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Thread: Riding the safety on a 1911

  1. #11
    Hi Everyone, thanks for the replies. I can't say at this point that I have had any particular malfunction that ties directly to my thumb hitting the slide due to pressure on the safety. I've simply noticed a few times that I am either millimeters away or actually touching it after shooting. That's at a range. Even when I dry fire I try to replicate my live fire grip and I am always very tight in to the edge of the slide. In a self-defense situation everything is amplified and I could see applying sufficient pressure to impede the slide. I am tempted to avoid the slide altogether but it is too bad because it feels natural.

  2. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Speederlander View Post
    What do the 1911 folks here do?
    Most of us have switched to Glocks, but we ride the safety when we shoot God's gun.


    Okie John
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

  3. #13
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Georgia
    Quote Originally Posted by Speederlander View Post
    Hi Everyone, thanks for the replies. I can't say at this point that I have had any particular malfunction that ties directly to my thumb hitting the slide due to pressure on the safety. I've simply noticed a few times that I am either millimeters away or actually touching it after shooting. That's at a range. Even when I dry fire I try to replicate my live fire grip and I am always very tight in to the edge of the slide. In a self-defense situation everything is amplified and I could see applying sufficient pressure to impede the slide. I am tempted to avoid the slide altogether but it is too bad because it feels natural.
    Don't overthink it. Ride the thumb safety and apply most of your pressure to the safety and the frame where the safety attaches to it, not the slide. It should feel pretty natural, and touching the slide a little is nothing to worry about.

  4. #14
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Midwest
    To echo others, ride the safety. Presuming quality full power ammo and appropriately weighted recoil spring ( I like 18 lbs. in a 5 inch all steel gun), you will be fine re any intermittent and minor contact with the slide.

    david of vcdgrips
    www.vcdgrips.com
    "get a better grip on your working gun"

  5. #15
    The thumb pressure against the slide is a bigger deal when shooting a 9mm 1911 than it is with a .45. The only time I’ve induced a stoppage on a .45 with thumb pressure was while I was wearing a pair of Mechanix gloves, before I cut the thumbs off.

  6. #16
    I ride it, and I forcefully ride it too, especially one handed. My thumb rubs the slide but not enough to alter the cycle of the gun. I can induce stoppages on 22LR and 9mm govt size 1911's. Heck, on 22LR pistols, i regularly stop the slide, mid stroke. If it's not screwing up the gun, don't worry about it

  7. #17
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    America
    Ride the safety, don’t fight the recoil. Manage the recoil. The trick is to grip it equally and have a neutral stance; guns recoils straight up and comes straight back. Verify front sight press the trigger. 18 lb recoil spring in a steel 5 inch with duty loads. Don’t let your thumb touch the slide.
    Last edited by Poconnor; 09-10-2018 at 09:36 PM.

  8. #18
    No experience but this low mount safety might be worth exploring

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