has anyone got any word on the new thumb safety for the xd? is it necessary? is it a good idea?

there's not much on the sa site, just a graphic that shows it is a new feature, but not anything else.

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I would not get it there is no need

They added it as an option to get the business of agencies that require manual safeties.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that the trigger and grip safeties go a long way toward reducing the risk of an ND during reholstering. The trigger won't fully depress if the edge of it catches on an overly tight holster that's not adjusted properly. And even if you get your undershirt snagged in front of the trigger, it will not be able to fire if you press down on the back of the slide and not the grip when seating the gun in the holster.

Beyond that and the 4 rules I don't think the manual safety adds real value, and in all likelihood is a liability in a high stress situation.

I put my thumb on the rear of the slide. This removes any pressure that would be on the grip safety. The pistol can not go off when handled this way. Which is just one more reason to love grip safeties.

As for the manual safety, don't bother.

Agreed. I love my XD just the way it is, and don't want to have to think about a manual safety if, God forbid, I ever have to use it in a DGU. I think Ree is right on the reason for adding it, but personally I don't want it.

I agree. A thumb safety is just something else you'll have to think about in what would be a high-stress situation should you ever have to use your weapon. With the backstrap safety, trigger safety, etc....I personally think that is sufficient. Like one of the previous posters said, I think Springfield probably added it for the various agencies that require an actual manual safety on their weapons.

Well now that I've thought a little more, there is some value to the thumb safety in the reholstering scenario. Let's say you did wedge some shirt tail into the trigger area while holster and it's pressing the trigger back. And let's say you pressed down on the rear of the slide during holstering and nothing happened.

Sometime later something presses down on the grip safety (e.g. your coat, your elbow, you're fiddling with it, you're drawing the gun from the holster). It will go boom right at that moment!

The thumb safety will prevent this scenario. So if you have trained yourself in religiously engaging/disengaging a thumb safety and have concerns about holstering safety, then a thumb safety might be a really good thing. There's something to be said for cocked and locked.

I'm not sure the parts work together that way. I think the the grip safety has to be pressed first. I'm not at home with an unloaded gun and a safe direction so I can't test it right now.

I just did a systems check. The gun will fire if the trigger is pulled and held, followed by depressing the grip safety.

XD 45 tact.

I preceded my post with a test to confirm. And to make sure I wasn't blowing smoke about a non issue, I just did another test and it works like I said.

Please test yours though. If you find something different, I'd like to know, that is if one of ours is defective.

What's does a correctly functioning 1911 do? I, sadly, don't have one...yet.

I do wonder if the pin is blocked or not when it drops, i.e. does it reach the primer? I'm not at a range to do that test. I doubt it, but it'd be nice to be certain of the exact functioning of the weapon.

This question HAS to have come up on a XD forum. Someone there might have tested it. That might be a decent resource to check.

Yes xdtalk.com. Are you volunteering to wade through all the posts?

I agree it's probably there, but the noise to signal ratio is pretty high.

Edited to add: It'll be easier to just try the pencil test later (pencil in barrel instead of cartridge).

It goes boom.

edit:

So if you holster without depressing the grip safety and the trigger gets hung up on something a retention holster that snaps over the grip safety will also make it go boom.

Pay attention to what you are doing. Keep your shirt tucked in.

Same... If trigger is held back and grip safety depressed, CLICK.

heh heh, first time I have done the pencil test on my Kimber. Now I have a pencil stuck in my 9 foot ceiling.