How big of Faux Pas is taping down the grip safety on a 1911?

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I suppose he could use one of those little open end condom/inner-tube like things some fellas put on their Glock grips to make them less slippery and even thicker. That might be more discreet and less of a faux-pas.

A strip of rawhide tie looks old school and is socially acceptable.

tipoc

P.S.

As I recall the Detonics Combat Master weighs less than the GM. The light alloy trigger of the CM and lighter weight of the piece overall makes the type of ud being discussed a non issue. The Detonics were tested for such accidents a good number of times as I remember. Deeton and others over to the Detonics forum will know.
 
The point against pinning the safety, to repeat, is that, if the safety is pinned, and the gun is dropped muzzle up, the weight of the trigger could cause the trigger to fully depress and the gun shoot. It's a safety matter.
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This and nothing more. A matter of choice. If you can be 100% confident that you'll never drop the pistol, then disable it. I hope that you don't discover that it was the wrong choice.

I think this "problem" can be solved with spring adjustment at minimum, or some simple grip/GS swaps at worst.
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I timed one to release earlier for a fella just the other day. Took all of 5 minutes with a smooth mill file...including taking the gun apart and putting it back together.

Finally...while it may or may not be a factor in a lawful shooting, an accidental shooting because it was dropped...after deliberately disabling the very thing that would have prevented it...may prove to be a very expensive lesson in the way a civil litigation rolls.
 
If it keeps the gun from firing if dropped - and landing butt-down/muzzle up is a lot more likely than the reverse - that's good enough for me. :)

I don't have large hands, but I've never failed to depress a 1911 grip safety no matter how I held the gun in any kind of normal shooting grip.
 
I don't even notice the grip safeties on any of my 1911's. I don't understand why anyone would need to disable it. :confused:
 
Don't bother. Same here. I asked the question what the gain is and no one answered.
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I'll try:

It depends on your hand, and how you grip the pistol.

Some prefer resting the tip of the thumb on the paddle (thumb piece) of the manual safety so that it cannot be flipped up while shooting. This would seem like a good idea, and for many if not most it is.

However for some with smaller hands, lifting the thumb to the higher position prevents the grip safety from being fully depressed, and in this instance the piece won't fire.

There are a number of solutions, most of which have been discussed in this thread on previous posts. If one has a problem, how they address it it their business; but some answer is better then not having the pistol go BANG! when it's something that's absolutely necessary. :banghead:
 
O F said:
However for some with smaller hands, lifting the thumb to the higher position prevents the grip safety from being fully depressed, and in this instance the piece won't fire.
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Thanks for taking the time to explain. I can see that now. I have medium small, but beefy hands (usually wear small gloves), but can't force my hand high enough for this to occur - so those folks must have really small, slender hands.
 
My carry gun and my bedside pistol both have grip safeties pinned from the factory. I like it because with a pinned safety, you can get a much smoother fit between the safety, frame, and mainspring housing that feels much better in my hand. I've found that unpinned, this shape is a bit difficult to depress reliably relative to a traditional unpinned design, especially the ones with the hump at the bottom. The grip I can achieve with the pinned safety seems to lend itself better to the gun returning to original point of aim on its own that my grip with an unpinned safety.

EDIT: Also, I sometimes have had trouble keeping the grip safety depressed when shooting with one hand. I have long but slender hands.

All the grip safety does is block the trigger bar, a function more or less duplicated by having the trigger bar covered by a good holster. If the gun is in your hand, it's going to be off by default. Drop safety is the primary concern. Both these guns have massively skeletonized triggers and titanium trigger bars. When I got the first one, I played around with it for a while, dropping it on my floor (thin, hard carpet over concrete slab) from as high as I could reach. I even tried it standing on my couch. I couldn't get the hammer to drop after trying this for about a hour.

Many people in this thread have brought up very valid safety concerns with pinning the grip safety. If you decide you prefer it pinned as I do, I would highly recommend using it for range/competition only or installing lightweight trigger components and testing it thoroughly to assure yourself of the gun's safety.
 
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I don't think so. I believe it's deactivated via pulling of the trigger, so if the gun is dropped hard enough and at the right angle for the weight of the trigger system to trip the sear, it would trip the firing pin block as well.
 
One last point, from me anyway, the gun can fire if the grip safety is disabled provided that there is a round in the chamber, the hammer is cocked, the thumb safety is not on and the gun is dropped and hits at just the right angle. It is not a common occurrence.

Weigh your options.

tipoc
 
Common? No. I have dropped a pistol before, unintentionally, only once. It was a Sigma, and it was unloaded.

The scary thing about a muzzle up AD is that the gun is usually going to hit the ground near your feet. That will send the bullet in the vicinity of your head, as you turn your head to look or even reach down to try to catch it.

I have read of 2 such ND's with a Polish P64. The first guy dropped the gun while putting it back in his safe, and he took a bullet in his arm. The other guy was luckier. He only put a bullet through his ceiling.

To me, this might be ok for an SD gun. Heck, if an ND happens, maybe the other guy will get hit. :) I wouldn't want a range gun to have this kind of potential. Getting accidentally shot for no reason would be a really bad day. Accidentally shooting the guy in the next lane could be even worse.
 
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I would listen to Tuner and RC were I in your shoes and that is all I have to say on that matter.
 
I personally think that JMB purposely left the grip safety off of the original 1911 military design to reduce moving parts and therefore reducing the chance of a failure and also reducing manufacturing costs. However, the military was thinking of safety concerning the number of draftees and recruits that had never handled a rifle or handgun until their "familiarization" in basic training, which in WW1 and WW2 was shortened so as to put troops in action.

As for taping the grip safety, as many have said, it makes the 1911 just like many of the other handguns on the market, and I would seriously think about "cocked and locked" carry with the safety taped. Also, remember that any modification to any firearm's safety system, opens a miriad of issues for the 'anti-gun' crowd to use against firearm owners.
 
I personally think that JMB purposely left the grip safety off of the original 1911 military design to reduce moving parts and therefore reducing the chance of a failure and also reducing manufacturing costs.
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well, that's an interesting opinion, marred by the lack of a THUMB SAFETY on the original design, and an obvious grip safety.
But otherwise, very interesting.

These concepts were discussed upthread already, and in endless previous threads.
Seriously, there's a picture in post#3
 
Just change the set-up.
I have owned or shot many, many 1911's.

My last one, a Colt Custom shop build with a S&A grip safety, Novak ambi thumb safety and VZ G10 grips doesn't work - for me - worth a darn.

Only 1911 I can't use a high, thumbs forward grip with...... at least not reliably enough for my likes. about 15% of the time, I don't get positive engagement (dis-engagement) of the grip safety.

Maybe I will tweak the leaf spring.....maybe I will change to a low-ride thumb safety.

I won't use tape..........
 
@ CmdrSlander (post #5)

Now I *really* want to finish a Rudius 80% frame, if for little other reason than to build a 1911 with no manual safety. I already have one money pit of a project (my RX-7), now I want another money pit. <_<

Seriously though, that is all kinds of esoteric cool. B)
 
TheGloriousTachikoma said:
Now I *really* want to finish a Rudius 80% frame, if for little other reason than to build a 1911 with no manual safety.

Seriously though, that is all kinds of esoteric cool. B)
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Just be aware that the original intent was that the 1911 be carried with the hammer down on an empty chamber. The training was to chamber a round immediately before engaging in combat by racking the slide
 
OK, I'm tired, several hundred miles away from home, and heading farther away as soon as day breaks. (I drive a truck, and am a "heavy hauler".) I'm not thinking straight. Still, I think you understood what I was getting at.EXCUUUUUSSSE ME!:banghead:
 
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