10,000 rounds later...

[GoRon]

I have a full size Springfield TRP that is the first gun I ever bought. Never had to send it back for service. The only problem it ever really had was with WinClean ammo. It eats hollow points and hard ball equally well and just never chokes.

Well the inevitable happened, something has gone wrong.

The grip safety no longer works. Not as bad as feeding or extraction problems I know but a bummer none the less.

I can detail strip the gun, have done it more than a few times. Is there something I should look for that is a common cause of this symptom? Is this a wear issue?

 

[1911Tuner]

In the Grip

More than likely the right leg of the sear spring has taken a set. Pull up on the bottom of the safety tang a little while you pull the trigger to see if the hammer falls. (Gun empty, of course.) If it works correctly, bend the right leg of the sear spring out to push the safety farther out at the bottom.

 

[GoRon]

If I use a lot of force pushing up on the beavertail (simulating spring pressure) the hammer will not fall most of the time.

I tried increasing the presuure via the spring and it didn't help.

The very tip of the protrusion on the grip safety appears to be peened.

Is this a contact point that keeps the trigger from (dis)engaging the sear?

The attached picture is the grip safety, best I can do with my camara.

Thanks for your time Tuner, hope you get better and start feeling better soon.

Prayers sent on your behalf.

 

[1911Tuner]

Contact

GoRon, yes. The contact point that blocks the trigger looks a little rough.
Peening to stretch and refitting may work, but if the steel is that soft, it won't last very long. This one may belong to Springfield, or you can order an aftermarket safety that'll work with the .220 tang radius and have a go at fitting it. Patience, trial and error is the key.

 

[Jim K]

That grip safety sure looks like the contact point was welded and then filed down. Sure the grip safety is original and that no one worked on the gun?

Jim

 

[mrmeval]

With 10,000 rounds I'd expect it to look filed down.

 

[1911Tuner]

10K

mrmeval joked:

>With 10,000 rounds I'd expect it to look filed down.<
*****************

No reason why it should, assuming that there wasn't a mis-fit between the lug and the trigger stirrup. Once the grip safety is depressed, the lug doesn't make contact with anything. If there had been hard contact, it would have been apparent with the trigger catching before release.

Now...the second step at the underside of the lug does act as an overtravel stop...but that wouldn't damage the nose.

 

[GoRon]

Sure the grip safety is original and that no one worked on the gun?

Bought the gun new in the box (my first gun) and it has been my main "go to" gun ever since.

Never been worked on, except for the front sight I replaced/butchered. The gun shot low, I filed down the front sight then replaced it, too much in a hurry and it looks like what it is, a home gun smithing project

The protrusion on the grip safety is flat worn down. It is peened no doubt.

It will be probably go back to the Springfield Armory Custom shop.

I will have them refinish the gun, replace the parts that have failed and do a trigger job on the gun.

I fibbed a little earlier. It broke its extractor around 6k, the firing pin stop was replaced due to stress cracks (lot of dry firing) so now I have come clean. It has been a wonderful gun and it made me a believer in the platform.

As an aside the guy that trains me is a big Kimber guy. He keeps "forgetting" my gun is a Springfield. I think it burns him that the guy with the Springer has the gun in his group of guys that he trains that never chokes, LOL.