S&W Shield

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bmark0610

Inactive
Hi everyone,

Pardon my stupidity but I have a semi-dumb question:

I bought a S&W Shield and I was wondering if there was a way to tell whether the gun hammer is ready to fire and is 'single action' ready? For instance on some guns if you cock it back (to move a round from the cartridge to the barrel) the hammer in the back lets you know that it's ready to fire and is 'single action' ready'. With the Shield there is no hammer, so how would I tell this?

Thank you
 
When cocked , does the back end of the firing pin protude from the back of the slide ?
On the back of my HK P7 the pin does protrude !
 
mete said:
When cocked , does the back end of the firing pin protude from the back of the slide ?
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No. The rear of the Shield slide is covered by a solid plastic plate.
bmark0610 said:
I bought a S&W Shield and I was wondering if there was a way to tell whether the gun hammer is ready to fire and is 'single action' ready?
Click to expand...
Fundamentally no, there is no way to tell. This is not unusual; Glocks are the same way and have become ubiquitous. The gun is ready to fire once a round has been chambered and it is assumed that the shooter is aware of this.

FWIW the competing Walther PPS and PPS M2 offer a cocking indicator, along with several of Walther's full-size polymer-frame offerings and the Ruger SR series and 9E. Glocks and Smiths categorically lack this feature, along with the Ruger LC9s and American Pistol.
 
On a striker-fired pistol, there is no need for any indication that it's cocked. If there is a round in the chamber, you're good to go. In my opinion, those cocked-striker indicators that guns like the VP9 have are useless and detract from the overall quality of the firearm; they add extra useless parts and add an extra hole for debris to enter.

People often get hung up on whether their striker guns are cocked or not. Often they'll even make sure to pull the trigger when clearing them to decock the striker. But there's no reason to do that. Just forget about the striker and whether it's cocked or not, the only thing you need to worry about is if there's a round in the chamber.
 
Theohazard said:
On a striker-fired pistol, there is no need for any indication that it's cocked.
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FWIW the potential exceptions to this on the current U.S. commercial market are the Walther P99AS and the similar Canik TP9v2, which are unique in offering a true double-action mode in which the trigger lifts and drops the striker from the fully decocked position. With these pistols, the cocking indicator is useful to let the shooter know when the pistol may need to be decocked.

Although considered "Double-Action-Only" pistols for legal and bureaucratic reasons, most other modern striker-fired pistols are incapable of firing with the striker at rest; the striker operates from a partially-cocked position (e.g. Glocks) or a near-full-cock position (e.g. S&W M&P including Shield, VP9). For this reason, most such pistols aren't truly double-action-only in the strictest technical sense, and should be considered ready-to-fire whenever a round is chambered.
 
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carguychris said:
FWIW the one potential exception to this on the current U.S. commercial market is the Walther P99AS, which is unique in offering a true double-action mode in which the trigger lifts and drops the striker from the fully decocked position.
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Agreed. But in the overwhelming majority of striker-fired pistols on the market the trigger performs just one type of action, therefore there's no need for any cocked striker indicator.
 
Theohazard said:
...in the overwhelming majority of striker-fired pistols on the market the trigger performs just one type of action, therefore there's no need for any cocked striker indicator.
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Heartily agreed back at ya. ;) Most such pistols have a loaded chamber indicator of some sort, rendering the cocking indicator superfluous and redundant, as the shooter should always assume that the pistol is ready to fire whenever a round is chambered. I already wrote that but it bears repeating for emphasis. :D
 
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Hi everyone,

Pardon my stupidity but I have a semi-dumb question:

I bought a S&W Shield and I was wondering if there was a way to tell whether the gun hammer is ready to fire and is 'single action' ready? For instance on some guns if you cock it back (to move a round from the cartridge to the barrel) the hammer in the back lets you know that it's ready to fire and is 'single action' ready'. With the Shield there is no hammer, so how would I tell this?

Thank you
Click to expand...


First, there are no dumb questions, and ignorance isn't stupidity. Everyone had to learn at some point.


The only time a shield can have a round in the chamber, and the action/striker is not ready to fire (cocked) is if you pulled the trigger on a dud round.

Other than that, as others said, if there is a round in the chamber, the gun is ready to fire.


Lastly, you made some nomenclature and terminology errors, so I am guessing you are new to firearms. This site is a great place to learn, so stick around and ask whatever questions you need, to ensure you understand safe use of a firearm.
 
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