Does your non beavertail 1911 "bite" you?

Out of several I own and many more I've fired, I only had 2-3 times where one (my Colt) grabbed a few hairs. That's it. I have found for most folks if they'll adjust their grip slightly, perhaps 1/8", they'll be fine. My favorite is the rat tail with commander hammer.

Do they sell "drop in" beavertails for the standard tang where no frame modification is needed? If there is one that would allow me to enjoy shooting my 1911 again.

larryh1108 said:

Do they sell "drop in" beavertails for the standard tang where no frame modification is needed? If there is one that would allow me to enjoy shooting my 1911 again.

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I believe Wilson has one that is reported to require no mods to the tangs / frame.

larryh1108

Do they sell "drop in" beavertails for the standard tang where no frame modification is needed? If there is one that would allow me to enjoy shooting my 1911 again.

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Yes this is what I used on my friends 1911. Don't recall who made it (it may have been Wilson), but it required no modifications to the frame and was pretty close to being a "drop-in" fit. He got the part in stainless so it could be polished with Mother's Mag Polish to match the nickel plating on the gun.

Thanks guys, I found it on Wilson's site. I then found the same part, made by Wilson, on Ebay for the same price but free shipping. I bought it.
I am one, happy camper!

someguy2800 said:

Does your non beavertail 1911 "bite" you?

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Nope.





GR

I have average size hands, but any gun with the slightest reputation of hammerbite does bite me (1911, HP, TT33, P210, …).



I don’t like beavertales or round hammers, so for my Series 70 I got an extra hammer and grip safety. Shortened the hammerspur a bit and rounded the edges of the safety tang.



I did the same thing for my BHP. Got a replacement hammer and shortened the spur a bit. I also removed a bit of material from the back of the hammer (under the spur). It did give me more of a ‘pinch’ than a ‘bite’.



Now I can shoot both pistols without problems.



When shooting my USGI 1911 I wear a shooting glove. It’s more of a collector item anyway so I don’t shoot it often.

I built a stainless 1911 a few years ago. I looked at fitting a beavertail, then realized I'd been bitten by a 1911 exactly once, more than thirty years ago. So I decided to save all the trouble of fitting a beavertail and just use a stainless spur hammer and regular grip safety.

Nope , not even with my Colt New Agent 45acp 3" 1911. It must be a hand thing not the gun.

I can shoot a Govt. issue 1911 without getting bit if I think about how to grip it properly (none of that race gun extreme high hold crap) but A Browning High Power will bite me every time no matter how I hold it. I used to have a really good buddy who always tried to get me to shoot his High Power - just to see me bleed. I loved that grin he would give me. Bless his heart.

Nope. I have had occasional hammer bite from my Hi-Powers but never from any of my 1911s.

For the past 45 years I've been hammer bit more often than not. I either bobbed the factory or changed out the hammers with commander style and relief cut the top of the grip safety with a rat tail file. When beavertail safeties became available that was my choice. My web was quite large back then and about 3 years ago my muscles had begun to deteriorate. My much thinner web muscle doesn't get in the way anymore and I can shoot regular hammer guns without pain. tom.

My RIA GI model chewed a hole in my hand. I was actually getting blood spatters on my glasses. I added a Wilson drop-in beavertail (which actually dropped in), and I'm a happier guy for it.

My two Navy Sistema 1927's in 11.25x23, DO bite badly because of the non A1 style hammer spur. My NORINCO 1911A1 does not. My HP bites pretty badly with it's spur hammer, but I have yet to change it.

To give some idea of the Sistema 1927 Hammers:



With the NORINCO:

Lots of folks get bit due to the wrong hold. Probably more common today due to the high hold trend.

Never been bit & think the beavertails are foul. No offense intended?

If I grip a 1911 like I want to, which is as high as possible for maximum control, and it has a spur hammer and old grip safety I get hammer bit every time. Same for a Browning Highpower.
Both guns were designed before the very high two hand grip on the pistol was common.

Fortunately the solution is at hand for both designs that allow a shooter to utilize the far superior high grip technique. So I don’t worry about it, as my only 1911 has a beaver tail grip safety.

I don't have huge hands, but they're a bit beefy. Plus I ride the thumb safety when shooting. And I jam my hand all the way up on the grip to lower the bore axis as much as possible. Which is why I prefer beavertails. I get a light bite with every shot from a G.I. configured pistol. Small bloody spot after 50 rounds if I'm not careful.

My first mag hurt, and by the second mag, blood was flowing.

Strangely, Rowel hammers on Hi Powers do the same thing, whereas the spur hammer doesn't touch me at all.

I am quite sure that Browning never intended for people to use a high hold grip on his pistol and people in the military back then did not have soft fleshy hands. The first thing I do with any new 1911 is to replace the spur hammer with a round Commander hammer and either grind the GS to fit the round hammer or just install a beavertail. I have also ground hammers down even with the rear of the slide on race guns. I can't see any good reason to ever use my thumb to cock or decock a 1911. I just use the slide.

I get hammer bite with a standard hammer and GI style grip safety. I however do have large hands and have a high grip from competition shooting.