1911 Beavertail Grip Safety Options

[Patrick Gookin]

Hey guys, my grip on my 1911 causes a good bit of hammer bite. I'd like to get a beavertail grip safety, but I absolutely DO NOT want to modify the frame. My dad won this gun in an IPSC competition a long time ago, so it has a lot of sentimental value. Are there any options that would get me a beavertail grip with no frame filing / cutting?

It's a Colt Mark IV Series 80 "Combat Government Model"

 

[Stasher1]

Depending how "meaty" your hands are, you may be able to get by with just bobbing the hammer spur a bit. I have an ORM 1991A1 that was done this way and have never been bitten by it.

 

[1KPerDay]

Here's what I did... this vid may help you a bit. Wilson's "Drop In" beavertail grip safety does not require any frame modification. You just have to fit the tab on the grip safety to function properly in your pistol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oSg42YCfP8

NOTE: you may have to install a commander-type hammer. (also easy)

 

[cyclopsshooter]

DO NOT REMOVE METAL- Do like 1k said and get a Wilson drop in. You might need a different hammer for the Bever.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

There are so-called "drop-in" beavertails, but without blending them into the frame, they look like crap. Normally I am a proponent of function over form, but this is an exception. YMMV, of course. You will also need to shorten the hammer spur, or replace the hammer entirely with a rounded one.

 

[Patrick Gookin]

Will changing the hammer affect trigger pull? And don't worry, I don't plan on ever removing metal from the frame.

 

[rcmodel]

You will have to replace the hammer with a Commander style ring hammer anyway to use a beavertail grip safety.

SO you might as well start there and see if the hammer bite goes away without the beavertail.

Some of the better drop-in hammers may give you as good or better pull then you have now.

My personal match gun used to eat me alive.

I heated the hammer sput and bent it up slightly until it no longer could pinch me.
You can also grind a slight taper on the bottom of the spur to do the same thing without noticabley changing the stock appearence.

rc

 

[JTQ]

If you are going to go with a Commander hammer, you may want to see if you can get the grip safety on the model #04691 Commander from Colt. I don't see it on their on-line parts list, but they should have them.

http://www.coltsmfg.com/Catalog/ColtPistols/Colt1991Series.aspx

It is the hammer and grip safety I have on my old Combat Elite. I believe this grip safety fits standard Government model grip tangs. I don't get hammer bite with this set up.

 

[Patrick Gookin]

Thanks for the info everyone, but there seems to be too much work and risk involved in this idea. My gun has a 2-3 lb trigger pull and I really don't want to screw that up. Most of the hammers I saw for sale said they require a gunsmith to fit. Seeing as how I'm just starting out, I doubt I could do this easily. If anything, I may try to heat up my current hammer with a torch and bend the spur slightly to see if that helps me out. Again, thanks for all the info guys.

 

[Fotno]

If you get that hammer hot enough to bend it, you'll likely ruin it's temper and render it useless.

 

[David E]

Grind a bit off the hammer spur to improve, but not totally eliminate the problem.

Too bad you won't fit an Ed Brown Memory Groove Beavertail with Commander hammer, because that would be doing the job right.

I had a similar situation with the first .45 my Dad got: keep it stock and rarely, if ever, shoot it, or make it into the "perfect" gun I'd shoot often?

"What would Dad do?" I asked. I realized he'd turn it into a better pistol, so that's what I did.

 

[ExMachina]

Here's what I did... this vid may help you a bit. Wilson's "Drop In" beavertail grip safety does not require any frame modification. You just have to fit the tab on the grip safety to function properly in your pistol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oSg42YCfP8

NOTE: you may have to install a commander-type hammer. (also easy)

Nice video 1KPerDay!

That could help out a lot of folks

 

[surfinUSA]

The drop wilsons work just fine and don't look bad on a blued gun either. Take your time when fitting it (as previously said you'll probably have to work on the tab a little) and you'll be fine.

 

[rcmodel]

If you get that hammer hot enough to bend it, you'll likely ruin it's temper and render it useless.

Not if it's clamped in a smooth-jaw vice heat sink with only the spur sticking out.

I didn't fall off a turnip truck and hit my head.

I heated & bent mine while gunsmithing 1911's for 5th. inf AMU in 1969, and it's still in the gun today and still working.

So I must not have "ruined it" too bad.

My gun has a 2-3 lb trigger pull

I kind of doubt that.
Have you actually weighed it on a trigger pull weight set at that?

rc

 

[Fotno]

I'm no gunsmith and don't claim to be, but I've been a plumber and welder all my adult life so I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes heating & bending metals. Some can handle it just fine, while others will lose hardness and deform more easily or become so brittle that formally normal use can crack them.

All I'm suggesting to the OP is to proceed with caution. If the aim is to save having a new hammer fitted professionally, then potentially destroying his existing hammer won't achieve that.