1911 ambi safety question?

[PCRCCW]

I just got a gun, very nice high end 1911. The ambi safety on the gun is an aftermarket...good quality unit. The levers had some play in them...which is not big deal and the safety felt very dry in its movement. I removed it to inspect and lube it and the right side was broken, where the two pcs. go togethor. Just enough left on the right side to "catch" the left side.

Now my question. The broken pcs..both have blueing in the broken area except for a very small section. It looks like it was cracked before getting blued. Whats your take on this...? Has it happened to anyone here?

I broke a safety like this when playing with my first 1911...I know its best to "file fit" the joint part of the safeties when they are too tight.

Ill get a new ambi safety next week...but wanted opinions on this...
The blueing in the broken area is something Ive never seen before.
Thanks alot and

Shoot well

 

[Old Fuff]

This is a basic weakness in the design, and cracking isn’t unusual. As the parts are likely investment cast a metal-flow defect could have set it up too do what it did. If you know who the maker is I’d return it and ask for a replacement - which you might get free.

If the pistol is a “big-boy toy†I’d use an ambi safety. If it’s a serious weapon I’d say to myself, “do I really need this?€

 

[CWL]

If this is a high-end gun, they treated you like crap when someone installed a cracked safety into it.

Think of it this way, shouldn't a smith or gun tech know better and inspect these parts before installation? I'd be surprised it Wilson or Les Baer did this. If it was Kimber, I'd believe it more.

Contact the source and demand satisfaction.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Contact the source and demand satisfaction.

That's what I'd do, too: if you paid for it, you should get it.

That saidâ„¢, I'll have to admit I took the right side thumb rest off my model 1911: it wasn't wide enough to do my left thumb any good, and just got in the way.

 

[yankytrash]

Fuff, wolf,

Please don't go around touting that a one-sided safety is best for the "serious" use of the 1911. If the lefty safety is too small to use, change it to a bigger one.
Or, if you really believe that the ambi is useless for serious use, I'd like to, hypothetically of course, come up behind you one day and stick a knifeblade into the back of your right hand. Do you, with your training, have the natural ability to, after distancing yourself as far as possible from me, remember to pull your defensive firearm with your left hand, disengage the manual safety, and proceed? If you really think so, you should try it sometime. I mean really honestly try it. Being a lefty, I can tell you that when the adrenaline is pumping, all bets are off. Chances are, you're dead.

Don't make others dead - don't give advice you know deep in your heart are simply hold-overs from back in the day when there weren't ambi safeties, people were only trained with their right hand (not only in the area of shooting btw), and let's face it - soldiers were considered to be more of a "disposable" resource. It's like saying that modern battle cruisers don't need turrets, like they should be able to effective fight with fixed cannons firing from only the sides of their ship. Sure, they should be able to, but why give them the disadvantage?

 

[Standing Wolf]

Hello, yankytrash!

If I carried my model 1911 more than once or twice a year, I'd have to reconsider the right side thumb rest, but it's too bulky a gun for the small of my back to accommodate very comfortably, and I have considerably more faith in the .357 magnum round.

I don't know how other people's thumb rests work, but mine can be brushed off or on against clothing as easily as operated with a thumb. The real problem for me would be extricating the pistol from its I.W.B. holster at 4:00 on my right side: arthritis turns out to be less fun than I'd heard, and in fact, I've been thinking about taking it back for a refund.

 

[Old Fuff]

Over the years (many of them) I have assembled Government Model style pistols from scratch using various commercial parts. I have modified many more using after-market parts. As a result I have a box with about a dozen ambi-safeties that are broken in the manner you described. I have seen others that “flopped†because of a poor fit between the key on one shaft, and the slot on the other. The Government Model safety is designed to be supported on both sides of the frame, with the shaft being an integral part of the plate/thumbpiece. The “key & slot†construction is a potentially serious weakness that could leave you with the safety engaged on the left side while the fingerpiece on the right side moved, but didn’t do anything.

You of course can do what you wish. Advise given on this forum is free, and any individuals who read it can assess the information in light of their own experience and knowledge. If you want to trust you’re life on an ambi-safety constructed in the above manner that is your choice. However that choice should be made after considering all the pros and cons based on the best possible insights.

And yes, while I am right handed I have trained myself to move the safety with the trigger finger while the pistol is held in the left hand. I admit this is awkward, and I think if I was left handed I might consider something other then a Government Model, which was designed more-or-less for the right handed.

 

[litman252]

Here's my $.00025

I was discussing this with my gunsmith, He would install a ambi if I liked but recomended a conventional one side safety. He asked if I was Right handed, I am, and asked how fast I could get my gun out of my strongside holster with my left hand???? If you are injured and the gun is already out of the holster, the safety shoud be off.
Just my thoughts, leftys need them, right handed people need more training.

I would ask for a new saftey from the maker also.


Tony

 

[C.R.Sam]

Agree....you are due a new safety, installed.

I agree with Old Fuff re stayin with the GI style one piece safety for a combat weapon. Offense or defense.

For a game playin weapon, ambi safety makes sense for some.

Sam