Grip safeties

[jwperry]

That's the exact reason I pulled away from being a primarily 1911 shooter.

For me, I feel it was the different holster locations and index coming out of the holster. If I went and practiced a bunch OWB for gaming, I'd continually grip too high on the safety when dry firing at the house from AIWB concealment.

[Robinson]

Modifying the trigger bow engagement tab on the front of the grip safety to make it disengage earlier isn't difficult. Sometimes just a little polishing with a stone is enough to make a difference. If you do it though, polish in just the right area under the tab and go slowly because if you remove even just barely too much material you've just ruined your grip safety.

Of course, tuning the safety may not be the right approach in the case either.

[Bucky]

That's the exact reason I pulled away from being a primarily 1911 shooter.

For me, I feel it was the different holster locations and index coming out of the holster. If I went and practiced a bunch OWB for gaming, I'd continually grip too high on the safety when dry firing at the house from AIWB concealment.

I agree, too much of a risk. God forbid you need to use it, that's when you'll likely be more awkward and things will happen.

Once again, I want to publicly thank Bill Wilson from excluding this travesty feature from the EDC X9.

[iveschris]

I took Larry Vickers' 1911 Operator Course a few years back. I'd been going back and forth between a grip-reduced Glock 21 and a twin pair of Colt Series 70s for EDC (long story, but appears later) in the months before attending the course.
Had the dreaded draw stroke, extend lockout, no bang three or four times. Couldn't find a pattern assumed it was operator headspace (OHS) and kept practicing my IAD for a malfunction (which got darned fast). When LAW wrapped up the course I asked him as an aside to check the gun over (we'd detailed stripped the guns early on day two and they'd all been gone over for eyeball compliance to spec' and function checks). He racked the "old school" gun three or four times and couldn't make it do it.
My first take away was OHS. I did change out the potentially offending spring when I got home and could get one from Brownells. It still happens on occasion so I default to OSH as I shoot the big Glocks most of the time now.
I concluded the minute adaptations we make to griping one gun or another was the culprit. I proved unable to kinesthetically sense the difference in my operation of one gun over the other while trying to get and maintain a good, hard firing grip. If I were going back to a 1911, I might consider going back to a Modified Weaver/Chapman stance (I know, the 80s called and want their grip/stance back) to support a more traditional handling of the 1911. I shoot the Glocks (and most non S/A guns) in more of a modern Iso' stance. I think all of these factors and adaptations interact.

[theJanitor]

Thumb safety profile, and how you "ride" the safety can also have an effect on grip safety interaction. My hands are big enough, that if i try to really get my support hand high on a 1911, like i do with a glock, it can negatively affect the way my firing hand interfaces with the 1911.

[03RN]

Thumb safety profile, and how you "ride" the safety can also have an effect on grip safety interaction. My hands are big enough, that if i try to really get my support hand high on a 1911, like i do with a glock, it can negatively affect the way my firing hand interfaces with the 1911.

Hmm, my edc Springfield loaded has a wilson bullet proof safety I fitted while my MC Operator still has the stock ambi on it.

[theJanitor]

Hmm, my edc Springfield loaded has a wilson bullet proof safety I fitted while my MC Operator still has the stock ambi on it.

Between those, i'd think there would be very little difference. I'd compare how much GS movement there is, in each gun, before the safety disengages. If the problem gun is less sensitive, i'd file down the GS until they are the same.

I think I remember LAV saying that 1/3 of the total "swing" of the GS, is where you want it to disengage

[drummer]

I haven't carried a 1911 in close to 10 years but when I did, the old buffer over the mainspring housing trick is what I used.

Short of that, they can be carefully desensitized a bit, within safety margins of course.

I always preferred the Ed Brown no-bump GS but the bump ones definitely help if you're not going to disable them.

[JSGlock34]

Larry Vickers recently made this video for Wilson Combat about the grip safety.

[Greg]

I took Larry's 1911 class last January and he covered grip safety tuning (as shown above) in some detail. It was one of the items for which he pulled out the whiteboard.

1/3rd travel was the minimum recommended travel. 1/2 way being the maximum.