1911 beaver tail grip safety

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PSE

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This is a question for all 1911 users out there and it involves the reinstallation of a new beaver tail grip safety (with lower bump).

Some background:

I was a competitive IPSC shooter for years in the old days and used a Colt Gov't (45 ACP) and an early Colt Delta Elite (10mm). At that time I had a gunsmith install beavertail grip safeties for both. The model installed was the King Tappan as I recall. Both were designed before the the bump on the lower part of the safety was standard. At the time, for me there was no problem engaging the grip and releasing the trigger to fire with my right hand even without the bump.

Now things seem to be different. It's like I don't seem to have enough meat in the right palm to consistantly engage the grip safety fully so I am contemplating changing both guns over to a grip safety with a bump.

My question is will the new safety just swap across with
1. No grinding to refit the safety or
2. No large unsightly gap between the radius of the new safety and that of the old frame.

Is the radius standard for all types of 1911 after market grip safeties or are there differences? I don't want to buy one and go through the hassle of sending it back if it dosen't fit properly and I don't want to just deactivate the current safety either.

Any suggestions would be welcome as well as possible dealers to buy from in Canada.
 
Honestly, I've been around IPSC over 25 years and never saw the beevertail you use. If its standard radius, as per wilson Ed Brown, and many others itnshould just drop in. If not, fitting will be neeeded.

you can always just deactivate or pin the bevertail like most competitors do
 
madcow said:
Honestly, I've been around IPSC over 25 years and never saw the beevertail you use. If its standard radius, as per wilson Ed Brown, and many others itnshould just drop in. If not, fitting will be neeeded.

you can always just deactivate or pin the bevertail like most competitors do
Click to expand...

Hence my question - Is the radius standard among manufacturers?
 
No its not, and the manufacturers will redesign their products.
I had to wait a couple months for the gunsmith to buy a new jig from Wilsons to install their new grip safety.

You could adjust the grip safety you already have.
It's not a big job.
 
On one of my 1911's the bump was annoying, removed the safety, used a belt grinder to reduce the bump to a tolerable level, reblued, now it's great.
 
Most builds use a 250 degree radius on the grip safety . The trigger length also comes into play with your grip. A proper fitting safety takes some work and most times is not a drop in fit . My two cents
 
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Thanks Jeff - You've answered my original question concerning radius of beaver tail.

I'm not interested in deactivating any safety and since I've trained all my life with thumb on top of thumb safety (Gunsite Graduate) I have no interest in relearning an inferior technique (thumb below thumb safety) - I'll try desensitizing the trigger bar and grip safety engagement surfaces to minimum tolerances.

Pinning the grip safety would be a last resort.

Interesting comment about some people finding the bump annoying - I hadn't thought of that.
 
Adjusting the sear spring and gently filling the grip safety tab will allow you to fine tune the safety to your exact preference.
There is a lot of info on the net about it. But basically, the far right tab on the sear spring will adjust grip safety tension and removing small amounts of material from the bottom of the grip safety tab will reduce the amount of movement required to release it.
But in your case, where it’s both your guns, it might be a hold issue, in which case the bump might be what’s needed to fix it.
 
McHoss said:
Adjusting the sear spring and gently filling the grip safety tab will allow you to fine tune the safety to your exact preference.
There is a lot of info on the net about it. But basically, the far right tab on the sear spring will adjust grip safety tension and removing small amounts of material from the bottom of the grip safety tab will reduce the amount of movement required to release it.
But in your case, where it’s both your guns, it might be a hold issue, in which case the bump might be what’s needed to fix it.
Click to expand...

Thanks - good point on the adjustment of sear spring AND filing the grip safety tab.
 
I bought a used 1911 years ago that was already pinned.... figured I'd just pull the pin.
Went to the range and shot it, decided to leave the pin in place.... :) Feels nice and solid.

I like arched main springs and my hand shape works with the grip safety, but it's not really needed and it feels good pinned.

It's your call of course, but if you want to experiment with what it feels like, a couple wraps of electrical tape would be an easy experiment.
 
PSE said:
Thanks - good point on the adjustment of sear spring AND filing the grip safety tab.
Click to expand...

I spent a lot of time fine tuning my 1911 to where it’s very comfortable and shoots with accuracy and predictability. It was really quite enjoyable to get into the firearm like that.
 
I have shoot both types and don't find either bothers me, kind of like the hump, but for years, never had one, ,I got a used gun last year and the grip safety was pined, did not feel right to me, so pulled the pin.
I don't remember ever having a issued with not engaging them. I have hand fitted a couple, but getting to old these days for that.
You could glue on a piece of plastic or leather with a glue gun and see how it feels, and if you likes it , get one fitted or build up the one you have, if blue steel, would not be a big job.
 
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