Never handled a M&P, but would have to say it is the same.
Lack of training, and cops over-eager to shoot something. Sound familiar these days?
Posted on 06/14/2015 7:09:29 PM PDT by BenLurkin
I just got the recent Smith & Wesson M&P 40 Shield without thumb safety. Nice gun, accurate, and requires about 6-1/2 pounds to pull the trigger. That doesn’t happen by accident. Took my twin 7 year olds out target practicing yesterday—they mostly using a Marlin 22 caliber single shot. When attempting to fire my M&P 40, they could not pull the trigger on their own. Good kick (and thankfully with my help holding, not enough to crease their forehead)—one scored a direct bulls eye at 25 feet.
I have a Shield 9, it has a safety. The sheriffs detective that taught our intermediate class said don’t use it. Learn to keep your finger off the trigger.
My Kahr doesn’t have a safety, & I need to be consistent in my carry habits so I don’t use it. Can’t be fumbling with a safety because I’ve forgotten which gun I’m carrying.
I don’t think loading the mags for it is any more difficult than my Kahr. Both are hard the last round or two. My wife was skeptical of what I paid for my Uplula until I told her to load her own Sig mags. Then I let her try the Uplula. She immediately agreed it was worth every penny.
Got one for my Marlin 795 after a long day at the range in the middle of winter. Murder on the fingers without it loading 22 mags.
Most understandable “oops” I have heard about with the Glock (and maybe this M&P) is wearing a pullover with waist drawstring and getting it stuck in the trigger guard. Have heard undercover cops have that issue a lot since they wear hoodies.
Get a Maglula.
I got an UpLULA as well. Incredibly easy and welcomed as the M&P40 magazines were near impossible (for me) to load by hand. My other pistol, an old Makarov PA63 has lighter, aged springs and easy to load.
>> negligent discharges
Now THERE is a proper term.
Every time I see a news item talking about an “accidental discharge,” I have to keep myself from screaming at the screen: NO! It was almost certainly a NEGLIGENT DISCHARGE!
Their police force has a *lot* of people who simply haven’t shot firearms all that much. Probably a wise move.
That said, I agree with your assessment. And I like Glocks.
Bump for reference. This is the full-size M&P, right?
How is it different from a Glock or any other pistol with the safety in the trigger?
If that's the way you always train, that's the way you will behave under pressure. However, one less round in a firefight --
Never handled a M&P, but would have to say it is the same.
Lack of training, and cops over-eager to shoot something. Sound familiar these days?
Snip of a copy to another thread elsewhere got in there, apologies........
Don’t be stoopet...
These things “just” went off...
I recall a story from Afghanistan - maybe even a freeper. Anyways - they said you can NEVER have too much ammo! They had magazines all over their vehicle. I think they even modified the door panels (made holes) in order to stash them.
I pick up a mag here and there for various weapons after reading that article. My only problem is I’m not very organized. Other than my carry weapon I’d be SOL if I was in a hurry.
Little off-topic but maybe of some interest. I was in a light combat unit in the Guard. We were not mobilized to combat but did seemingly endless repetitions of infantry drills proven to have worked for soldiers in the Vietnam War.
I’ve looked at quite a few videos of exchanges of fire in Afghanistan and haven’t seen any of those fire-and-maneuver tactics used. Only heard of them being used by one soldier who was in Iraq.
Was shocked and awed by how much ammunition some soldiers blew away in a far encounter from behind a wall (wouldn’t call it an ambush) without quite seeing the enemy in one exchange in Afghanistan, before they ran out of ammo and retreated. There was no attempt to flank. Maybe they weren’t light combat specialty soldiers, as the YouTube title claimed. Or maybe they needed to be most intent on avoiding any casualty at all for some reason. Don’t know for sure.
Saw quite a few videos with soldiers spewing thousands of rounds into...nothing. The only serious attempt to kill enemy in any exchange that I saw in any of those videos was a small French Foreign Legion element that was hit in a far ambush. They reacted as prescribed in infantry training for soldiers in that situation.
Geeez, these kids nowadays! (8^D)
Yes—kinda hard to carry several extra magazines if not doing open carry, especially for those in a hot climate.
Firefights for most civilians (including police) are “close, dark and fast.” Police should recognize those words from training.
If someone who is not a cop ever encounters a fight at all (very unlikely for all but a very few), it will very likely be close, dark and fast without much ammunition expended. It’s a consideration of odds, just as deciding whether or not to carry in some situation is a consideration of odds.
The following is not directed at you or anyone in particular. This won’t be a popular comment, but I’m saying that most people in most situations are more likely to accidentally shoot themselves than to have any need to defend themselves with a weapon (example, trip to the store during the day in a low crime neighborhood). A few people in certain situations might be better off carrying if well trained enough (high crime, known threats, etc.). So smart individuals consider the odds of being attacked versus the odds of having an accident.
Each individual should try to weigh the odds (usually in a general but hopefully somewhat realistic way) and decide wisely. Same on ammunition but with different considerations in some ways. How likely would multiple attackers or a far ambush be?
All of that said, there are many possible situations left unconsidered on discussion boards. Here’s an example.
Many have said to discussion boards, that no one would have an excuse to defend themselves at any great distance with a rifle. So envision this.
The area around a rural home is a clear field of view in every direction for hundreds of meters. It’s only the house and family, with no other cover or concealment for hundreds of yards. The nearest police couldn’t respond in less than half an hour and might not arrive for more than an hour. It’s the middle of nowhere.
A crazy sniper starts firing at the house with a rifle from 400 yards away. Assume that there’s enough ambient lighting or lighting owned by the occupants to see the sniper. Hundreds of rounds might go through the house from the sniper in the minutes to follow.
So the house is not adequate cover. The vehicle is not adequate cover. Skip shots could go under the vehicle and hit our peaceful resident. Besides, the sniper might decide to advance (or not) or have a partner in crime to sneak around and get to the house from another angle.
There it is. Mr. peaceful resident must defend as a counter-sniper or die. He must hit the sniper to defend himself and his family.
Not everyone lives in a tree-lined suburb with cars all over the place and police nearby to answer a sniper call quickly. So that’s a problem with many discussion boards. Most people don’t realize how often unexpected situations are encountered in this world. Some police do, and some soldiers do. Matter of fact, some police encounter situations that most people wouldn’t believe—bizarre in extremes.
For the resident attacked by the sniper, by the way, many rounds might be needed. That is, unless Mr. resident is really good at long range accuracy, has a good view of the sniper (lighting) and has very adequate cover.
Come to think of it, a sniper attacker could advance on the home or have someone else to do so after opening fire from a great distance. So good cover at the residence wouldn’t do away with the need for self-defense as soon as possible. And rounds fired into the home should be good evidence of that need, not to mention a dead sniper at a distance with his weapon near him (and probably at night).
Anyway, an argument against the often repeated claim that no honest resident would ever need to defend from any great distance. Anything can happen.
(1) Always point the firearm in a safe direction. Always.
(2) KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE BANG SWITCH UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO FIRE.
I fired weapons for 25 years with the California Department of Corrections. We were told from day one, there is no such thing as an accidental discharge.
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