Failing to adequately depress grip safety...pics

[RogersPrecision]

My customer was having repeated problems disengaging the grip safety while using his 'thumb on top of safety' grip.
The Kimber Series II guns require a bit more grip safety movement to insure the firing pin safety has been disengaged. Even though I accelerated the timing of the firing pin block for minimal engagement, and set the trigger release to coincide, the problems continued.

The stock grip safety:

Bottom portion milled away:

Stainless steel block silver-soldered in place:

Finish contoured:

Installed on gun:

It is really quite comfortable. With a thumb on safety grip, one can't even tell it is there, but disengagement is very, very positive!
Silver-solder is my friend.

 

[mete]

Excellent,another example of how personalizing makes things work better .I just blocked mine out but of course that removes it as a safety device.

 

[Bill Z]

Great piece of work Chuck, that's not only an ingenious idea but one hell of an execution. I'm also liking the other touches I can pick out readily like the sight mod and the port.

Didn't really have a lot of material in that grip safety to work with did you? Those really are hollow as heck.

 

[anapex]

Good lord that's a nice job. So what would it take for you to do that to a standard milspec (IE: non-beaver tail) grip safety?

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

Out of curiosity, is this a problem only for the large handed?

I have pretty small hands, and i've never had a probelm actuating the grip safety, and i shoot with my thumbs on the gripsafety.

 

[Gordon]

Ha! I noticed this is on a 'compact ' model. When I put a Gunsite 'low mount' safety on my officers model, under stress I could not get the thing to fire. Although the low safety felt good with the shortened grip , the factory grip saety does not disengage! Took a big memory bump like yours to cure the problem. BTW Nice looking work!

 

[Old Fuff]

Anapex:

I was faced with the same problem that’s being discussed here. If I rode my thumb on the top of the manual safety the grip safety didn’t depress far enough to disengage. At the same time I did not want to modify my “classic Colts†by going to an expensive rebuild involving a “duckbutt†grip safety and matching hammer. My first solution was to deactivate the standard grip safety. This solved the problem but was seen as being socially incorrect so I was made to sit in the corner with my teddy bear.

My second solution was to modify the top of the mainspring housing and bottom of the grip safety so that the heel of the safety stuck out as far as possible. Then I adjusted the end that blocks the trigger so that it released earlier. This also worked, but the safety remained functional, and the appearance of the pistols wasn’t negatively affected. Best of all the modification didn’t cost me a cent.

Unfortunately I’m not sure my solution would work with the newer guns with firing pin blocks or other similar gadgets designed to protect us from ourselves by well meaning lawyers and the Brady bunch. This however is of no concern to me.

I agree that if someone offered a “classic†grip safety with the bump on the bottom they would find there was a market.

And I would say that Mr. Rogers' solution is an example of first-class work.

 

[zahc]

extraordinary work.

 

[GaryK]

Nice job Chuck. You ought to build a few and offer them for sale.

 

[RogersPrecision]

Thanks guys for the kind comments!
It was asked on another forum why I did not simply fit a different, humped grip safety, this was my reply:

"Just curious, but wouldn't it have been cheaper/easier to fit a new grip safety? ...or does the series II system make that a proprietary part?"

Any grip safety can be made to work with the series II.
The original Kimber grip safety sticks out at the bottom, about .030" further than a Brown's 'memory groove' grip safety. The modified Kimber shown above sticks out about .145" further than the original Kimber.
Some shooters need more hump to disengage the grip safety when shooting
'high thumb'.