1911 grip safety

[tackleberry45]

Guys,

Does the grip safety on a "standard" 1911 setup need to be pressed all the way into the frame?? I cannot get a trigger to release in a 1911 I have without the grip safety being "crushed" into the frame. How much tolerance should there be??

 

[MICHAEL T]

It will be even with sides of frame This is a really short distance. I have never crushed my grip safety What brand are we talking about .

 

[kcshooter]

You can alter that. The tang on the grip safety can be filed down a bit to make it release much earlier. I'd suggest a trip over to www.m1911.org and look around the technical section, or start a thread in the forum. It's easy to do, and I have all mine set to a very sensitive level. As long as it's depressed even a little bit, mine all go bang.

 

[RNB65]

I have trouble shooting 1911's also if I put my stubby thumb where it's supposed to be on top of the thumb safety. It lifts my palm up just enough that I don't always disengage the grip safety.

The next time I visit my gunsmith, I'm going to have him disable the grip safety on my only 1911. John Browning never wanted it and it's totally worthless IMHO.

 

[kcshooter]

It doesn't need to be disabled, you make make it so that it is super-sensitive, and never have to worry about having to explain why you disabled a safety mechanism should something bad happen.

 

[FlyinBryan]

keep your grip safety.

depending on the model you have you might have no intelligent choice but to keep it.

on most models the grip safety does more than just prevent rearward travel of the trigger.

for instance, on a non series 80 colt (my favorite type of colt) the grip safety also presses upward on the firing pin safety as well as allow the trigger to break the sear from the hammer hooks. kimbers are this way as well.

on a series 80 colt this is done with the trigger, which is why many ppl prefer the 70 in my opinion, as it removes this extra load from the trigger.

take it to a smith. its a simple fix.

the grip safety does more on any good pistol than just keeping the trigger from going backwards.

keep it and get it fixed.

 

[kcshooter]

for instance, on a non series 80 colt (my favorite type of colt) the grip safety also presses upward on the firing pin safety as well as allow the trigger to break the sear from the hammer hooks. kimbers are this way as well.

No, it doesn't.
You are describing the Swartz firing pin safety. This is not used on Colts. It is used on Kimber series II and Smith & Wessons.
Series 70 and Pre-series 70 Colts have no firing pin safety.

 

[FlyinBryan]

i see.

is there a lever that rises up on a series 80 when the trigger is pulled that depresses a device that allows the firing pin to travel forward?
(my series 80 government model does)

and also a device on a kimber (which i was told has the same system as a colt series 70) that moves upward to depress a device that allows the firing pin to travel forward when the grip safety is activated instead?

(i have them field stripped in front of me right now.)

 

[FlyinBryan]

yes, i just found where i saw that the kimbers are 70 series clones and thats why i thought 70s had the grip safety activated one.

but that was referring to series one kimbers which according to the article had no pin block.

my kimber is a series 2 which does have it.

my point was to say dont remove the grip safety because many of them serve more than one mechanical safety feature, but thanks for the correction. i know more than i did yesterday.

 

[FlyinBryan]

You are describing the Swartz firing pin safety. This is not used on Colts

not used on 70s right?

series 80s have a firing pin safety block, but it is activated by the trigger. my kimbers is activated by the grip safety. i suppose this is to remove the job of operating it from the trigger to allow more isolation from trigger movement to sear break during tuning or trigger jobs.

you would be hard pressed to decide which of mine had the better trigger. the 80 is excellent even though its pushing on the firing pin block.

o.p.- dont remove the grip safety, its a feature i have grown to really like. if its right you never even know its there.

 

[kcshooter]

but that was referring to series one kimbers which according to the article had no pin block.

not used on 70s right?

series 80s have a firing pin safety block, but it is activated by the trigger. my kimbers is activated by the grip safety. i suppose this is to remove the job of operating it from the trigger to allow more isolation from trigger movement to sear break during tuning or trigger jobs.

you would be hard pressed to decide which of mine had the better trigger. the 80 is excellent even though its pushing on the firing pin block.

dont remove the grip safety,... if its right you never even know its there.

Correct on all counts.

 

[FlyinBryan]

which systems do you prefer kc?

(on a side note, i did a job in kc back in the late 80s and had dinner one time at a place called the kansas city stockyard steakhouse. im coming through kc in august and if its still there i really want to stop there again. it was the best steak ive ever had. do you know of it?

sorry to thread jack o.p. just figured kc might see this question.

back on topic, have you had a beavertail installed or something? maybe it wasnt quite fitted right.

most of them, even the drop in like the wilson i put in my governement model requires at least a little hand fitting.

 

[kcshooter]

Personally, I prefer no firing pin safety, or the series 80 system, although I'm not afraid of the Swartz system. My Smith & Wesson Gunsite commander has it and it's been completely reliable and my second most often carried gun.

And Tackleberry, FlyinBryan made a good point, is that grip safety a replacement part or factory? What 1911 is it, what mfgr?

 

[dogmush]

Keep it and get it tuned so that it releases. KCshooter pointed you to a good site, I know there's a grip safety how to on there somewhere. A couple of minutes with a file, and you'll never have to think of it again.

Since it was asked, chaulk me up for "don't need no firing pin block" crowd. However, if yo go this route I highly recomend not dropping your 1911 from tall buildings when loaded.

 

[combatantr2]

why not just install a grip safety with a speed bump? It helps a lot in acquiring a positive grip.

 

[Walkalong]

Just fix the grip safety. It is real easy. Yea, the manufacturer should have checked it.