white two-dot stainless-steel rear sight. For consistent and accurate shot placement, the pistol features a short, consistent trigger pull measuring 6.5 pounds that has been further enhanced with a quick and audible reset made possible by the striker-fired action.
Internal features of the new M&P Shield mirror the standard M&P Series. Its stainless-steel internal chassis reduces flex while providing a stable shooting platform and its low-bore axis helps maintain ease-of-use and a comfortable feel. A passive trigger safety prevents the pistol from firing if dropped and a sear release lever eliminates the need to press the trigger in order to disassemble the firearm. A loaded chamber indicator is located on top of the barrel. The M&P Shield is shipped with both an extended and flat magazine offering consumers the ability to customize the length of the grip. The 9mm M&P Shield offers an 8+1 or 7+1 magazine capacity while the .40 S&W M&P Shield is standard with either a 7+1 or 6+1 magazine capacity. Both the 9mm and .40 S&W M&P Shield carry an MSRP of $449 and are backed by Smith & Wesson’s Lifetime Service policy. State compliant models of the M&P Shield with no thumb safety are also available.
For more information on the new M&P Shield pistols without a thumb safety visit www.smith-wesson.com.
That’s the best news I’ve heard all month!!
Now please make a kit so I can remove the one from the Shield I already own.
Hey awesome! Now if they would just apply that same line of common sense to their entire revolver line!
I’m not saying they have do do away with the ILS altogether, but giving consumers a choice of whether they want it or not would be nice on all their revolvers. Don’t tell me they can’t make two versions of the same gun, one with and one without the ILS. They offer two lines of their 642 and 442 so obviously they now how not to run extra machining processes.
There are between 5 and 8 new S&W revolvers is buy if they would give me the option not to have the ILS.
Well it’s about time!
oh thank god!