two hand technique (left handed) 1911

[76shuvlinoff]

Folks, I have run plenty of ammo thru my 5" Kimber but occasionally my hand placement must be off and the grip safety does not disengage, probably a 1 in 20 occurance. I am left handed and I feel it has something to do with the placement of my left thumb on the thumb safety.
It only seems to happen if I ride the safety down in a two handed grip. It never happens if I shoot one handed either hand.

I really feel this is a problem with me not the weapon but I'm all ears here.

 

[32winspl]

Hey 76, it might not be your hands at all. I have a Kimber Team ll Match and had the following prob. The safety worked perfectly, every time when using the left side, but after a few hundred uses, it would take 2 and sometimes 3 attempts to fully disengage with my left thumb. It would do it in stages. The first attempt felt like it worked, but it didn't. On the 2nd attempt (with the safety in what felt like the "down" position), it would go down a slight click more, and I could fire. This really bothered me. I paid really close attention to it, and found that the right side was gradually slipping out of the frame. I pulled it out and slightly crimped the female end and reinstalled. That would work for a while. I emailed Kimber about the problem, and they sent me a new right side safety lever. Only took a couple days, and was free. It has worked properly and every time since, but I gotta tell you, I'm still bugged/leery of it. Will it let me down sometime in the future when I'm counting on it to work?
That has left a bad taste in my mouth, and when I can afford it, I'll be buying a Wilson, Brown, or Baer.

 

[32winspl]

Me again. Look at both sides of the safety at the pivot point. Is there any (more than literally the thickness of a hair) space between the safety and the frame? If so, with the magazine removed and the chamber empty, Lay the corner of the of the left side grip safety pivot point on a hard surface, and smack the right side pivot-point smartly with the plastic handle-end of a screwdriver. An ambi-safety is a 2 piece unit, and what you're trying to do is drive the 2 pieces tightly together. A human-hairs-width is all the clearance you need between the frame and safety. Does this make it work better. Now work the safety 50 times or so. Has the parts clearance gotten any bigger? Now pull lightly on the right side while you operate the safety from the right side a few times. Mine would come right off after 10 or so operations, while pulling lightly.

 

[76shuvlinoff]

32winspl,
Thanks and I will certainly check that out later today when I get home or tomorrow but I really feel it's my hand position on my grip safety because if I re-adjust my grip without touching the thumb safety the hammer will fall. The more I looked at it this morning I think my support hand is interfering with my strongside hand from making full contact with the grip safety.

Probably all a software issue and I need to work on technique with dry fire drills.

 

[32winspl]

I'm sorry 76, My eyes "saw" grip-safety in your original post, but my brain must have read thumb safety.
Thats another thing I don't care for about my Kimber. Sometimes mine does that too, in which case, yes, it is your grip. While I applaud Kimber for seeing fit to put a high-ride beavertail grip safety on the gun, why couldn't they have gone the extra inch and added a bump on the bottom of it like most do. For Example, http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=351693 scroll down to entries 7, 9, 14, etc. (entry numbers are found in the green bar above each posting, on the right side). If I were going to keep my Kimber, I would DEFINITELY replace this part. As a temporary solution, I bought a package of "stick-on" wheel weights at Walmart and cut one down to size, peeled off the backing tape, and stuck it in place on the grip safety (after de-greasing the safety. I also sanded the weight down some as it was a little too thick for comfort). Though that corrected the problem completely, I may replace it anyway, as I'll have it for a while yet. I'm also not completely sold on the external extractor.
By the way, what model Kimber is yours?

 

[Mizar]

Hello. 76shuvlinoff, what kind of two-handed grip you are using? Is it the very high ride, IPSC style grip? If it is so, may I suggest something - grip your gun the old fashion way, thumb down below the safety lever, and AFTER that raise your thumb above the safety, parallel to the barrel, trying not to change your grip position. In that way your grip will be a little low, but your hand will remain in full contact with the back strap of the gun.
Best,
Boris

 

[76shuvlinoff]

Thanks for replying guys. My Kimber is a 5" Raptor II, and it has been a joy other than this (not really so minor) issue. I do have the bump on the grip safety so I guess the fleshy part of my hand is not fleshy enough. LOL. So far one handed shooting is 100%. Guess I could add to the bump, that wheel weight thing could work for me.

Mizar, My strong hand is high and possibly too high. I seem to wedge it hard up under the bevertail. I also see I need to keep my support hand more forward. With the strongside thumb below the thumb lever the hammer falls.

I was a little concerned because when I two hand my xd there are no issues like this.

 

[Mizar]

This is a "modern days" problem - beaver-tail safeties and IPSC style gripping... Sometimes "old school" IS better - a proper, classic, "military" style, two hands grip works surprisingly well...
Best,
Boris

 

[Walkalong]

My left thumb sticks out away from the weapon. No problems.