1911 A1 Locked & Loaded Question

[rcmodel]

Yep!

If you have a 1911 with a safety that comes off safe that easy, it needs to be repaired.
They shouldn't do that!

rc

 

[Frank Ettin]

The thumb safeties on all my 1911s now have very positive engagement. They take a firm, positive action to disengage. If you have a 1911 with too sensitive a thumb safety, you can often improve matters by replacing (or sometimes just stretching) the plunger spring. Or a very slight re-contour of the safety cam plate on which the plunger bears can be a big help. A good gunsmith who is knowledgeable about 1911s would be able to improve the safety engagement without any trouble

 

[_CY_]

thumb safety on my Gold Cup 1911 series 80 has a ruff spot last 1/3 of travel. making it harder to accidentally disengage.

have always heard it's a good idea to kink safety follower spring. this is to keep from losing spring during disassembly. not to make it harder to disengage.

 

[practicaltactical]

When I do carry my Springfield government model it's always cocked and locked with one in the chamber. I will admit to not carrying it much but that's really more of a comfort and threat assessment decision.

 

[practicaltactical]

If the 1910 model had a grip safety ( a passive safety ) with no other external safety does that mean it was the original glock?!?

 

[REAPER4206969]

If the 1910 model had a grip safety ( a passive safety ) with no other external safety does that mean it was the original glock?!?

It is more akin to the XD. The XD is single action only with a grip safety were as the Glock is pre-set double action only.

 

[johnnylaw53]

Mr. Browning did not put that neat grip safty on the weapon on his own. He intended for the weapon to be carried cocked and locked it was the U.S. Army that wanted an additonal safty so it was then the grip safty was added. At least that is what i grew up being told and I also remember reading this if i'm wrong I'm sorry have anyone eles heard this.

be safe

 

[practicaltactical]

:Reaper That was meant more in a tongue in cheek attempt at humor. I have both and they couldn't be more different. However when the Glock was introduced it supposed to be a new concept. A gun with only passive safety features... supposedly unique.

 

[DougDubya]

Mr. Browning did not put that neat grip safty on the weapon on his own. He intended for the weapon to be carried cocked and locked it was the U.S. Army that wanted an additonal safty so it was then the grip safty was added. At least that is what i grew up being told and I also remember reading this if i'm wrong I'm sorry have anyone eles heard this.

be safe

No other Browning .45 or .38 auto had a thumb safety before the Army had one put on.

It hadn't been too long before that the military had issued single action revolvers, and the hammer carrying pistols Browning made were meant to emulate that.

Colt 1903 - no thumb safety


Colt 1905 - no thumb safety


Colt 1910 - note no safety

 

[gunthorp]

I carry 1911 style pistols cocked and locked with a round in the chamber, or condition 1. With a grip safety, thumb safety, and a firing pin block, it is one of the safest handguns. Since I bobbed the ambidextrous safety to accommodate CT laser grips, the thumb safety hasn't ever been knocked off safe inadvertently, while the gun rests in a good holster. I recommend never trying to lower the hammer on a live round. "There's many a slip twixt cup and the lip." Also, I recommend never allowing the hammer to be at half cock. The sear is carefully mated to the full cock notch on the hammer, and putting it into the half cock notch could degrade an otherwise sweet single action trigger.

Nice pictures of the original designs.

 

[Grayrider]

C&L for me at all times when carrying a 1911. Never did it different in 20+ years of being in love with Mr. Browning's masterpiece.



John

 

[1911Tuner]

johnny...Your facts are a little skewed. The grip safety came first. Browning felt that it was sufficient...and submitted 8 pistols for review that were designated Model of 1910.

Doug provided a picture of it.

The US Cavalry asked for the thunb safety, and 6 of the original 8 were retrofitted and sent back for testing and evaluation. The modification was accepted, and the rest is history.

As for Browning's intent...Nah. He didn't intend that the pistol be carried in any specific way. He gave the end-user a choice between Conditions 1...2...and 3.

Browning didn't have complete autonomy, and he didn't design the gun by himself. He and a team of Colt's top engineers designed it...along with suggestions from the Army Ordnance Board. They all had a hand in it. In short...JMB didn't design what he wanted to. He designed what he was asked for. The Army wanted a grip safety...and they got one. Then, the Cavalry wanted a slide locking manual safety...and they got one. As for how they would carry the pistol, I doubt seriously if John Mose really gave a rip.

Conversely, Browning didn't "correct" the design flaws with the High Power. He actually had very little to do with the finalized pistol, since he died 9 years before it was finished. If the customer had specified a grip safety on the P-35, you can bet the farm that it would be wearing one today.

 

[rick2gun]

In the late 70's or early 80"s I was a competitor at an IPSC match in Candia, NH.. The range officer that day was Jeff Cooper.. The stage being shot was a Mexican Cantina scenario. While seated at a card table, your firearm was covered by a bandanna. At the signal you removed the bandanna, secured the firearm in your weak hand and fired 2 shots on each of three IPSC targets arrayed in front of you. Not too hard to do. The competitor in front of me was Massad Ayoob. He managed to get the bandanna off his 1911 and then fumbled the pistol with his weak hand so badly it fell off the table to the ground. All eyes were on the gun as it fell, as were Coopers. You should have seen his eyes bug out like a cartoon critter when he saw the rubber band holding down the grip safety of the cocked, but not locked, Colt that Ayoob had rigged for this stage. Everybody got, a "Cooper Earfull" that afternoon.