1911 Thumb Safety Malfunction

SavageLapua

SavageLapua

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Mining brass near Red Deer
Here's the deal, I picked up a new Para-Ordnance LTC in 9mm for the 'Ol Lady... I don't remember this happening before I disassembled it for a good cleaning... This is what's happening, it's assembled, operation check, everything works perfectly... Except for the thumb safety... With the thumb safety engaged and the grip safety disengaged (depressed), pull the trigger, hammer falls. Thumb safety engaged and grip safety engaged (not depressed), pull the trigger, hammer is locked. Thumb safety disengaged and grip safety engaged, pull the trigger, hammer locked... Did I not reassemble it correctly? Seems odd that the thumb safety wouldn't work straight out of the factory...
 
Sure, if you try one from another maker the odds are that you're gonna have to do some fitting though. A new factory Para Ordnance safety should be pretty much a flush fit.
 
The way a 1911 works is that each part in the chain relies on the other. The safety is the last thing in the line so if all the parts before it are a little on the "small side" of their allowable tolerance these all stack up and the safety doesn't work. To allow the safety to be fitted they come deliberately a little on the big side on the part that engages with the hammer. So a new one may work fine. But likely it will require some fitting.

Case in point. My own 1911 had been given a "job" by someone that thought "stoning" meant lightly touching the parts to a grinder. I kid you not, this had obviously been done. I stoned the edges where needed by the minimum I could get away with to restore right angles and clean surfaces that met at the proper face angles. But the thumb safety only sort of worked after that. In talking over what I'd had to do to fix the gun with a smith the suggestion was to simply put in a new sear. I did that and the extra size of the new sear made the safety work correctly again.
 
There is no such thing as "Drop In" 1911 parts, all parts - and especially safety parts - should be fitted by a qualified professional. It's what you can't see that kills you, or the next guy on the line..
 
tjhaile said:
I would say it is Para-normal.
Click to expand...

Lol. Yeah, I've read that the US versions suck (after buying, of course)... It's a shame, really... I have a P16-40 Ltd, made in Canada, flawless and smooth as glass, I love it. That's why I went with another Para, didn't think that their quality would've dropped off like that... Anyways, last night I swapped safeties as an experiment... My 16-40 safety worked perfectly in the LTC. The issue is following the LTC's safety... Will have a new one on order today.
 
It means the big lug on the inside of the thumb safety is not catching properly onto the hammer allowing it to unlock itself. This is what happened to me, when I'd pull the trigger with these conditions set the hammer would creep a little, then once I flicked the thumb safety off the hammer would drop by itself and stop at half-####. Luckily the gun's safety features would've avoided an accidental discharge even though the thumb safety was malfunctioning.
 
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