TMann
Member
Isn't there a big name 1911 maker that sells a model without a grip safety?
How big of Faux Pas is taping down the grip safety on a 1911?
- Thread starter CmdrSlander
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Thats all well and good on the range however it goes TU when you get shot in the hand.
I have seen a post on AR15.com from a guy who was robbed and shot the robber with his 1911. The victim got one round off before the robber shot him in the hand. It took some precious time but he was finaly able to grip the pistol enough to depress the grip safety to get off another shot or 2.
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Browning had no intent one way or another on the military contract pistols. He designed what he was asked for. The grip safety was in place as early as 1905 as an add-on, and incorporated into the 1907 design. It returned on the 1909, and again on the 1910...which, after the manual slide-locking safety...aka "Thumb" safety was added...became the Model of 1911 US Army.
The safeties were put there because they were requested by the people who hired him. No more and no less.
If Browning had any intent at all, it was to use the half-cock as a safety, since that's the way he designed all his other exposed hammer guns, which had no other mechanical safeties.
The grip safety was absent on the P35, largely because it wasn't necessary because of the lightweight, pivoting trigger...but mostly because the military entity that contracted for the gun didn't request one. If a grip safety had been specified, the High Power would be wearing one today.
Although many of Browning's ideas were incorporated into the High Power, he didn't have anything to do with the finished pistol. He died nearly 9 years before it made its debut. The honor for the final design goes to Dieudonne Saive.
The function and the reason for the grip safety has been clearly explained. Disable it at your own risk.
jr_roosa
Member
Too bad he didn't have another hand.
Oh. Wait.
-J.
You will have to talk with him about that. If I can find the thread I will link it here. There were crime scene pics and pics of both the shooter and the perp in the hospital. it was a very detailed writeup.
He was hanging out with some lawer friends at their office.
All I know is he had issues returning fire because of the gripsafety. I believe this incident also conviced him not to carry any guns with a grip saftey in the future.
I commend this effort. I have done the same with my 686-1. The SA trigger pull is less than 2 lbs, and it's freakishly short; there's no perceptible travel, at all. You put pressure on it, and it just goes off. Actually the trigger moves FORWARD when it breaks, and that's all you feel. It passed the test, but I still wouldn't want to drop it with the hammer cocked and a loaded round.
But that said, even a thin carpeting makes a big... really big difference. For example, I have read that the military started investigating the other drop ND problem, inertial firing pin discharges, because of incidents that happened on warships. The decks of which were solid steel, very heavy, and very hard. Maybe just the right springiness, too. They discovered the original 1911 design could ND when dropped from as little as 3 feet on such a surface, from what I have read. That would likely not happen on a carpeted floor, even at 3 times the height.
Every indoor gun range I have been to has a solid concrete floor. There are very few people on the planet that have drop tested their own personal 1911's on bare concrete. So if you dropped your gun at the range, the guy in the next lane would be your first test subject. Same goes for me and my 686. Just something to think about.
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1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
A test that you can perform with a cocked DA revolver may surprise you.
With an empty primed case under the hammer, use a screwdriver to bump the trigger until the hammer falls. The gun won't fire. Try it.
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